Registered and Enrolled Nurses for Nurse-to-patient Ratios in General Wards and in Intensive Care Units

19 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Health what is the current breakdown by (i) registered and (ii) enrolled nurses for the nurse-to-patient ratios in general wards and intensive care units respectively.

Mr Ong Ye Kung: As shared with the Member previously, the typical nurse-to-bed ratio for general wards in the public acute hospitals is one nurse for every four or five beds. In the Intensive Care Units (ICU), the ratio is typically one nurse for each ICU patient and may be higher, such as two nurses for more complex ICU cases.

The average skills mix proportion of nurses for these ratios is around 80% registered nurses and 20% enrolled nurses – the exact distribution will depend on the hospital’s clinical and operational needs, patient acuity and type of specialty settings.