The nursing act that has caused huge protests in South Korea from the health care community against it, has been vetoed by President Yoon:
A Cabinet meeting led by President Yoon Suk Yeol is held at the presidential office in Seoul on May 16, 2023. (Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol rejected the opposition-led nursing act Tuesday amid strong protests from doctors and nursing assistants against it, exercising his veto power for the second time since taking office.
The act, which was railroaded by the main opposition Democratic Party last month, is aimed at stipulating the roles and responsibilities of nurses, and improving their working conditions.
“The people’s health cannot be exchanged for anything,” Yoon said during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office, before rejecting the legislation and asking the National Assembly to reconsider it.
Yoon said people’s health comes ahead of anything else, such as politics, foreign policy and economic policy, and can only be properly maintained through cooperation between various groups of medical professionals.
“The nursing act is creating excessive conflict between these related groups, and the move to separate nursing services from medical institutions is causing people to feel anxious about their health,” he said.
Yonhap
Here is why there has been much criticism of the bill:
Doctors and nursing assistants have opposed the bill, arguing the legislation would cause confusion in the medical sector because it could lead to nurses opening their own clinics without doctors’ supervision and that nursing assistants could be discriminated against.
You can read more at the link.
Nursing students hold candles during a ceremony at Tongmyong University in the southeastern port city of Busan on Nov. 6, 2018, as they make the Nightingale pledge. The pledge, named after Florence Nightingale, is a statement of principles for the nursing community. (Yonhap)
Students of Dongseo University’s nursing college in Busan, southeast of Seoul, take the Nightingale Pledge on May 3, 2018. The students usually take the pledge in their third year at school before they go out into the field for on-site training. (Yonhap)
A group of new cadets receive basic military training at the Armed Forces Nursing Academy in the central city of Daejeon on Jan. 22, 2018, with an assistant instructor watching them. (Yonhap)
This is absolutely ridiculous that nurses had to subject to this. I wonder how prevalent this exploitation of nurses is in South Korea’s hospitals?:
Nurses are up in arms over allegations that their colleagues at the Sacred Heart Hospital at Hallym University were forced to perform a “sexy dance” at an internal event.
The Korean Nurses Association vented its fury on Monday, calling for a thorough investigation and merciless punishment of those responsible.
“This is a grave challenge to the vocation and self-esteem of nurses,” the association said in a statement.
“There are numerous nurses who endure an intense workload, low paycheck and frequent overtime with their sense of duty and vocation.
“Considering this, the scandal was defamatory and offensive to these nurses.”
The association urged the government to tighten regulations to prevent sexual offenses against nurses and to protect their human rights.
The scandal flared up last week after a nurse posted a letter of complaint on social media with photos of nurses in short pants and figure-hugging tube tops performing a sexually suggestive dance during an annual sports event in October.
“Those forced to dance are usually the newly hired nurses, who are unable to refuse such orders,” the whistle-blowing nurse wrote on social media on Friday.
“We were forced to dance in front of high-ranking officials of the firm, who sat side-by-side at a long table.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link.
