Lawmakers praise nurses for filling medical gap, promise best support

The Korean Nursing Association (KNA), which will celebrate the implementation of the long-cherished Nursing Act in June, declared that it would concretize the nursing and care system at its general meeting on Wednesday.

Lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties and government officials also pledged support, citing nurses' dedication to the current medical crisis.

"This is the year we begin the task of opening a new 100 years of nursing in Korea with the implementation of the Nursing Act," KNA President Tak Young-ran said in her opening speech at the association’s 94th general assembly at Lotte Hotel, downtown Seoul. “We will strive to develop the nursing profession and improve treatment for nurses."

"We could enact the Nursing Act thanks to your unwavering dedication in the medical vacuum after doctors left the bedside of patients," Tak said. "We will strengthen the legal and institutional foundation so nurses can work in a more stable environment. We will also play a key leadership role in Korea's healthcare by accelerating the expansion of community-based quality nursing services and strengthening prevention-centered healthcare policies."

The KNA delegates adopted a recommendation to establish specific policies and improve the system based on the Nursing Act to realize public health promotion and nursing care.

These include legal protection of nurses' medical support work, improvement of education and training environments in nursing schools and medical institutions, betterment of statutory nursing personnel standards, and integration of visiting nursing, home care, and home health laws and systems.

To this end, the delegates' assembly also vowed to do its best to strengthen nursing capabilities, provide high-quality nursing and care services, and improve the nurse education and training system. It added that this would improve the organizational culture of nursing and strengthen the status of Korean nursing.

Lawmakers from rival parties promise full support for nurses

Lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties attending the congress echoed this sentiment. Rep. Park Joo-min of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who heads the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, said, "I carefully reviewed the proposal from the KNA delegates. I will take care of it."

Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party (PPP), who leads the ruling party at the Health and Welfare Committee, said, "The efforts of the nurses helped fill the medical gap. The ruling party will do its best to strengthen nurses' professionalism, provide an appropriate compensation system, and create stable working conditions."

Rep. Kang Sun-woo of DPK, a key member of the committee, said, "Nurses have protected the dignity of people as human beings when they face disastrous illnesses and disabilities. I will sincerely do what I can in the National Assembly to make them feel proud to be nurses."

Rep. Kim Seon-min, acting leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, said, “Nurses are making great efforts to replace the departed doctors. Our party will fight alongside nurses to ensure that nurses' efforts in care, health, and education bear fruits."

Rep. Cheon Ha-ram of the Reform Party said, "The enactment of the Nursing Act is not the end but the beginning. I look forward to the next 100 years. Our party will continue to accompany the KNA."

Rep. Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party, said, "The recruitment of new nurses has decreased dramatically due to the medical crisis. We will ensure that nurses' rights and practical laws and systems are guaranteed.”

Rep. Jeon Jong-deok, a former nurse and deputy floor leader of the Progressive Party, said, "Only 52 percent of the 560,000 nurses are working in the medical field. The resignation rate of nurses in their fifth year or less is over 80 percent. It is important to face reality and improve working conditions so that nurses do not leave the field.”

Rep. Lee Soo-jin of DPK, also a former nurse, referred to the Healthcare Workforce Support Act Amendment Bill under consideration by the National Assembly's Legal Affairs and Judiciary Committee and said, "The bill is scheduled to be passed by the committee today (Wednesday). It will be an opportunity for society to work together to increase the number of nursing personnel in hospitals.”

Rep. Seo Young-seok of DPK said, "The nurse employment cliff caused by the medical crisis is serious. Due to the government-doctor conflict, nurses are suffering from the pain of having to grind their souls in the field. Nurses are nursing the nation beyond the lives and health of the people.”

Reps. Jang Jong-tae, Juon Jin-sook, Lee Hoon-gi, and Seo Mi-hwa from the same party also pledged to help improve nurses' treatment and promote their rights and interests.

Rep. Na Kyung-won of PPP said, "It is important to expand nurses' roles in an era of low birthrates and an aging population. I will reduce the burden of nurses' work and strengthen their status and authority."

Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the same party said, "I will do my best to ensure that the spirit of nurses is fully reflected in the implementing regulations ahead of the implementation of the Nursing Act."

A former doctor, Representative Lee Ju-young of the Reform Party, said, "I was one of the two lawmakers who voted against the Nursing Act. I didn't vote against it for doctors but for my nurse colleagues with whom I worked until my last working day. I will make the Nursing Act a law that protects nurses. Without nursing, there is no medical care and no care. I will always be with nurses on their path."

Health and Welfare Minister praises nurses for helping healthcare reform

In a written congratulatory speech, DPK leader Lee Jae-myung said, "Thanks to the sacrifices and dedication of nurses, the people were relieved during the Covid-19 pandemic and medical crisis. The DPK will improve the healthcare system and strengthen state responsibility to ensure the right to health. We will work to improve the treatment of nurses so they can work in a better environment."

Rep. Kwon Young-se, head of the PPP Emergency Committee, said, "We are entering an ultra-elderly society this year. "The role of nurses is more important than ever. We will build a tightly organized healthcare system and ensure that institutional support for nurses, such as improved treatment and capacity building, is in place."

Rep. Kim Young-ho of DPK, the chairman of the National Assembly Education Committee, said, "Nurses are suffering in the field due to the medical crisis caused by the Yoon Suk Yeol government's reckless policies. We will endeavor to resolve the government-doctor conflict at the National Assembly level."

In a written tribute, Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong said, "The government is maintaining the emergency medical care system and promoting healthcare reform thanks to nurses who have been silently protecting the medical field amidst rapidly changing medical environments and policy changes.”

Cho added that the government promises to smoothly implement key tasks by setting educational courses and specific scopes of work to produce competent medical support nurses ahead of the implementation of the Nursing Act.