(Health Korea News / Lee Soon-ho) An analysis has shown that more than 96% of the personnel who took over the work of residents after the medical vacuum in February were (tentatively named) dedicated nurses and general nurses. Despite this situation, there has been almost no additional recruitment of nurses, and it has been pointed out that more than half of the target institutions did not participate in the ‘pilot project related to nurse work’ that has been implemented since February.
Professor Hwang Seon-yeong of Hanyang University’s College of Nursing (Co-chair of the Task Force for Establishing the Dedicated Nurse System of the Korean Nurses Association) made this statement on the 2nd at a discussion forum for the enactment of the Nurses Act hosted by Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party and organized by the Korean Nurses Association.
The data presented by Professor Hwang Seon-yeong is the result of a survey conducted by the Korean Nurses Association from June 19 to July 8, targeting 303 institutions that participated in the survey among 387 medical institutions that were the subject of a pilot project related to nursing work.
According to the data, the pilot project target institutions are 215 training hospitals and 172 non-training hospitals, but only 151 institutions participated, less than half. When looking at these institutions by type of medical institution, 46 institutions were general hospitals, and among general hospitals, 81 were training hospitals and 24 were non-training hospitals, respectively.
In particular, it was revealed that nurses are providing medical support work in 152 medical institutions that are not participating in the government-run pilot project, and legal protection is urgently needed.
72% of institutions call nurses who perform clinical support work as ‘dedicated nurses’. Only 8.5% of institutions use the title ‘PA nurses’. The reason for not calling clinical support nurses ‘PA nurses’ was that there have been frequent lawsuits filed against them for illegal activities.
There were 13,502 nurses working in medical institutions participating in the pilot project. Of these, 12,979, or 96.1%, were dedicated nurses or general nurses. Only 523, or 3.9%, were specialist nurses.
An Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) is a person who has worked as a nurse in a relevant field for at least 3 years within the past 10 years, has completed a course at a specialized nursing education institution (graduate school) designated by the Minister of Health and Welfare, and has passed a qualification examination. Currently, there are 13 specialized nursing fields recognized by the Medical Act: health, anesthesia, family, mental, infection control, industry, emergency, elderly, critically ill, hospice, oncology, clinical, and children.
In contrast, dedicated nurses, also called ‘PA nurses’ or ‘coordinators’, are nurses who focus on tasks other than caring for patients in the ward. Medical institutions select skilled nurses and have them work in various fields.
In most general hospitals and general hospitals, dedicated nurses perform both the duties of doctors and nurses, but 20.8% of these hospitals did not even have criteria for selecting dedicated nurses.
At the discussion that day, Professor Hwang Seon-yeong said, “As the national demand for specialized nursing has increased due to the increase in income level and aging population, the Nurses Act should be enacted as soon as possible to establish an institutional basis for an education system and support centered on dedicated nurses working in 15 specific nursing fields that have emerged in the field.”
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