(Health Korea News / Park Won-jin) Two bills related to nurses, each proposed by the ruling and opposition parties, were submitted to the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee on the 16th. The submitted bills are the ‘Law on Nurses, etc.’ proposed by Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, and the ‘Nursing Act’ proposed by Rep. Kang Seon-woo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea on the Health and Welfare Committee.
The ‘Nursing Act’ proposed by Democratic Party of Korea member Lee Su-jin on June 28 was excluded because, according to the National Assembly Act, a bill must be enacted after at least 20 days.
The main contents of the ‘Law on Nurses, etc.’ and the ‘Nursing Act’ are to separate nursing-related contents from the current Medical Act, clarify the work of nurses, etc., and improve the working environment and treatment.
As both the ruling and opposition parties adopted the enactment of the nursing bill as their party platform in this National Assembly, the enactment of the nursing bill has emerged as a key agenda item for the 22nd National Assembly. The enactment of the nursing bill began with the common awareness of the ruling and opposition parties that the current medical law has limitations in containing the specialized and diverse roles of nurses.
These bills are intended to systematically regulate matters related to nursing, such as licensing and qualifications, scope of work, rights and responsibilities, training and supply, and improvement of nursing policies for long-term employment of nurses by enacting independent laws that regulate matters related to nursing, thereby improving the quality of nursing services and contributing to the promotion of national health.
In particular, the ‘Law on Nurses, etc.’ proposed by the ruling party includes provisions on clinical support work so that the work of nurses, which has been the subject of legal disputes, can receive legal protection.
It also includes measures to reduce the number of patients per nurse and support for shift work, such as assigning replacement personnel for nurses who are unable to work due to unexpected circumstances such as illness or accidents.
The opposition party’s bill, the Nursing Act, includes a provision in the bill that states that doctors, dentists, oriental medical doctors, and medical institutions have the right to legitimately refuse instructions for unlicensed medical practices.
On this day, Lee Ji-min, a senior expert member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, said in a bill review report, “(The two bills) are intended to regulate matters related to nursing among the medical professionals and medical practices comprehensively regulated by the Medical Act, etc. by enacting an independent law.” He also evaluated, “The proposed bill will transfer the contents of the Medical Act regarding nursing, establish a basis for the work of clinical support nurses, and stipulate matters related to the rights and responsibilities of nurses, etc., so that it can effectively manage regulations on nursing activities scattered in other laws, and it will help ensure a stable supply and demand of nursing personnel and improve their treatment.”
Meanwhile, the Korean Nurses Association stated, “Through the proposed (Nursing Act) bill, we can concretize the legal protection system for nursing and improve the treatment of nurses,” and “We support it because it can contribute to improving the quality of nursing services based on professionalism and promoting national health.”
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Source: www.hkn24.com
