Nurses reject doctors' 'unlawful' orders following Yoon's veto of Nursing Act

Kim Young-kyeong, who heads the Korean Nurses Association, speaks during a press conference near the association's building in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

Nurses across the country began their collective action, Wednesday, in protest against President Yoon Suk Yeol's veto of the opposition-led Nursing Act.

The collective action, led by the Korean Nurses Association, began with physician assistant (PA) nurses rejecting “unlawful” orders made by doctors such as to perform certain parts of operations or prescribe medicine instead of doctors.

The association also launched a campaign to collect the licenses of nurses for a month and return them to the Ministry of Health and Welfare as part of its protest.

“The president failed to distinguish untrue claims (made by objectors of the act) and exercised his veto power,” Kim Young-kyeong, the head of the association, said during a press conference.

The action came a day after the president vetoed the Nursing Act, after it had been railroaded through by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Yoon sided with doctors and other medical workers, who claim the act will only divide the medical profession and cause conflict and confusion.

The law is aimed at clarifying the scope of nurses' duties and improving their working conditions. Nurses have been calling for their own law, claiming that a lack of clarity regarding their exact roles and duties, as stipulated in the Medical Services Act, has increased their workloads.

The number of PA nurses is estimated at around 10,000 nationwide.

In other countries such as the United States, PAs refer to licensed medical professionals who examine, diagnose and treat patients under the supervision of physicians.

However, in Korea, hospitals appoint skilled nurses as PAs to assist doctors, but without requiring additional courses or professional licenses.

PAs in Korea have conventionally assisted doctors in carrying out operations and procedures, and taken part in the development of treatment plans and even the prescription of medication. But it is illegal for them to do so under the current Medical Services Act.

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“Starting today, we reject doctors' unlawful orders including performing surgery, the prescription of medication, ultrasonography, electrocardiography, arterial blood collecting, tracheal intubation and suture,” Kim said.

“We also began collecting licenses of nurses across the country for a month to return them to the health ministry. On the date of return, the participants in the campaign will gather in central Seoul and call for the dismissal of the health minister and vice minister who made untrue claims (about the act) and abused their governmental authority.”

The association added that it will hold a rally condemning the government this Friday at Gwanghwamun Square.

The vetoed bill is to be brought back to the National Assembly within 15 days. A veto override requires a two-thirds vote in the National Assembly. Falling short of that majority will lead to the scrapping of the bill.