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| A COVID-19 ward nurse rests at a hospital in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Yonhap |
By Lee Yeon-woo
Nurses, along with other healthcare workers, have been lauded as heroes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as they have been at the forefront of the fight against the virus that has continued for nearly three years.
Their treatment, however, has been undergoing a drastic shift as the daily numbers of COVID-19 infections fall.
With the closure of COVID-19 wards in hospitals, they are being asked to either quit or take voluntary leaves of absence.
Some have followed the "advice," taking leave or moving to other departments unrelated to their area of expertise. Some quit, according to Rep. Kang Sun-woo of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
The Korean Nurses Association conducted an online survey of 764 nurses working at 245 hospitals across the country from Sept. 19 to 25 to figure out how many nurses have experienced job insecurity.
The survey found six out of every 10 nurses couldn't return to the departments they had worked in previously before being moved to COVID-19 wards. They were asked to resign or forced to go on unpaid leave.
One out of 10 nurses said they were encouraged to take annual leave when they didn't want to, transferred for short-term work in various departments within a relatively short time or sent to assist other departments completely unrelated to their area of training.
When asked how they felt about unwanted transfers, the nurses said they suffered extreme stress and anger over being taken for granted by hospitals and had feelings of job insecurity.
The survey showed that 83 percent of respondents have been transferred to other departments without their consent. One-third of them wasn't given advance notice of being transferred and half of them didn't receive orientation or training before they were newly assigned.
"Nurses have endured the extreme workload and the risks because they believed their hard work was socially recognized and supported. But, now they feel betrayed and angry as they were 'dumped' right after COVID-19 stabilized," the Korean Nurses Association said.
The association also urged the government to prepare practical safety measures and compensation plans for nurses who risked their lives during the pandemic.
"For the last three years, nurses have fought on the front-lines against COVID-19. But as the number of patients decreases, they are considered surplus labor and are mistreated at work," Rep. Kang said.
"The situation has grown worse as the government's administrative orders have fluctuated according to COVID-19 trends, while hospitals have dealt with nurses' personnel matters lopsidedly. The government should come up with measures for the nurses who worked in COVID-19 wards."
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