SEOUL – South Korea’s parliament passed a bill on August 28 granting nurses the authority to perform certain medical procedures typically carried out by doctors, amid ongoing protests and a nationwide strike by trainee doctors.
Nurses and healthcare workers have long sought greater legal protection and improved working conditions. However, their efforts were met with strong resistance from doctors and political gridlock. The situation worsened this year as thousands of trainee doctors began a walkout in February to protest government plans to increase medical school admissions in response to the country’s doctor shortage.
The strike, combined with a surge in COVID-19 cases that has stretched hospitals to their limits, spurred rival political parties to compromise and pass the new legislation.
The bill establishes a legal framework allowing physician assistant nurses to carry out certain medical procedures, alleviating some of the workload that has fallen on nurses due to the doctors’ strike. However, other contentious issues, such as the qualifications for nursing assistants, were deferred for future discussion.
The Korean Nurses Association celebrated the bill’s passage as a breakthrough after 19 years of advocacy, viewing it as a step toward improving South Korea’s healthcare system and ensuring better training and support for nurses.
“Today’s passage opened the path to establish a nursing care system and realise universal health coverage,” the association said in a statement.
However, the Korean Medical Association, the country’s largest body representing doctors, criticized the bill, arguing that it could create confusion over the division of labor within hospitals and lead to illegal medical practices. They warned that patients could ultimately bear the consequences.
“The medical sector will become a mess… and the damage will be passed on entirely to ordinary citizens,” the association said. Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong expressed hope that the legislation would offer support to healthcare professionals and urged striking doctors to resolve the situation.