KNA Appeals for Enactment of Nursing Act... "Residents Leaving, Forced into Illegal Medical Practice"
1st Emergency Press Conference on Increased Workload of On-site Nurses Due to Medical Strike on the 23rd
The nursing sector appealed for the necessity of enacting the Nursing Act, stating that residents leaving hospitals are forcing nurses into illegal medical practices such as proxy prescriptions and proxy documentation.
On the morning of the 23rd, the Korean Nurses Association held a '1st Emergency Press Conference on the Increased Workload of On-site Nurses Due to the Medical Strike' at the Korean Nurses Association Seoul Training Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, and announced this.
By 9 a.m. that day, the association disclosed 154 reports received by the 'On-site Nurses' Difficulties Reporting Center for Medical Blank Crisis Response.' Among the reported medical institutions by type, tertiary general hospitals accounted for the largest share at 62%, followed by general hospitals (36%) and hospitals (including specialized hospitals, 2%).
The most frequently reported issue was 'orders for illegal medical practices.' By type of act, these included blood collection and arterial blood sampling, blood culture tests, specimen collection and other tests, electrocardiogram tests, treatment/procedure and tests such as residual urine ultrasound (RU sono), surgery-related tasks including surgical assistance and suturing, tube management such as nasogastric tube (L-tube) insertion, and proxy prescriptions using professors' IDs within wards.
Additionally, reports included outpatient appointment coordination, phone calls for surgery cancellations and schedule adjustments, dressing preparation, setting and assistance, handling complaints from patients and guardians, and preparation of professors' on-call rooms.
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The Korean Nurses Association argued for the enactment of the Nursing Act, recognition of the scope of work for specialized nurses, and establishment of a legal safety net for dedicated nurses. Tak Young-ran, president of the Korean Nurses Association, stated, "Nurses are currently bearing an excessive workload day by day in anxiety, being forced into illegal medical practices without legal protection in the vacancies left by residents who have left," and added, "We ask for the public's interest and support so that illegal medical practices exploiting legal ambiguities in medical settings can be eradicated through the enactment of laws that protect nurses."
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