Ganmu Association "Firmly Opposes Passage of Nursing Act Excluding Assistant Nurses"

"Nursing Assistant Education Level Restrictions Should Be Abolished"

The Korea Assistant Nurses Association (KANA) strongly criticized the passage of the Nursing Act in the National Assembly plenary session.

On the 28th, KANA stated in a press release, "The National Assembly excluded the academic qualification restrictions for assistant nurses to take the nursing exam, which was a key issue of the Nursing Act, without proper discussion because nurses opposed it," adding, "They have ignored and betrayed 900,000 assistant nurses."

They continued, "To them (the National Assembly), even though they are the same nursing personnel, only nurses are important, and assistant nurses, who are socially unrecognized and socially vulnerable, can be ignored," adding, "The 900,000 assistant nurses who expected the social stigma and discrimination against 'high school graduates and academy attendees' to be resolved are now boiling with despair and anger."

They emphasized that President Yoon Suk-yeol exercised his veto power last year regarding the Nursing Act, stating that the Act was unconstitutional because it restricted the qualifications for assistant nurses to take the exam. They criticized that lawmakers, who know the law better than anyone, hastily passed the Nursing Act while leaving the unconstitutional issues unaddressed.

They stated, "We firmly oppose the Nursing Act, which retains the academic qualification restrictions for assistant nurses to take the exam and fails to resolve the unconstitutionality."

Assistant nurses have argued that exam eligibility should also be granted to "graduates of junior college assistant nurse programs." Under current law, only graduates from specialized high schools or related academies can take the assistant nurse exam.

They also pointed out that the academic qualification standards for assistant nurses included in the Nursing Act were removed, and only a supplementary opinion to continue further discussions was reflected.

KANA said, "The National Assembly is shirking responsibility by stating in the supplementary opinion that 'the Ministry of Health and Welfare will prepare improvement measures after social discussions including all stakeholders regarding the qualifications for assistant nurses to take the exam.'"

They urged, "The Ministry of Health and Welfare should form a 'Social Discussion Committee on Improving Assistant Nurse Exam Qualifications' as soon as possible, devise improvement measures that resolve the unconstitutionality, and implement the revised Nursing Act properly after amendment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.