[Nursing Act War]③ Exists Abroad Too... Interpretations Vary

The controversy surrounding the enactment of the Nursing Act has extended to debates over foreign legislative examples of nursing laws. The Korean Nurses Association analyzed that 96 countries worldwide have nursing laws, whereas the Korean Medical Association argued that only 11 OECD countries have independent nursing laws. This difference is attributed to varying standards used to judge the enactment of nursing laws. The Nurses Association primarily considered whether nurses' duties and responsibilities are independently regulated, while the Medical Association only recognized countries with completely independent nursing laws as having such legislation.

Based on relatively objective analyses from academia and government investigations, several advanced countries that we can practically refer to have enacted nursing laws as separate statutes. A representative country is the United Kingdom. Although the Medical Association did not consider the UK as a country with a nursing law, academic research papers and parliamentary review reports regard the UK as having a nursing law. In 2001, the UK enacted 'The Nursing and Midwifery Order,' which regulates nurse and midwife registration, education, training, and the establishment of related committees.

In the case of the United States, there is no federal nursing law, but it is classified as a country with substantive nursing legislation. Although the regulatory systems for nurse licensing, education, and scope of practice vary somewhat by state, every state has enacted nursing laws. In Asia, Japan is a representative example; in 1948, the 'Health, Midwifery, and Nursing Act' was enacted, containing provisions for midwives, nurses, and assistant nurses, while separate laws address nurse treatment, training, and talent acquisition.

A representative country without an independent nursing law is France. France regulates the scope of nursing work and penalties under the 'Code de la Sant? Publique' (Public Health Code). Belgium regulates nurse licensing qualifications and scope of work under the 'Law on the Practice of the Healthcare Professions,' and Finland includes nursing professions, licensing, and registration in the 'Act on Health Care Professionals.'

Some argue that the enactment of nursing laws is a global trend. The 2020 article 'Legislative Gaps and Dilemmas: Analysis of Delays in Enacting the Nursing Act' (Kim Kang-hyun & Kim Hee-jung), published in the academic journal 'Legislation and Policy' by the National Assembly Legislative Research Office, evaluated the current Medical Service Act as an outdated norm that fails to respond to global changes in nursing environments. Additionally, the 2023 article 'A Study on the Necessity of Enacting the Nursing Act' (Song Myung-hwan), published in the 'Law Theory and Practice Research' journal by the Korean Association of Legal Theory and Practice, stated that "recognizing individual laws for professional occupations in healthcare and society is a universal legislative system worldwide."

However, there are rebuttals that simply applying foreign nursing law legislative examples to justify enactment in Korea is difficult. The 2019 paper 'A Study on the Necessity and Realization Plan for Enacting a Standalone Nursing Act' (Choi Sung-kyung) from Yonsei University's Institute of Medical Law and Ethics pointed out, "While analyzing overseas cases is necessary as basic research, the same frame used in the early 2000s?that because advanced countries have already enacted standalone nursing laws, we must also enact one?seems unlikely to gain consensus in today's society." The Ministry of Health and Welfare also expressed in a February 2023 report to the National Assembly that "since the legal structures and healthcare legal systems differ by country, simple comparison or imitation is inappropriate."