[Nursing Act Passed]②From First Proposal to 18 Years... Until National Assembly Plenary Session Approval

First Proposal of the 'Nurse Act' by the 17th National Assembly in 2005
Reintroduced in the 20th National Assembly but Expired with Term
Discussion Accelerated After COVID-19 Outbreak... Finally Passed

It took a long and arduous time for the Nursing Act, which separates the nursing sector from the medical law system maintained for over 70 years, to pass the plenary session of the National Assembly. The official discussion of the Nursing Act in the National Assembly of Korea dates back 18 years to the 17th National Assembly. In April 2005, Kim Sun-mi, a member of the Uri Party, introduced the "Nurses Act" as the first attempt to establish an independent nursing-related law.

On the 27th, members of the Korean Nurses Association, who witnessed the passage of the Nursing Act at the National Assembly plenary session, are waving their hands as they exit.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The reason for proposing this bill was similar to the current reasons for enacting the Nursing Act. Despite the increasing demand for nursing services, the Medical Service Act defined nurses' duties merely as assisting doctors' medical activities, failing to encompass the diversified and specialized tasks of nurses. While the bill regulated nurses' qualifications and scope of work, similar to the current Nursing Act, it did not separately regulate nursing assistants nor include provisions for improving their treatment. This bill was automatically abolished due to the expiration of the 17th National Assembly's term.

Afterwards, discussions on the enactment of the Nursing Act made little progress until June 2013, when the Korean Nurses Association opposed the government's nursing workforce reform plan and announced its intention to launch a nationwide signature campaign with one million people to enact the Nursing Act, bringing the issue to the surface. This was the first case of collective action by the association demanding an independent nursing law. However, no bill was introduced in the National Assembly, and related bills were only consecutively proposed during the 20th National Assembly. In January 2018, Kim Seung-hee of the Liberty Korea Party introduced the "Act on the Training and Treatment Improvement of Nursing Personnel," which codified the improvement of nurses' treatment. In April 2019, Kim Se-yeon of the Liberty Korea Party and Kim Sang-hee of the Democratic Party of Korea each introduced the "Nursing Act" and the "Nurses and Midwives Act," respectively, independently regulating nursing personnel and reigniting the debate. All three bills were submitted to the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee and discussed but were ultimately discarded due to the expiration of the Assembly's term.

Since the 21st National Assembly convened, discussions on the enactment of the Nursing Act have become more active. The importance of nursing and caregiving sectors increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and public perception improved significantly as nurses cared for confirmed patients under difficult circumstances. In March 2021, three Nursing Act bills were introduced by lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties on the same day, marking the start of serious public debate. In November of the same year, the "Health and Welfare Medical Solidarity," composed of healthcare professional groups opposing the Nursing Act, including the Korean Medical Association, was launched. Subsequently, in May 2022, under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, the Health and Welfare Committee passed a Nursing Act bill as a committee alternative. However, after moving to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for systematic and detailed review, the bill was not processed for over eight months.

The momentum began to accelerate on February 9 of this year when the Health and Welfare Committee decided to directly refer the Nursing Act bill to the plenary session. With the Democratic Party leading the bill's passage again, intense conflicts arose between ruling and opposition parties as well as within the healthcare sector, divided over support and opposition to the Nursing Act. On the 11th, healthcare organizations, the ruling party, and the government discussed a mediation proposal for the Nursing Act, but the Korean Nurses Association opposed the significantly diluted content from the original bill, causing the mediation to fail. Subsequently, on the 13th, the Democratic Party attempted to bring the Nursing Act to the plenary session, but Speaker Kim Jin-pyo halted it citing the need for consultation. Nevertheless, the bill was ultimately passed in the plenary session under the leadership of the opposition parties.