Some hospitals in South Korea have controversially delegated tasks, traditionally reserved for physicians, to nurses. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – In the wake of a mass departure of resident doctors, some hospitals in South Korea have controversially delegated tasks, traditionally reserved for physicians, to nurses.
The Korean Nurses Association reported receiving a complaint that a nurse was instructed to pronounce a patient dead due to the absence of a doctor, highlighting the severity of the issue.
To address the growing crisis caused by the collective resignation of doctors, the association established a special reporting center on February 20 to collect reports of illegal medical orders and other issues faced by nurses.
As of the morning of March 6, a total of 218 complaints had been filed.
Nurses are reportedly struggling with increased workload and stress as they are compelled to cover for the duties of the departing resident doctors.
According to the complaints, some hospitals are hastily training newly hired nurses to perform as Physician Assistants (PAs), involving them in patient care without adequate preparation.
Other reports include emergency situations where nurses had to administer high-risk medications based on verbal orders and instances where repeated requests for prescriptions went unanswered.
Additionally, nurses described feeling helpless and depressed while having to remotely prescribe medications and complete patient records during weekends.
In response to the escalating medical staffing crisis, the government initiated a pilot program on February 27 allowing nurses to legally perform some of the doctors’ duties.
The program enables hospital directors to redefine the scope of work for nurses based on their competency and qualifications.
Medical practices conducted by participating institutions under this program are protected from civil, criminal, and administrative liabilities.
However, the lack of clear guidelines on the permissible scope of work for nurses has led to allegations of the program’s misuse by some medical institutions.
An official from the Korean Nurses Association criticized the vague nature of the pilot program, stating that some hospitals are exploiting it to indiscriminately offload tasks onto nurses.
The official emphasized the need for the government to provide detailed guidelines on the scope of nurse duties.
In response to these concerns, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has developed more specific guidelines defining the range of tasks nurses can perform, which are expected to be distributed to medical institutions this week.
These guidelines aim to distinguish between general nurses, PA nurses, and specialist nurses, setting out the tasks they can undertake based on their expertise and skill level.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
