The Korean Nurses Association (KNA) held a press conference in front of the Blue House fountain plaza on Monday morning, renewing its call for the government to unify the training and evaluation system for physician assistant (PA) nurses.
The KNA has been holding rallies near the Blue House every Tuesday since October 23, protesting the Ministry of Health and Welfare's plan to separate the operation of PA nurse training programs and certificate management from the designation and evaluation of training institutions. The association has been in sharp conflict with physician groups, including the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Hospital Association, over the authority to train and manage PA nurses. The KNA chose a site near the Blue House for the press conference to demand a meeting with President Lee Jae-myung regarding improvements to nurses' working conditions, including PA task training. Held under the theme "The earnest cry of 580,000 nurses: We once again urge a meeting with the President," Monday's press conference was attended by representatives of nurses' associations from 17 cities and provinces nationwide, along with frontline nurses.
The KNA argues that because PA work is an area requiring advanced clinical judgment, dividing the operation of training programs from the designation and evaluation of training institutions would fail to sufficiently reflect field expertise and would undermine the purpose of the Nursing Act. Park Jung-sun, president of the Seoul Nurses Association, who delivered opening remarks on behalf of the representatives of the 17 city and provincial nurses' associations, said, "This request for a meeting is not for the interests of a particular profession, but because of a national task on which the future of Korean medicine and the lives of the people depend." She argued, "A fragmented training system for specialized nurses cannot guarantee the quality of education and patient safety." She added, "What the Korean Nurses Association is calling for is not an expansion of authority, but the establishment of an integrated training and quality management system for the lives and safety of the people. This is a basic principle of medical education and a system verified internationally."
Participants that day wore black attire and observed a moment of silence to mourn the late nurse Kang Soo-bin, who recently died as a result of "taeum" (workplace bullying), expressing their determination that the same tragedy should never be repeated. They said that in the wake of this death, measures to improve working conditions—such as securing adequate nursing staff, legislating nurse-to-patient staffing standards, expanding the education-dedicated nurse system, and strengthening the functions of nursing workforce support centers—should be pursued together.
Park said, "A young person who entered the medical field with the dream of protecting patients' lives has left us, unable to protect her own life." She raised her voice, saying, "If understaffed sites, environments where proper learning is difficult, and unmanageable workloads continue, we cannot prevent another sacrifice." She stressed, "Establishing a proper training system for specialized nurses and improving nurses' working conditions are not separate policies, but one national task of properly nurturing and protecting people. When nurses are safe, patients are safe, and when nurses are respected, the quality of medical care also improves."
After the press conference, the KNA delegation moved to the Blue House to deliver a written request for a meeting with the president. Next week, the association plans to hold a large-scale rally in Gwanghwamun with 50,000 nurses from across the country participating, followed by a march to the Blue House.
