Nurses in Asia have joined forces with Korean Nurses Association to demand Korean lawmakers to enact an independent nursing law.
The representative nursing groups from nine countries, under the Alliance of Asian Nurses’ Association (AANA), sent a letter to the National Assembly on Saturday to encourage enacting nursing legislation. They are Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
“Korea has played a leading role in nursing policy, as the nation was the first in the world to unify a four-year curriculum of nursing education and produced masters and doctors over 20,000,” Asian nurses said in the letter. “Despite Korea’s many achievements, it was worrisome that there was no independent nursing law in the country.”
More than 80 countries have an independent system of nursing law. Enacting a nursing law in Korea would guarantee the support and development of related competence and would be the way to have the Korean nurse become more credited in the world, the letter added.
“Asian nurses emphasized that the system of the unified Medical Services Act could not reflect the current trends where nurses lead the nursing service and take various roles,” it went on to say. “Enacting a nursing law will directly influence on enhanced Korean national healthcare.”
The letter was signed by Ellen Ku, president of College of Nursing Hong Kong, Harif Fadhillah, president of Indonesian National Nurses Association, Toshiko Fukui, president of Japanese Nursing Association, Chao Mat, vice secretary-general of Nurses Association of Macau, Sharipah Asiah Syed Junid Aljunid, president of Malaysian Nurses Association, Erlinda C. Palaganas, president of Philippine Nurses Association, Lim Swee Hia, president of Singapore Nurses Association, Hsiu-Hung Wang, president of Taiwan Nurses Association, and Nanthaphan Chinlumprasert, co-chair of Nurses Association of Thailand.