parliament-nursing act
Opposition-controlled parliament unilaterally passes nursing act
By Kim Han-joo
SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- The opposition-controlled National Assembly on Thursday passed a nursing act aimed at defining the roles and responsibilities of nurses in a clearer manner amid fierce opposition from the ruling party and doctors.
The bill was approved in a plenary session with 179 votes in favor and two abstentions out of 181 lawmakers present.
All but two members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), which has opposed the bill, boycotted the vote and walked out of the chamber en masse before voting began.
The bill is aimed at stipulating the roles and responsibilities of nurses as the Medical Service Act only states, without laying out specific roles, that nurses must perform medical assistance under the guidance of a medical doctor.
The bill also aims to improve the working conditions of nurses.
But doctors and other critics, especially practical nurses, have opposed the revision and threatened to go on strike upon the passage, arguing the legislation is only aimed at ensuring the interests of nurses while nursing assistants could be discriminated against.
The PPP has said it would ask President Yoon Suk Yeol to veto the bill.
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