South Korea passes Nursing Act amendment to regulate patient ratios

The South Korean National Assembly has passed an amendment to the Nursing Act, establishing a legal basis for determining appropriate patient-to-nurse ratios. The amendment aims to enhance patient safety and alleviate the excessive workload of nurses by allowing for staffing standards tailored to the specific characteristics of medical institutions, such as bed size and clinical specialties.

While the law does not immediately mandate a specific number of patients per nurse, the Ministry of Health and Welfare will develop detailed implementation guidelines through ministerial decrees. To ensure compliance, the amendment includes provisions to reflect staffing standards in medical institution evaluations.

Separately, debate continues regarding the Medical Dispute Mediation Act, scheduled for implementation next May. The law seeks to reduce criminal liability for medical professionals performing high-risk essential medical procedures. Critics, including legal experts, argue that the terms ‘high-risk essential medical care’ and ‘gross negligence’ are too vague and that the law may infringe upon victims' rights to trial. Conversely, the medical community views the measures as necessary to protect essential medical services from excessive legal burdens.