Nurses allowed to perform CPR on emergency patients as trainee doctors’ walkout continues

Nurses will be allowed to perform CPR and administer medication for emergency patients beginning Friday, officials have said, as part of the government’s efforts to cope with disruptions of medical services due to the ongoing mass walkout by trainee doctors.

The guidelines by the Ministry of Health and Welfare will increase the roles of nurses at emergency care units, as the mass walkout to protest the government’s plan to boost medical students entered its 17th day, with some 11,000 junior doctors defying the government’s order to return to work.

The guidelines will be applied to nurses at teaching hospitals where trainee doctors left their worksites, according to the ministry.

The ministry launched a pilot program late last month, enabling nurses to undertake specific responsibilities held by doctors in a restricted capacity. The role includes performing CPR and injecting medication into patients in critical condition.

Earlier in the day, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong visited a hospital in Jeonju, 192 kilometers south of Seoul, and encouraged medical staff there.

Cho told reporters that his ministry is taking steps to suspend the medical licenses of defiant trainee doctors “in accordance with the law.”

Separately, Jun Byung-wang, a senior official at the health ministry, told reporters that the government decided to spend 188.2 billion won (US$141 million) per month from the state health insurance fund to respond to the labor action by trainee doctors.

Despite the government’s warnings, the number of defiant trainee doctors has been on a steady rise. As of Wednesday, 11,219 trainee doctors at 100 teaching hospitals had left their worksites, accounting for some 91 percent of all junior doctors, according to the ministry.

As the medical interns and residents, who play a vital role in assisting with surgeries and emergency services at major general hospitals, remained absent, local hospitals have been experiencing cancellations and delays in surgeries and emergency medical treatment.

The government has been pushing to increase physician numbers as a way to resolve the shortage of doctors in rural areas and essential medical fields, such as pediatrics and neurosurgery, and also given the super-aging population.

Doctors say the quota hikes will undermine the quality of medical education and other services and result in higher medical costs for patients. They have called for measures to first address the underpaid specialists and improve the legal protection against excessive medical malpractice lawsuits.