N
ational nurses united RNs often criticize the American
hospital industry for adopting practices used by auto manu-
facturers to optimize and speed up productivity on their
assembly lines, but what happens when your hospital is actually
owned by a car company?
That's exactly the case experienced by nurses in South Korea,
where one of the largest hospitals in the country is owned by
Hyundai, which is actually a parent conglomerate that owns many
more types of companies than just the eponymous car brand it is
known for in the United States.
The differences between South Korean and American hospital
systems were just one of the many conversation topics covered dur-
ing a September visit by RN leaders and staff from the Korean
Health and Medical Workers' Union to the United States. National
Nurses United hosted the nurses, who came to learn the latest about
the organization's campaign to win staffing ratios in Washington,
D.C., in individual states, and federally; NNU's health and safety
strategies in response to the Ebola crisis and other infectious dis-
eases in light of South Korea's own disaster handling the Middle
East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus; and NNU's campaigns to
win single-payer Medicare for all and against globalization, privati-
zation, and austerity.
"There are many similarities between Korean and American nurs-
es," said Ji Hyun Yoo, president of KHMU and a post-partum RN.
"Both groups are very responsible and caring, hardworking, active in
their unions, and share a very high level of unity. We want to thank
NNU for playing a critical leadership role in bringing nurses around
the world together. Nursing as a profession should be elevated to a
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STAFF REPORT
Study Abroad
South Korean RNs visit NNU for learning, solidarity
