The Influence of Korean Nurses' Immigration into Germany on the Nursing Culture and Policy of the Countries: A Transnational Perspective

Na, Hye Sim

Abstract

While many studies have addressed the Korean nurse immigration to Germany in 1960s-70s in terms of the nurses' personal histories from a national perspective, few studies have pointed to its transnational impact on the medical field. Given this gap, the paper discusses its significance in the medical history through examining the nursing culture and policy changes made in both countries initiated by the immigration of the qualified Korean nurses. For this end, the paper first discusses differences between Korea and Germany in the nursing culture and professional standards at the time of the nurse immigration. The study then examines the transnational changes in the two nations in the nursing professional culture and related policies including nurse education and qualification process. More specifically, the paper argues that the Korean female nurses not only supplied labor in need but also contributed to the medical policy changes in Germany. The prevalent stereotype of nursing as a non-professional field in the German society begin to change while experiencing professionally qualified Asian immigrant nurses and practiced treatments that had been conduced by German doctors by then. This observation actually leads to the policy level reforms in nursing education and qualification process to meet the need of high-quality nurses when the labor immigration was stopped in mid-1970s. The paper also points out that the influence of the nurse immigration on the Korean society is not merely economic; it brought the policy level reforms in nurse education and qualification as well. The immigration, resulting in a lack of nurses in the Korean society, triggered two main responses: the expansion of the existing nurse education system and the establishment of a new system called "nursing assistant."