‘Nurse died due to heavy workload, workplace bullying’
A nurse’s suicide early this year was caused by workplace hazing and a heavy workload, a fact-finding committee said, Friday.
According to the committee that has been investigating the case since March, Seo Ji-yoon, a nurse at the Seoul City-run Seoul Medical Center, suffered from bullying by senior nurses and the systematic poor working conditions of the nursing industry.
Seo died on Jan. 5, leaving a note that read: “I don’t want my hospital coworkers to come to my funeral.”
Her message indicated she had suffered from prevalent bullying in the nursing community, called “taeum,” or burn-to-ashes in Korean, meaning senior nurses harass juniors with hierarchic leverage and control over them through spreading malicious rumors, holding back key work-related information and assigning a harsh work schedule.
The committee said Seo had a heavy workload, as she worked for 217 days last year, more than the 212 days which was the average for fellow nurses who began working in the same year as Seo. She worked the night shift for 83 days, also more than the average of 76 days.
Seo was also moved to a department she didn’t want to work at, whereas her fellow nurses were moved to positions they wanted, and she was not provided with a desk, computer and cabinet at the new department, according to the committee.
Based on the investigation results, the committee asked Seoul City to apologize to the bereaved family and come up with measures to prevent similar cases from occurring. It also requested disciplinary action for the executives of the hospital and senior nurses.
The committee pointed out nurses’ general working conditions at the hospital have been poor, with a heavy workload, unavailability of vacations and frequent changes in personnel.
It recommended the hospital improve nurses’ working conditions by introducing standing auditors, revising the unclear personnel management system, improving the night shift system to protect staffers’ health, and setting up a new division where workers can report and consult about hazing.