Ideals and Reality of Public Health Nursing in Korea: Influence of U.S. Nurse Advisors, 1945~1961

South Korea's national healthcare system after liberation often described as transformation from 'sanitation' to 'public health'. The U.S. military government introduced public health nursing as the primary vehicle for communicating the newly introduced concept of public health to the Korean public. This meant that nursing, which had been in a subordinate position within the healthcare system during the Japanese occupation, had to be repositioned within the healthcare system as an independent and leading professional agent of healthcare. At the same time creating positions for public health nurses within the newly envisioned health center system, and convincing the public that nurses were the primary agents of public health activities. Yet, in resource limited setting, the role of public health nurses was significantly scaled back. Initial plans for institutionalized, community-wide health care through home visits shifted to addressing the challenges facing Korean society, including maternal and child health and infectious disease prevention. Ironically, the expansion of health centers during late 1950s diminished the position of public health nurses within local government health systems, who were gradually replaced by male administrative staff. The role of public health nurses was greatly curtailed in the 1960s, but they laid the groundwork for later community nursing and health care efforts. At the same time, public health nurses were assigned with new role of 'visiting' local health centers for observation, education, and management. Public health nursing allows to look beyond the ideological and institutional dimensions to examine how new concepts and practices of "public health" were actually transmitted to communities in post-liberation Korea.