title: Change in the word symbol for nurse in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the 1987 change in the written symbol for the work "nurse" in Korea, engendered by Mo Im Kim.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive historical and narrative analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from documents in four libraries 1992-1996 in Seoul, Korea and Dallas, Texas. Kim and 20 of her friends, colleagues, and associates were interviewed. Findings from the interviews were compared with historical nursing documents and letters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Kim's work with her colleagues and their joint endeavors resulted in a change in nursing's status and responsibilities through an alteration of the Korean symbol for nursing. The symbol change resulted in the definition of nursing moving from that of manual laborer to that of teacher or professional.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Changing the symbol for nurse reflected the shift in nursing's responsibilities and caused a legal change in the official civil service classification of nurse. This, in turn, has changed the status of nursing and led to more professional practice.
authors.affiliation: Texas Woman's University, Denton, USA. DF-Cho@twu.edu
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kashka
mesh_terms: D006676:History of Nursing; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D007802:Language