busiest 1 month, 197 (19.4%) respondents answered, ‘almost every day’ and 98 people (9.6%) answered ‘3 to 4 days a week,’ and it seems that about 3 out of 10 people continued to work after work. 584 (57.5%) of the respondents said that they had an intention of changing jobs while performing COVID-19 related duties. Nurses are vulnerable to infection as much as they are easily exposed to infectious diseases at work. As of Jan. 7, 2022, 4,450 nurses were infected with COVID-19 in Korea, and 3 died, which is higher than other occupations.586) According to the ‘survey on the working conditions of nurses in response to COVID-19’ conducted by the Korean Nurses Association in 2020, fatigue due to excessive work (52.6%) and poor concentration due to long hours of work (31.7%) are the main factors for the risk of infection. B) Legal and Institutional Issues Related to Nursing Personnel in Korea The ILO Nursing Personnel Convention (1977) stipulates that nurses should be treated equally with other workers in overtime work. However, because medical service is an essential public service without interruption, long working hours have become commonplace. For nurses, pursuant to Article 59(1)(5) of the Labor Standards Act, if the employer agrees in writing with the employee representative, overtime work can be performed in excess of 12 hours a week. In such a case, there is no maximum number of hours of continuous work. These problems became more prominent during COVID-19. One of the difficulties faced by nurses was waiting in the hospital for a long time in case of emergencies. Staying at hospitals for 3~4 days at a time was a common experience for the nurses during the early days of COVID-19. Through the revision of the Labor Standards Act in 2018, a proviso was added that after overtime work pursuant to Article 59(1)(5), a rest time of 11 or more consecutive hours must be guaranteed, but it is difficult to comply with this regulation in the event of an emergency. Furthermore, there is no upper limit on the continued working hours, so there is no choice but to be exposed to long hours of work depending on the situation. 586) Medi-Gate News, 1,327 doctors with COVID-19, Of 15 medical personnel who died, 10 are doctors, Feb. 17, 2022. 238