The opposition-controlled National Assembly on Thursday passed a nursing act aimed at defining the roles and responsibilities of nurses in a clearer manner amid fierce opposition from the ruling party and doctors.

The bill was approved in a plenary session with 179 votes in favor and two abstentions out of 181 lawmakers present.

All but two members of the ruling People Power Party, which has opposed the bill, boycotted the vote and walked out of the chamber en masse before voting began.

The bill is aimed at stipulating the roles and responsibilities of nurses as the Medical Service Act only states, without laying out specific roles, that nurses must perform medical assistance under the guidance of a medical doctor.

The bill also aims to improve the working conditions of nurses.

But doctors and other critics, especially practical nurses, have opposed the revision and threatened to go on strike upon the passage, arguing the legislation is only aimed at ensuring the interests of nurses while nursing assistants could be discriminated against.

The PPP also has said it would ask the president to veto the bill.

A coalition of 13 medical workers' organizations expressed "deep anger and regret" over the approval of the bill, saying it could cause the "collapse of the health care and medical system."

"The nursing act contains serious elements that have an adverse impact on the people directly," the group led by the Korea Medical Association said in a news conference.

"Politicians should acknowledge the mistake of pushing ahead with the bill at the parliament and come up with detailed measures to cancel it," the group added.

Lee Pil-soo, president of the KMA, began a hunger strike at the group's headquarters in Seoul following the passage of the act. (Yonhap)