지역사회 통합돌봄 시대 간호의 정체성 탐색 : 서서평과 성진숙의 간호 실천을 중심으로 = Exploring the Identity of Nursing in the Era of Community Integrated Care : Focusing on the Nursing Practices of Elisabeth Johanna Shepping and Jin-Sook Sung

국문 초록 (Abstract)

본 연구는 지역사회 통합돌봄 시대(Integrated Care Era)를 살아가는 간호 실천의 근원적 의미를 고찰하기 위하여, 한국 간호 역사에서 중요한 위치를 점한 두 간호사 서서평과 성진숙의 생애를 생애사 연구 방법을 통해 탐구하였다. 서서평은 일제강점기 조선에서 사회적 약자에 대한 전인적, 공동체적 돌봄을 실천함으로써 간호 선교의 기반을 마련한 인물이다. 성진숙은 현재 국내외 의료선교 현장에서 취약계층을 위한 전문적 간호와 영성 돌봄을 결합한 통합적 돌봄을 실천하고 있다. 자료 분석 결과 ‘소명으로서의 간호’, ‘인간 중심 돌봄’, ‘전문성과 영성의 통합’, ‘사회적 약자에 대한 연대’라는 공통 주제가 도출되었다. 본 연구는 통합돌봄 시대 간호 실천이 나아가야 할 방향성으로 직업적 역량과 영성, 관계성, 사회적 정의를 아우르는 전인적 간호를 제시한다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to explore the practical meanings of authentic nursing care in the era of integrated care by examining the life histories of two nurses who occupy key positions in the history of Korean nursing and Christian nursing mission: Elisabeth Johanna Shepping and Jin-Sook Sung. Within contemporary healthcare, the Integrated Care Era demands a shift from fragmented systems toward holistic, person-centered, and community-connected care, calling for a renewed understanding of the essence and identity of nursing practice.
Elisabeth Shepping practiced nursing for socially vulnerable populations in Korea during the Japanese colonial period, exemplifying holistic and incarnational care by residing among impoverished communities and patients with Hansen’s disease. Through integrated acts of clinical nursing, women’s protection, community support, and spiritual accompaniment, she helped establish the early foundations of Christian nursing mission and community-based care infrastructure in Korea.
On the other hand, Jin-Sook Sung, as a nurse-missionary actively serving in domestic and international medical mission fields, continues to practice integrated, whole-person nursing care for medically underserved and socially marginalized populations including remote villages, refugees, vulnerable families, and community health workers. Her nursing ministry embodies the integration of high-level professional nursing competencies—such as infection control, fundamental care, community health education, and capacity building—with spiritual care including prayer, presence, encouragement, and meaning-restorative support.
Narrative analysis of public records, institutional documents, interviews, and verified testimonies revealed four major convergent themes: (1) nursing as vocation; (2) relational care through empathic presence and compassion; (3) integration of professionalism and spirituality; and (4) solidarity with socially marginalized and medically underserved populations. These findings indicate that the essence of nursing care is not merely a clinical task but an ontological, relational, spiritual, and socially responsible practice that restores dignity, meaning, and community-connected healing.
This study proposes a practical direction for nursing in the Integrated Care Era: nursing care must equally embrace professional capability, spiritual identity, mutual relational connectivity, and social ethics for health equity and justice. The life histories of Shepping and Sung offer an important historical and ongoing model for contemporary nursing education reform and for strengthening community-based nursing policy, reinforcing nursing’s identity as a holistic, person-accompanying, community-bridging, and socially accountable care profession.