As South Korea struggles to contain an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome that has infected close to 100 people, the country’s health care system has come under scrutiny. Experts have said that the MERS outbreak may have been fueled by a hospital system that encourages family members to take on nursing duties, reported Choe Sang-Hun, a New York Times correspondent based in Seoul.
在韩国爆发的中东呼吸综合症已致近100人感染。在该国苦于遏制疫情之际，韩国的医疗系统受到了严格的检视。据时报驻首尔记者Choe Sang-Hun报道，专家称韩国的医疗系统鼓励家属承担护理病人的工作，或许助长了中东呼吸综合症的扩散。
Responding on Facebook and in the comments section that accompanies the article, readers who either live or have spent time in South Korea shared their experiences of the hospitals there. Readers discussed how overcrowding and the obligations of relatives have affected them and their families. The responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
在Facebook和我们的文章评论板块中，居住在韩国或曾到访韩国的读者分享了他们在韩国医院中的经历。他们谈到了过度拥挤问题以及家属承担护理义务对他们和家人的影响。这些评论有些经过编辑，有些经过缩减，以便更加简洁明了。

Twelve people and one sink
十二个人一个水池
I spent over three weeks in a hospital in Seoul, much of the time in a six-person room. Family members were indeed expected to perform many of the duties we would expect from nurses in the United States. In fact every patient’s bed had a small brown cot underneath for a family member to sleep on. So in an average room at my hospital you could have up to 12 people sleeping in a room with one shared sink. It’s a crowd.
我曾住在首尔的一家医院里，住了三个多星期，其中大部分时间在一个六人间里。病人家属被理所应当地认为应承担很多我们认为在美国护士会承担的工作。事实上，每个病人的病床下都附带一张供家属睡觉的棕色小床。在我住的这家医院，一间普通的病房里可能会睡着多达十二个人。水池只有一个，是共用的。的确很拥挤。
— 브렌도
——브렌도
Assistance from the maintenance man and Dad
维修工和小孩爸爸的帮助
My wife gave birth to our son in a hospital in South Korea. It was both charming and scary. After she got a C-section, she was transported to her room by the maintenance man (no mask, no scrubs, etc.). I was required to assist in moving her from the gurney to the bed. It wasn’t very graceful....
我的妻子在首尔的一家医院生下了我们的孩子。这挺令人高兴，但也挺令人害怕的。在剖腹产后，她被维修工（没有面具，没有清洁等。）转移到自己的房间。我被要求帮忙把她从带有滑轮的运输床抬到她的病床上。这可不怎么优雅……
— Steve Stimmel
——斯蒂夫·斯提梅尔(Steve Stimmel)
Lack of gloves, soap or paper towels
缺手套、缺肥皂、缺纸巾
I just spent three days in the hospital with my 10-month-old daughter. We paid for a double room so it was not overcrowded. However, I was responsible for all of my child’s care except for the administration of medicine via IV. This is typical. A family member is expected to stay with the patient to attend to all of his or her needs. Nurses do not do any of the personal care!
我刚和十个月大的女儿在医院一起呆了三天。我们付的是双人间的钱，不太挤。不过，除了安排静脉注射的药品，照顾孩子的工作都是由我承担的。这很普遍。家属被认为应该陪在病人身边以满足他（她）所有的需要。护士不承担任何个人护理工作！
None of the nurses or doctors ever wore gloves, ever. This includes the insertion of the IV and drawing blood. There was neither soap nor paper towels provided in the room’s bathroom. It was also not cleaned on a daily basis. In fact, I never saw it cleaned. I also didn’t see the nurses change the ear cover on the ear thermometer between patients. His illness was not severe, but I can see how the disease could easily spread here.
没有一位护士或医生戴过手套，从来没有，包括静脉注射和抽血的时候。病房的卫生间里没有肥皂、没有纸巾，也没有人每天打扫。实际上，我从来见过卫生间干净过。我也没看到过护士更换病人交叉使用的耳温计上的耳套。虽然那个病人的病不严重，但我明白为什么疾病可以在这里轻易地传播了。
— Amber Baila in Daegu, Korea
——埃博·拜拉(Amber Baila)，韩国大邱
Hygiene and overcrowding
卫生不达标、过度拥挤
Hygiene in hospitals in Korea is not what it should be. However, I think I can attribute this to overcrowding. I had a similar experience in a Chinese hospital, and when people are crowded, and you have to check nearly 200 patients a day, taking care of hygiene can be ignored due to exhaustion, etc.
韩国医院的卫生水平不是它应该有的样子。不过，我觉得这和过度拥挤有关。我在中国的医院也有过类似的经历。在人员密集、每天需要察看近两百名病人的时候，注意环境卫生容易因为疲惫等等而被忽视。
— Young Woo Kim
——Young Woo Kim
Not enough personnel
人手不足
People go to the hospital even for very small things that can be handled by themselves. I am not saying typical cold or things as such, but just a discomfort makes you go and see the doctor. As a result, you don’t have enough personnel to handle all these patients and family members get involved. The problem here is that family members lack a sense of hygiene compared to those trained nurses. They break hospital regulations, and patients don’t abide by the rules.
即便是患有可自行处理的一些小毛病，人们也会跑去医院。我不是在说典型性的感冒或者别的类似的毛病，而是仅仅有一丝不适人们就会跑去看医生。结果是，医院缺乏足够的人手应对全部的病人，家属只好参与其中了。问题是，和受过培训的护士相比，家属缺乏卫生意识。他们破坏医院的规章制度，病人也不遵守规定。
— Young Woo Kim
——Young Woo Kim
A referrals system is not unusual
司空见惯的转院现象
Getting referrals for admission into the bigger hospitals is neither a problem nor peculiarity for South Korea. Many developed countries adapt similar referrals system. In fact, the real problem would sit in the cultural background such as a lot of family members who are used to gathering to take care of or just visit the patients. They frequently and directly touch the patient without hand washing, and they return to their home via the mass transportation system.
为了进入大医院而申请转院在韩国不成什么问题，也非常常见。许多发达国家采用了相似的转诊体系。实际上，真正的问题或许来自文化背景，例如家庭成员人数多，这些家属往往习惯了为照顾病人或仅仅是探望病人而聚集在一起。他们经常不洗手就直接接触病人，并搭乘大众交通工具回家。
— Seok Joon Kwon
——Seok Joon Kwon
Miserable work conditions
护士糟糕的工作环境
There are not enough trained nurses due to their miserable work conditions, payment that’s simply not enough to compensate that and also some social stereotype or atmosphere that regards nurses to be rather inferior than doctors. I heard in the United States nurses are treated very differently, like real medical experts!
护士的工作环境糟糕，收入也无法弥补这一点，而且社会上存在护士地位远比医生低的偏见和气氛，因为这些原因，受过训练的护士不足。我听说在美国，护士受到非常不同的待遇，他们像医学专家一样。
— Hanbyul Kim
——Hanbyul Kim
Affordable care for everyone
人人负担得起基本医疗
We in Korea have a great system that makes general care affordable for everyone, but it does mean there is some overcrowding and skimping on the attention that should be paid.
在韩国，我们有一个很好的系统，因为它可以让每个人都负担得起基本的医疗服务，不过这也的确意味着，存在过度拥挤和照顾不足的现象。
Another thing is that the nurses in Korea don’t do much of the nurse work that you’d see in the United States. When my grandfather had a stroke last year he was put in a single room with five other patients, and we had to bring in outside help to be at his bedside or else he would have been completely ignored.
另一个是，在韩国，护士并不做很多你在美国看到的护士会做的事情。去年，我的祖父中风的时候，被与其他五名病人一起安排到一个单人间里，我们不得不从医院外部寻求帮助，带到他的床边，否则他就完全被无视了。
— Seline Jung
——Seline Jung
Fast and reliable service
快速、可靠
I have had nothing but fast and reliable service from South Korean hospitals. I’d go so far as to say that their hospitals and clinics are generally much faster and more efficient at getting their patients to the correct specialist than many of their counterparts in the United States.
我在韩国的医院享受到的都是快速而可靠的服务。我只能说，就把病人送到正确的专家那里而言，韩国的医院和诊所比美国的相应机构快捷而且有效率得多。
— Andrew Robinson in Jeju-Do, South Korea
——安德鲁·罗宾逊(Andrew Robinson)，韩国济州岛
Changes have been made
已有改观
The health care system here is excellent. In and out of the doctor’s office within 20 minutes with a bill under $10 for consultation and prescription drugs. Even had orthopedic surgery with a four-day stay in the hospital here for $350. Not worried about MERS at the moment. Diseases spread in hospitals all the time. Nothing new. The difference here is that people were allowed to go home and move from place to place. But that’s not happening now.
这里的医疗系统非常好。进出医生办公室的门也就20分钟，然后你就拥有了包含诊疗费和药费的账单，账单低于10美元。做一个整形手术并住院四天，在这里甚至也只要350美元。目前我还不担心中东呼吸综合症。疾病总是在医院里传播的。这并不新鲜。不同之处在于，人们过去被允许回家和在不同地方转来转去地就诊。现在不行了。
— Michael Perez
——迈克尔·佩雷斯(Michael Perez)
A helpful landlord
乐于助人的房东
I spent two weeks in a hospital in South Korea. I had no family there so my landlord looked after me.
我在一家韩国医院住过两周。我在韩国没有家属，是我的房东照顾了我。
— Matthew Stroud
——马修·斯特劳德(Matthew Stroud)