Purpose: The aim of this study was to estimate optimization model of stay time in EMC. Methods: Data were collected at an EMC in a hospital using medical records from June to August in 2007. The sample size was 8,378. The data were structured by stay time for doctor visit, decision making, and discharge from EMC. Descriptive statistics were used to find out general characteristics of patients. Average mean and quantile regression models were adopted to estimate optimized stay time in EMC. Results: The stay times in EMC were highly skewed and non-normal distributions. Therefore, average mean as an indicator of optimal stay time was not appropriate. The total stay time using conditional quantile regression model was estimated about 110 min, that was about 166 min shorter than estimated time using average mean. Conclusion: According to these results, we recommend to use a conditional quantile regression model to estimate optimal stay time in EMC. We suggest that this results will be used to develop a guideline to manage stay time more effectively in EMC.

Purpose: This study was done to develop and test a maternal role strengthening program based on home care nursing. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed. Changes in the variables(maternal identity and confidence of maternal role) were evaluated to test the effects of the developed program. Participants were first-time mothers receiving home care nursing from S Medical Center following normal spontaneous vaginal delivery(experimental group 29; control group 29). Data collection was conducted from December 2008 to February 2009. $X^2$-test, Fisher's exact test and t-test were used to analyse the data. Results: Hypothesis 1, that the experimental group receiving this program would experience a stronger maternal identity than the control group, was supported(t=-7.990, p=<.001). Hypothesis 2, that the experimental group would have higher confidence in their maternal role than the control group, was also supported(t=-10.109, p=<.001). Conclusion: The maternal role strengthening program based on home care nursing developed in this study was found to be an effective means of improving maternal identity and confidence of maternal role. As these traits are developed once the baby is born, active nursing programs which provide continuous training and demonstrations to mothers are needed prior to hospitalization and following hospital discharge.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a homecare nursing assessment tool for terminal cancer patients, testing the validity and reliability of the tool. Methods: This was a methodological study. The tool was developed in four stages: first, preliminary items were developed based on Gordon' functional health pattern model; second, a panel of specialists reduced the number of preliminary items using validity tests for content; third, final items were selected from the results of a pre-test. Finally, from August 4th, 2011 to August 26th, 2011, reliability and validity were tested using a sample of 125 terminal cancer patients in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. Results: The final tool consisted of 39 items, with Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ 0.70. Using factor analysis, 10 factors were extracted; the correlation coefficient of these was over 0.3. Conclusion: The tool developed in this study was identified as having a high degree of reliability and validity. Given this, the tool can be effectively utilized for implementing and improving home care for patients with terminal cancer.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of nursing units in a hospital using DEA. Methods: Data were collected using the medical information system of a general hospital in a city. Input variables were number of nurses, number of nurse-aides, number of beds, and overhead costs. Output variables included number of admitted patients, rate of bed utilization, satisfaction of discharged patients, and prevention rate of safety accidents and sores. EMS Window version 3.1 was used to measure the efficiency score and descriptive statistics were applied to analyze the general characteristics of variables. Results: The average efficiency score of 18 general nursing units was approximately .99. Nine nursing units had a 1.00 efficiency score. Conclusion: Our findings reveal that nursing units operated very efficiently. To increase efficiency of inefficient nursing units, we recommend results of the DEA slack analysis as a benchmark of the most efficient nursing unit.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of LUTS (Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms) and factors affecting LUTS in patients with prostate cancer. Methods: Fifty-four patients with prostate cancer participated and they completed a structured questionnaire at a hospital in Seoul. The LUTS level was measured by using the International prostate symptom score (1992) and the data were analyzed by Wilcoxon rank sum test and Kurskal-Wallis test. Results: Most subjects obtained a higher than moderate LUTS score. The participants who had a lower perceived health status and did not drink alcohol were more likely to had a lower LUTS score than other patients who had higher perceived health status and drink alcohol. In addition, eye diseases were significantly associated with the LUTS score. In LUTS, all the patients received higher IPSS-QOL (International prostate symptom score quality of life) and frequency, nocturia. Conclusion: For proper nursing care related to LUTS, nurses should focus on the factors identified when performing nursing assessments and should develop nursing intervention programs for symptoms management.