Purpose: The study aim was to examine the home healthcare system and relevant education, as well as the special certification examination, and propose a plan to increase the supply of home health nurses. Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted using data from research articles, Korean and U.S. educational institutes and organizations, Korean national statistical data, government press releases, and related medical legislation. Results: Between 2005 and 2006, 763 home health nurses were certified through the special qualification examination; however, in the 16 years from 2007 to 2023 (after the graduate-level program was established), a total of 555 home health nurses were certified, with an average of approximately 35 per year. Currently, 790 home health nurses are working at 194 medical institutions nationwide. Relatively few institutions exist in rural areas, and the supply of home health nurses is low. Only seven educational institutions offer home health nurse certification programs, with a total of 77 designated students. In contrast to Korea, post-master's certification courses are offered in the U.S.. Conclusion: To expand the supply of home health nurses, we recommend revising the rules for the special qualification examination and introducing a post-master's certification program for home health nurses. Future studies should provide additional education for applicants from other specialties in post-master's certification programs.

Purpose: This scoping review aimed to synthesize the characteristics and effects of interventions designed to prevent unintentional home injuries in older adults in Korea. Methods: The review was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute protocol. A literature search was performed for studies published between 2001 and 2022 in the DBPia, RISS, KMBase, and NDSL databases. A total of 1,620 studies were identified, and 27 studies were included in the final analysis. Data were analyzed for characteristics of the literature, intervention-related unintentional injury mechanisms, and safety areas. Results: Most selected studies utilized a quasi-experimental design and targeted elderly women. In terms of injury mechanisms, 21 of 27 studies focused on falls, 2 on fire/disaster, 3 on drugs, and 1 on food. The most common preventive intervention for falls was exercise, and its effectiveness was verified using physical safety variables. Interventions in the fire/disaster, drug, and food domains were all educational, and changes in knowledge, behavior, and attitude were verified. Conclusion: This study confirmed the effectiveness of interventions for preventing unintentional injuries in the homes of community-dwelling older adults. These findings can serve as a foundation for developing and implementing unintentional injury prevention interventions at home for community-dwelling older adults. Multidisciplinary research is needed to address multifaceted safety issues by considering the home environment and injury risk factors.

Purpose: This study aimed to enhance health management and prevention strategies for precocious puberty by comparing the knowledge, motivation, and behaviors related to reducing exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) between mothers of children with precocious puberty and those of typically developing children. Methods: Participants were 66 mothers of children with precocious puberty from a hospital and 71 mothers of typically developing children from an elementary school. The research questionnaire assessed knowledge of EDCs, motivation, self-efficacy, and behaviors towards reduced exposure to EDCs, in addition to general characteristics of children with precocious puberty. Data analysis utilized descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation. Results: There were statistically significant differences in self-efficacy (p=.015) and behavior (p=.001) regarding reduced exposure to EDCs between the two groups. Behaviors toward reduced exposure to EDCs were positively associated with knowledge of EDCs, motivation, and self-efficacy among mothers of children with precocious puberty. Additionally, these behaviors correlated positively with knowledge of EDCs, motivation, self-efficacy, and the child's birth weight and waist circumference among mothers of typically developing children. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that mothers of children with precocious puberty exhibited less proactive behavior in reducing exposure to EDCs compared to mothers of typical children. Therefore, it is important to foster interest in the impact of environmental factors, beyond characteristic factors, on behaviors aimed at reducing exposure to EDCs.

Purpose: This is a retrospective secondary data analysis study based on real-world data to analyze the level of nursing care needs of patients in a comprehensive nursing care service ward, and identify factors influencing nursing needs. Methods: Study participants included patients admitted to two comprehensive nursing care service wards at a tertiary general hospital located in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. After obtaining permission from the health and medical information team of the target hospital, data were collected from their electronic medical records. Nursing care needs were measured using seven items on nursing activity and four items on daily living activities developed by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS version 29.0 with frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation, minimum and maximum values, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression. Results: The level of nursing care needs of patients in comprehensive nursing care service wards was found to be higher for patients with pressure sores (β=.33), older patients (β=.26), patients who underwent procedures (β=.15), patients with present guardians (β=.15), and patients with more comorbidities (β=.10). The total explanatory power was 51.0%. Conclusion: It is necessary to accurately identify patients' nursing care needs and provide nursing care according to priority by considering the characteristics of patients in comprehensive nursing care service wards.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the association between demographic characteristics, hospitalization-related characteristics, and the severity of long-term hospitalization in a high-level general hospital, and to analyze the factors influencing decisions of all patients. Methods: General and clinical characteristics of the participants were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Differences in these characteristics, contingent upon whether a power source was requested, were analyzed using independent t-Test and Chi-squared tests. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors related to the presence or absence of power requests. Results: The factors impacting the decision to refer a dependent variable include medical treatment (neurosurgery) (B=2.118, SE=0.960, p-value=.027, OR=8.314, 95% CI=1.267-54.551), infection isolation (CRE) (B=1.336, SE=0.666, p-value=.045, OR=3.804, 95% CI=1.032-14.021), and the utilization of tertiary antibiotics (B=3.076, SE=1.362, p-value= .024, OR=21.663, 95% CI=1.502-312.530). Conclusion: This study found a significant association between medical treatment (neurosurgery), infection isolation (CRE), and the use of tertiary antibiotics as dependent variables. These findings indicate that continuous monitoring can contribute to a reduction in long-term financial burdens.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop and evaluate an integrated management program to enhance self-efficacy, compliance with sick-role behaviors, symptom management, and biomarker indication in hemodialysis patients. Methods: The integrated management program was developed through a systematic review of literature, analysis of relevant online data, and expert validation. It comprised 480 min of video-based education delivered eight times over four weeks, supplemented by weekly phone consultations and text message support from a nurse. To evaluate the program's effectiveness, it was administered to 44 patients with hemodialysis in a single group in a pre-post test experimental study. Changes in self-efficacy, sick-role behavior compliance, dialysis symptom index, and biomarkers were assessed. Results: The program yielded statistically significant improvements in self-efficacy (t=-7.13, p<.001), sick-role behavioral compliance (t=-7.35, p<.001), dialysis symptom index (t=4.32, p<.001), and blood urea nitrogen levels (t=2.55, p=.014) among the participants. Conclusion: The integrated management program is an effective intervention for improving hemodialysis patients' self-efficacy, compliance with sick-role behaviors, and experience of symptoms. Additionally, it is considered an intervention with high clinical applicability and efficiency through video reproducibility.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop and assess the impact of an integrated infection control education program on the awareness, attitudes, and performance of infection control among caregivers in long-term care facilities. Methods: Participants were recruited from two long-term care facilities with 25 caregivers in both the experimental group and the control group. This study used non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental pre-post design. The effectiveness of a developed Integrated Infection Control Education Program was evaluated based on infection control awareness, attitudes, and performance. Data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 28.0 through descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Fisher's exact tests, and independent t-tests. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the degree of awareness (t=-5.00, p<.001), attitude (t=-4.91, p<.001), and performance (t=-6.66, p<.001) of infection control between the two groups. Conclusion: Given these results, the integrated infection control education program significantly improved infection control awareness, attitudes, and performance among caregivers in long-term care facilities. This study is noteworthy because it provided comprehensive education on infection control practices to caregivers in environments that are particularly susceptible to infections, especially following COVID-19. This educational program is actively utilized and validated in practice, it would enhance the infection control performance of caregivers, thereby reducing infection rates within facilities, shortening the length of stay for elderly residents in long term care facilities, and contributing to the reduction of healthcare costs.

Purpose: This descriptive research study is intended to develop practical strategies for enhancing the quality of elderly care by evaluating the levels of ageism and compassion competence among clinical nurses and their impact on geriatric nursing performance. Methods: This study involved 162 nurses who provided direct care to elderly patients in a department with many such patients. Of the 161 returned questionnaires, 150 were analyzed, excluding 11 that had insincere or missing responses. To analyze the data, a comprehensive approach was employed using the IBM SPSS 27.0 program that included calculations of frequency and percentage, mean, and standard deviation, as well as more complex statistical tests such as the independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and hierarchical linear regression analysis. Results: Compassion competence was significantly positively correlated with elderly care and negatively correlated with ageism. This study conclusively demonstrates that compassion competence among nurses in geriatric nursing situations plays a crucial role in provision of quality nursing grounded in understanding and respect for the elderly. Consequently, it is imperative to develop educational strategies tailored to each career stage of nursing practice to further enhance effective elderly care. Conclusion: This study conclusively demonstrates that compassion competence in geriatric nursing situations plays a crucial role in provision of quality nursing grounded in understanding and respect for the elderly. Consequently, it is imperative to develop educational strategies tailored to each career stage of nursing practice to further enhance effective elderly care.