• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2007

In the United States, The concept of designation for hospital facilities that care for newborn infants according to the level of complexity of care provided was first proposed in 1976. The extent of perinatal health care regionalization varies widely from one area to the other. facilities that provide hospital care for newborn are classified into three categories on the basis of functional capabilities; level I-primary or basic care, level II-secondary or specialty care, level III-tertially or subspecialty care. These facilities should be organized within a regionalized system of perinatal care. The transport system of newborn infants should be organized for referral of high risk newborn to centers with the personnel and resources needed for their degree of risk and severity of illness. In Korea, The korean society of neonatology was established and articulated in the 1994. During the past decade, the number of neonatologist has increased and neonatal intensive care units have proliferated in Korea. However, no standard definitions exist for the graded levels of complexity of care that neonatal intensive care units provide and no uniform guideline or recommendation for regionalization and referral system of high risk neonate have been established. With the rapid changing neonatal care system in Korea, the optimal neonatal care demands regionalization of care in utilization of manpower resources and in efficient use of advanced technology and facility.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.296-308
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the noise level and frequency experienced by premature infants receiving incubator care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: The participants were 20 premature infants receiving incubator care in the NICU of a university hospital in Daejeon Metropolitan city. The noise level was measured using a professional sound-level meter (ET-958, FLUS, Shenzhen, China) based on a noise classification table developed by the author. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, the t-test, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients using SPSS for Windows version 22.0. Results: The average noise level experienced by premature infants receiving incubator care in the NICU was 51.25 dB (range: 45.0~81.7 dB). The frequency of noises was highest for factors related to nursing activities (40.3%), followed by human factors (29.1%), machine alarm sounds (20.1%), incubator operation (6.6%), and internal environmental factors (3.9%). Conclusion: According to the above results, the noise level experienced by premature infants receiving incubator care in the NICU exceeded the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an interventional program to reduce noise in the NICU, and to conduct follow-up studies to verify its effectiveness.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.76-88
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• 2014

Objectives: Parents of a premature baby feel a pressure on their baby's growth and they are highly in need for proper education. However, the lack of proper education can cause the difficulty of follow-up care and rehospitalization. Currently, methods of education among each nurse are based on verbal explanation and can be often different. Therfore, it is true that the psychological burden is great during education. Hence, by enforcing discharge education activities, we intend to provide information; induce participation of parents; promote the level of performance; standardize education program; and increase the job satisfaction of nurses. Methods: NICU conducted a questionnaire survey of the demand and satisfaction for discharge education among mothers that left hospital. And before and after the improvement activity, the satisfaction level of mothers and nurses were studied, and rehospitalization rate were analyzed. Results 1)The survey results of the satisfaction level of mothers towards education program as followes: The level of understanding of content, general babysitting, special situation, education method, and educator attitude showed statistically significant increase. 2)The survey results of the satisfaction level of nurses towards education program as followes: While, the need for education program decreased, the adequacy of education content and method, consistency of education, understanding of learner, and learner's performance increased. All the factors except for the need for education program and the adequacy of education content showed statistically significant difference. 3)Rehospitalization rate of premature babies decreased. According to analysis of the cause of rehospitalization, breast-feeding related apnea turned out to be the highest. Conclusion: Through QI, satisfaction of mothers and nurses improved more than 10%. And rehospitalization rate of premature babies decreased by the same amount as well. Therefore, with the help of the standardized discharge education program, mothers who is not easy to take care of after leaving hospital can be seen to significantly affect their healthy growth and development.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.18-27
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to compare the educational needs and perception of mothers of normal neonates and high risk infants. This research was designed as a descriptive study. Data were collected for two months from April 2002 to March 2002. Subjects were 41 mothers of high risk infants and 60 mothers of normal neonates in one general hospital in Seoul participated in the study. Measurement tools used in this study were the educational needs scale developed by Cho Kyoul Ja et al and the neonatal perceptive inventories scale developed by Broussard. They ask mothers to rate each item on a four point Likert type scale. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 8.0 program. The variables were listed as frequency, mean, standard deviation, X2 test, t-test, ANOVA. The results were as follows: The educational needs of the mothers of primi pregnancy was higher than the mothers of multi pregnancy. The educational needs on management of diseases such as prevention of infection, symptoms of disease, mental development, attachment promotion, congenital metabolism test, management of convulsion, care of vomiting and fever were higher than general care of infants such as immunization, measurement of temperature, hiccough care, follow up care. The informations must be included in nursing intervention program to reduce the mothers' stress level. In conclusion, in order to promote positive mother infant relationship, nurse need to give information and educate the mothers of high risk infant and normal neonate.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.243-247
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• 2008

Neonatal intensive care in Korea has improved remarkably since the 1990s, but there is still a shortage of facilities and equipment in NICUs. Only 71.1% of the beds needed for neonatal intensive care are available. Mechanical ventilators are not appropriately distributed to the NICUs that are equipped to handle neonatal intensive care. The number of doctors is far too small, making the number of patients per doctor very high. Nurses, too, need to take care of 7.7 patients per nurse, making it very difficult to provide adequate intensive care. All this is caused by insufficient investment by the hospitals, which, in turn, is caused by inadequate reimbursement from health insurance. Therefore, a government-sponsored effort is necessary to bring the level of neonatal intensive care up to par.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.190-197
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing neonatal pain management by nurses in order to provide evidence-based data for the development of more efficient neonatal pain care programs. Methods: This study used a descriptive research design to survey 204 registered nurses working in neonatal intensive care units and nurseries in Busan. Data collection was done from July to September 2010. General knowledge of pain and pain scale, pain intervention, neonatal pain management, and barriers to pain management were measured. Data were analyzed using stepwise multiple regression with SPSS 17.0. Results: it was found that among the factors affecting neonatal pain management by nurses, the unit where the nurse worked was the most important influential factor, followed by knowledge of pain management, education level, and barriers from medical personnel in that order. The explanatory power of these four variables accounted for 42.0% of neonatal pain management. Conclusion: Study results indicate that it is necessary to develop education programs to increase knowledge of neonatal pain management for nurses caring for neonates. Also, plans for reduction of obstacle factors in medical personnel should be prepared.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2022

Objectives: Access to maternal and neonatal care services (MNCS) is an important goal of health policy in developing countries. In this study, we proposed a 3-level hierarchical location-allocation model to maximize the coverage of MNCS providers in Iran. Methods: First, the necessary criteria for designing an MNCS network were explored. Birth data, including gestational age and birth weight, were collected from the data bank of the Iranian Maternal and Neonatal Network national registry based on 3 service levels (I, II, and III). Vehicular travel times between the points of demand and MNCS providers were considered. Alternative MNCS were mapped in some cities to reduce access difficulties. Results: It was found that 130, 121, and 86 MNCS providers were needed to respond to level I, II, and III demands, respectively, in 373 cities. Service level III was not available in 39 cities within the determined travel time, which led to an increased average travel time of 173 minutes to the nearest MNCS provider. Conclusions: This study revealed inequalities in the distribution of MNCS providers. Management of the distribution of MNCS providers can be used to enhance spatial access to health services and reduce the risk of neonatal mortality and morbidity. This method may provide a sustainable healthcare solution at the policy and decision-making level for regional, or even universal, healthcare networks.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.261-269
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate occupational stress and fatigue level of neonatal nurses and to assess relationship between the two of them. Methods: Subjects were 109 neonatal nurses working at 2 university hospitals and 9 women's hospitals in D city, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analysis by the SPSS/WIN 15.0. Results: The mean score of nurses' occupational stress level was 3.22, and the highest was 'night shift' among the 7 subcategories, and fatigue level was 62.0, and the highest was physical fatigue in configuration field. In logistic regression analyses, 'heavy workload' and 'inadequate physical environment' led to most occupational stress. Conclusion: In addition to significantly higher levels of occupational stress of neonatal nurses, the cumulative fatigue also resulted in decreased quality of nursing, job satisfaction and nursing productivity; therefore, appropriate number of nurses and improvement of work environment is necessary. Furthermore, to reduce the occupational stress and fatigue, we should try to develop adequate clinical guidelines and intervention strategies and apply them in neonatal care unit.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.257-264
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among knowledge and attitude toward palliative care and perception of death for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurses. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with 110 nurses who work in NICUs in South Korea. The participants filled out a questionnaire regarding their knowledge, attitude towards palliative care and perception of death. The attitude scale was divided into 3 subscales: comfort level, nurses' role and nurses' involvement with family. Results: Comfort level regarding attitude towards palliative care was positively correlated with knowledge (r=.220, p=.016) and the perception of death (r=.194, p=.042). Nurses' role showed a positive correlation with perception of death (r=.395, p=.001). Conclusion: NICU nurses' knowledge of palliative care was below standard across the board, implying that there is a definite need for palliative care education for nurses. The education program for palliative care should include a section that focuses on fostering a positive perception of death as well as defining and delineating the role of nurses.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.229-240
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and performance of developmentally supportive positioning for premature infants (DSPP) among neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses. Methods: The participants in this study were 131 nurses working in the NICU at five university hospitals in Daejeon and the city of Cheong-ju. The collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, the t-test, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients using SPSS for Windows version 22.0. Results: NICU nurses' average DSPP knowledge score was 24.7 out of 33.0, and their average DSPP performance score was 3.2 out of 4.0. A statistically significant positive correlation was observed between knowledge and performance of DSPP (r=.32, p<.001). Conclusion: To improve the level of NICU nurses' knowledge and performance of DSPP, educational programs should be developed and their effectiveness should be verified.