• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.106-116
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• 2014

Purpose: In this paper issues and challenges of the workforce policy for nursing were explored and appropriate policy responses identified. Results: Many countries, including South Korea, are facing a shortage of nurses. In South Korea, the number of practicing registered nurses is about half the average for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. The shortage of nurses is not necessarily a shortage of individuals with nursing qualifications but also includes complex issues, such as lack of well-educated nurses, shortage of nurses willing to work, and geographical imbalances of nurses. The present nurse workforce policies are to increase number of nursing schools, to reduce the length of training, and to replace nurses with nursing assistants. However, the findings of many studies have shown that these attempts resulted in a worsening of patient outcomes and increasingly low quality of care. Conclusion: The findings in this study indicate that nurse workforce policy should have a multi-faceted approach in order to address the many factors affecting nurse shortages.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.293-304
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the experience of medical treatment and management of nursing staffs in long term care settings. Methods: This study is qualitative research. The participants were seven nursing staff (five nurses and two nursing assistants) who had experience over six months in long term care facilities. Data were collected through in-depth interviews using semi-structured research questions. The collected data were analysed using qualitative thematic analysis method. Results: Four main themes were emerged as 'various medical treatments', 'difficulties about managing medical problems', 'lack of regulatory support' and 'strategies for solving medical problems'. Conclusion: The findings of this study provide the nursing staffs' difficulties and opinion about medical treatment and management in long term care settings. To provide more effective health service for the aged, the regulatory complement about medical treatment in long term care facilities should be considered.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.45-54
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• 2017

This study aims to identify the requirement of death, hospice palliative care education targeting nursing assistant and general workers among hospice palliative care private hospital workers convergencely. The survey period is from September 22 to October 21 in 2016, and 158 workers of hospice palliative care private hospitals in Chungnam region have been surveyed. Detailed results of this study are as follows. In terms of importance of theoretical and practical education in hospice palliative care education content, all of the respondents answered that practical had higher importance than theoretical education. The above results of this study are hoped to be helpful in developing customized hospice palliative care education program that is meeting characteristics and requirements of hospice palliative care private hospital workers, especially for nursing assistants as basic data.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.56-61
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• 2000

This study was done in an attempt to reveal those factors interfering with the observation study. Three trained research assistants collected data by observing the two occupational health nurses working in the small scale enterprises on the 3rd and 10th of February, 1999. The first observation was performed on the 3rd of February without observation guidance. Guidance was given during the second observation on the 10th of February. These data were compared between reporters in nursing services of 'Workplace visiting', 'Health counselling' and 'Blood pressure checking' according to nursing time and frequency. These areas were chosen because these activities were regarded as clearly identifiable by observers in contrast to the other performances. The data showed inconsistency between reporters. However, they were reduced when reporters observed nurses with guidance, although there were still minor differences between data in time and frequency. Discussions were carried out to find possible reasons for these differences. The causes were mainly attributed to the difficulty in workplace conditions to observe, the work specificity of nurses visiting each workplace and the delicate situation between nurses and observers when reporters were travelling in the nurse's car. Therefore, the results suggest that the observation method applied to the nursing service research at small-scale enterprises should be more concerned about the selection of appropriate workplace and operational definition of nursing activity in order to more precisely measure nurses' attitudes.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.73-79
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• 2014

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the burden experienced by nursing personnel working irregular shifts in Greece and to conduct the first test of a Greek version of the Standard Shiftwork Index (SSI). Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out. The SSI was completed by 365 nurses and nursing assistants working shifts, including nights. Results: Female nursing personnel and those suffering from a chronic disease were most affected by working rotating shifts as they had elevated scores on the majority of the SSI scales, such as sleep, chronic fatigue, digestive and cardiovascular problems, general health questionnaire, cognitive and somatic anxiety, shift time satisfaction, engagement and disengagement strategies, languidity, flexibility, and neurotisicm. Nurses with longer working experience and those with family responsibilities also scored higher on some of the SSI scales, such as the sleep, shift time satisfaction, social and domestic disruption, disengagement strategies, morningness, and languidity scales. Conclusion: Shiftwork affects female nurses, those with chronic disease, older age, and domestic responsibilities more severely. Therefore management should take these factors into account when designing work schedules to alleviate the burden caused by shiftwork.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.380-393
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore psychiatric nurses' decision making in the use of seclusion and restraint (SR). Methods: Data were collected using focus group interviews. Two focus group interviews were held with a total of 10 psychiatric nurse participants. All interviews were recorded and transcribed, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Eleven categories emerged from three main themes. All the themes describe factors that participants took into account when deciding whether to implement SR: 1) Personal factors area: 'Personal attributes of nurses,' 'Attitude of nurses regarding SR,' 'Nurses' physical and emotional states,' 'Negative experiences of nurses related to SR'; 2) Relational factors area: 'The level of cooperation between nurses and doctors,' 'Role models created by seniors and colleagues,' 'The level of support by nursing assistants,' 'Therapeutic relations with patients'; and 3) Environmental factors area: 'Poor nursing work environment,' 'Atmosphere of ward regarding SR,' and 'Social atmosphere to raise alarm about SR.' Conclusion: These findings should be considered in the evaluation of the use of SR in psychiatric hospital settings and appropriate strategies used to help minimize the use of restraint.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2009

Purpose: This study investigates the level of expectancy, cognition, and work condition among smokers with respect to the smoking cessation clinics. Methods: The study participants included over 503 smokers aged 30 yr and in five districts of G city. The researcher and assistants personally visited homes and workplaces of the participants between November 20 and November 30, 2008 for the survey. Results: The subjects learned to smoke from their friends and started smoking when they were 15 out of curiosity. They smoked more than one cigarette every day. With respect to cognition, 67.5% of the subjects had no intention to utilize smoking cessation clinics, and 71.7% were unaware of their benefits. Those with a high level of cognition regarding smoking cessation clinics were generally in their 60s, married, residents in the Southern and Western Districts, service or technical workers, and hikers. The expectancy for the clinic was high among those who were married, Catholics, and golfers. Conclusions: The results suggest that smoking cessation may be achieved by increasing the level of cognition and expectancy among smokers. In this regard, providing information and implementing positive publicity campaigns targeting families, Places of worship, and workplaces may be beneficial.

• Medical Lasers
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.201-206
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• 2021

The recent development of new surgical techniques using lasers has increased the opportunities for open surgery involving minimal manipulation and faster and more accurate removal of lesions. The increasing use of laser technology requires nurses to play an extensive role. As assistants, nurses play an important role in maintaining the efficacy and safety of the laser device. In addition, they are also responsible for providing pre-and post-operative care to patients. Therefore, nurses should be aware of how to proceed with operative laser treatment for all surgical procedures and the steps for maintaining safety prior to, during, and after laser treatment. This review provides in-depth knowledge for nurses undertaking continuing education on lasers and patient care in the field of gynecology.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.211-222
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• 2017

Purpose: To develop staffing levels for nursing personnel (registered nurses and nursing assistants) to provide inpatients with integrated nursing care that includes, in addition to professional nursing care, personal care previously provided by patients' families or private caregivers. Methods: A time & motion study was conducted to observe nursing care activities and the time spent by nursing personnel, families, and private caregivers in 10 medical-surgical units. The Korean Patient Classification System-1 (KPCS-1) was used for the nurse manager survey conducted to measure staffing levels and patient needs for nursing care. Results: Current nurse to patient ratios from the time-motion study and the survey study were 1:10 and 1:11, respectively. Time spent in direct patient care by nursing personnel and family/private caregivers was 51 and 130 minutes per day, respectively. Direct nursing care hours correlated with KPCS-1 scores. Nursing personnel to patient ratio required to provide integrated inpatient care ranged from 1:3.9 to 1:6.1 in tertiary hospitals and from 1:4.4 to 1:6.0 in general hospitals. The functional nursing care delivery system had been implemented in 38.5% of the nursing units. Conclusion: Findings indicate that appropriate nurse staffing and efficient nursing care delivery systems are required to provide integrated inpatient nursing care.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.147-156
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the sleep/activity patterns of premature babies. Method: The subjects were 55 premature babies who were hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of one University Hospital in Daejeon from September 1, 2004 to March 31, 2006. The sleep/activity patterns of the premature babies were observed for 24 hours a day for 7 days. The observations were made and recorded by the researcher and 5 trained research assistants using NCASA records developed by Barnard et al. (1979). For statistical analysis, frequency, average, t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficients were used. Results: The infants slept more and had less awake periods during daytime than full-term infants. As the hospital stay of the premature babies increased, the amount of daytime sleep and total daily sleep decreased, and the amount of daytime awake periods increased. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the level of physical and physiological maturity of premature babies is one of the major variables that affect their sleep/activity patterns. Furthermore, the findings of this study will provide information about the sleep/activity patterns of premature babies, and present baseline data to develop the nursing intervention programs which support optimum development for the premature babies.