• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.174-184
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• 2015

This paper reviewed structure and current status of laws related to patient safety using patient safety law matrix to promote systematic approach in legal system of patient safety. Laws related to patient safety can be divided into three areas: laws for preventing; laws for knowing about; and laws for responding. In the case of Korea, gaps are especially prominent in the areas of laws for knowing about and responding. Patient safety law which will be enacted in July 2016 will fill the gap in the area of laws for knowing about. This law will be comprehensive law, covering the full spectrum of laws related to patient safety. However, after reviewing current patient safety law in Korea, the following drawbacks were identified: absence of code for grasping the current patient safety level; absence of code for mandatory reporting in patient safety reporting system; and absence of code for privilege about patient safety work product. Furthermore we need wider discussions about covering issues of open disclosure, apology law, coroners system, and complaint management system in patient safety law.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop an informational leaflet on emergency care and to explore effects of facilitative nurse-patient interaction behavior using an informational leaflet on patient satisfaction with nurse-patient interaction behavior, patient anxiety, and patient satisfaction with use of emergency care. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study that applied a nonequivalent control-group posttest-only design. The participants were 81 patients who visited the emergency department of a hospital in Korea; the experimental group (n=40) received facilitative nurse-patient interaction behavior using an informational leaflet, and the control group (n=41) received care under routine protocols without an information leaflet. The effects of the two groups were analyzed using an independent t-test with SPSS computer program. Results: Patient satisfaction with nurse-patient interaction behavior and use of emergency care in the experimental group were significantly higher than in the control group. Patient anxiety related to using emergency care in the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group. Conclusion: Therefore, facilitative nurse-patient interaction behavior using an informational leaflet to the patient may be useful interventions that are easily implemented by nurses in emergency settings.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.60-69
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• 2024

Purpose: This descriptive research study attempted to determine how general hospital nurses' awareness of the importance of patient safety management and patient safety competency affected patient safety management activities. Methods: From September 13 to 26, 2022, a survey was administered to 230 ward nurses who provided direct care to patients at five non-accredited general hospitals being evaluated for accreditation located in metropolitan cities. The collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, the t-test, one-way analysis, the Scheffé test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression using SPSS for Windows version 26.0. Results: In total, 221 (96.1%) respondents were female. The average age was 32.2 years, and the average clinical experience was 3.5 years; 196 participants (85.2%) were general nurses. Patient safety competency (β = .44, p < .001), awareness of the importance of safety management (β = .31, p < .001), and medication error experience (β = -.15, p = .002) all had statistically significant associations with patient safety management activities. The explanatory power of these variables for patient safety management activities was 50.7%. Conclusion: This study confirmed that patient safety competency, awareness of the importance of patient safety management, and experience with medication errors significantly influenced patient safety management activities.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.127-138
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• 2017

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the effects of organizational health and patient safety culture on nursing activities for patient safety as perceived by hospital nurses. Methods: A self-report survey was administered to staff nurses of one advanced general hospital and two general hospitals in South Korea. Of the questionnaires, 188 were analyzed. Results: Organizational health had a significantly positive correlation with patient safety culture (r=.52, p<.001) and patient safety nursing activities (r=.31, p<.001). Conclusion: The findings in this study indicate that among the factors influencing patient safety nursing activities, organizational factors were more important than individual factors, and organizational health had a big effect on patient safety nursing activities.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the clear concept of patient safety and obtain theoretical evidences. Methods Research was conducted using Walker & Avant's conceptual analysis process. Results: Patient safety was defined as a activity that minimizes and removes possible errors and injuries to patients. It includes a basic desire to secure the patient's right to safety, and the legal regulations and duties of medical teams. The results of the establishment of a safety culture are patient-centered medical treatment and caring. Antecedents were found to be open and clear communications, continuous education and training for health care personnel, sufficient allocation of qualified personnel, cooperation among departments, improvements in the recognition of patient safety. Consequences were found to be the provision of high quality medical care and treatment, and increase in patient satisfaction. Conclusion: Patient safety as defined by the results of this study will contribute to the foundation of institutionalization of the pursuit of patient safety and creation of a hospital culture focusing on patient safety as a first priority.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.27-34
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a predictive model for patient visibility in Korean ICUs (corridor or continental type). Methods: The measures of static visibility were used to quantify the patient visibility (upper third part of the patient bed) from the nurse station. The measure of space programme and area distribution (patient zone percentage, staff zone percentage and departmental gross square meter per patient bed) were calculated by using AutoCAD and MS Excel programs. Regression analysis was conducted for visibility as dependant variable with independent variables of patient area percentage, staff area percentage as well as departmental gross square meter per bed by using IBM SPSS. Results: (1) Average patient visibility and percentage of patient area in ICU shows a strong negative correlation ($r^2$=0.66), p=0.01. (2) Patient visibility in Korean ICU (corridor or continental type) can be calculated as below with the given conditions: Y= $-1.449(X)+124.3{\pm}6$, Y is the total visibility of the ICU (corridor or continental type) and X is the percentage of patient area in the unit. Conditions:1. Given that the unit has a mixed programme of open bed and closed patient rooms and 2. The unit have a minimum of 20% patient rooms. Implications: This study may contribute to the visibility analysis of existing and future ICU design (corridor or continental type) in Korea to achieve maximum patient visibility and reduced patient mortality.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

This study is a narrative review introducing global trends in patient safety education within medical schools and exploring the status of Korean education. Core competences for patient safety include patient centeredness, teamwork, evidence- and information-based practice, quality improvement, addressing medical errors, managing human factors and system complexity, and patient safety knowledge and responsibility. According to a Korean report addressing the role of doctors, patient safety was described as a subcategory of clinical care. Doctors' roles in patient safety included taking precautions, educating patients about the side effects of drugs, and implementing rapid treatment and appropriate follow-up when patient safety is compromised. The Korean Association of Medical Colleges suggested patient safety competence as one of eight essential human and society-centered learning outcomes. They included appropriate attitude and knowledge, human factors, a systematic approach, teamwork skills, engaging with patients and carers, and dealing with common errors. Four Korean medical schools reported integration of a patient safety course in their preclinical curriculum. Studies have shown that students experience difficulty in reporting medical errors because of hierarchical culture. It seems that patient safety is considered in a narrow sense and its education is limited in Korea. Patient safety is not a topic for dealing with only adverse events, but a science to prevent and detect early system failure. Patient safety emphasizes patient perspectives, so it has a different paradigm of medical ethics and professionalism, which have doctor-centered perspectives. Medical educators in Korea should understand patient safety concepts to implement patient safety curriculum. Further research should be done on communication in hierarchical culture and patient safety education during clerkship.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.250-258
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between nursing work environment, patient safety culture, and patient safety nursing activities in hemodialysis units at primary care centers. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 116 nurses working in hemodialysis units at 22 primary care centers were enrolled as participants. They were selected them by the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using structured questionnaires that included questions on general characteristics, nursing work environment, patient safety culture, and patient safety nursing activities. Results: The nursing work environment was relatively good; however, the patient safety culture and patient safety nursing activities were poor. A positive correlation was found between nursing work environment, patient safety culture, and patient safety nursing activities. Factors that affect patient safety culture were rated high in the order of nursing work environment and patient safety nursing activities, and factors affecting patient safety nursing activities were rated high in the order of patient safety culture and age. Conclusion: This study showed that the development of tailored patient safety training for nurses in hemodialysis units working in primary care and administrative support from those institutions are needed. In particular, strategies accounting for nurses' characteristics such as age are required to strengthen patient safety nursing activities.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2013

Health information technology (HIT) is one of the most familiar tools to healthcare providers. It is used in routine practice to reduce cost, to improve clinical performance, and to improve patient safety. Patient safety is the driving force of recent expansion of HIT industry. But there are many evidences that it can be harmful to patient safety. Role of HIT and HIT-related error became big issues because more and more healthcare providers and healthcare organizations are willing to adopt it. Adoption rate of HIT in Korea is higher than that of United States. But researches of HIT regarding patient safety are rare. In this article, types of HIT, their mechanisms of improving patient safety and HIT-related errors were reviewed. Status of HIT in terms of patient safety in Korea was also reviewed. Knowledge of how HIT can improve patient safety, its' limitation, and how to make it safer is crucial to whom have to use it to improve patient safety. Impact of HIT on patient safety must be evaluated actively in Korea. HIT which was proven to improve patient safety must be widely adopted. Government must prepare a strategic plan to improve HIT quality, support hospitals financially and institutionally to introduce qualified HIT, and develop HIT infrastructures and standard designed for patient safety.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.151-158
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• 2013

Patient safety is achieved through systematic improvement based on the knowledge and willingness of medical professionals. A systematic longitudinal curriculum for patient safety is essential to prepare medical students and professionals. The purpose of this article is to introduce our experience with a 'workshop for developing a patient safety curriculum' and to compare the results with previous studies. The workshop comprising 15 medical professors and patient safety experts met for 2 days. The Consensus Workshop method was applied, collecting opinions from all of the members and reaching consensus through the following stages: context, brainstorm, cluster, name, and resolve. The patient safety curriculum was developed by this method, covering patient safety topics and issues, and teaching and assessment methods. A total of 7 topics were extracted, 'activities for patient safety, concepts of patient safety, leadership and teamwork, error disclosure, self-management, patient education, policies.' Issues, teaching methods, and assessment methods were developed for each topic. The patient safety curriculum developed from the workshop was similar to previous curricula developed by other institutions and medical schools. The Consensus Workshop method proved to be an effective approach to developing a patient safety curriculum.