• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.48-57
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to establish reliability and validity and to identify the conversion index. Method: The WMSCN for ICU was revised from Workload Management System for Nurses(WMSN) of Walter Reed Army Hospital. Reliability of the WMSCN was evaluated interrater reliability between head nurses and staff nurses at 124 patients in April 2008. Validity through the correlation between direct nursing care hours and WMSCN score was conducted at 20 ICUs of 10 hospitals. Finally the conversion index was identified by total nursing hours and it divided by WMSCN score. Results: The scores by nurses were highly correlated with head nurses’(p=.967), and also scores of the WMSCN were highly correlated with the direct nursing care hours(p<.001). The distribution of patient classification ranks into class V(61.3%), class IV(24.2%) and class VI(11.3%). The scores of the WMSCN were no differences between MICU and SICU. Finally, the conversion index was 8.2 minutes. Conclusion: WMSCN is available to classify the nursing workload for critical care patients. The repeated evaluation of validity and reliability are requisite to use WMSCN effectively. And the conversion index should be adjusted to estimate the appropriate staffing in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.95-105
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the difference between direct and indirect nursing activity times according to the grade of nursing management fee. Methods: The subjects of this study were 324 working nurses at the time of 3rd grade and 319 working nurses at the 2nd grade of nursing management fee in one university hospital. Nursing activity time was measured in April and May, and in September and October of 2008 for comparison. The data were analyzed by SPSS win using frequency and t-test. Results: Direct nursing care activity time per one patient was significantly higher at 2nd grade than 3rd grade in day shift (t=-2.55, p=.012). Direct nursing care workload per one nurse was significantly lower at 2nd grade than 3rd grade in evening shift (t=2.21, p=.030), whereas indirect nursing care workload was lower at 2nd level in night shift (t=2.43 p=.016). Conclusion: The findings from this study showed that higher nurse-to-patient ratio can provide greater amount of direct nursing care activity for the patient. Also, it decreased workload of nurses. The higher nurse-to-patient ratio will be beneficial for promoting quality of nursing care as well as decreasing nurse's heavy workload.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.589-603
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• 1992

This study investigated a process to estimate the need for nursing staff on the basis of a patient elassification system and the required care needs and activities. The investigation was carried out in the following four steps. Step 1. Patients were classified according to the amount of nursing care need on each shift as class I (mildly ill), class II (mederately ill), class III (acutely ill), and class IV (critically ill). Step 2. Measurement of the direct nursing care hours needed for each patient class, and measurement of indirect nursing care hourse and personal time of the nursing staff. Step 3. Calculation of he total nursing workload in a nursing unit. Step 4. Estimation of the nursing staff needed. The investigation was carried out from July 17th to 30th, during 24hours every other day. The subjects were the patients and the nursing staff on two units of Seoul National University Hospital, Korea. Some of the results from the investigation are as follows : 1) Distribution of patient classification On the neuro surgical (N.S.), the distribution was class I, 22 patient, 3, class II, 27 patients, class III, 26 patients, and class IV, 25 patients, For the orthopedic surgical unit(0.5.), it was class I, 43 patients, class II, 43 patients, class III, patients, and class IV, 3 patients. 2) Direct nursing care hours per day On the N.S. unit, 3.2 hours of direct nursing care were needed for class I, 3.9 hours for class II, 5.1 hours of class III, and 6.2 hours for class IV patients, while 2.0 hours for class I, 2.5 hours for class II, 3.5 hours for class III, 5.0 hours class IV patients were needed on the 0.5. units. 3) Analysis of direct nursing care activities Activities were classified into assessment and observation(47%), medication(38.7%), communiontion(5.1%), exercise(2.4%), elimination and irrigation(1.3%), treatmemt(1.1%), hygiene(0.8%), nutrition(0.8%), and hot and cold compress(0.1%). 4) Average hours of indirect nursing care per day. On the N.S. unit 4.2 hours, and on the O.S. unit, 3.5 hours of RN indirect care was needed. 5) The average personal time used by the of nursing staff was 17 minutes for both RNs and nursing assistants in the N.S. unit, and 32 minutes for both RNs and nursing assistants in the O.S. unit. 6) Estimation of nursing staff needed on two specialized units of a university hospital For the N.S. nursing unit of 43 beds, 31 nursing staff would be indicated. For the 0.5. nursing unit of the same number of beds, 19 nursing staff would be indicated.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.655-665
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• 2016

This study analyzed how work environment of staff in group homes on their job satisfaction targeting 148 persons. As a result, this study found that the staff recognize challenge and role ambiguity at the level which is above level ranging from 3.08 to 3.61 points with respect to 6 subdomains of work environment, but showed a relative vulnerability regarding comfortability, monetary reward, role conflict and workload as below average ranging from 1.80 to 2.73 points. Results of multiple regression analysis show that challenge and role ambiguity exert a significant influence on their job satisfaction. The above results suggest that it is necessary to provide staff with an opportunity for self-development and challenge by specifying service standards for social rehabilitation teachers in work environment and strengthening group home support system in various ways, enhancing support or advocacy necessary for solving problems.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.53-63
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• 2018

Since warfare surroundings getting complex and diverse in the future, it is not simple to make appropriate structures and organizations for military groups along the phenomenon. Therefore, this study proposes a methodology of verification for army staff's structure and organization by units in the future using System Dynamics(SD). The procedure of using SD for the verification is a calculation of database(DB), the design of causal loop diagram, and the simulation and analysis. First, DB such as individuals' workload and time is calculated through observation after a real group of staff. Second, the causal loop diagram is considered by a flow of task, and it is modeled. Third, the DB is entered into the model and simulated for analyzing of appropriacy. This study used Powersim program for designing the SD model. One of the weaknesses of the methodology of this study is possibilities of a different result by the DB by observers and perspectives by analysts. As supplementation for the weakness, this study includes research analysis and surveys for the total analysis. The meaning of this study is that it suggests a methodology of warfighting experimentation to analyze structure and organization of military groups with quantifying suitability in the scientific method.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.375-382
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to analyze the risk factors of the musculoskeletal workload of mid-old-age food preparation workers by identifying the differences in the complaints of subjective symptoms between mid-old-age housewives and mid-old-age food preparation workers. This study was carried out on a total of 83 subjects from April 2009 through July 2009: 43 food preparation workers at the catering department of general hospital A, with a high rate of mid-old-age food preparation staff, and 40 full-time housewives (40~59 years old). The analysis of the relationship between the rates of the subjective symptoms of the two groups showed that the mid-old-age food preparation workers had a 7.8-fold higher risk of developing musculoskeletal diseases than the full-time housewives. The musculoskeletal workload of the mid-old-age food preparation workers included repetitive motions, uncomfortable postures, and heavy lifting. It is hoped that this study will help provide mid-old-age people with opportunities for appropriate economic activity and labor and will help improve their work postures and methods as well as their environmental-risk factors.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.93-102
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• 2019

This study examined the nurse's emotional exhaustion and influencing factors, and the relationship between emotional burnout and hospital nursing workload using multilevel logistic regression analysis. The study subjects were 3,083 nurses of 65 hospitals, who participated in the training conducted by the Healthcare Industry Trade Union in 2010 and responded to the questionnaire. First, 71.6% of nurses experienced emotional exhaustion, and the average score of emotional exhaustion was 33.53. Second, the 'non - nursing work experience' showed a significant effect on emotional exhaustion. Third, the 'sufficient nursing staff' variable increased the emotional exhaustion. Fourth, the nursing grades were correlated significantly with emotional exhaustion compared to those with more than four beds per nurse. Fifth, in the case of working in the internal ward, the shorter the clinical career, the higher the emotional exhaustion. In other words, higher emotional exhaustion was associated with more nursing work experience, more perceived insufficient nursing staff, more nurses per bed, the department of internal medicine, and a shorter clinical career.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.557-569
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• 2011

Objectives : Based on the system and control activity for the monitoring system made of components for infection control at dental hospitals and infection rate reporting, and the role of trained infection control staff, this study tried to understand approaches to the effective infection control program by surveying infection control at dental hospitals in Korea. Methods : The survey was conducted from December 14,2010 to January 31,2011 for 121 dental hospitals in Korea. For statistical analysis, PASW Statistic 18 was used. Results : And following conclusions were reached. 1. As for the infection control system at dental hospitals, 54.7% has an infection control committee, 58.7% infection control staff, 78.5% infection control rules, and 39.7% annual infection control plan and record. 2. As for surveillance indexes to report infection rates, 50.4% has the reporting system for staff's exposure to infectious disease and needle pricking. The average number of exposures to infectious disease was $0.28{\pm}2.23$ and that of needle pricking was $1.83{\pm}5.39$. 3. As for infection control indexes, it was reviewed whether infection control rules were implemented according to operation agents, general hospitals were more active in staff infection control, and hospitals annexed to a dental university or special legal entity were more active in microorganism control. As for use of personal protection gear, there was no significant difference among operation agents. More than 71% of operators and their assistants said they did not replace their masks between patients. 4. As for personnel indexes for effective infection control staff, most hospitals designated dental hygienists, which was followed by dental doctors (or doctors). Where their workload was reviewed, the ratio of other work such as treatment was relatively higher than that of infection control (n=71). Conclusions : These results show dental hospitals in Korea have a certain level of infection control system. As infection indexes are managed mainly for staff members, patient monitoring is needed, and trained and effective infection control staff should be designated. This study reviewed surveillance, infection control and personnel indexes. And further studies are needed in the future.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.237-249
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the adequacy of current nurse staffing levels by identifying nursing activities and workload. Methods: The study used a mixed-method design. A nursing activity survey was conducted using the work sampling method over 2 working days with 119 general ward nurses. A focus group interview was conducted with 12 nurses. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and content analysis, respectively. Results: The most amount of time was spent on medication (in direct nursing) and electronic medical record documentation (in indirect nursing). The appropriate nurse-to-patient ratio is 1:7.7 for the day shift, 1:9.0 for the evening shift, and 1:11.9 for the night shift. However, the current nurse-to-patient ratio is 1:9.4, 1:11.0, and 1:13.8 for the day, evening, and night shifts, respectively. Therefore, the current nurse staffing level is insufficient for the workload. In the focus group interview, the main reasons cited for being unable to complete tasks within working hours were communication and coordination, and the nursing electronic medical record. The essential nursing activities of basic nursing and emotional support were overlooked owing to a heavy workload. Therefore, an adequate nurse staffing level should be higher than the measured quantitative workload. Conclusion: These results suggest the general wards of tertiary hospitals should evaluate the adequacy of their current nurse staffing and allocate sufficient nurses to improve patient safety and nursing care quality.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.502-512
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• 2019

Background: The purpose of this study was to identify role ambiguity of comprehensive nursing care unit nurses. Methods: A concept analysis method by Walker and Avant was used to understand role ambiguity of comprehensive nursing care unit nurses. Results: The antecedents of role ambiguity of nurses at comprehensive nursing units were shortage of nurses, unclear admission criteria, and demands for customized nursing care according to severity. Attributes include ambiguity in role delegation, patient placement ambiguity, and professional ambiguity among nursing staff. The consequences were diminished job satisfaction due to excessive workload, difficulty in resolving role ambiguity due to the lack of work analysis studies, and poor outcome of nursing indicators. Conclusion: Improvement of nationwide awareness for comprehensive nursing care unit is required. Clear division at scope of practice for nursing staff in accordance of each medical institution's characteristics is essential. Nurses at comprehensive nursing care unit should understand nature of role ambiguity that occurs as they work in large groups. Nurses should promote communications between nursing staff and they must have volition to improve status quo. An additional research of comprehensive nursing care on the causes of role ambiguity in the practice of nursing care for ward nurses is needed, and management measures should be sought at the organizational level.