Factors Affecting Emergency Room Nurse Job in Small and Medium Sized Hospitals

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the job of emergency room (ER) nurses working in small and medium sized hospitals and to explore factors affecting their job. Methods: The survey data were collected between January 2014 and May 2014 and participants were 159 nurses working in Seoul, Kyunggi, Incheon, and Chungnam in hospitals of less than 500 beds. Results: The score for nurses job was 2.12/4.0, and emergency treatment (1.87/4.0) followed basic nursing (3.51/4.0) and counseling (2.32/4.0). The nursing job was significantly different depending on the age, education level, position, resident doctor(emergency medicine specialty or other) and grade of ER (regional ER or local ER). In the multiple regression, education level (${\beta}=.18$), position (${\beta}=.24$), hospital size (${\beta}=.20$), and grade of ER (${\beta}=.21$) explained 17.0% of variance in ER nurses' job in small and medium sized hospitals. Conclusion: The findings indicate that ER nurses in vulnerable areas do more nursing practice including emergency treatment as well as the usual independent nursing practice. Accordingly, a systematic assignment of nursing professionals is needed to reduce loading of ER nurses in small and medium sized hospitals.

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