Home Management Performance and Problem of Rural Elderly Living Alone (농촌 노인단독가구의 가정경영 실태와 문제)
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- Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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- v.38 no.3
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- pp.85-97
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- 2000
The goal of this study is mainly to improve the quality of life for the elderly by understanding the actual condition of the home management which includes their family relationship, family finance, and household work carried out in their domestic lives and diagnosing problems possibly restated from the condition. The result includes the following. The characteristics of rural elderly living alone: They have lived in rural area since their marriage which is over 40 years long in average, The tend to be satisfied with living apart themselves. The majority of the families are the first son in their family. In home management regard: First, in family relationship, the way the elderly in their nuclear family state communicate with their spouse is limited, and they hardly speaks together. So it is encouraged for couples to forge their own specific relationship and to plan for their odd age in their younger age. Also, they tend to be satisfied with living separated from their children, but at the same time, the closer they live in distance from their children, the more often they meet their children as well as they talk on the phone. They especially depend on their first son for offerings for ancestors and matters to occur after their death, while they get emotional support from daughters. Second, in family finance, their income varies in range from 200,000 to 3,000,000 won. In the majority f the famines, the wives are in charge of finance. The cost of living is mainly spent on flood, clothing, and housing, or the cost of offerings for ancestors if they are the head family. Third, Meanwhile, the housewives under 70 years old are positive about household work and tend to consider it pleasant for their children and their husband. Generally, the older they are, the more they dislike household labor. For example, food preparation is especially considered a major problem. Community dinning rooms, food delivery service, volunteers, and home helper and neighborhood could be help.
The purpose of this study was to compare Korean and American women as to the perception of their newborns, and to assess factors contributing to a positive mother-infant relationships. American mothers were with their own newborns in the same rooms and could feed and take care of them if they wanted, but Korean mothers were separated from their babies. The subjects of this study were 86 Korean and 86 American primiparas within two-three days after delivery. Data were collected from May to August 1993, using the Neonatal Perception Inventory (NPI) devised by Broussard(1963) with additions by Lee, Ja Hyung(1986). The results of this study are as follows : 1. There was a significant difference in the mothers' perceptions of their babies according to mothers' age(P<0.05, P0.01). Mothers of 20 years and downward had negative perceptions of their babies. 2. There was no difference in the methers' perceptions of their babies according to whether they had a job or not. 3. There was a significant difference in the mothers' perceptions of their newborns according to mothers' education level(P<0.01). Mothers graduated from a junior high school had negative perceptions of their babies. 4. There was no difference in the mothers' perceptions according to their feeding pattern. 5. There was a significant difference between Korean mothers' perceptions and American mothers' perceptions of their babies(P<0.01). 69.7% of Korean mothers and 44. l％ of American mothers had positive perceptions. But Korean mothers perceived that it would be more difficult for them to take care of their babies. As seen above, Korean primiparas evaluated their babies higher than Americans. But they perceived that it would be more difficult for them to take care of their babies. The results suggest that there needs a rooming-in system and systematic prenatal educations for the primiparas in Korea.
This study attempts to examine the performances of Myun Health Workers-the frontline workers in the Korean rural health care delivery system. The time-activity approach was mainly utilized as a measuring tool. This study was undertaken in September 1976 with 35 Myun Health Workers at the Kang Wha County. The pretested time-activity approach sheets were filled out daily for one month by those Myun Health Workers themselves. Statistical means and variances of analysis were utilized for statistical method in comparing some activities and functions converged into time distribution Findings: 1. The workers's average working hours derived in this study is 8 hours and 48 minutes per day, which takes half an hour longer than normal schedule. 2. They spend 56% working hour for direct services, in other words, the main function, 22% for supportive function, and 22% for other activities, the unrelated health services. 3. Considering the total working hours of main function, out-center activity is far more than in-center services with the ratio of 70% to 30% respectively, which proves, therefore, that the main activity of the workers is home visiting. 4. It takes 20 minutes purely for home visiting and takes 14 minutes for transportation. 5. This research also indicates that such factors as characteristics of the health workers and myun influence in shaping the structures of the worker's function and activity: a. The workers whose working site is located in myun office spend 15% among total working hours in carring out official myun activities, which is incidentally unrelated to health services, while the health subcenter have no rooms for administrative jobs for myun office. b. The workers whose office is in health subcenter contribute much time in doing main function and those working in special project distribute more time in performing supportive function. c. The types of workers are another dominant factor to influence the components of worker's functions and activities. MCH workers and MPW I spend much time for manipulating main function. d. MPW II, whose function is reorganized by special project in 2 myuns shows different pattern of time distribution compared to the TB worker orFP worker in the ordinary area. MPW II distributes their time evenly in performing MCH program, T.B. Program, F.P. program and education activity, while the unipurpose workers engage in carring out only their dominant role. e. Another variables which involve the variation of the worker's activity can be illustrated with the variables like target population, size of myun and convenience for transportation, among which the latter two are remarkable factors in determining the time for out-center service.
Much has teed changed in the field of hospital administration in the It wake of the rapid development of sciences, techniques ana systematic hospital management. However, we still have a long way to go in organization, in the quality of hospital employees and hospital equipment and facilities, and in financial support in order to achieve proper hospital management. The above factors greatly effect the ability of hospitals to fulfill their obligation in patient care and nursing services. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal methods of standardization and quality nursing so as to improve present nursing services through investigations and analyses of various problems concerning nursing administration. This study has been undertaken during the six month period from October 1971 to March 1972. The 41 comprehensive hospitals have been selected iron amongst the 139 in the whole country. These have been categorized according-to the specific purposes of their establishment, such as 7 university hospitals, 18 national or public hospitals, 12 religious hospitals and 4 enterprise ones. The following conclusions have been acquired thus far from information obtained through interviews with nursing directors who are in charge of the nursing administration in each hospital, and further investigations concerning the purposes of establishment, the organization, personnel arrangements, working conditions, practices of service, and budgets of the nursing service department. 1. The nursing administration along with its activities in this country has been uncritical1y adopted from that of the developed countries. It is necessary for us to re-establish a new medical and nursing system which is adequate for our social environments through continuous study and research. 2. The survey shows that the 7 university hospitals were chiefly concerned with education, medical care and research; the 18 national or public hospitals with medical care, public health and charity work; the 2 religious hospitals with medical care, charity and missionary works; and the 4 enterprise hospitals with public health, medical care and charity works. In general, the main purposes of the hospitals were those of charity organizations in the pursuit of medical care, education and public benefits. 3. The survey shows that in general hospital facilities rate 64 per cent and medical care 60 per-cent against a 100 per cent optimum basis in accordance with the medical treatment law and approved criteria for training hospitals. In these respects, university hospitals have achieved the highest standards, followed by religious ones, enterprise ones, and national or public ones in that order. 4. The ages of nursing directors range from 30 to 50. The level of education achieved by most of the directors is that of graduation from a nursing technical high school and a three year nursing junior college; a very few have graduated from college or have taken graduate courses. 5. As for the career tenure of nurses in the hospitals: one-third of the nurses, or 38 per cent, have worked less than one year; those in the category of one year to two represent 24 pet cent. This means that a total of 62 per cent of the career nurses have been practicing their profession for less than two years. Career nurses with over 5 years experience number only 16 per cent: therefore the efficiency of nursing services has been rated very low. 6. As for the standard of education of the nurses: 62 per cent of them have taken a three year course of nursing in junior colleges, and 22 per cent in nursing technical high schools. College graduate nurses come up to only 15 per cent; and those with graduate course only 0.4 per cent. This indicates that most of the nurses are front nursing technical high schools and three year nursing junior colleges. Accordingly, it is advisable that nursing services be divided according to their functions, such as professional, technical nurses and nurse's aides. 7. The survey also shows that the purpose of nursing service administration in the hospitals has been regulated in writing in 74 per cent of the hospitals and not regulated in writing in 26 per cent of the hospitals. The general purposes of nursing are as follows: patient care, assistance in medical care and education. The main purpose of these nursing services is to establish proper operational and personnel management which focus on in-service education. 8. The nursing service departments belong to the medical departments in almost 60 per cent of the hospitals. Even though the nursing service department is formally separated, about 24 per cent of the hospitals regard it as a functional unit in the medical department. Only 5 per cent of the hospitals keep the department as a separate one. To the contrary, approximately 12 per cent of the hospitals have not established a nursing service department at all but surbodinate it to the other department. In this respect, it is required that a new hospital organization be made to acknowledge the independent function of the nursing department. In 76 per cent of the hospitals they have advisory committees under the nursing department, such as a dormitory self·regulating committee, an in-service education committee and a nursing procedure and policy committee. 9. Personnel arrangement and working conditions of nurses 1) The ratio of nurses to patients is as follows: In university hospitals, 1 to 2.9 for hospitalized patients and 1 to 4.0 for out-patients; in religious hospitals, 1 to 2.3 for hospitalized patients and 1 to 5.4 for out-patients. Grouped together this indicates that one nurse covers 2.2 hospitalized patients and 4.3 out-patients on a daily basis. The current medical treatment law stipulates that one nurse should care for 2.5 hospitalized patients or 30.0 out-patients. Therefore the statistics indicate that nursing services are being peformed with an insufficient number of nurses to cover out-patients. The current law concerns the minimum number of nurses and disregards the required number of nurses for operation rooms, recovery rooms, delivery rooms, new-born baby rooms, central supply rooms and emergency rooms. Accordingly, tile medical treatment law has been requested to be amended. 2) The ratio of doctors to nurses: In university hospitals, the ratio is 1 to 1.1; in national of public hospitals, 1 to 0.8; in religious hospitals 1 to 0.5; and in private hospitals 1 to 0.7. The average ratio is 1 to 0.8; generally the ideal ratio is 3 to 1. Since the number of doctors working in hospitals has been recently increasing, the nursing services have consequently teen overloaded, sacrificing the services to the patients. 3) The ratio of nurses to clerical staff is 1 to 0.4. However, the ideal ratio is 5 to 1, that is, 1 to 0.2. This means that clerical personnel far outnumber the nursing staff. 4) The ratio of nurses to nurse's-aides; The average 2.5 to 1 indicates that most of the nursing service are delegated to nurse's-aides owing to the shortage of registered nurses. This is the main cause of the deterioration in the quality of nursing services. It is a real problem in the guest for better nursing services that certain hospitals employ a disproportionate number of nurse's-aides in order to meet financial requirements. 5) As for the working conditions, most of hospitals employ a three-shift day with 8 hours of duty each. However, certain hospitals still use two shifts a day. 6) As for the working environment, most of the hospitals lack welfare and hygienic facilities. 7) The salary basis is the highest in the private university hospitals, with enterprise hospitals next and religious hospitals and national or public ones lowest. 8) Method of employment is made through paper screening, and further that the appointment of nurses is conditional upon the favorable opinion of the nursing directors. 9) The unemployment ratio for one year in 1971 averaged 29 per cent. The reasons for unemployment indicate that the highest is because of marriage up to 40 per cent, and next is because of overseas employment. This high unemployment ratio further causes the deterioration of efficiency in nursing services and supplementary activities. The hospital authorities concerned should take this matter into a jeep consideration in order to reduce unemployment. 10) The importance of in-service education is well recognized and established. 1% has been noted that on the-job nurses. training has been most active, with nursing directors taking charge of the orientation programs of newly employed nurses. However, it is most necessary that a comprehensive study be made of instructors, contents and methods of education with a separate section for in-service education. 10. Nursing services'activities 1) Division of services and job descriptions are urgently required. 81 per rent of the hospitals keep written regulations of services in accordance with nursing service manuals. 19 per cent of the hospitals do not keep written regulations. Most of hospitals delegate to the nursing directors or certain supervisors the power of stipulating service regulations. In 21 per cent of the total hospitals they have policy committees, standardization committees and advisory committees to proceed with the stipulation of regulations. 2) Approximately 81 per cent of the hospitals have service channels in which directors, supervisors, head nurses and staff nurses perform their appropriate services according to the service plans and make up the service reports. In approximately 19 per cent of the hospitals the staff perform their nursing services without utilizing the above channels. 3) In the performance of nursing services, a ward manual is considered the most important one to be utilized in about 32 percent of hospitals. 25 per cent of hospitals indicate they use a kardex; 17 per cent use ward-rounding, and others take advantage of work sheets or coordination with other departments through conferences. 4) In about 78 per cent of hospitals they have records which indicate the status of personnel, and in 22 per cent they have not. 5) It has been advised that morale among nurses may be increased, ensuring more efficient services, by their being able to exchange opinions and views with each other. 6) The satisfactory performance of nursing services rely on the following factors to the degree indicated: approximately 32 per cent to the systematic nursing activities and services; 27 per cent to the head nurses ability for nursing diagnosis; 22 per cent to an effective supervisory system; 16 per cent to the hospital facilities and proper supply, and 3 per cent to effective in·service education. This means that nurses, supervisors, head nurses and directors play the most important roles in the performance of nursing services. 11. About 87 per cent of the hospitals do not have separate budgets for their nursing departments, and only 13 per cent of the hospitals have separate budgets. It is recommended that the planning and execution of the nursing administration be delegated to the pertinent administrators in order to bring about improved proved performances and activities in nursing services.
In spite of the great progress of the theory and skill of the Nursing Care & Medical area in relation to pregnancy, nurses in clinics face up to many challenges in maternity nursing care areas. The reason is that the mobility and mortality of mothers was sharply decreased and the unknown high-risk diseases of pregnancy woman in the past is made public. That's why it is difficult to meet the pregnancy woman in natural process from pregnancy to delivery in recently. Admission rooms are filled with high-risk pregnancy women. As a matter of fact, we have done nursing care into the surface symptoms and diseases of high-risk pregnancy women so far. We have been indifferent to a long period hospitalization, separation from family, and conflict of repeated examination. Therefore, it is widely spread to understand the emotional conflict experienced by high-risk pregnancy women and to need for nursing intervention to bring up about emotional support and the ability of perception in psychological crisis. Although the pregnancy woman judged in high-risk should carry out normal task of pregnancy, she have to be confronted with secondary risk situation. The health of self & fetus threatened by the risk situation could be decreased through care plan, but psychological stress increases. Therefore, the pregnancy brings into non-control state. It is important to ask that what the hospitalized pregnancy women in high-risk think of themselves status. Because misunderstanding or serious anxiety of themselves status put into mother and fetus in danger. And adaptation mode makes all the difference. I would like to consider how nurses could deal with this high-risk circumstances in the position of pregnancy woman on the basis of the above fact. This study uses phenomenological method to suggest the basis material for nurses to do nursing intervention in view of pregnancy woman. Because this method understands the nature of true life of pregnancy woman throughly. The phenomenological method is the sources to describe or explain affluently the process generated in confirmation areas and environment and is the application for readers to understand and recognize clinic reality and then apply this method to reasoning study place or other places. Specifically, the phenomenon study method, one of the phenomenological method, is applied. The use of that method is to describe and generalize the experience in environment exactly. The study of this study is as follows : Among 187 descriptive stamens from 8 study participants are classified into 42 theme cluster at the stage of the first analysis. Those theme is categorized into 8 sub-subjects such as anxiety of uncertainty, foreknowledge about risk circumstance, will power about overcome, unsettled feeling about hospital, relief, optimistic thought, family support, and indifferences. At the last stage of analysis, those things are categorized into 3 subjects. When high-risk pregnancy woman foretell the situation, they feel unsettlement about uncertainty and untrust feeling about hospital. But they are ease with family support and hospital support. On the other hand, they express indifferent 3-way structure response to the situation having will of overcome and exceeding optimistic thought. In those statements, the experience by pregnancy woman shows 3 respect subjects. 1. They are anxious of this situation and are in desperation and don't recognize their role to be carried out 2. They think of this situation as normal process of pregnancy and are not concerned that this can give themselves and fetus fatal damage. 3. The pregnancy women will never confront this situation. This study shows the pregnancy woman has anxiety and optimistic relief about the situation, and ignores and optimistic relief about the situation, and ignores many things. Therefore, nurses in clinic should give pregnancy woman knowledge and information about the high-risk and help them to deal with the situation spontaneously. High-risk pregnancy woman should have the care plan in respect of the right perception. And the nurse know that their support help out pregnancy woman overcome the crisis in this respect of the special nursing intervention.