• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.415-420
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• 2022

Background: Healthcare workers perform an emotionally exhausting daily work activity, making them prone to occupational hazards, namely psychosocial ones. This study aims to assess the impact of psychosocial risk factors on healthcare workers' mental health. Methods: A cross-sectional study was developed between May and June of 2021 with 479 healthcare workers from Portuguese hospitals. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale was used to assess mental health, and psychosocial risks were assessed through the Health and Work Survey - INSAT. Statistical analysis was performed to identify the psychosocial risk factors related to anxiety, depression, and stress. Subsequently, a multiple linear regression was performed to identify the models that better explained psychosocial risk factors' relationship with anxiety, depression, and stress. Results: Data showed a strong exposure to psychosocial risks. Work pace and intensity, work relationships, and emotional demands stood out with higher global average percentages for yes answers to "exposure and discomfort." The analysis of the b values and p-values from the multiple linear regression shows that some cross-sectional psychosocial risks are predictors of anxiety and stress dimensions, and other psychosocial risks differ in the two mental health dimensions. However, it is important to highlight that healthcare workers still showed great joy and pleasure in performing their work activities. Conclusion: Support network development in the work environment is needed to prevent healthcare workers' emotional stress and promote their psychological well-being. Therefore, new research is essential to understand the psychosocial risks that affect healthcare workers and assess the less visible effects of work-health relationships.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of care workers' knowledge of elderly oral health, education on elderly oral healthcare and behavioral needs, awareness of elderly oral healthcare, and actual practices in elderly oral healthcare. Furthermore, it explores the mediating effects of elderly oral healthcare education and behavioral needs on the relationship between awareness and practice. Methods: Data were collected from October 11 to December 29, 2023, from 172 certified care workers employed in nursing hospitals and other workplaces. For analyzing the data, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and hierarchical regression were conducted using SPSS Statistics 21.0. Results: Elderly oral health knowledge, education and behavioral needs, awareness, and practice were significantly higher among: those aged 51 years and older, female, primarily working in nursing hospitals, with a total career span of 10 years, higher job satisfaction, in organizations prioritizing elderly oral healthcare, and with superior education in elderly oral health. Elderly oral healthcare education and behavioral needs had partial mediating effects on the relationship between care workers' awareness and practice of elderly oral healthcare. Conclusions: The current practices and challenges in care workers' oral healthcare for the elderly will be analyzed, and recommendations and strategies for improving practices will be formulated.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.245-253
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• 2015

Objectives: One aim of the study is to compare filtering facepiece masks for healthcare workers between Korea and other countries. The other is to emphasize the importance of fit testing for these masks using an analysis of previous research. Materials: An extensive literature review was performed by searching a number of websites and existing studies. Results: KF94 and KF99 masks certified by the Korean CDC are suitable for healthcare workers as filtering facepiece masks. The standards for these respirators are similar to FFP2 and FFP3 of EN 143 and 149. The performance, such as filtering efficiency, is almost the same between KP94 and N95. It was found that fit testing of respirators for healthcare workers was important to reduce infection risk. Conclusions: KF94 should be emphasized as filtering facepiece masks for healthcare workers rather than N95. Even though Korea has no fit testing regulations, implementing fit testing in healthcare settings is strongly recommended to decrease infection risk.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.84-91
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the problems and improvement areas by reviewing the laws related to kindergarden healthcare workers. Methods: The laws were searched at the Korean law information center (https://www.law.go.kr/). We reviewed the 「Early Childhood Education Act」, 「School Health Act」, 「Medical Service Act」, 「Elementary and Secondary Education Act」and their enforcement decrees and rules. Results: The legal role of health teachers as school healthcare professionals was comprehensively specified by the 「School Health Act. However, the qualifications for and roles of health teachers were not fully described in 「Early Childhood Education Act], indicating a unclear legal basis for the qualifications for and roles of kindergarten health teachers. To support healthcare workers in kindergartens, it is necessary to amend the 「Early Childhood Education Act」 that provides the guidelines for qualifications for kindergarten health teachers in elementary, secondary, and special schools who have completed necessary continuing education. A health hub kindergarten could be a step-by-step option for all kindergartens to have healthcare workers. Conclusion: This review demonstrated the importance of amending the laws on kindergarten health teachers and health hub kindergartens for child health and safety. These findings could be used to support policies related to kindergarten healthcare workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.135-140
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• 2023

Introduction: With recent higher awareness of the necessity of improving healthcare workers' wellbeing, we aimed to overview systematic reviews dealing with interventions on well-being, occupational health, and aging of healthcare workers. Methods: From three databases (PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science), a scoping review of systematic reviews was carried out to determine current knowledge on interventions focused on the well-being or aging of healthcare workers. Only systematic reviews were considered, with appropriate extraction and quality evaluation. Results: Of the total of 445 references identified, 10 systematic reviews were included, mostly published since 2019. Nurses were the most frequent targets of interventions, and mental health was the main outcome described. The overall level of quality was also heterogenous, with high to low-quality reviews. Conclusions: Workers' mental health well-being was the major outcome targeted by intervention, with varying level of evidence. Further studies are needed with integrative approaches on global health and life course perspectives, with a focus on the plurality of settings, worker types, and women.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.934-956
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• 2023

This study focuses on the adoption of Healthcare Information System (HIS) in India's healthcare services, which has led to an increased use of HIS software for managing patient information in hospitals. The study aims to evaluate the factors that influence hospital workers' satisfaction with HIS usage and its impact on their intention to continue in the use of HIS. Primary data was collected through a survey questionnaire from 265 hospital workers. A new framework was developed, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used for analysis. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted on demographic data using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach. The results indicated that all hypotheses were significant (p < 0.05). Effort expectancy was the most significant factor influencing hospital workers' satisfaction (p < 0.01). Sensitivity analysis showed that education (Model-A) and experience in use of HIS (Model-B) were the most important factors. The study contributes by proposing a new theoretical framework and extending the previous research on HIS usage satisfaction. Overall, the study highlights the importance of easiness and usefulness in predicting HIS usage satisfaction.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.37-44
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• 2023

Purpose: To decrease cross-infection, it's essential to analyze the spatial composition of the 'PPE doffing area'. Instead of solely relying on manpower standards, we should focus on responding to infectious diseases within the context of space planning. By doing so, we can lower the risk for healthcare workers' infection and ensure a level of safety in various environmental changes or new manpower input situations. Methods: This analysis is conducted specifically for facilities with negative pressure isolation wards. Additionally, interview surveys to obtain feedback from healthcare workers and incorporate their expertise into the design of the 'PPE doffing area' have been carried. Results: In a PPE doffing area, the standard spaces include a PPE doffing room, a shower room, and a clothing room. Depending on the facility environment or the level of infectious diseases, a Decontamination room or Anteroom can be optionally added. Healthcare workers who remove their PPE in the PPE doffing room should avoid re-entering the Negative pressure room. The shower room is often underutilized. When planning for a future PPE doffing area, an aisle space or passageway must be included even if a shower room is planned. Implications: This study examined the space used by healthcare workers rather than patients, with a focus on infection prevention through architectural planning rather than individual efforts. However, the investigation was limited to facilities that have been converted from general wards to negative pressure isolation wards, so it cannot be generalized to all infectious disease facilities.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.131-140
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• 2023

Purpose: We reviewed the cases of occupational diseases that occurred in healthcare workers from 2010 to 2019 and the cases of epidemiological investigations conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute for them. Methods: In this study, gender, age, working period, occupational characteristics, and disease characteristics by occupation, which are general characteristics of healthcare workers approved for occupational diseases. In addition, 32 cases of epidemiological investigation of healthcare workers conducted by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for the past 10 years (2010~2019) were analyzed. Results: The gender, age, working period, occupational characteristics, and disease characteristics by occupation of medical workers recognized as occupational diseases were all statistically significant (p<.001). In the epidemiological investigation, ionizing radiation( 50.0%) and stress (33.3%) were recognized as disease-related factors, and even in cases of disapproval, ionizing radiation (60.0%) and shift work (25.5%) were designated as related factors. And it was statistically significant (p=.008). Conclusion: The current study identified the types of diseases, various causes, and general characteristics and occupational characteristics that occur frequently in healthcare workers. Therefore, if this study is used as basic information to set the priority and direction of disease prevention project for healthcare workers, it is judged that it will be helpful in preventing industrial accidents.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.243-257
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• 2013

This study was conducted in order to survey in healthcare worker's recognition of diagnosis related group(below; DRG) effect from July 1, 2012, to examine their recognition, expectation of the DRG system, and to provide the basic data necessary for the enforcement of the settlement. The subjects of this study were workers at clinics and hospitals sampled from hospital with DRG applying 7 diseases in Busan and Kyung-nam. A questionnaire of survey was conducted with the subjects working at clinics and hospitals from July, 25, 2012 to September 7, 2012, and the subjects were limited to doctors, officers, nurses, medical technicians and nurse assistants, and a total of 618 subjects were enrolled in this study. In the result of this study, generally, the healthcare workers recognized the DRG system. But their knowledge about that was not clear. Expanding enforcement DRG system at the present time, to provide accurate information to the healthcare consumer, workers need to know about DRG system clearly. To this end, for national health policy and medical institutions, workers should be educated constantly about providing medical service as well as the duty of enough explanation about the healthcare consumer's right to know.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.57-70
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• 2012

Background : The purpose of this study was to understand healthcare workers' perception of patient safety culture and medical error reporting to provide basic resources for the settlement of patient safety culture in medical institutions in Korea. Methods : For this purpose, convenience sampling by self-selection was applied to healthcare workers at a university hospital in Gyeonggi-do and a total of 482 people responded. The survey used the translated version of AHRQ in Korean and distributed through the Intranet system of the hospital. Result : The ratio of positive response was low overall. Among the responses, the response for 'Nonpunitive Response to Error' was the lowest at 17.7%, followed by the responses for 'Staffing' at 21.3%, 'Handoffs & Transitions' at 32.9%, and 'Communication Openness' at 44.3%. In result of surveying whether the responders have reported patient safety incidents during the past 12 months, 68.3% responded 'not once.' Conclusion : The perception of healthcare workers' patient safety culture and medical error reporting, when compared to AHRQ, was lower overall. It is important for healthcare workers to pay greater attention to patient safety to create a safe hospital culture where they do not punish or criticize related individuals or departments.