• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.74-86
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• 2017

Purposes: This study was performed to understand the recognition about accreditation motives, support within the hospital and accreditation survey process for the hospitals that participated in the accreditation program and to find out whether these factors are related to hospital management performances, so that the study can suggest plans for activation and development of the accreditation program. Methodology: This study was performed targeting 98 hospitals answered th the survey among 189 acute care hospitals that acquired accreditation from December 2010 to February 2014. For data analysis, frequency analysis, ${\chi}^2$-test, reliability analysis, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis H test and multiple regression analysis with SPSS 21.0 were used. Findings: The hospitals that had staff in charge of patient safety had bigger hospital culture change than those that didn't have(p<.05). In addition, the hospital culture change was bigger as internal motives were bigger, and as CEO's will was bigger(p<.05). Meanwhile, as maintenance rate of internal management after accreditation was higher, and as CEO's will was bigger, process improvement level was higher(p<.05). The quality improvement and patient satisfaction level were higher as CEO's will was bigger, and as suitability of survey process was recognized to be high(p<.05). As a result of analyzing the factors that affect hospital management performances with hospital culture change, process improvement and quality improvement combined, as internal management maintenance rate was higher, as CEO's will was bigger, and as suitability of survey process was higher, performances were higher(p<.05). Practical Implications: Hospitals need to reinforce internal motives to improve internal competences such as the whole system maintenance opportunity and staff training. In addition, the will of hospital director is most important, and if there is hospital director's interest in quality improvement and improvement intention definitely, employees voluntarily participate in and cooperate with the accreditation program, so that prompt medical service provision and high quality of medical services can be guaranteed, leading to hospitals' management performances.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.5716-5725
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• 2014

This study examined the effects of a prenatal education program of labor and delivery experience for primigravidas in mid-pregnancy. This investigation was designed as a one group pre-post quasi-experimental study, aiming to determine the effects of prenatal education on anxiety, confidence and knowledge in delivery by demonstrating knowledge and actual situations including understanding labor, breast-feeding, baby care and others, and experiencing the education program. Subjects were collected randomly from an on-line club in D city. The simulation education proceeded for 2 hours a week from April to June, 2014, and there were 6 sessions each in the first and second periods. We included 35 primigravidas who attended all 6 sessions. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and a paired t-test. According to the study results, the subjects showed a significant difference in knowledge in delivery (t=-9.07, p<001), confidence in delivery (t=-9.00, p<001) and anxiety (t=14.39, p<001) after participating in the prenatal education program. An evaluation of satisfaction revealed experience to be the most differentiating factor, and the simulation experience was identified as most effective. The desired appropriate number of class sessions was 4 times, and 88.6% of the pregnant women intended to attend the program at their next birth, indicating a high response rate.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.791-801
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to examine factors affecting the intent of re-employment of inactive registered nurses. This study presents a secondary analysis of data collected in 'Nurse Turnover On-line Survey' by Korean Nurses Association and Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in 2014. The analysis shows that 70.9% of inactive RNs has an intent to return to practice, and most of them preferred 'flexible working options' (47.8%) or 'fixed day shifts' (43.3%) as a work pattern. Main reasons for resigning from their last job have been found to be 'high work intensity' (18.8%) and 'difficulties of night shifts' (16.7%). Inactive married RNs who have working histories in a general hospital or a long-term care hospital or have preferences for traditional shift works showed a stronger intent to return to practice than their reference group. Our study shows that, for inactive RNs to return to practice, it is recommendable to adopt various non-traditional working patterns, to make a staffing distribution considering the labor intensity and to develop education programs designed to increase RNs' professional satisfaction.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.583-595
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• 2014

Hospitals in Korea have been increasingly using physician assistants (PA) as an alternative way of dealing with the shortage of residents. However, some incidents of a Physician's Assistant practicing beyond their legal scope require closer examination of the current PA's roles and functions. This study is a web-based survey designed towards targeting physician assistants in Korea (KPA) who practice delegated tasks under a physician's license. Currently, there are 2,125 KPAs working in 141 general hospitals and medical centers. Data from 704 nurses from who responded to the questionnaire were analyzed with descriptive statistics using the SPSS 12.0 program. Their mean age is 32.5 years with 8-10 years of clinical experiences, with males being more likely to be a PA. Despite of KPAs providing medical services and performing invasive procedures, only 13% of KPAs are licensed APNs (advanced practice nurse). KPAs have a low job satisfaction due to a lack of rewards and the necessity for providing illegal practices, and are experiencing identity confusion. The current KPA system is a transitional product of the change from the hierarchial structure to a more collaborative relationship between the medical and nursing departments. Providing adequate education and training, establishing protocols with legal protection, and developing professional independent scope of care are recommended to deliver safe and efficient medical services.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.271-283
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• 2001

The childbearing process is a sociocultural phenomenon of a woman who gives birth to a child as well as a biological phenomenon. The purpose of this ethnographic research study was to explore the experience of childbearing process of mothers with children from pregnancy to the 3 months postpartum in Korea and to understand deeply the perspectives of childbearing women reflected on Korean sociocultural values. A convenient sample of 10 childbearing women were observed from January to October 2000 through field work in Seoul, Korea. Data analysis was accomplished under ongoing process. The results of this study were as follows : The mothers with children experienced self-reflection, family relation, and physical adaptation during pregnancy. In self-reflection, all mothers experienced universality and diversity in their self-discovering process. The universal experiences were maturation, life with family and priority on maternal value between being a mother and a woman. The diverse experiences were taking a dual role of working mother, emotional drift of a resigned mother, and disheartened life of a mother who has two daughters. In family relation, the foundation of the new marital relationship were attained during childbearing process and sexual life were changed for the benefit of a healthy mother and a healthy baby. All mothers established friendly relations with their mothers, but established friendly or conflicting or constraining relations with their mother-in-laws due to husband based family culture. In physical adaptation, the informants endured well the physical discomfort and recognized general appearance change. Also maternal-fetal interaction occurred and mothers realistically felt motherhood and accepted themselves as mother-to-be. The mothers prepared for the best delivery, look for a safe childbirth center, newborn goods, endorsed family coping during hospitalization and responded labor pain to make it more endurable, less painful, fast passed owing to labor recognition of the natural process to be a mother. After childbirth, they felt emancipation, satisfaction, accomplishment, more easiness, actually feeling as mother-to-be, emptiness, and showed response to the sex of newborn. Their Sanhujori practice was different according to the Sanhujori environment including provider, place, time in postpartum and reflected on Sanhubyung. The mothers felt actually mother-to-be and happiness during lactation regardless of feeding pattern. These mothers had a different maternal image about rearing subjecthood through their child-rearing experience. But all mothers felt need for family support and social support. The universal rearing response were actual feeling of mother-to-be, a strenuous experience, a pride on child-rearing, confusion, reflecting marital relationship, and wondering rivalry among children. In conclusion, mother of all with children went through self-discovery, self-reflection and made connections with the family as a mother and as a woman simultaneously during the childbearing process. Therefore it is suggested when harmony and balance between a mother and a woman is accomplished, the woman will lead a healthy and high quality of life. Also, this study sought to confirm the sociocultural factors affecting the childbearing process from the perspectives of the women with children. Therefore health care providers must understand deeply the childbearing women with children based on this finding of and try a integrative approach with new ideology of maternity with biocultural perspectives in a clinical setting.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.78-95
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• 1999

The grafting of a kidney has been found to be the best medical treatment for patients who have renal insufficiency failure, but the patients still have experienced much trouble and apprehension. This study was done to further nursing theory developing for patients who have has a kidney graft from another person. The research method followed grounded theory methodology of Strauss and Corbin. The subjects were three female and four male patients. This study done befween Oct. 1997 and Mar. 1998. All of the subjects were interviewed by the author. Interview were done by the long interview technique and observation. In the process of data analysis, 'heart-boiling' was found to be the core phenomenon. The results were composed to 101 concepts. These concepts were grouped into nineteen categories, and then to twelve categories. There were 12 super-class categories as follows ; 'pain', 'heart-boiling', 'experience of dialysis', 'term of admission to a hospital', 'support of other person', 'dependence on God', 'direction', 'negative reaction', 'positive reaction', 'comfortable', 'lacking', 'acceptance'. In this process, 14 hypotheses were derived from the categories as follows ; (1) The more experience with dialysis that the patients have, the stronger the heart-boiling will tend to be. (2) The less experience with dialysis the patients have, the weaker the heart-boiling will tend to be. (3) The longer admission to hospital the patients have, the stronger the heart-boiling will be. (4) The shorter the admission to hospital the patients have, the weaker the heart-boiling will be. (5) The weaker the intense-grief is, the more positive the reaction to heart-boiling the patients wll have. (6) The stronger the intense-grief is, the more negative the reaction to heart-boiling the patients will have. (7) The stronger the support of other persons that the patients have, the more positive the reaction to heart-boiling the patients will have. (8) The weaker the support of other person that the patients have, the more negative the reaction to heart-boiling the patients will have. (9) The stronger the dependence on God that the patients have, the mure positive reaction to heart-boiling the patients will have. (10) The weaker the dependence on God that the patients have, the more negative reaction to heart-boiling the patients will have. (11) The more positive thoughts that the patients have, the more positive reaction to heart-boiling the patinets will have. (12) The more negative thoughts that the patients have, the more negative reaction to heart-boiling the patients will have. (13) The more positive reaction the patients have, the more free from heart-boiling the patients tend to be. (14) The more negative reaction the patients have, the less free from heart-boiling the patients tend to be. From the analysis of observed data and comparing each class, I concluded that there are four formula relation types between reaction of patients and heart-boiling. (1) If patients have the experience of dialysis, have a long term admission to hospital, are strong in heart-boiling, depend on God, have positive thoughts and another's strong support, they experience release by positive reaction to the intense-grief. (2) If patients have the experience of dialysis, have a short term admission to hospital, are weak in heart-boiling, do not depend on God, have negative thoughts, and have few supports from others, they experience attachment to heart-boiling though a negative reaction. (3) If patients have the experience of dialysis, have a long term admission to hospital, are strong in heart-boiling, do not depend on God, and have negative thoughts, they experience attachment to heart-boiling through negative reaction in spite of support from another. (4) If patients have the experience of dialysis, have a long term admission into hospital, are strong in heart-boiling and satisfaction is low, but they have positive thoughts, then they experience acceptance and harmony through the positive reaction to heart-boiling. The results of this study are expected to help the way nurses care for patients who have had a kidney graft from another.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.99-111
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors related to sexual function of women with coronary artery disease, and to determine the predictors of sexual function. The study design, a descriptive correlational study, was done through structural questionnaire and interview. A total of 50 subjects from C University Hospital at Kwang-ju city who have undergone coronary angiography at department of cardiology were observed and interviewed from Feb. 22, 1999 to March. 23, 1999. The number of affected vessels, the level of total serum cholesterol, and the ejection fraction of 2-D echo cardiography were analyzed to evaluate the severity of coronary artery disease. And also type A behavior pattern, health behavior, Brief Index of Sexual Functioning for Women (BISF-W) were measured. The data obtained were analyzed using percentage, mean and standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression analysis via SPSS PC+. The results of this study were as follows: 1. The mean age of the subjects were 58.1 and 72.0% of those have been married over 30 years. Seventy two percentage were unemployed and monthly family income of 56.6% was less than 1,000,000 won (approximately $ 840). Eighty percent were in their postmenopausal state, and the frequency of sexual intercourse of 84.0% were two to three times per month. 2. The scores of type A behavior pattern were from 16 to 38(mean 24.94) and health behavior ranged from 21 to 43(mean 31.2). Abstinence from smoking, alcohol, and caffeine were best compliant factors and weight control and exercise were least abided ones. The result of 2D-ECHO EF showed that the half of the subjects were abnormal, and 24% had more than 240mg/dl of total serum cholesterol. The coronary angiography showed that 64% of the subjects had more than one affected vessels. 3. The predictors to explain the factor score of 'orgasm' were number of health examination, the pre- or post-menopausal state, protestant, number of coronary vessel affected, level of serum total cholesterol, and comorbid group of hypertension and diabetes, and it's total variance accounted for 52.4%. The predictors to explain the factor score of 'sexual activity' were comorbid group of hypertension and diabetes and type A behavior pattern, which accounted for 22.4% of total variance. The predictors to explain the factor score of 'sexual satisfaction' were type A behavior pattern, no religion, exercise, level of serum total cholesterol, and pre or post menopausal state, which accounted for 52.1%. The predictors to explain the factor score of 'sexual desire' were the period of marriage, type A behavior, employment or unemployment, and weight control, which accounted for 43.2%. The predictors to explain the factor score of 'external force of sexual functioning' were physical overload and exercise, which accounted for 41.1%. The predictors to explain the factor score of 'sexual activity' were family monthly income, catholics, and exercise, and which accounted for 35.4%. Above results lead us to some consensus that sexual function of women with coronary artery disease is related to various factors including vasogenic factors such as total serum cholesterol level, number of coronary vessel affected, an endocrinal factor such as menopausal state, and type A behavior pattern as a sociopshychological factor. And also health behaviors such as fitness care, overwork, weight control, and emotional tension are contributed to sexual function.

• Korea Science and Art Forum
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• v.19
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• pp.417-424
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• 2015

The healthcare service industry has become one of the business industries in South Korea where service design is most actively being researched on and applied. In accordance with the recent upsurge of the interest in health, healthcare service is expanding its area including disease prevention, patient management, and rehabilitation treatment as well as cure and nursing care. The health manpower is the supplier, and their professional knowledge and ability and the patients' trust in medical technology are the most important factors for their customers. In addition, service design has come into the spotlight given that the medical institute system, health manpower attitude, and information delivery system and touch point are considered important factors contributing to customer satisfaction. It is very hard to satisfy customers only through professionalism, the environment, and product improvement because healthcare service deals with much more sensitive and emotional customers compared to other service industries. This means that a change in the service mind-set and the attitude of the health manpower as emotional labourers have practical effects. Therefore, the fundamental solution is to establish a system that provides related education with manpower and that settles various problems by itself. This paper introduces several solutions, such as education for health manpower and a service design system applied to a national-university-affiliated hospital in South Korea, and takes a close look at its effects.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.347-365
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• 1995

A survey was conducted to study perception and attitudes of health workers towards health center's activities and organization of health services, from August 15 to September 30, 1994. The study population was 310 health workers engaged in seven urban health centers in Taegu City area. A questionnaire method was used to collect data and response rate was 81.3 percent or 252 respondents. The following are summaries of findings: Profiles of study population: Health workers were predominantly female(62.3%); had college education(60.3%); and held medical and nursing positions(39.6%), technicians(30.6%) and public health/administrative positions(29.8%). Perceptions on health center's resources: Slightly more than a half(51.1%) of respondents expressed that physical facilities of the centers are inadequate; equipments needed are short(39.0%); human resource is inadequate(44.8%); and health budget allocated is insufficient(38.5%) to support the performance of health center's activities. Decentralization and health services: The majority revealed that the decentralization of government system would affect the future activities of health centers(51.9%) which may have to change. However, only one quarter of respondents(25.4%) seemed to view the decentralization positively as they expect that it would help perform health activities more effectively. The majority of the respondents(78.6%) insisted that the function and organization of the urban health centers should be changed. Target workload and job satisfaction: A large proportion (43.3%) of respondents felt that present target setting systems for various health activities are unrealistic in terms of community needs and health center's situation while only 11.1 percent responded it positively; the majority(57.5%) revealed that they need further training in professional fields to perform their job more effectively; more than one third(35.7%) expressed that they enjoy their professional autonomy in their job performance; and a considerable proportion (39.3%) said they are satisfied with their present work. Regarding the personnel management, more worker(47.3%) perceived it negatively than positive(11.5%) as most of workers seemed to think the personnel management practiced at the health centers is not fair or justly done. Health services rendered: Among health services rendered, health workers perceived the following services are most successfully delivered; they are, in order of importance, Tb control, curative services, and maternal and child health care. Such areas as health education, oral health, environmental sanitation, and integrated health services are needed to be strengthening. Regarding the community attitudes towards health workers, 41.3 percent of respondents think they are trusted by the community they serve. New areas of concern identified which must be included in future activities of health centers are, in order of priority, health care of elderly population, home health care, rehabilitation services, and such chronic diseases control programs as diabetes, hypertension, school health and mental health care. In conclusion, the study revealed that health workers seemed to have more negative perceptions and attitudes than positive ones towards organization and management of health services and activities performed by the urban health centers where they are engaged. More specifically, the majority of health workers studied revealed to have the following areas of health center's organization and management inadequate or insufficient to support effective performance of their health activities: Namely, physical facilities and equipments required are inadequate; human and financial resources are insufficient; personnel management is unsatisfactory; setting of service target system is unrealistic in terms of the community needs. However, respondents displayed a number of positive perceptions, particularly to those areas as further training needs and implementation of decentralization of government system which will bring more autonomy of local government as they perceived these change would bring the necessary changes to future activities of the health center. They also displayed positive perceptions in their job autonomy and have job satisfactions.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.51-64
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• 2002

This study was aimed to provide the basic data for the development of effective educational program by reflecting the opinions of the visiting health service workers. The subjects were 144 visiting health service workers in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do area who responded the mail questionnaire. The data were collected from June to July, 2001 using questionnaire composed of the education need, knowledge by subjective appraisal, and experience of education. The major findings of this study were as follows: 1. The number of respondents who received at least one education within recent three years were 43(29.9%) at the central level, 57(39.6%) at the provincial level and 53(36.8%) at the district level. The satisfaction with education was higher at the central level than at the provincial and district level. 2. Knowledges by subjective appraisal on the 'chronic degenerative diseases management' and 'health promotion' was relatively high. while that of 'rehabilitation' was low. 3. The knowledge by subjective appraisal of visiting health service was related with experience of education and license status. The knowledge was higher in registered nurses than in nurse aids. The curricula related to increased level of knowledge of visting health service workers were 'elderly health care', 'rehabilitation' and 'psychiatric-mental health nursing' educations at the central level 'continuing education for the community health practioners' and 'psychiatric-mental health education' at the provincial level and 'elderly health care', 'rehabilitation' 'psychiatric-mental health' and 'acute diseases control' educations at the district level. 4. The respondents preferred elderly health management as the contents of education, officer group education as the method of education, province(30.4%) as the main body of education, exercise and practice as the form of education, 2-3 times per year as the frequency of education, and 3-5days as the period of education. The findings of this study could suggest that future education program should be planned to increae the knowledge level of visiting health service workers by reflecting their educational need.