• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.213-222
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• 1998

The prevalence rate of low back pain in nurses is higher than that of other jobs, because there are many more risk factors(for example, standing postures, lifting and carrying heavy loads, transfering patients, changing a patient's position etc.). This investigation is to provide basic data for prevention of low back pain by analyzing the prevalence rate and related factors of low back pain in nurses(esp. operating room staff) in general hospitals. A self-reported questionaire survey was carried out on three hundred and five nurses of three general hospitals in Seoul from June, 1996 to August, 1996. Subjects of the survey were divided into a low back pain group(LBP) and a cotrol group to investigate the association between low back pain and the general characteristics and work related factors of each group. The results were as follows: 1. In the subjects of the survey, the prevalence rate of low back pain was 60.0% for the last year. 2. 73.6% of operating room(OR) staff complained of low back pain. 3. Standing for a long time and working in twisting postures were associated with low back pain, and so were the shift, the type of work, and the frequency of transfering patients. 4. The weight loads which nurses frequently carried were, under 5kg, 5-10kg, 15-20kg, 15-20kg, over 20kg, and all, except for 10-15kg, were associated with LBP. 5. 76.9% of the LBP experienced low back pain within 3 years after starting nursing jobs. 6. Concerning the degrees of low back pain: 75.8% was limited to waist; 18.8% reached the knees; 4.2% reached ankles. In conclusion, the prevalence rate of low back pain in general hospital nurses was associated with the works in operating room and other work related factors, therefore it is necessary to develop on educational program for the prevention of low back pain as well as and to improve working environments.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.109-120
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• 2018

Purpose: The aims of this study were to examine the work, client, and personal environments of community health practitioners, including the level of their professional quality of life (ProQOL), and identify the factors affecting their ProQOL. Methods: Data were collected using a web-survey questionnaire, which was completed by a sample of 308 community health practitioners currently working in Korea. The questionnaire included items on ProQOL; three dimensions labeled compassion satisfaction, burn out, and secondary traumatic stress; job stress; job satisfaction; sense of community; and general characteristics. Results: The mean scores for the three dimensions were $39.2{\pm}6.44$ (compassion satisfaction), $31.9{\pm}3.59$ (burn out), and $26.4{\pm}5.05$ (secondary traumatic stress). A multiple linear regression revealed that compassion satisfaction varied significantly according to the satisfaction with job choice, sense of community, job stress, and job satisfaction. The factors affecting burn out were sense of community and work load, while the factors affecting secondary traumatic stress were education, job stress, and job satisfaction. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that comprehensive intervention focusing on improving the sense of community and job satisfaction and reducing job stress is essential to promote community health practitioners' ProQOL.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.89-103
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• 2004

One of the major health problems of working women is job stress according to many studies. However, existing job stress questionnaires are suitable for men and men's job environments only, and do not reflect emotional labor for sales people. The aim of this research is to find women's job stress factors. The subjects of this investigation are married working women in sales since they experience emotional labor in addition to physical and psychological labor and the work-family conflict is very important job stressor for them. The job stressor of married sales women was analyzed through qualitative research. After I had in-depth interviews with 20 married sales women, I identified 49 new concepts, 3 main categories and 17 sub categories. The results are like the following. 1. 3 main categories are job factor, aggravate factor, and compensate factor. 2. Job factor has 5 sub-categories including 'increasing of selling', 'emotional labor' and 'physical burden'. 3. Aggrabate factor has 6 sub-categories including 'work/family conflict', 'relationship with higher office' and 'relationship with a fellow worker' 4. Compensate factor has 6 sub-categories including 'opportunity of employment', 'discrimination', and 'prestige' Consequently this study newly found some major job stressors for married working women in sales department.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.492-505
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• 2001

Purpose: This study aims to find the sources of nurses' conflicts and to find ways to eliminate them for improved nursing care. Method: This study is based on a phenomenological approach. All participants were woking at K-hospital, located in Seoul. The research was performed from September 2000 to February 2001. Data was collected through interviews and observations while participants were working. Interviews lasted a duration of one and half hours and data collection accured five to six times per participant. The data were analysed by Giorgi method and the results are as follows: Result: Essential themes in the professional conflict of clinical nurses emerged (1) The discords of human relationships ; (2) Dissatisfaction with working conditions ; (3) Lack of self-respect in one's professional expertise ; (4) Dissatisfaction with one's work ; (5) Depression accurring due to one's ability as a professional. Conclusion: The foregoing arguments suggest that nurses perform stressful environments in a hospital originating from the relationship among peer group, working conditions, and lack of self-respect as a nurses. Therefore, hospital authorities should strangly consider working conditions, interpersonal relationships, and working conditions in order to promote self-respect of the nurses hospitals.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.631-642
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to predict the influencing factors and the consequences of near miss in nurses' medication error based upon Salazar & Primomo's ecological system theory. Methods: A convenience sample of 198 nurses was recruited for the cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from July to September 2016. Using the collected data, the developed model was verified by structural equation modeling analysis using SPSS and AMOS program. Results: For the fitness of the hypothetical model, the results showed that $x^2$ ($x^2=258.50$, p<.001) was not fit, but standardized $x^2$ ($x^2/df=2.35$) was a good fit for this model. Additionally, absolute fit index RMR=.06, RMSEA=.08, GFI=.86, AGFI=.81 reached the recommended level, but the Incremental fit index TLI=.82, CFI=.85 was not enough to reach to the recommended level. With the path diagram of the hypothetical model, caution (${\beta}=-.29$ p<.001), patient safety culture (${\beta}=-.20$, p=.041), and work load (${\beta}=.18$, p=.037) had a significant effect on the near miss experiences in nurses' medication error, while fatigue (${\beta}=-.06$, p=.575) did not affect it. Moreover, the near miss experience had a significant effect on work productivity (${\beta}=-.25$, p=.001). Conclusion: These results have shown that to decrease the near miss experience by nurses and increase their work productivity in hospital environments would require both personal and organizational effort.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.14-28
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to calculate the total daily nursing workload and the optimum number of nurses per intensive care unit (ICU) based on the nursing intensity and the direct nursing time per inpatient using the patient classification. Methods: Two ICUs at one general hospital were investigated. To calculate the nursing intensity, patient classification according to the nursing needs was conducted for 10 days in each unit during September 2018. We performed patient classifications for a total of 167 patient-days in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) and 86 patient-days in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU). The total number of person-days for nurses who responded to the Nursing Time survey was 151 for MICU and 85 for SICU. In each unit, direct and non-direct nursing hours, nursing intensity score, and direct nursing hours were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, and average calculated using Microsoft Excel. The amount of nursing workload and the optimum number of nurses were calculated according to the formula developed by the authors. Findings: For the MICU, the average direct nursing time per patient was 5.59 hours for Group 1, 6.98 hours for Group 2, and 9.28 hours for Group 3. For the SICU, the average direct nursing time per patient was 5.43 hours for Group 1, 7.21 hours for Group 2, 9.75 hours for Group 3, and 12.82 hours for Group 4. Practical Implications: This study confirmed that the appropriate number of nurses was not secured in the nursing unit of this study, and that leisure time such as meal time during nursing work hours was not properly guaranteed. The findings suggest that to create working environments where nurses can serve for extended periods of time without compromising their professional standards, hospitals should secure an appropriate number of nurses.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.204-217
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• 2022

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the factors affecting a hypothetical model of testing for general hospital nurses' job embeddedness. Methods: Data were collected from August 20 to September 19, 2021, by a self-administered questionnaire answered by 428 general hospital nurses. The data were analyzed by SPSS and AMOS. Results: Nine of the hypothetical model's 12 hypotheses were supported by the data collected from all participants. The test results indicate that ego resilience, subjective career success, and recovery experience from job stress directly affect participants' job embeddedness. Nurses' work environments were reported to affect ego resilience and subjective career success, while at the same time ego resilience and subjective career success affected the participants' job embeddedness. Work-life balance was found to affect ego resilience and ego resilience affected subjective career success, and at the same time subjective career success directly affected participants' recovery experiences from job stress and job embeddedness. Of these variables, subjective career success had the strongest direct effect on participants' job embeddedness. Work-life balance affected the participants' recovery experiences from job stress, and their recovery experiences from job stress were found to directly affect job embeddedness. Conclusion: These results suggest that different management strategies to enhance hospital nurses' job embeddedness should address nurses' ego resilience, subjective career success, and recovery experiences from job stress.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.337-347
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to figure out the association of nursing activity participation and clinical practice stress with career maturity during clinical practice among nursing college students. Methods: Participants of the study were 201 nursing college students located in nationwide regions. Data collection was performed between July 18 and August 8, 2019. Data analyses were performed through an independent t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS WIN 25.0. Results: The results of this study were as follows. We ran multiple regression analyses to see which critical factors influenced career maturity. The general characteristics significantly associated with career maturity were preference for clinical nursing, admission to nursing college due to belief, time off, and being satisfied with clinical practice. Regarding clinical practice stress, clinic environment, interpersonal relationship conflict, inappropriate role model and conflict with patients were significantly associated with career maturity. Conclusion: This study suggested that, to improve nursing students' career maturity, nursing colleges and training fields should collaboratively make an efforts to reduce students' stress by building educational clinic environments including managing conflicts in interpersonal relationships among patients, caregivers, and medical and non-medical personnel, and improving inappropriate role models in nursing.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.1012-1022
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• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experiences in the transplantation coordinators' practice. Method: Data was collected through a tape-recorded in-depth interview from nine participants who were transplantation coordinators of their hospitals. It was analyzed using the phenomenological method proposed by Colaizzi(1978). Results: From significant statements, six categories of themes were integrated into the essential structure of the experiences of transplantation coordinators. Six categories of themes were 'continue to be professional during dash this way and rush that', 'burden due to persistent heavy work', 'the uniqueness in family care of the brain-dead patients', 'support of family and a professional group', 'worthiness and achievement of the patients' recovery', and 'establishment of self-confidence as a coordinator'. Conclusion: Although the transplantation coordinators played various roles, they had a conflict in role identity due to poor working environments. The results of this study suggested that development of an educational program, an increase in understanding for the coordinators' role, and institutional support for better working conditions are needed to get professional acknowledgement for transplantation coordinators.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2015

Purpose : Ministry of Health & Welfare started to 'Comprehensive care ward' project for patient hospitalization in order to help the economic and medical By providing comprehensive care services through professional nursing staff since 2013. Many physical environments changes are expected by providing comprehensive care services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the comprehensive care services and identify the problems of the corresponding physical environment usage. Methods : Data were collected through research, field surveys, and expert interviews to analyze and investigate the physical environment of the 'Comprehensive care ward'. Results : Physical environments changes in accordance with the comprehensive care services provided in 'Comprehensive care ward' are being only partially achieved. It have to considered not only ward environmental improvement for nursing services provided directly to the patient, but Including nurses warehousing space, work space. Implications : Comprehensive care ward project is scheduled to be operational even some wards throughout the hospital since 2018. This study is basic research for architectural planning of the future ward with comprehensive care services in public hospital.