• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.106-116
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• 2014

Purpose: In this paper issues and challenges of the workforce policy for nursing were explored and appropriate policy responses identified. Results: Many countries, including South Korea, are facing a shortage of nurses. In South Korea, the number of practicing registered nurses is about half the average for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. The shortage of nurses is not necessarily a shortage of individuals with nursing qualifications but also includes complex issues, such as lack of well-educated nurses, shortage of nurses willing to work, and geographical imbalances of nurses. The present nurse workforce policies are to increase number of nursing schools, to reduce the length of training, and to replace nurses with nursing assistants. However, the findings of many studies have shown that these attempts resulted in a worsening of patient outcomes and increasingly low quality of care. Conclusion: The findings in this study indicate that nurse workforce policy should have a multi-faceted approach in order to address the many factors affecting nurse shortages.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.275-287
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• 2013

This study aims to derive implications on current problems in the nursing manpower management in Korea through the comparison with the nursing workforce and employmentrent in the United States and Japan. There are various issues in nursing policy, such as nursing shortage, quality of the nursing service, and the increased cost of management due to the high turnover rate of nursing staffs and it is urgent to seek various policy measures to resolve this. Although nursing shortage is a commom problem in the world, the U.S. and Japan were higher rate of employment than Korea in nursing staffs, which implicates the importance of the legislation of mandatory minimum staffing ratios, the establishment of policies such as the fees and charge policy and the nursing work environments. For quality nursing care and patient safety through the stable workforce of qualified nursing staffs, administrative mechanisms that support adequate nurse staffing and promote positive work conditions are needed, for which the improvement of legal system is required.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.94-102
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• 2024

Background: There is controversy surrounding the claim that current nursing workforce policies exacerbate the geographic imbalance of nurses in Korea, but very few studies have confirmed this assertion. Therefore, this study aimed to identify factors influencing the distribution of nurses at the regional level, including variables related to nursing workforce policies. Methods: This study analyzed the distribution of 225,462 practicing nurses across 250 regions in Korea as of 2020. National statistics were collected for these 250 regions, and regression analysis was conducted. Results: Factors influencing the distribution of practicing nurses included the number of annual inpatient days, integrated nursing care service beds, public healthcare institutions, tertiary hospitals, and general hospitals. Additionally, the number of nursing graduates and healthcare institutions with nurse staffing grade 1 and 2 had an impact on nurse distribution in non-capital regions. Conclusion: To prevent exacerbating the geographic imbalance of nurses, careful decisions should be made regarding the expansion of integrated nursing care service beds. Furthermore, it is necessary to increase the number of nursing students in non-capital regions and prioritize the improvement of wages and working conditions for nurses in those areas.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.701-711
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• 2013

Purpose: The plan proposed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2012 did not reflect the position of nurses and focused only on how to increase the number of nurses. There is a need for coming up with a specific and viable alternative plan considering the qualitative aspect of nursing, delegation of nursing tasks, the in-death analysis of the reasons for leaving the nursing profession, and the legal standards based on varying nursing tasks. Methods: Drawing on a review of existing literature, this report was written to examine policy directions and the factors that influence the institutional environment that regulates the supply and demand of the nursing workforce in Korea. Results: Implementing the government's plan for introducing a new type of nurse, the registered practical nurse, which generally requires a two-year associate's degree, must be reconsidered. Also, a concrete plan to make use of unemployed nurses and to close the salary gap between nurses working at hospitals in cities and those working at hospitals in rural areas must be prepared. Furthermore, there is a need for introducing a new rating system aimed at boosting the quality of nursing care in small-and medium-sized hospitals, thereby increasing the number of nursing professionals who provide high quality care. Conclusion: In preparation for expected poor quality of care and looming unemployment crisis due to the increase in the number of nursing professionals, a practical and concrete plan for the supply and demand of the nursing workforce should be made. The Korean Nurses Association should mount a profession-wide campaign to make the government formulate a new and viable policy on the supply and demand of the nursing workforce.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.57-71
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aims to provide primary data for policy alternatives by identifying the problem of the nursing workforce shortage. Methods: For quantitative data, 446 questionnaires were analyzed. The mean and standard deviation were used for content description. ANOVA analysis and Scheffe? test were used to compare the differences according to the hospital level. For qualitative data, 1:1 in-depth and group interviews were conducted for six participants. Results: The factors nurses prioritized when choosing a workplace were salary, commuting distance, and work-life balance. Clinical nurses cited low wages, heavy workloads, and burnout as the most considerable difficulties in performing their duties. Factors influencing nurse's turnover intention were low wages, unmanageable workload, and rotation to unwanted departments in that order. New nurses tend not to apply to small-medium-sized hospitals, experienced nurses in their 30s-40s leave hospitals due to childcare and shift work difficulties, and nurses in their 50s and older tend to move to nursing homes rather than acute hospital settings. Conclusion: In this study, wage and workload were mentioned as the most critical factors in nurses' workplace selection, job performance difficulties, and turnover intention, so it is necessary to pay attention to this aspect when improving treatment for nurses.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.783-794
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• 2019

Purpose: This study identified factors related to the quality of care in nursing homes, and elicited consensus opinions from experts on nursing homes. Methods: A Delphi questionnaire was developed based on a review of the literature using the keywords "nursing homes," "workforce," and "quality of care." A total of two Delphi surveys were conducted with 14 experts. The important and urgent factors related to the quality of care for nursing home residents emerged. Results: A consensus was achieved on the important and urgent factors relating to the quality of care. The related factors were grouped into four sections: Organizational Characteristics, Staffing Characteristics, the Long-Term Care Market and Legal and Policy Issues, and Nursing Processes. In total, 23 items were important factors and 26 items were urgent factors relating to the quality of care. In addition, the unanimous advocacy by the experts for increased hours per resident day for registered nurses (RNs, 41 minutes 59 seconds) was much higher than the current hours per resident day of RNs in Korea. Conclusion: To provide optimal care for residents in nursing homes in Korea, the mandatory and essential placement of RNs with professional knowledge and skills is paramount.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.2141-2149
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• 2009

This research is based upon the nursing statistical data published by the Institute of Nursing Policy in 2007, on behalf of Korea nursing association. We analyzed the problems on the healthcare human resources supply in Korea. We suggest that a solution is to adopt immigration policy for foreign workforce employment. The result of the research shows that more than 1,000 nurses are registrated every year except for 2004, according to the yearly status of healthcare jobs. The variance of doctors' registration was quite significant. Compared to 750 registrations in 2004, 4000 doctors were registered in 2002. The healthcare accounts for the property of citizens in terms, which represents the health and lives of everyone, so the country must take all measures to supply the healthcare services in need. Focusing on the underdeveloped region where it is difficult to approach the medical services, the foreign workforce could be added into the healthcare profession field. We conclude that employing foreign healthcare professionals will contribute to the improvement of lives in those people living in underdeveloped region, as well as unity of the local community.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.190-199
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• 2004

This thesis explores the actual circumstances of Korean nursing by investigating its present situations. Ultimately, the intent of this study aims to establish a future direction of Korean Nursing. As such, the current conditions of Korean nursing is analyzed in the following categories: education, practice, research, nursing policy, expansion of nursing field, and entrepreneurship. In the final conclusion, an appropriate orientation of the future of Korean nursing is discussed. There are two primary Nursing programs, a three-year(63) and a four-year(53), in Korean Nursing education. Master's programs are available at 32 nursing schools or 32 professional graduate schools. A total of 15 nursing schools have a doctoral program in Korea. The ratio of graduates between the three-year and four year programs is 76:24. Hence, it is highly encouraged to expand four-year nursing programs, because it will help raise the social status of nursing professionals as well as the quality of nursing. In the clinical nursing field, independency and self regulation are critical. As such, organizational change, implementation of a standardized nursing m information system, appropriate workforce, and improvement of the reimbursement system in nursing is recommended. In community nursing, the following should be resolved to provide better nursing services: improvement of working condition and benefits, establishment of a law enforcing the hiring of nurses, and providing continuing education. The number of nursing research has increased and nursing studies are in great quantity. However, research in practices and theories are more in demanded. Hence, research that integrates theories and practices are very significant. Ultimately, it is critical to support nursing studies that will influence nursing policy. The Korean Nurses Association(KNA) is an organization that supervises the nation's nursing policy. The primary focus of KNA is to combine the three and four year undergraduate education systems into 4 years and to establish the Nursing Practice Act. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has adapted a system to educate and certify nurse specialists in 10 nursing areas in 21 nursing graduate schools expecting high-quality nursing services and a decrease of cost. The government also allowed nurses to operate facilities for health management or welfare agencies.

• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.55-63
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• 2017

Purpose: This study aims to report on and compare the conditions of practicing nurses and nursing graduates in Korea and other OECD countries to suggest policy to improve nurse staffing in Korea. Methods: Data on nurses and nursing graduates from 34 OECD countries in 2015 (or the nearest year) were analyzed. The proportion of practicing nurses among nurses who were licensed to practice and nursing graduates per population and per the number of practicing nurses were examined. Results: The number of practicing nurses per 1,000 population in Korea was 5.9 and, in Korea, only 31.0% of licensed nurses were practicing, whereas the OECD average was 69.5%. Korea had the highest number of nursing graduates (109.0) per 100,000 population and the highest number of nursing graduates (183.5) per 1,000 practicing nurses in the OECD countries. Skill-mix analysis indicated that 52.2% of the practicing nurses in Korea were professional practicing nurses, which was the second-lowest among the OECD countries. The ratio of nurses' wages to those of physician specialists was 0.43 in the OECD countries. Conclusion: Nurse staffing and skill-mix in Korea were very low in comparison to other OECD countries. Policies for retention of nurses via improved working conditions are required.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.64-81
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify manpower acquisition strategies of nurse and nurse aide in long-term care Method: The study was proceed using following three stages: to explore workforce status and labor environment with database analysis, literature reviews, to explore the best practices, practical experiences with expert interviews, with focus group interview, to identify problems and present acquisition strategies Results: Acquisition strategies were increasing of pay, improvement of working condition, development of practical educational program, diversification of entry paths, establishing clear roles for nursing staffs, diversification of training program. Conclusion: We found that the acquisition strategies of nurse and nurse aide can be as an useful methods to increase manpower in long-term care for higher quality of services and care.