• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.340-346
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• 2016

Background: safety and healthy working environment has received numerous research attention over the years. Majority of these researches seem to have been conducted in the construction industry, with little attention in the health sector. Nonetheless, there are couple of studies conducted in Africa that suggest pressure in hospitals. Therefore the aim of the study was to examine how pressure influence safety behavior in the hospitals. With reference to the relevance of safety behavior in primary health care delivery, there was the need for the study. Method: Data was obtained from 422 public hospital employees. Respondents were assured that all information would be kept confidential to increase the response rate and acquire more accurate information. Collection of questionnaires from participants took four weeks (20 working days), after which the data was analyzed. Results: The result of the study showed that work pressure correlated negatively with safety behavior. General safety climate significantly correlated positively with safety behavior and negatively with work pressure, although the effect size for the latter was smaller. Hierarchical regression analysis showed management commitment to safety to moderate the relationship between work pressure and safety behavior. Conclusion: When employees perceive safety communication, safety systems and training to be positive, they seem to comply with safety rules and procedures than voluntarily participate in safety activities.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.469-480
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was conducted to explore clinical nurses' experience of positive organizational culture in order to provide data for effective strategies of acquisition and retention of competent nurses. Methods: In this qualitative study, interviews with four focus groups of four to six nurses, 19 in total, were held. Compositional factors in groups included clinical experience, age, work place, and position. Interviews proceeded until data were saturated. Results: Fifteen sub-themes, categorized into six themes, emerged. Positive organizational culture themes included "Helping nurses to be organization members", "Allowing nurses to communicate with one another", "Helping nurses take an initiative to lead organization", "Having competent leader take charge of organization", "Enabling nurses to achieve organizational changes", and "Leading nurses to accomplish organizational performance." Conclusion: Results indicate that positive organizational culture is related to increases in occupational satisfaction and decreases in turnover through supportive organizational culture which makes it possible to reinvest expenses required for training new members to promoting quality growth in the organization and the prestige of professional nurses. In order to improve occupational satisfaction and sustained growth in nurses, it is necessary to provide nurses with positive work environments and require members to make active efforts leading to strategic changes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.162-167
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• 2011

To identify the relationship between types of job classification (typical and atypical) and the levels of recognition of noise and the hearing threshold shift, a total of 457 workers in a cosmetic company were studied utilizing a questionnaire and the audiometric hearing test. The results were analyzed by factor analysis, t-test, and general linear model, as appropriate. The results showed that atypical workers had higher level of noise recognition but had lower levels of hearing ability, noise exposure, and the knowledge on hearing loss prevention, compared with those of typical workers. The high noise level group of typical workers showed higher threshold shift levels than that of atypical workers. Significant differences were found at 4 kHz for both ears and in right ear only for hearing threshold shift after adjusting age.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.38-42
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• 2018

A case of surgically treated intervertebral disc extrusion with intraoperatively confirmed intradiscal hematoma in a 30-year-old physical trainer is presented. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging revealed downward migrating disc herniation, without definite suggestive findings of intradiscal hematoma. Intervertebral disc herniation with concomitant intradiscal hematoma is extremely rare, but could occur in patients who have excessive axial stress to the spine occupationally. In our case, the patient was an occupational physical trainer who had repetitive minor trauma to the lumbar spine. Although the patient did not have any clear history of major trauma to the spine, the intraoperative findings revealed intradiscal hematoma, which is very rare. The presence of intradiscal hematoma is to be suspected even when preoperative imaging studies shows indefinite findings of hematoma, considering the change in signal intensity of hematoma by time.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.59-71
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the ergonomic risk factors of 119 emergency medical technicians (EMT) with musculoskeletal disorders, performing emergency medical services (EMS) procedures in a firefighter combat challenge. Methods: The evaluated EMT procedures were cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) & intubation, trauma patient assessment, and intravenous (IV) injection. Measurement of working posture was done during training. Results: In CPR & intubation, OWAS-score was 2 (mean 1.9, maximum 4), requiring correction action, while REBA-score was 11 (mean 7.28, maximum 11), requiring immediate improvement. In trauma patient assessment & IV injection, OWAS-score was 4 (mean 2.9, maximum 4), requiring immediate correction action, while the REBA score was 7 (mean 7.5, maximum 11), requiring improvement. Conclusion: Both OWAS score and REBA-score showed improvement of posture and high-risk of musculoskeletal disorders. Occupational health management in EMS procedures during combat challenge and effective injury prevention program in fire stations are warranted.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.343-351
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was designed to measure the level of professional autonomy regarding physical therapists and to determine the association of organizational and occupational characteristics of the profession with its professional autonomy. Methods: We utilized a structured questionnaire survey of physical therapists (280 persons) in Jeju province. Data were collected from June 25 to July 14 in 2012. An additional 173 (63%) of them were used in the final analysis. Using PASW 18.0, descriptive and Hierarchical Linear Model were performed. Results: Regression analysis Result of Factors influencing Physiotherapist Professionalism, refresher training course (t=4.27), formalization (t=3.13), task significance (t=3.39), and autonomy (t=4.17) had a positive effect. Autonomy (${\beta}$=0.33) and formalization (${\beta}$=0.33) exerted the greatest influence. Conclusion: The survey regarding organizational and job characteristics showeds that occupational reeducation, formalization, and self- regulation constitute a positive part of what the professional autonomy is to be upheld. Results of the survey imply that in order to establish professional autonomy for the profession of physical therapist, the organization must make various efforts to beef up the exclusive knowledge and technology, and professional norms of the occupation that are considered essential for specific problem solving.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.110-115
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• 2014

The construction accidents which had been on the downward trend for the past decades have increased for five consecutive years since 2008. In order to let the increasing trend of construction accident slow growing or switching to decline, various efforts are required of all members in construction industry such as government, employers, construction engineers, safety managers, construction workers, etc. Although the criteria for appointment of safety managers in construction site introduced in 1982 have contributed to prevent construction accident as a forefront for the past 30 years, it has not been a remarkable improvement in the safety manager's status and roles which have been required to change according to the changes of circumstances and environments. In associated with a newly introduced the criteria for appointment of health managers in construction site in the year 2015, the problems such as role, status, number of safety and health managers are needed to be considered comprehensively and improved widely. In this study, we propose several improvement plans which will improve the current criteria for appointment of safety and health managers in construction sites.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.194-200
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• 2016

Background: The influence of sociocultural factors on human reliability within an open sociotechnical systems is highlighted. The design of such systems is enhanced by experience feedback. Methods: The study was focused on a survey related to the observation of working cases, and by processing of incident/accident statistics and semistructured interviews in the qualitative part. In order to consolidate the study approach, we considered a schedule for the purpose of standard statistical measurements. We tried to be unbiased by supporting an exhaustive list of all worker categories including age, sex, educational level, prescribed task, accountability level, etc. The survey was reinforced by a schedule distributed to 300 workers belonging to two oil companies. This schedule comprises 30 items related to six main factors that influence human reliability. Results: Qualitative observations and schedule data processing had shown that the sociocultural factors can negatively and positively influence operator behaviors. Conclusion: The explored sociocultural factors influence the human reliability both in qualitative and quantitative manners. The proposed model shows how reliability can be enhanced by some measures such as experience feedback based on, for example, safety improvements, training, and information. With that is added the continuous systems improvements to improve sociocultural reality and to reduce negative behaviors.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.175-183
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between nurse managers' facilitative communication as perceived by nurses and nurses' self-esteem. Methods: The subjects were 256 staff nurses at B hospital of C University in Kyeonggi-do. The data were collected between December 1, 2009 and January 12, 2010. The collected data were analyzed using the SAS program through t-test, ANOVA, Scheff$\acute{e}$ test, Pearson's correlation coefficients. Results: Nurses' self-esteem was higher when nurse managers perceived them as facilitative communicators in empathic understanding and genuineness subgroup of facilitative communication (p<.05). There was a positive correlation between nurse managers' facilitative communication and nurses' self-esteem(r=.15, p=.015). Also there was a positive correlation among the nurse managers' facilitative communication subgroups, empathic understanding; genuineness; concreteness(r=0.18, p=.004; r=0.18, p=.003; r=0.19, p=.002) and nurses' self-esteem. Conclusion: Nurse managers are in need of facilitative communication. Therefore, job education and training for improving nurse managers' communication skills particularly related to empathic understanding, genuineness and concreteness are required.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.185-194
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• 2011

Purpose: Global shortages in nursing and strong demand for nursing services provided Korean nurses with more overseas employment opportunities, especially in the developed countries such as the United States and Canada. The purpose of this study was to explore the ageing experiences of the Korean nurses dispatched to Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. Methods: The researcher interviewed 10 Korean nurses living in four cities in Germany. Interviews were performed twice in January and July, 2010, and the data, in the form of field notes and interview transcripts, were analyzed using the Agar's (1980) ethnographic method. Results: The ageing experiences of the participants can be summarized into three theme stages: coming upon old age, reluctantly realizing getting old, and finally accepting being old. The first stage is characterized by 'wiring money to homeland all throughout youth', second 'still feeling like a stranger anywhere', and finally 'burying homeland in heart'. Conclusion: The research findings not only suggest crucial materials for training prospective nurses overseas for their successful settlement, but also shed lights on related problems and solutions with ageing experience in overseas employment.