치의학계에서는 의료사고를 일으킬만한 중환자나 응급환자의 빈도가 상대적으로 낮아 의료분쟁에 휘말리는 경우가 적었으나 요즈음은 의료분쟁이 증가하고 있는 추세이다. 치과진료의 특성상 항상 보조인력이 한, 두명씩 치과의사의 진료를 도와주어야 하고, 치과의사의 의료사고로 인해 의료분쟁으로 발생하는 경우도 있지만 의료법에서 정한 치과 보조인력의 진료영역에서 의료사고 및 분쟁이 발생할 수 있다. 또한 의료기관의 친절도, 서비스 불만 등 진료외적인 요인은 치과 보조인력의 역할을 무시할 수 없다. 본 연구는 2006년 현재 종합병원, 치과병원 및 의원에서 치과진료 보조업무를 하고 있는 치과위생사를 대상으로 설문조사를 하였다. 회수된 275명의 설문분석을 통하여 응답자에 관한 기본적인 자료조사 및 환자의 불평, 불만 및 의료분쟁 경험도와 함께 의료관계법의 이해도를 측정하고, 치과진료 및 의료분쟁에 대한 전반적인 의식성향을 비교분석하여 다음과 같은 결과를 얻었다. 1. 설문응답자 중에서 향후 의료사고 및 분쟁이 발생할지도 모른다는 불안감 또는 의구심을 어느 정도 가지고 있는 경우가 274명 중 251명(91.3%)이었다. 2. 치과위생사의 업무, 진료에 대한 환자의 불평, 불만 경험률은 29.5%(81명)으로 나타나 치과관련 의료분쟁의 원인이 될 수 있는 것으로 조사되었다. 3. 전체유형별 항목에 따른 환자의 문제제기 건수를 보면 직접적인 진료행위와 관련된 문제보다 불친절 및 진료비 등의 진료이외의 문제 제기가 1805건 중 349건(19.3%)으로 가장 높게 나타났다. 4. 세부유형별 항목에 따른 환자의 문제제기 건수를 보면 환자가 치료와 관련하여 충분한 사전설명이나 동의를 구하지 않았다고 문제시 한 경우가 1805건 중 129건(7.1%)으로 가장 높았다. 5. 치과위생사가 스케일링 시술 후 환자 진료기록부에 기록하는 경우는 267명 중 252명(94.4%)으로 나타났으나, 스케일링 시술 후 주의사항 설명 사실을 진료기록부에 기록하는 경우는 55명(20.8%)에 불과했다. 6. 치과진료에 있어서 환자가 언급하지 않으면 특별히 전신질환 유무를 조사하지 않는 경우가 6명(2.2%)으로 조사되었다. 7. 환자 진료와 관련되어 응급상황 발생 시 응급조치를 시행할 수 있다고 생각하는 치과위생사는 104명(38.0%)으로 조사되었다. 8. 근무지에 응급상황 발생 시 조치에 필요한 장비 및 약품을 구비해둔 경우는 115명(41.8%)으로 나타났다. 9. 의료분쟁 발생 시 문제해결에 있어 의무기록이 중요한 역할을 한다고 응답한 경우는 268명(97.81%)으로 나타났다. 10. 의료분쟁 시 문제해결에 있어서 치료 전 설명 및 동의의 의무의 이행 여부가 중요한 역할을 한다고 응답한 경우가 272명 (99.3%)으로 나타났다. 11. 의무기록의 의무보관연도가 10년이라고 옳게 응답한 경우는 160명(58.4%)에 불과했다. 12. 치과위생사의 업무를 벗어난 파노라마사진 촬영을 해도 된다고 응답한 경우가 124명(45.3%), 치경부 레진수복을 해도 된다고 응답한 경우가 71명(25.9%), 유치발치를 해도 된다고 응답한 경우가 37명(13.5%)으로 나타났다. 13. 환자의 비밀누설 금지와 관련하여 환자의 상태를 다른 사람에게 이야기하는 것은 큰 문제가 되지 않는다고 응답한 경우가 24명(8.8%)으로 나타났다. 14. 의료분쟁의 예방 및 대책에 관한 교육의 필요성에 대해서 272명(99.3%)이 필요하고, 167명(61.0%)이 시급하다고 답하였다. 15. 재학 중 의료분쟁의 예방 및 대책에 관한 관련교육을 수료한 적이 없다는 경우가 186명(64.2%), 졸업 후 의료분쟁의 예방 및 대책에 관한 보수교육을 수료한 적이 없는 경우가 212명(77.4%)으로 나타났다. 16. 향후 의료분쟁이 증가할 것으로 생각된다는 응답은 256명(93.4%)이었고, 그 원인으로는 83.3%가 인터넷, 방송 등의 매체를 통한 정보습득 기회의 확대를 꼽았다. 이상의 결과를 종합해보면 치과위생사와 관련한 환자의 불평, 불만 및 분쟁도 경험률이 응답한 치과위생사의 29.5%를 차지하고 있으며, 의료법에서 정한 의료인의 의무와 치과위생사의 직무범위에 대한 인식이 부족한 것으로 조사되어 앞으로 의료분쟁이 더욱 증가할 수 있는 가능성을 내포하고 있다. 그러므로 주의의무, 설명 및 동의의무 등의 의무를 다함은 물론, 이에 대한 인식을 제고하여야 하며, 의료법과 의료분쟁에 대한 예방 및 대책과 관련된 교육기회를 확대하여야 할 것이다.
Much has teed changed in the field of hospital administration in the It wake of the rapid development of sciences, techniques ana systematic hospital management. However, we still have a long way to go in organization, in the quality of hospital employees and hospital equipment and facilities, and in financial support in order to achieve proper hospital management. The above factors greatly effect the ability of hospitals to fulfill their obligation in patient care and nursing services. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal methods of standardization and quality nursing so as to improve present nursing services through investigations and analyses of various problems concerning nursing administration. This study has been undertaken during the six month period from October 1971 to March 1972. The 41 comprehensive hospitals have been selected iron amongst the 139 in the whole country. These have been categorized according-to the specific purposes of their establishment, such as 7 university hospitals, 18 national or public hospitals, 12 religious hospitals and 4 enterprise ones. The following conclusions have been acquired thus far from information obtained through interviews with nursing directors who are in charge of the nursing administration in each hospital, and further investigations concerning the purposes of establishment, the organization, personnel arrangements, working conditions, practices of service, and budgets of the nursing service department. 1. The nursing administration along with its activities in this country has been uncritical1y adopted from that of the developed countries. It is necessary for us to re-establish a new medical and nursing system which is adequate for our social environments through continuous study and research. 2. The survey shows that the 7 university hospitals were chiefly concerned with education, medical care and research; the 18 national or public hospitals with medical care, public health and charity work; the 2 religious hospitals with medical care, charity and missionary works; and the 4 enterprise hospitals with public health, medical care and charity works. In general, the main purposes of the hospitals were those of charity organizations in the pursuit of medical care, education and public benefits. 3. The survey shows that in general hospital facilities rate 64 per cent and medical care 60 per-cent against a 100 per cent optimum basis in accordance with the medical treatment law and approved criteria for training hospitals. In these respects, university hospitals have achieved the highest standards, followed by religious ones, enterprise ones, and national or public ones in that order. 4. The ages of nursing directors range from 30 to 50. The level of education achieved by most of the directors is that of graduation from a nursing technical high school and a three year nursing junior college; a very few have graduated from college or have taken graduate courses. 5. As for the career tenure of nurses in the hospitals: one-third of the nurses, or 38 per cent, have worked less than one year; those in the category of one year to two represent 24 pet cent. This means that a total of 62 per cent of the career nurses have been practicing their profession for less than two years. Career nurses with over 5 years experience number only 16 per cent: therefore the efficiency of nursing services has been rated very low. 6. As for the standard of education of the nurses: 62 per cent of them have taken a three year course of nursing in junior colleges, and 22 per cent in nursing technical high schools. College graduate nurses come up to only 15 per cent; and those with graduate course only 0.4 per cent. This indicates that most of the nurses are front nursing technical high schools and three year nursing junior colleges. Accordingly, it is advisable that nursing services be divided according to their functions, such as professional, technical nurses and nurse's aides. 7. The survey also shows that the purpose of nursing service administration in the hospitals has been regulated in writing in 74 per cent of the hospitals and not regulated in writing in 26 per cent of the hospitals. The general purposes of nursing are as follows: patient care, assistance in medical care and education. The main purpose of these nursing services is to establish proper operational and personnel management which focus on in-service education. 8. The nursing service departments belong to the medical departments in almost 60 per cent of the hospitals. Even though the nursing service department is formally separated, about 24 per cent of the hospitals regard it as a functional unit in the medical department. Only 5 per cent of the hospitals keep the department as a separate one. To the contrary, approximately 12 per cent of the hospitals have not established a nursing service department at all but surbodinate it to the other department. In this respect, it is required that a new hospital organization be made to acknowledge the independent function of the nursing department. In 76 per cent of the hospitals they have advisory committees under the nursing department, such as a dormitory self·regulating committee, an in-service education committee and a nursing procedure and policy committee. 9. Personnel arrangement and working conditions of nurses 1) The ratio of nurses to patients is as follows: In university hospitals, 1 to 2.9 for hospitalized patients and 1 to 4.0 for out-patients; in religious hospitals, 1 to 2.3 for hospitalized patients and 1 to 5.4 for out-patients. Grouped together this indicates that one nurse covers 2.2 hospitalized patients and 4.3 out-patients on a daily basis. The current medical treatment law stipulates that one nurse should care for 2.5 hospitalized patients or 30.0 out-patients. Therefore the statistics indicate that nursing services are being peformed with an insufficient number of nurses to cover out-patients. The current law concerns the minimum number of nurses and disregards the required number of nurses for operation rooms, recovery rooms, delivery rooms, new-born baby rooms, central supply rooms and emergency rooms. Accordingly, tile medical treatment law has been requested to be amended. 2) The ratio of doctors to nurses: In university hospitals, the ratio is 1 to 1.1; in national of public hospitals, 1 to 0.8; in religious hospitals 1 to 0.5; and in private hospitals 1 to 0.7. The average ratio is 1 to 0.8; generally the ideal ratio is 3 to 1. Since the number of doctors working in hospitals has been recently increasing, the nursing services have consequently teen overloaded, sacrificing the services to the patients. 3) The ratio of nurses to clerical staff is 1 to 0.4. However, the ideal ratio is 5 to 1, that is, 1 to 0.2. This means that clerical personnel far outnumber the nursing staff. 4) The ratio of nurses to nurse's-aides; The average 2.5 to 1 indicates that most of the nursing service are delegated to nurse's-aides owing to the shortage of registered nurses. This is the main cause of the deterioration in the quality of nursing services. It is a real problem in the guest for better nursing services that certain hospitals employ a disproportionate number of nurse's-aides in order to meet financial requirements. 5) As for the working conditions, most of hospitals employ a three-shift day with 8 hours of duty each. However, certain hospitals still use two shifts a day. 6) As for the working environment, most of the hospitals lack welfare and hygienic facilities. 7) The salary basis is the highest in the private university hospitals, with enterprise hospitals next and religious hospitals and national or public ones lowest. 8) Method of employment is made through paper screening, and further that the appointment of nurses is conditional upon the favorable opinion of the nursing directors. 9) The unemployment ratio for one year in 1971 averaged 29 per cent. The reasons for unemployment indicate that the highest is because of marriage up to 40 per cent, and next is because of overseas employment. This high unemployment ratio further causes the deterioration of efficiency in nursing services and supplementary activities. The hospital authorities concerned should take this matter into a jeep consideration in order to reduce unemployment. 10) The importance of in-service education is well recognized and established. 1% has been noted that on the-job nurses. training has been most active, with nursing directors taking charge of the orientation programs of newly employed nurses. However, it is most necessary that a comprehensive study be made of instructors, contents and methods of education with a separate section for in-service education. 10. Nursing services'activities 1) Division of services and job descriptions are urgently required. 81 per rent of the hospitals keep written regulations of services in accordance with nursing service manuals. 19 per cent of the hospitals do not keep written regulations. Most of hospitals delegate to the nursing directors or certain supervisors the power of stipulating service regulations. In 21 per cent of the total hospitals they have policy committees, standardization committees and advisory committees to proceed with the stipulation of regulations. 2) Approximately 81 per cent of the hospitals have service channels in which directors, supervisors, head nurses and staff nurses perform their appropriate services according to the service plans and make up the service reports. In approximately 19 per cent of the hospitals the staff perform their nursing services without utilizing the above channels. 3) In the performance of nursing services, a ward manual is considered the most important one to be utilized in about 32 percent of hospitals. 25 per cent of hospitals indicate they use a kardex; 17 per cent use ward-rounding, and others take advantage of work sheets or coordination with other departments through conferences. 4) In about 78 per cent of hospitals they have records which indicate the status of personnel, and in 22 per cent they have not. 5) It has been advised that morale among nurses may be increased, ensuring more efficient services, by their being able to exchange opinions and views with each other. 6) The satisfactory performance of nursing services rely on the following factors to the degree indicated: approximately 32 per cent to the systematic nursing activities and services; 27 per cent to the head nurses ability for nursing diagnosis; 22 per cent to an effective supervisory system; 16 per cent to the hospital facilities and proper supply, and 3 per cent to effective in·service education. This means that nurses, supervisors, head nurses and directors play the most important roles in the performance of nursing services. 11. About 87 per cent of the hospitals do not have separate budgets for their nursing departments, and only 13 per cent of the hospitals have separate budgets. It is recommended that the planning and execution of the nursing administration be delegated to the pertinent administrators in order to bring about improved proved performances and activities in nursing services.