• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.158-167
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• 2016

The requirements for medical laboratories ISO 15189 is examined in organization and a quality management system, stressing the importance of evidence, document control, and control of records and clinical material. Medical services are provided from the areas of resource management, and pre-examination, examination and post-examination processes. The main goal of ISO 15189 accreditation is to improve the quality of laboratory services provided for patients and clinical users not only through compliance with consensually developed and harmonized requirements but also by adopting the philosophy of continual improvement using the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. Laboratory quality should be evaluated and improved in all steps of the testing process as the state-of-the art indicates that the pre- and post-analytical phases are more vulnerable to errors than the intra-analytical phase. The Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (KOLAS), a national accreditation body, provides medical laboratory accreditations for appropriate approaches to evaluating the competence of a medical laboratory in providing effective services to its customers and clinical users. Adoption of ISO 15189 in 2010s as a government policy has been delayed, and only 5 laboratories have been accredited to date in Korea. The medical laboratories should seek the adoption of ISO 15189 with a positive attitude for quality improvement and strengthening of international competitiveness.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

Purpose : This study examined the status of critical care nursing education in bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) to suggest future directions. Methods : The target of the survey was 185 BSN programs that were certified by the Korean Accreditation Board of Nursing Education as of October 31, 2016. We structurally reviewed the curriculums and the course syllabi. Results : Forty-eight courses of 42 BSN programs were analyzed. Only five programs offered both theoretical and practical courses in critical care nursing; 22 offered theoretical courses and 26 offered practical courses. Most courses were offered as electives with 1 or 2 credits, and were taught by faculty who were experts in adult health nursing. Conclusion : The results show that there is a quantitative shortage of critical care nursing education in the curriculum of BSN programs in Korea. The lack of knowledge and skills on critical care can lead to a burden of new intensive care unit nurses and is a threat to patients' health. It is necessary to develop a practical and integrative curriculum for critical care nursing education.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.2305-2309
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• 2016

Cloud Computing Service should support efficiency and stability. United States of America, for example, provides FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) accreditation to certify cloud computing service and hence growth of computing service industry is giving benefits of cost reduction and efficiency to companies. However, the use of computing service brings more risk than ever. Because cloud computing holds all the data of multiple companies, problems such as hacking bring out control loss of service and as a result total data of companies can be lost. Unfortunately, cloud computing certification programs do not have any good solutions for this data loss and companies may lose all the important data without any proper data backup. This paper studies such problems in terms of backup problem and provides Data Availability Zone solution for recovery and safe saving of data so that computing service can offer better efficiency and stability.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.428-433
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• 2017

Background Candidate characteristics for hand surgery fellowship training remains unknown, as very little data is available in the literature. This study aims to provide information on the criteria that are employed to select candidates for the hand surgery fellowship match. Methods A 38-question survey was sent in April 2015 to all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education recognized hand surgery fellowship program directors (n=81) involved in the U.S. match. The survey investigated factors used for the selection of applicants, including medical school, residency training, research experience, fellowship interview, and candidate characteristics. A 5-point Likert scale was used to grade 33 factors from "not at all important" (1) to "essential in making my decision" (5); or for five controversial factors from "very negative impact" (1) to "very positive impact in making my decision" (5). Results A total of 52% (42 out of 81) of responses were received from hand surgery fellowship program directors. The most important influential factors were interactions with faculty during interview and visit ($4.6{\pm}0.6$), interpersonal skills ($4.6{\pm}0.5$), overall interview performance in the selection process ($4.6{\pm}0.6$), professionalism and ethics ($4.6{\pm}0.7$), and letters of recommendation from hand surgeons ($4.5{\pm}0.7$). Factors that have a negative impact on the selection process include visa requirement ($2.1{\pm}1.2$), graduate of non-plastic surgery residency program ($2.4{\pm}1.3$), and graduate of a foreign medical school ($2.4{\pm}1.1$). Conclusions This study provides data on hand surgery fellowship directors' perception on the criteria important for fellowship applicant selection, and showed that interview-related criteria and letters of recommendation are the important factors.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.144-162
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• 1996

This study was conducted to identify the problems related to operation of the committee system in university hospitals and to propose the direction for reforming it. Data were collected by surveying 138 working-level administration managers of committees from 12 university hospitals in Seoul in October, 1995. The results were as follows: 1. The purposes of the committee were to promote the reasonable dicision making in the hospitals, to satisfy the requirement of Hospital Accreditation Program and, to execute the administrational instructions in due order. The sort of job which was charged of chairmen and the majority of committee member was doctor. 2. The committees which were to be held the meeting frequently in a year were general management committees(8.25 times/year). But in case of operation rate, medical care-related committees showed the most frequent meeting(90.15%). Most of committees made the regulations and reported the results of their meeting to the CEO of their hospitals by written documents. 3. Most doctors thought the medical care-related committees useful. Medical technicians regarded education and research-related committees as useful, while administrators favored the general management committees. 4. The factors related to the perceived performance of the committee were the kind of job, the class of job and the kind of committee. Also, the perceived performance of the committee was positively related to the usefulness in efficient management of work, and negatively to uncertainties in responsibility and a nominal role of the committee. 5. Most of the respondnts thought that the concern of the top manager about the committee was the most important factor for the improvement of committee system at hospitals. They also regarded that formalization of the objectives and regulation rule and composition of committees with members which work in various fields as essential. Further studies on the organizational and operational cjharacteristics which include general hospitals in various areas are required.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.68-76
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• 2002

It is proposed to raise the debate on Engineering and Technical Education at the global economic level and to examine some of the issues facing developing and poorer countries in managing and improving the quality of engineering education in their countries, especially in the context of internet and IT culture After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world is now divided in two realigned blocks: one of developed(rich or advanced) countries which have a social security safety net for their population and another of developing(or poor) countries which have no such luxuries for their population. For the general public in the developing countries, any engineering or technical degree/diploma is a passport to lifelong wellbeing of an individual and his/her extended family. Therefore, the demand for such qualifications is very high and it is almost a rat race amongst school leavers to get into engineering/technical colleges. In view of this booming demand, there are hundreds of privately funded engineering/technical colleges in countries like Philippines, India, Thailand, etc., besides state funded ones. It is extremely difficult to ensure good quality in this mushrooming scenario. There are also many very small poorly resourced developing countries where there is only one engineering school and/or two-three technical colleges. Products of these schools/colleges work only in their own country and education globalization have little or no meaning for them. Besides highlighting the aforementioned general issues, the Paper also presents a few case studies on problems of accreditation and quality assessment in larger developing countries like India and the Philippines. The Paper also discusses the effects of commercialization on the quality of education and social impacts of IT revolution on educational processes.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.46-55
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• 2021

Background: Patients with the chronic physical illness are more likely to experience depression, and the accompany of chronic physical illness and depression is particularly high in middle-aged and elderly women. Considering that depression is associated with somatization and the decline of therapeutic compliance when accompanied by chronic physical illness, middle-aged and elderly women who experience depression among chronic physical illness may increase their use of medical services. This study is to identify the effect of depression on the use of medical services, especially among middle-aged and elderly women with chronic physical illness. Methods: This study used the 2016 Korean Health Panel. For analysis, it used T-test, negative binomial regression, and multivariate regression combining propensity score matching. Results: First, depressive groups had a higher number of medical service utilization and total medical expenditure than the non-depressive group. Second, depression significantly increased medical service utilization (β=0.17, p=0.04) at the 5% significance level. Also, depression significantly increased total medical expenditure (β=0.37, p=0.08) at the 10% significance level. Conclusion: For those who have chronic physical illness among middle-aged and elderly women, the experience of depression was confirmed to be a factor affecting the use of medical services. In the end, it is important to come up with policy countermeasures for middle-aged and elderly women accompanied by depression and chronic physical illness.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.87-98
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• 2023

Purpose : This descriptive survey investigated the effects of clinical nurses' critical reflection competency, professional pride, and person-centered care practices on patient safety management activities. Methods : The participants were 183 clinical nurses working at a tertiary hospital in South Korea. The questionnaires consisted of the Critical Reflection Competency Scale for Clinical Nurses Professional Pride the Person-Centered Nursing Assessment Tool and Patient Safety Management Activities. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Tukey's HSD, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression using SPSS 29.0. Results : The mean score for patient safety management activities was 4.65±0.34 out of 5. There were significant differences in patient safety management activities according to age (F=3.90, p =.010), education level (t=-2.56, p =.013), total work experience (F=3.87, p =.010), and the number of healthcare accreditation system experiences (F=5.22, p =.006). Patient safety management activities were positively correlated with critical reflection competency (r=.337, p <.001), professional pride (r=.271, p <.001), and person-centered care practices (r=.399, p <.001). The results indicated that person-centered care practices affected patient safety management activities (𝛽=.358, p <.001) with the explanatory power of 22.5%. Conclusion : To improve clinical nurses' patient safety management activities, it is necessary to develop participatory educational programs that can integrate skills and attitudes based on conceptual knowledge of person-centered care. Intervention studies are needed to test the effect of person-centered care on patient safety when applied in clinical practice.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.35-49
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• 2019

Purpose : This study aimed to propose a common scope of practice (SOP) for 13 specialties of Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) in Korea. Methods : The first draft of a common SOP was extracted from domestic and international laws with a literature review by 17 experts from the Korean Association of Advanced Practice Nurses (KAAPN). Then, the common SOP was finalized after comparing the activities of APNs in clinical settings. Results : A total of 70 duties were identified and six categories were suggested for the common SOP. The SOP proposed by the KAAPN featured the following: 1) identification of and discrimination between health problems; 2) prescription and implementation of diagnostic tests; 3) treatment of injuries and diseases while implementing measures to prevent exacerbation; 4) prescription of medicinal products in line with 1) to 3); 5) referral and consultation; and 6) education and counseling. It was then confirmed that the proposed six categories in the common SOP reflected all the duties performed by APNs in clinical practice, including all 40 activities. Conclusion : The results of this study can be used as evidence for the legalization of a common SOP for APNs. Given the increasing multidisciplinary team approach adopted in Korean hospitals, it may be desirable to establish a broader SOP to reflect the diverse duties of APNs.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.40-52
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to investigate opinions and experiences of hospital CEOs' and QI managers toward the National Hospital Evaluation Program which was implemented in 2004 and to recommend various strategies to improve the program. Methods: We conducted a mail survey with CEOs and QI　managers' of 78 hospitals with 500 beds or more that participated the 2004 National Hospital Evaluation Program. Results: About 70.8% of the participating CEOs and 64.0% of the QI　managers felt that the objectives of the evaluation program weren't fully achieved. Most respondents said that the current program required a partial or an overall change. Evaluation Criteria was the most often cited area for a change. Many respondents pointed out the importance of including clinical quality indicators in the evaluation tool. Conclusions: To upgrade hospital services with better quality, it is most important to first reach consensus on objectives and approaches of the evaluation program among various players. For a consistent planning and implementation, it is urgent to set up a more systematic organization and financing mechanism. Also, evaluation approaches, including evaluation criteria, methods, patient satisfaction assessment, as well as ways to summarize and publicize each hospital's performance should be improved.