• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.265-274
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors contributed to unplanned readmission to intensive care unit (ICU) and to investigate the prediction model of unplanned readmission. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records which included the data of 3,903 patients who had discharged from ICUs in a university hospital in Seoul from January 2011 to April 2012. Results: The unplanned readmission rate was 4.8% (n=186). The nine variables were significantly different between the unplanned readmission and no readmission groups: age, clinical department, length of stay at 1st ICU, operation, use of ventilator during 24 hours a day, APACHE II score at ICU admission and discharge, direct nursing care hours and Glasgow coma scale total score at 1st ICU discharge. The clinical department, length of stay at 1st ICU, operation and APACHE II score at ICU admission were the significant predictors of unplanned ICU readmission. The predictive model's area under the curve was .802 (p<.001). Conclusion: We identified the risk factors and the prediction model associated with unplanned ICU readmission. Better patient assessment tools and knowledge about risk factors could contribute to reduce unplanned ICU readmission rate and mortality.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.32-41
• /
• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors for postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) after upper or lower abdominal digestive tract surgery. Methods: Participants in this retrospective observational study had undergone upper or lower digestive tract surgery and entered the surgical intensive care unit between March 1, 2016 and February 28, 2017. Data were collected from the medical records, operative records, results of laboratory test, and the nursing records of the hospitals. Results: Of the patients, 544 patients were enrolled in the study and PPCs -developed in 335 (61.6%) patients. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, significant risk factors of PPCs were identified: BMI (Body Mass Index; $kg/m^2$), preoperative serum BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen; mg/dL), abdominal open surgery, or blood transfusion during operation. Conclusion: These risk factors could be used to help identify patients at risk for PPCs and then appropriate nursing interventions could be provided for patients at risk of PPCs.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.247-254
• /
• 2020

Purpose: This was a descriptive observational study examining the reasons for, frequency of, and factors affecting work interruption among intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. Methods: Convenience sampling was used to recruit 46 regular nurses who had been working in an ICU at D tertiary hospital in B metropolitan city for at least six months. To measure the degree of work interruption, this study revised a tool used by Brixey et al. (2007) for analyzing the type of work interruption. Results: A total of 1,787 work interruptions occurred during 368 hours of observation, i.e., at an average of 4.85 times per hour. Communication-related factors caused work interruption most frequently, followed by environmental, work-related, and personal factors. As for the work-related characteristics of nurses, participants experienced work interruption more frequently while working on weekdays, when the medical staff were stationed, than on weekends. Conclusion: ICU nurses experienced work interruption frequently. With the health care system expected to become more complicated in the future, efforts should be made to reduce unnecessary work interruptions to improve the operation efficiency of ICUs.

• Child Health Nursing Research
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.197-207
• /
• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurses and the mothers of hospitalized children perceived their partnership and identify the detailed differences in the common domains of partnership between them. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design with semi-structured and open-ended interviews was used. Interviews with mothers of hospitalized children and nurses in the PICU were conducted at a national university hospital in South Korea. Results: Five integrated categories were identified concerning nurses' and mothers' perceptions of partnership. Five common domains were derived by merging the partnership categories perceived by each PICU mother and nurse: expectation of trust, sharing and communication, participation in care, equality in the relationship, and coordination of opinion However, there were significant differences in the composition of the categories of these common domains. Conclusion: These results may facilitate more effective partnerships between parents and PICU nurses. Efforts should be taken to promote the formation of trust between nurses and parents and create an environment that is conductive to regular open communication in particular, steps should be taken to reduce gaps in awareness concerning this partnership and information sharing, nursing methods, and decision-making.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.71-75
• /
• 2022

Trauma care is evolving throughout the world to meet the demand resulting from rapidly increasing rates of mortality and morbidity related to external injuries. The State Major Trauma Service was designated to Royal Perth Hospital in 2004 to provide comprehensive care for trauma patients in Western Australia (WA), which is the largest state by area in the country. The State Major Trauma Unit, which was established in 2008, functions as a level I center and admits over 1,000 major trauma patients per year, making it the second busiest trauma center in Australia. The importance of recording data related to trauma was identified by the trauma service in WA to inspire higher standards of patient care and injury prevention. In 1994, the service established a trauma registry, which has undergone significant changes over the last two decades. The current State Trauma Registry is linked to a statewide database called the Data Linkage System. The linked data are available for policy development, quality assurance, and research. This article discusses the evolution of the trauma service and the registry database in the WA health system. The State Trauma Registry has enormous potential to contribute to research and quality improvement studies along with its ability to link with other databases.

• Journal of Labour Economics
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.27-52
• /
• 2010

This study, using Korean Time Use Survey 1999, analyzes how opportunity costs of maternal time affects the ways in which mothers allocate their time to market work/housework/child care/leisure. Opportunity costs include two kinds: hourly child care costs and log hourly wage rates. Results show that a unit increase in child care costs reduces market work but increases housework, child care, and leisure. The effects of log wage rates are opposite those of child care costs. The result that a unit increase in the log wage rates decreases child care lime is not consistent with a previous study for the United Stales. These results differed by mother's educational attainments. This study suggests that policy-makers should pay careful attention to the effects of various types of mother's opportunity costs on non-market time in promoting maternal employment.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.228-235
• /
• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the clinical alarm occurrence and management of nurses toward clinical alarms in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: This observational study was conducted with 40 patients and nurses cases in two ICUs of a university hospital. This study divided 24 hours into the unit of an hour and conducted two times of direct observation per unit hour for 48 hours targeting the medical devices applied to 40 patients. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23. Results: On average, 3.8 units of medical devices were applied for each patient and the ranges of alarm settings were wide. During 48 hours, 184 cases of clinical alarm were occurred by four types of medical devices including physiological monitors, mechanical ventilators, infusion pumps, and continuous renal replacement therapy. Among them, false alarm was 110 cases (59.8%). As for the alarm management by ICU nurses, two-minute alarm mute took up most at 38.0% (70 cases), and no response was second most at 32.6% (60 cases). When valid alarm sounded, nurses showed no response at 43.2%. Conclusion: The findings suggest that a standard protocol for alarm management should be developed for Korean ICU settings. Based on the protocol, continuous training and education should be provided to nurses for appropriate alarm management.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2021

Purpose : Based on Quint's theory and the relevant literature, this study constructed a structural equation model for explaining and predicting end-of-life care performance in clinical nurses. Methods : A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 265 nurses between September 1 and September 30, 2016. The data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 21 and AMOS ver. 21. Results : The goodness of fit of the modified model was found to be relatively satisfactory (χ2=114.82, Nomed χ2(χ2/df)=2.44, SRMR=.06, GFI=.94, AGFI=.89, CFI=.95, TLI=.91, RMSEA=.07). End-of-life care performance was affected by the attitudes toward nursing care of the dying, working unit, and death anxiety. The attitudes toward such care had the highest effect on end-of-life care performance. Conclusion : The results suggest that end-of-life care performance is directly and indirectly affected by attitudes toward nursing care of the dying, participation in end-of-life care education, working unit, death perception, and death anxiety. To improve clinical nurses' end-of-life care performance, effective programs to promote death anxiety and attitudes toward nursing care of the dying need to be developed. In addition, hospital nursing organizations should attempt to produce concrete measures for death anxiety and terminal care attitudes in clinical nurses.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.51-59
• /
• 2023

Purpose: We evaluated the status of patients enrolled in South Korea's pediatric palliative care pilot project based on the experience of a single center. This study examined factors related to end-of-life services and differences in medical costs. Methods: The medical records of 120 patients referred by a pediatric palliative care team were analyzed retrospectively. Data from July 1 to February 28, 2022 were collected and analyzed using the chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Volunteer programs and psychological support (100%), family support and education (99.2%), and financial support through institutional linkage (62.5%) were provided to the participants. In the deceased group, there were no significant differences in general characteristics, which included age, gender, primary disease, religion, duration of hospitalization in an intensive care unit (ICU) and non-intensive care unit (non-ICU). However, the ICU group had fewer opportunities to access individual pain and physical symptom management than the non-ICU group and there were limitations in linking with external resources. Medical expenses were significantly different for the ICU group, with a 3-times higher average cost than the non-ICU group. Conclusion: Although an individualized approach is needed for each patient in pediatric palliative care, psychosocial care is essential. In addition, if early intervention for end-of-life pediatric patients is available from a palliative care team, the cost burden of medical care for patients and their families should be minimal.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.76-93
• /
• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to define the core components required of nurses to provide quality nursing care to patients and analyze the significance of these components in the hospital's various units to maintain a high level of competence among nurses. Method: The study evaluated 3 categories included 35 subcategories with 148 core components that were derived from literature review and interviews of nursing professionals. The nursing professional category included 18 subcategories with 98 components, the organizational culture category included 4 subcategories with 16 components, and the temperament-attitude category included 13 subcategories with 34 components. The study included 335 nurses with more than one year of hospital experience and measured disparities among different hospital units. The data was analyzed with SPSS-Win 10.0, differing perceptions of the importance of general traits among the participants were measured using standard deviation, and differing perceptions of the importance of professional traits among the participants were assessed using ANOVA and subsequently with the Bonferroni Test. The reliability of the aforementioned research tools were evaluated using the Cronbach's ${\alpha}$. Result: The results of the study were as follows: 1. Among the three categories, temperament-attitude category was perceived to be the most important, followed by nursing professional category and organizational culture category. Among the ten most important subcategories within the three categories, safety and infection prevention as well as responsibility were perceived to be the most important, followed by promotion of physiologic adaptation, document management and presentation, self-control, ethics, observance law, coping with emergency, humanity, and medication. 2. The relative importance of category associated with the core competencies within the hospital unit were as follows : 1) The units that rated nursing professional category as being the most significant were: internal medicine, surgical unit, mother-child unit, emergency room, intensive care unit, and operating room, in that order. 2) The units that rated the organizational culture competencies as being the most significant were: mother-child unit, internal medicine, surgical unit, emergency room, operating room, and intensive care unit, in that order. 3) The units that rated temperament-attitude category as being the most significant were: internal medicine, surgical unit, emergency room, mother-child unit, operating room, and intensive care unit, in that order.