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Research Administration Efficiency of Science & Technology Research Institutes: Advancing Computer Systems and Burnout (과학기술 공공연구조직의 연구행정 효율성: 전산시스템 고도화와 직무소진에 대한 탐색적 이해)

  • Hwang, Kwang Seon
    • Informatization Policy
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.83-99
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    • 2024
  • This study seeks to shed light on the importance of "advancing administrative computer systems" for research administration efficiency, building upon prior literature, and aims at extending the scholarly discussion on the efficiency of research administration itself. To this end, two research questions were addressed. First, this research explores how research administrators perceive the advocated "advancement of administrative computer systems" in achieving research administration efficiency. Second, it investigates how external bureaucratic control affects burnout among administrative personnel engaged in research administration, and how burnout impacts the research-administration relationship, trust, and ultimately performance. The analysis of interviews and surveys yielded several results. For one, through the analysis of interviews conducted in the field of government-funded research institutions, it was found that "advancing computer systems" is met with practical concerns and skepticism, while also recognized as having the potential to contribute to the efficiency of research administration. Furthermore, it became evident that complex issues are intertwined. From a contrasting standpoint opposing computer advancement, the view that institutional regulations and cultural efficiency should take precedence over technology appears valid and raises a crucial point for consideration. On the other hand, regression analysis related to burnout shows empirical evidence that increased control by central government bureaucrats over administrative staff in government-funded research institutions leads to higher levels of burnout. Such elevated burnout is shown to have detrimental effects on trust between researchers and administrative personnel, as well as on overall performance. Through these discussions, we aim to stimulate academic and government interest in research administration efficiency.

Analysis of the Issues received by Quality Improvement Department and their Management in a Medical Center (일 의료원의 통합 고충처리센터 접수 내용과 이에 대한 해결방안 분석)

  • Tark, Kwan-Chul;Park, Hyun-Ju;Chun, Ja-Hae;Kang, Eun-Sook;Moon, Ju-Young;Choi, Mi-Young;Kim, Hyun-Ju;Kang, Jin-Kyung
    • Quality Improvement in Health Care
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.118-131
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    • 2000
  • Background : A continuous healthcare quality improvement is needed to provide high quality healthcare service as well as to maintain trust in terms of satisfying the needs of the patients. Recently it also became an essential issue. in hospital management, recognized for it's competitive potentiality among healthcare organization groups. This study was conducted to analyze patient complaints and issues received by the Quality Improvement Department. Its purpose is to improve healthcare qualities within the hospital, as well as establish policies and appropriate strategies in hospital management. Method : From July 1st to September 30th of the year 1999, we analyzed all complaints and issues made by various patients and their families, which were received through 24 hour phone consultation, numerous suggestion boxes, letters and E-mails, The issues were classified into 16 different categories based on a Patient Satisfaction Assessment Tool. All data were segregated according to the departmental frequencies and their contents. To come up with for environmental and patient satisfaction improvement, all complaints or issues were communicated with hospital administrators, medical and nursing staff and employees. Comprehensive customer satisfaction activities including improving phone etiquette were discussed in Customer Satisfaction Team, CQI Team and each Department. All opportunities for improvement were implemented. Feedback actions were discussed. Results : A total of 317 cases were collected. Issues regarding parking and other accommodation facilities were most common complaints that were 14.5% of total. Issues regarding admission rooms (10.7%), admission procedures (10.7%), waiting room environment (8.8%), nurses and nurse assistants (7.6%), physicians (6.6%) and others (23%) followed. Thirteen of 45 departments received more than 8 complaints. The Nursing Department had the most complaint, receiving 9.8% of total complaints. Complaints regarding the Nursing Department were predominantly related to the environment of patient rooms. The Department of Psychiatry for phone etiquette (4.7%), Department of Otolaryngology for the nursing staff's attitude and phone etiquette (4.4%), and the Admission Department followed. As a part of efforts to improve patient satisfaction, a new parking structure was built and reallocation of the parking space was done. Renovation of other accommodation facilities were carried out by hospital administration, Monthly phone call and answering attitude survey was done by QI Department. Based on this survey we made a phone etiquette manual and distributed throughout the hospital. Compare to the last year, Patient Satisfaction Index measured by Korea Productivity Center using National Customer Satisfaction Index was improved 7 points. According to our organization's own study, we confirmed the phone etiquette was improved 11% than last year. Conclusions : Issues related to parking and other accommodation facilities ranked first followed by complaints made regarding the patient care area, the admission and cashier process, and nurses' and doctors' attitude. The Nursing and Psychiatry Departments need improvement regarding phone etiquette. Results were shared and played a vital role in policymaking and strategic planning of the hospital. It is imperative that we keep our database updated by listening to and solving the needs of each patient. The CQI activities can be achieved only by full commitment of the hospital top management supported by related personal.

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호스피스 전달체계 모형

  • Choe, Hwa-Suk
    • Korean Journal of Hospice Care
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.46-69
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    • 2001
  • Hospice Care is the best way to care for terminally ill patients and their family members. However most of them can not receive the appropriate hospice service because the Korean health delivery system is mainly be focussed on acutly ill patients. This study was carried out to clarify the situation of hospice in Korea and to develop a hospice care delivery system model which is appropriate in the Korean context. The theoretical framework of this study that hospice care delivery system is composed of hospice resources with personnel, facilities, etc., government and non-government hospice organization, hospice finances, hospice management and hospice delivery, was taken from the Health Delivery System of WHO(1984). Data was obtained through data analysis of litreature, interview, questionairs, visiting and Delphi Technique, from October 1998 to April 1999 involving 56 hospices, 1 hospice research center, 3 non-government hospice organizations, 20 experts who have had hospice experience for more than 3 years(mean is 9 years and 5 months) and officials or members of 3 non-government hospice organizations. There are 61 hospices in Korea. Even though hospice personnel have tried to study and to provide qualified hospice serices, there is nor any formal hospice linkage or network in Korea. This is the result of this survey made to clarify the situation of Korean hospice. Results of the study by Delphi Technique were as follows: 1.Hospice Resources: Key hospice personnel were found to be hospice coordinator, doctor, nurse, clergy, social worker, volunteers. Necessary qualifications for all personnel was that they conditions were resulted as have good health, receive hospice education and have communication skills. Education for hospice personnel is divided into (i)basic training and (ii)special education, e.g. palliative medicine course for hospice specialist or palliative care course in master degree for hospice nurse specialist. Hospice facilities could be developed by adding a living room, a space for family members, a prayer room, a church, an interview room, a kitchen, a dining room, a bath facility, a hall for music, art or work therapy, volunteers' room, garden, etc. to hospital facilities. 2.Hospice Organization: Whilst there are three non-government hospice organizations active at present, in the near future an hospice officer in the Health&Welfare Ministry plus a government Hospice body are necessary. However a non-government council to further integrate hospice development is also strongly recommended. 3.Hospice Finances: A New insurance standards, I.e. the charge for hospice care services, public information and tax reduction for donations were found suggested as methods to rise the hospice budget. 4.Hospice Management: Two divisions of hospice management/care were considered to be necessary in future. The role of the hospice officer in the Health & Welfare Ministry would be quality control of hospice teams and facilities involved/associated with hospice insurance standards. New non-government integrating councils role supporting the development of hospice care, not insurance covered. 5.Hospice delivery: Linkage&networking between hospice facilities and first, second, third level medical institutions are needed in order to provide varied and continous hospice care. Hospice Acts need to be established within the limits of medical law with regards to standards for professional staff members, educational programs, etc. The results of this study could be utilizes towards the development to two hospice care delivery system models, A and B. Model A is based on the hospital, especially the hospice unit, because in this setting is more easily available the new medical insurance for hospice care. Therefore a hospice team is organized in the hospital and may operate in the hospice unit and in the home hospice care service. After Model A is set up and operating, Model B will be the next stage, in which medical insurance cover will be extended to home hospice care service. This model(B) is also based on the hospital, but the focus of the hospital hospice unit will be moved to home hospice care which is connected by local physicians, national public health centers, community parties as like churches or volunteer groups. Model B will contribute to the care of terminally ill patients and their family members and also assist hospital administrators in cost-effectiveness.

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Analysis of Sustainable Management Factors in County Parks Based on the Sustainability Evaluation Framework of Korea Nature Parks - Focus on the 11 County Parks in Gyeongsangnam-do - (자연공원 지속가능성평가에 기반한 군립공원 지속가능성 영향요인 분석 - 경남권역 11개소 군립공원을 대상으로 -)

  • Hong, Sukhwan;Ahn, Rosa;Tian, Wanting;Heo, Hagyoung;Pak, Junhou
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.48 no.3
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    • pp.12-21
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    • 2020
  • This study aims to implement the Sustainability Evaluation Framework of Korea Natural Parks to county parks in Gyeongsangnam-do, and to review the performance status of management effectiveness evaluation (MEE) and identify factors that influence the improvement of management effectiveness in protected areas. County park officers evaluated current management using this framework that was developed based on the MEE framework designed by the Korean Ministry of Environment. Among the principal values of county parks, 'natural and ecological' is indicated as the most important, followed by 'cultural and historic value' and 'leisure and recreation'. Natural disasters and climate change, visitor impact-inappropriate visitor behavior are indicated as current threats, and three county parks administrators viewed that there was no particular threat to their park. According to MEE results, the most effective management fields were 'State of cultural and historic value', 'State of leisure and recreational value', 'Current state of principal value'. The comparatively weaker fields were 'Threatened species management', 'Invasive species management', 'Management monitoring and evaluation'. The effects of sustainable management on county parks were analyzed through a regression analysis, and the influence of management factors reveal 'Annual budget', will impact attaining higher management scores. This study presents the current management information about county parks and provides support for the basis for the planning of county parks in Korea, suggesting the influencing factor.

The Present and Future for the Protection, Management and Planning of Landscape in the Country - A Perspective from Holism - (국토경관 보호·관리·계획의 현재와 미래 - 전체론의 관점을 중심으로 -)

  • Ryu, Je-Hun
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.166-175
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    • 2015
  • Nowadays, in the European countries, landscape is spoken of its importance as often as environment, by those who are engaged in such fields as politics, administration, research and civil society. In Korea, while recognizing such an international trend, academics and administrators have made a series of efforts to reflect landscape concept on a variety of policies. However, it is recognized that the effects of these policies have not been satisfactory. Under these circumstances, this paper aims to examine the complex values and multiple meanings in the landscape, which have been discussed by landscape experts in the European countries. Then, it aims to the explore the future direction of policy and research on the landscape to be pursued in Korea, where there is relatively less interest in the issues of landscape. It is argued that landscape should be approached and understood from a holistic perspective, because it is a very complex concept with multiple meanings that have been coined differently depending on the situation. All the academic fields, involved in the landscape research, should try in co-operation to develop the comprehensive approach rather than the inter- and multi-disciplinary approach to the landscape study. In Korea, moreover, it is also necessary in the legislation to recognize the fact that degradation and retreat in the quality of landscape would make a negative effect on the quality of human daily life. Natural and cultural heritages contained in the rural landscape are also now in danger of disappearing. These heritages, therefore, should become an important subject for research and policy on landscape before the countryside is completely evacuated after the aging population die out. To make this happen, it is very urgent that evaluation and classification of landscape character should be undertaken from the holistic perspective, which is equipped with a methodology overcoming as well as encompassing the boundaries of academic fields. It is also equally very urgent that education on landscape should be provided to the politicians, citizens and students as well as the officials dealing with landscape matters. Finally, government should strive to make the landscape concept penetrate deeply as well as widely into the spatial planning and legislation process while designing and implementing a comprehensive landscape policy at the national level.

A RURAL HEALTH SERVICE MODEL FOR KOREA BASED OH A PRIMARY CARE NURSING SERVICE SYSTEM

  • Hong, Yeo-Shin
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.5-8
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    • 1981
  • This study concerns itself with the development of a new model of comprehensive health service for rural communities of Korea. The study was conceived to resolve the problems of both underservice in rural communities and underutilization of valuable health manpower, namely the nurses, the disenchanted elite health personnel in Korea. On review of the current situation, the greatest deficiencies in the Korean health care system were found in the availability of primary care at the peripheries of md communities, in the dissemination of knowledge of disease prevention and health care, and in the induction of and guidance for active participation by the clientele in health maintenance at the personal, family and community level Abundant untapped health resources were identified that could be brough to bear upon the national effort to extend health services to every member of the Korean Population. Therefore, it was Postulated that the problem of underservice in rural communities of Korea can be structurcturally resolved by the effective mobilization and organization of untapped health resources, and that. a primary care Nursing Service System offers the best possibility for fulfillment of rural health service goals within the current health man-power situation. In order to identify appropriate strategies to combat the present difficulties in Korean rural health services and to utilize nurses and other health personnel in community-centered health programs, a search was made for examples of innovative service models throughout the world. An extensive literature survey and field visits to project sites both in Korea and in the United States were made. Experts in the field of world health, health service, planners, administrators, and medical and nursing practitioners in Korea, in the United States as well as visitors from other Asian countries were widely consulted. On the basis of information and inputs from these experts a new rural health service model has been constructed within the conceptual framework of community development, especially of the innovation diffusion Model. It is considered especially important that citizens in each community develop capacities for self-care with assistance and supports from available health professionals and participate in health service-related decisions that affect their own well-being. The proposed model is based upon the regionalization of health care planning utilizing a comprehensive Nursing Service System at the immediate delivery level The model features: (1) a health administration unit at each administrative level; (2) mechanisms for community participation; (3) a continuous source of primary health care at the local community level; (4) relative centralization of specialty care and provision of tertiary or super-specialty care only at major national metropolitan centers; and (5) a system for patient referral to the appropriate level of care. This model has been built around professional nurses as the key community health workers because their training is particularly suited and because large numbers of well-trained nurses are currently available and being trained. The special element in this model is a professional nurse-guided, self-care facilitating primary care Community Nursing Service System. This is supported by a Nursing Extension Service as a new training and support structure. (See attached diagrams). A broad spectrum of programs was proposed for the Community Nursing Service System. These were designed to establish a balance of activities between the clinic-centered individual care component and the field activity-centered educational and supportive component of health care services. Examples of possible program alternatives and proposed guidelines for health care in specific situations were presented, as well as the roles and functions of the key health personnel within the Community Nursing Service System. This Rural Health Service Model was proposed as a real alternative to the maldistributed, inequitable, uncoordinated solo-practice, physician-centered fee-for-service health care available to Koreans today.

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Comparative Study on Factors that Affect Outsourcing Performances in Medical Institutions and Hotel Industries (아웃소싱 성과에 영향을 미치는 선행요인에 대한 의료기관과 호텔산업 간의 비교연구)

  • Ryou, Se-Seon;Lee, Jun-Bom;Jung, Mun-Suk
    • CRM연구
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.21-41
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    • 2010
  • The current research was conducted to examine the factors that affect outsourcing performances, and further investigate whether a discrepancy in performance exists between the medical institutions and hotel service institutions. The study surveyed both medical and hotel administrators for approximately two months, who managed outsourcing tasks. Total of 325 responses out of 350 distributed were collected. However, due to inadequate responses, six responses were excluded, amounting to total of 319 (155 medical institutions, 164 hotels) valid responses included in the final analysis. First, the informal outsourcing relationships between representatives of outsourcing service seekers and providers did not appear to have significant effects in terms of the levels of trust in neither medical institutions nor hotel industries. However, the relationships affected outsourcing degrees exclusively in medical institutions, showing the disparity between the two service institutions. This was explained due to the continuing long term efforts required to establish an informal relationship in medical institutions. Second, communication was shown to have positive effects on levels of trust in both medical institutions and hotel industries. This indicates a prominent outsourcing trait that emphasizes the significance of mutual cordial communication that contributes to establishing positive relationships. Third, opportunistic behavior of the outsourcing service providers appeared to negatively affect the levels of trust as well as outsourcing degrees for both medical and hotel industries. Therefore, opportunistic behaviors were found to have more tendencies to causing tension and discomfort rather than creating a relationship based on mutual credibility or conviviality. Fourth, the effect of service infrastructures on the level of trust did not appear to be significant on medical institutions, while showing positive influence on hotel industries. Additionally, service infrastructures were found to positively influence the outsourcing performance levels for both sectors. Fifth, trust between outsourcing service seekers and providers did not appear to have noticeable impact on the outsourcing degrees for either institution. On the contrary, trust appeared to have positive impacts on performance for both institutions. This further indicates that, when engaging in outsourcing, strengthening relationships through mutual partnership with outsourcing entities rather than establishing contractual relationships leads to improving the reciprocal trust, which in turn improves work results. Lastly the outsourcing degree of service seekers appeared to have positive impact on the outsourcing performance for both medical institutions and hotel industries, indicating the causal relationship between the affectability of outsourcing degrees and the following performance results.

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Analyses of the Efficiency in Hospital Management (병원 단위비용 결정요인에 관한 연구)

  • Ro, Kong-Kyun;Lee, Seon
    • Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.66-94
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    • 2004
  • The objective of this study is to examine how to maximize the efficiency of hospital management by minimizing the unit cost of hospital operation. For this purpose, this paper proposes to develop a model of the profit maximization based on the cost minimization dictum using the statistical tools of arriving at the maximum likelihood values. The preliminary survey data are collected from the annual statistics and their analyses published by Korea Health Industry Development Institute and Korean Hospital Association. The maximum likelihood value statistical analyses are conducted from the information on the cost (function) of each of 36 hospitals selected by the random stratified sampling method according to the size and location (urban or rural) of hospitals. We believe that, although the size of sample is relatively small, because of the sampling method used and the high response rate, the power of estimation of the results of the statistical analyses of the sample hospitals is acceptable. The conceptual framework of analyses is adopted from the various models of the determinants of hospital costs used by the previous studies. According to this framework, the study postulates that the unit cost of hospital operation is determined by the size, scope of service, technology (production function) as measured by capacity utilization, labor capital ratio and labor input-mix variables, and by exogeneous variables. The variables to represent the above cost determinants are selected by using the step-wise regression so that only the statistically significant variables may be utilized in analyzing how these variables impact on the hospital unit cost. The results of the analyses show that the models of hospital cost determinants adopted are well chosen. The various models analyzed have the (goodness of fit) overall determination (R2) which all turned out to be significant, regardless of the variables put in to represent the cost determinants. Specifically, the size and scope of service, no matter how it is measured, i. e., number of admissions per bed, number of ambulatory visits per bed, adjusted inpatient days and adjusted outpatients, have overall effects of reducing the hospital unit costs as measured by the cost per admission, per inpatient day, or office visit implying the existence of the economy of scale in the hospital operation. Thirdly, the technology used in operating a hospital has turned out to have its ramifications on the hospital unit cost similar to those postulated in the static theory of the firm. For example, the capacity utilization as represented by the inpatient days per employee tuned out to have statistically significant negative impacts on the unit cost of hospital operation, while payroll expenses per inpatient cost has a positive effect. The input-mix of hospital operation, as represented by the ratio of the number of doctor, nurse or medical staff per general employee, supports the known thesis that the specialized manpower costs more than the general employees. The labor/capital ratio as represented by the employees per 100 beds is shown to have a positive effect on the cost as expected. As for the exogeneous variable's impacts on the cost, when this variable is represented by the percent of urban 100 population at the location where the hospital is located, the regression analysis shows that the hospitals located in the urban area have a higher cost than those in the rural area. Finally, the case study of the sample hospitals offers a specific information to hospital administrators about how they share in terms of the cost they are incurring in comparison to other hospitals. For example, if his/her hospital is of small size and located in a city, he/she can compare the various costs of his/her hospital operation with those of other similar hospitals. Therefore, he/she may be able to find the reasons why the cost of his/her hospital operation has a higher or lower cost than other similar hospitals in what factors of the hospital cost determinants.

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An Analysis of Work Stress of Physical Therapist and Reaction (물리치료사의 업무 스트레스 현황과 대응수준 -부산지역을 중심으로-)

  • Dong, Jong Ick;Ryu, Hwang Gun;Bae, Sung-Kwon
    • The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.37-55
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    • 2008
  • This study aims to enhance work efficiency and satisfaction by offering data that make a physical therapist cope with stress coming from the job efficiently by identifying and analyzing the job satisfaction and work stress perceived by a physical therapist, and the level of reaction of a physical therapist. The study distributed survey questionnaires to 300 physical therapists working in medical institutions in Busan via mail and by visit from March 3, 2007 by selecting them simply and randomly from the physical therapist list, and collected the questionnaires by March 20, 2007, 103 respondents were working at 17 general hospitals including a university hospital, 65 respondents at 12 medical centers, and 79 respondents at 39 doctor's offices. The study collected 251 copies, which showed the collection rate of 83.7%, and analyzed 247 copies (82.3%) excluding 4 copies of insincere answers. As a research tool for measuring job satisfaction the study used a tool employed for research into the job satisfaction of physical therapists who work at medical institutions in Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk by Kim Hee-Gwon(1992) and research regarding job satisfaction by Jeong Jeong-Hee(2004) as well as research regarding the factors of job satisfaction by Flippo(1980) & Seberhagen(1970) after adjusting the research tools to the purpose of the study. Also for questions about work stress, the study employed nurses' job stress measurement tool developed by Kim Mae-Ja and em Mi-Ok(1984) by modifying the tool to the purpose of the study, and for a measurement tool for reaction to stress, the study used a tool employed for research into reaction to stress of nurses at general hospitals by Choi Eun-Deok(2005) without modification. For data analysis, the study used the SPSS12.0 as a statistical method, and then used t-test or ANOVA for verifying actual numbers, percentile, average :score, standard deviation, rank, and difference. Also, the study conducted which is a post-test method for variables that show a significant difference at the level of p<.05 level after the analysis. The findings include the following. 1) The respondents' job satisfaction score was 3.21 points on the average (out of 5 full points). The peer relationship ranked the highest, posting 4.02 points on the average, and the job satisfaction with rewards was proven the lowest, posting 2.51 points. For the job satisfaction level by characteristics, there were significant differences (p<.05) in gender, hospital type, weekly working hours, monthly working days, number of patients per day, department in charge of therapy, and number of peers, and there was no significant difference in characteristics other than that. 2) The respondents' work stress score was 2.72 points (out of 5 full points) on the average. The respondents were shown to be under the highest stress when they suffered from excessive workload, posting 3.49 points on the average, and they were shown to be under the least stress when they had a conflict with peers at another department, recording 1.90 points on the average. for the job stress level by the characteristics of job, there was a significant difference in the reflection of job assessment(p<.05). 3) 1n respondents' reaction to stress, most of them were shown to make efforts in coping with stress, posting 2.80 points (out of 5 full points). For their experience of being wider stress, they answered that 'they felt depressed (2.85 points)" for their experience of coping with stress, they answered that 'they were indifferent to it or thought about something else' (2.62 points). Also, for their efforts in coping with stress, they answered that 'they were motivated to remove their strain by taking leave, playing, or using their preferences' (3.52 points), which ranked higher. For the level of reaction to stress by characteristics, there were significant differences by age, gender, marital status, total service years as a physical therapist, monthly working days, and department in charge of therapy(p<.05). It is necessary to offer correct information by conducting an in-depth analysis of the stressful situations of physical therapists who exert efforts in rehabilitating patients at hospitals by factor, and seeking management plans based on the research results. Also, it is necessary to develop a program for coping with stress efficiently for removing stress and to conduct research into the understanding and cooperation of administrators and persons in charge of physical therapists for reducing physical therapists' stress at hospitals.

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A Survey of the Current Information Activities in the Advanced Developing Countries (중진국의 정보유통체제 연구)

  • Choi Sung-jin
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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    • v.7
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    • pp.89-195
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    • 1980
  • The advanced developing countries including Korea are assumed to have reached a developmental stage which necessitates them to formulate and implement a plan for a national information network. Most of the governments in the advanced developing countries are well aware of the necessity for such a plan and some of them have actually commenced their studies on the feasibility of a national network of their own hoping to achieve maximum utility of their limited information resources. Two urgent problems facing planners in the design of a national information network are identified. One is lack of an optimum organisational model to enable them to meet their own situations, and the other is lack of a guideline to help designers evaluate the alternative structures and models when they are available. In resolving these two problems, network planners in the advanced developing countries would benefit from the achievement of the objectives of the present study. The major objective is to elicit and describe common information needs, desires and value of the people using information, and other common factors which are responsible for the present information services in the advanced developing countries and which have implications for the basic structure of the national information network. The value of this study is to aid administrators in Korea and those in the other advanced developing countries who are responsible for making national policies and who are now beginning to recognise the need for information services with the planning of economic and social development so as to enable all the groups in the community to have access to the information which are essential for decision making, research work, studies and even for recreational reading. This recognition will hopefully give them a rational basis for formulating right policies on information services. The methodology utlised for collecting the required data in this study falls under the category of observation and largely consists of the two techniques: literature review and postal questionnaire. Background information on the individual advanced developing: countries was gathered from monographic and periodical literature. and country reports presented at the various international conferences were analysed for other relevant data. For most of the data needed for the present study, a questionnaire on 'Library and Information Services as They Are Available in the Selected Countries' was formulated. This questionnaire was designed to be completed without help, by an expert who was well informed of the library and information services in his or her country. The questionnaire was intended to look in details at what information services in the advanced developing countries were doing-whom they were serving, in what way, and how well and establish to what extent they were meeting the nation's information requirements. It was also intended to ascertain the respondents' ideas on possible future developments in information provision in their countries, that is, in the advanced devanced developing countries. The questionnaire was posted to a total of 63 natinal librarians, directors of national information centres and those of other major libraries or information centres in 21 selected countries. Complete usable responses were received from 34 persons in 14 countries. In order to identify common characteristics of the information needs and desires in the advanced developing countries and the present situation of the information services to meet them, and the requirements and constraints peculiar to those countries which bought to be considered in the design of a national information network for advanced developing countries, an individual report on the current status of information activities for each of the fourteen countries chosen for this study, was presented. The procedure used was to arrange the data acquired in the questionnaire responses and other sources, in the form of fifteen country reports to be summarised by cross-section characteristics later.

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