• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.412-419
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Person-centered Care Assessment Tool (P-CAT). Methods: The English P-CAT was translated into Korean with forward and backward translation. Survey data were collected from 458 staff in 17 long-term care facilities in Korea. Construct validity and criterion related validity were evaluated. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess reliability. Results: The Korean version of P-CAT was shown to be valid homogeneously by factor, item and content analysis. Internal consistency reliability was satisfactory in which the values of factor 1, factor 2 and the total scale were .84, .77 and .86 respectively. Exploratory factor analysis supported the construct validity with a two-factor solution. Factor loadings of the 13 items ranged in .34~.80. Criterion validity to the Person-centered Climate Questionnaire-staff (PCQ-S) was .74 (p<.001). Conclusion: The Korean version of the P-CAT was found to be an applicable instrument with satisfactory reliability and validity for further use in measuring successful person-centered care in long-term care facilities for older persons.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.35-44
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• 2012

This study was conducted to assess improvements in nutritional status following the application of nutrition education to elderly patients in a long-term care hospital. The study was carried out from January to May 2009, during which a preliminary survey, a pretest, the application of nutrition education, and a post-test were applied in stages. The number of subjects at pretest was 81, and the number of participants included in the final analysis was 61 (18 men, 43 women), all of whom participated in both the nutrition education program and the post-test. The survey consisted of general demographic items, health behaviors, dietary behaviors, the Nutrition Screening Initiative checklist, and nutrient intake assessment (24 hour recall method). The nutrition education program lasted for four weeks. It included a basic education program, provided once a week, and mini-education program, which was offered daily during lunch times. The survey was conducted before and after the education program using the same assessment method, although some items were included only at pretest. When analyzing the changes in elderly patients after the nutritional education program, we found that, among subjective dietary behaviors, self-rated perceptions of health (P<0.001) and of depression (P<0.001) improved significantly and that dietary behavior scores also improved significantly (P<0.001), while nutritional risk levels decreased. In terms of nutrient intake, subjects' intake of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin C all increased significantly (P<0.001). These results indicated that nutritional education is effective in improving the nutritional status of elderly patients. We hope that the results of this study can be used as preliminary data for establishing guidelines for nutrition management tailored to elderly patients in long-term care hospitals.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.224-229
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• 2014

Objective : To report long-term clinical and radiological outcomes of minimally invasive posterior cervical foraminotomy (MI-PCF) performed in patients with unilateral single-level cervical radiculopathy. Methods : Of forty-six patients who underwent MI-PCF for unilateral single-level radiculopathy between 2005 and 2013, 33 patients were included in the study, with a mean follow-up of 32.7 months. Patients were regularly followed for clinical and radiological assessment. Clinical outcome was measured by visual analogue scale (VAS) for the neck/shoulder and arm, and the neck disability index (NDI). Radiological outcome was measured by focal/global angulation and disc height index (DHI). Outcomes after MI-PCF were evaluated as changes of clinical and radiological parameters from the baseline. Mixed effect model with random patients' effect was used to test for differences in the clinical and radiological parameters repeat measures. Results : There were no complications and all patients had an uneventful recovery during the early postoperative period. VAS scores for neck/shoulder and arm improved significantly in the early postoperative period (3 months) and were maintained with time (p<0.001). NDI improved significantly post-operatively and tended to decrease gradually during the follow-up period (p<0.001). There were no statistically significant changes in focal and global angulation at follow-up. Percent DHIs of the upper adjacent or operated disc were maintained without significant changes with time. During the follow-up, same site recurrence was not noted and adjacent segment disease requiring additional surgery occurred in two patients (6%) on the contra-lateral side. Conclusion : MI-PCF provides long-term pain relief and functional restoration, accompanied by good long-term radiological outcome.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.693-706
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• 2018

It is very important to support the elderly with disability ageing in place. Assisting devices can help them to live independently in their community; however, they have to be used appropriately to meet care needs. This study develops an assisting device recommendation system for the beneficiaries of long-term care insurance that include algorithms to decide the most appropriate type of assisting device for beneficiaries. We used long-term care (LTC) insurance data for grade assessment including 8,084 beneficiaries from July 2015 to June 2016. In addition, we collected standard care plans for assisting devices, that power-assessors made, considering their performance and ability that could subsequently be matched with grade assessment data. We used a decision-tree model in data-mining to develop the model. Finally, we developed 15 algorithms for recommending assisting devices. The findings might be useful in evidence-based care planning for assisting devices and can contribute to enhancing independence and safety in LTC.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2022

Background: We evaluated the long-term effects of domiciliary noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NIPPV) used to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: Databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials of COPD with NIPPV for longer than 1 year. Mortality rates were the primary outcome in this meta-analysis. The eight trials included in this study comprised data from 913 patients. Results: The mortality rates for the NIPPV and control groups were 29% (118/414) and 36% (151/419), suggesting a statistically significant difference (risk ratio [RR], 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65-0.95). Mortality rates were reduced with NIPPV in four trials that included stable COPD patients. There was no difference in admission, acute exacerbation and quality of life between the NIPPV and control groups. There was no significant difference in withdrawal rates between the two groups (RR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.72-1.36; p=0.94). Conclusion: Maintaining long-term nocturnal NIPPV for more than 1 year, especially in patients with stable COPD, decreased the mortality rate, without increasing the withdrawal rate compared with long-term oxygen treatment.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.249-260
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• 2023

Purpose: The study aimed to examine the effects of nurse staffing levels on patient outcomes in long-term care hospitals in South Korea using path analysis. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of national data, which included the 2021 hospital assessment results of long-term care hospitals from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Data collection was performed between June 19 and June 27, 2023. The study sample consisted of 1,215 hospitals, and we analyzed the data using SAS 9.4 and Mplus 8 software. Results: The average numbers of patients per registered nurse, certified nursing assistant, and nursing staff, including both registered nurses and certified nursing assistant, was 10.00, 7.43, and 4.00, respectively. Path analysis revealed that the number of patients per registered nurse had direct effects on improvements in activities of daily living and indirect effects on indwelling catheterization, pressure ulcer improvement, and weight loss. The number of patients per certified nursing assistant had direct effects on new pressure ulcer development and pressure ulcer improvement, with no indirect effects. The number of patients per nursing staff had direct effects on pressure ulcer improvement and no indirect effects on other patient outcomes. Conclusion: The findings suggest that establishing policies to evaluate staffing levels of registered nurse and certified nursing assistants separately is necessary in order to improve registered nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes in long-term care hospitals.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.273-279
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• 2001

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.95-105
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine trends in number of nursing staff and skill mix. Methods: Nursing staff and skill mix were measured using the number of nursing staff including nurse aids and registered nurses per bed. Descriptive and panel data regression analyses were conducted using data on long-term care hospitals which included yearly series data from 2006 to 2010 for 119 hospitals. Results: The number of nursing staff per bed increased significantly but percentage of registered nurses decreased significantly from 2007 to 2010. The regression model explained this variation as much as 34.9% and 43.8%. Conclusion: The results showed that in long-term care hospitals there were more nurse aids employed instead of registered nurses after the implemention of differentiated inpatient nursing fees. Thus clarifying the job descriptions for nurses and nurse aids is needed and appropriate hospital incentive policies should be implemented.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.312-320
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was done to compare the comprehension and knowledge about delirium in nurses working at long-term care hospitals (NLH) with nurses working at a general hospital (NGH). Method: The participants were 191 nurses from a general hospital and 7 long-term care hospitals in Chungnam. The tool for comprehension consisted of the needs and importance of delirium education and the confidence of management for early detection, caring and prevention of delirium. The tool for knowledge of delirium developed by the author consisted of causing factors, symptoms, caring and prevention of delirium. Result: The comprehension of need and importance of delirium education was higher than the confidence for delirium management in participants. NLH nurses had a higher level in comprehension of the need and importance of delirium education and a lower level in confidence of delirium management than NGH nurses. The mean for delirium knowledge was 75.32% for all participants. The knowledge of NLH nurses was significantly lower than those of NGH nurses. All nurses showed low scores in confidence and knowledge of delirium prevention. Conclusion: A systematic educational program for nurses to enhance the ability for assessment, early detection and prevention of delirium for institutionalized elderly patients needs to be developed.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.171-185
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• 2018

Maintenance of deteriorated bridge structures has always been one of the challenging issues in developing countries as it is directly related to daily life of people including trade and economy. An effective maintenance strategy is highly dependent on timely inspections on the bridge health condition. This study is intended to investigate an approach for detecting bridge damage for the long-term health monitoring by use of copula theory. Long-term measured data for the seven-span plate-Gerber bridge is investigated. Autoregressive time series models constructed for the observed accelerations taken from the bridge are utilized for the computation of damage indicator for the bridge. The copula model is used to analyze the statistical changes associated with the modal parameters. The changes in the modal parameters with the time are identified by the copula statistical properties. Applicability of the proposed method is also discussed based on a comparison study among other approaches.