• 대한간호
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.77-96
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• 1997

The duty shifts of hospital nurses not only affect nurses' physical and mental health but also present various personnel management problems which often result in high turnover rates. In this context a study was carried out from October to November 1995 for a period of two months to find out the status of hospital nurses' duty shift patterns, and preferred duty hours and fixed duty shifts. The study population was 867 RNs working in five general hospitals located in Seoul and its vicinity. The questionnaire developed by the writer was used for data collection. The response rate was 85.9 percent or 745 returns. The SAS program was used for data analysis with the computation of frequencies, percentages and Chi square test. The findings of the study are as follows: 1. General characteristics of the study population: 56 percent of respondents was (25 years group and 76.5 percent were "single": the predominant proportion of respondents was junior nursing college graduates(92.2%) and have less than 5 years nursing experience in hospitals(65.5%). For their future working plan in nursing profession, nearly 50% responded as uncertain The reasons given for their career plan was predominantly 'personal growth and development' rather than financial reasons. 2. The interval for rotations of duty stations was found to be mostly irregular(56.4%) while others reported as weekly(16.1%), monthly(12.9%), and fixed terms(4.6%). 3. The main problems related to duty shifts particularly the evening and night duty nurses reported were "not enough time for the family, " "afraid of security problems after the work when returning home late at night." and "lack of leisure time". "problems in physical and physiological adjustment." "problems in family life." "lack of time for interactions with fellow nurses" etc. 4. The forty percent of respondents reported to have '1-2 times' of duty shift rotations while all others reported that '0 time'. '2-3 times'. 'more than 3 times' etc. which suggest the irregularity in duty shift rotations. 5. The majority(62.8%) of study population found to favor the rotating system of duty stations. The reasons for favoring the rotation system were: the opportunity for "learning new things and personal development." "better human relations are possible. "better understanding in various duty stations." "changes in monotonous routine job" etc. The proportion of those disfavor the rotating 'system was 34.7 percent. giving the reasons of"it impedes development of specialization." "poor job performances." "stress factors" etc. Furthermore. respondents made the following comments in relation to the rotation of duty stations: the nurses should be given the opportunity to participate in the. decision making process: personal interest and aptitudes should be considered: regular intervals for the rotations or it should be planned in advance. etc. 6. For the future career plan. the older. married group with longer nursing experiences appeared to think the nursing as their lifetime career more likely than the younger. single group with shorter nursing experiences ($x^2=61.19.{\;}p=.000;{\;}x^2=41.55.{\;}p=.000$). The reason given for their future career plan regardless of length of future service, was predominantly "personal growth and development" rather than financial reasons. For further analysis, the group those with the shorter career plan appeared to claim "financial reasons" for their future career more readily than the group who consider the nursing job as their lifetime career$(x^2$= 11.73, p=.003) did. This finding suggests the need for careful .considerations in personnel management of nursing administration particularly when dealing with the nurses' career development. The majority of respondents preferred the fixed day shift. However, further analysis of those preferred evening shift by age and civil status, "< 25 years group"(15.1%) and "single group"(13.2) were more likely to favor the fixed evening shift than > 25 years(6.4%) and married(4.8%)groups. This differences were statistically significant ($x^2=14.54, {\;}p=.000;{\;}x^2=8.75, {\;}p=.003$). 7. A great majority of respondents(86.9% or n=647) found to prefer the day shifts. When the four different types of duty shifts(Types A. B. C, D) were presented, 55.0 percent of total respondents preferred the A type or the existing one followed by D type(22.7%). B type(12.4%) and C type(8.2%). 8. When the condition of monetary incentives for the evening(20% of salary) and night shifts(40% of. salary) of the existing duty type was presented. again the day shift appeared to be the most preferred one although the rate was slightly lower(66.4% against 86.9%). In the case of evening shift, with the same incentive, the preference rates for evening and night shifts increased from 11.0 to 22.4 percent and from 0.5 to 3.0 percent respectively. When the age variable was controlled. < 25 yrs group showed higher rates(31.6%. 4.8%) than those of > 25 yrs group(15.5%. 1.3%) respectively preferring the evening and night shifts(p=.000). The civil status also seemed to operate on the preferences of the duty shifts as the single group showed lower rate(69.0%) for day duty against 83. 6% of the married group. and higher rates for evening and night duties(27.2%. 15.1%) respectively against those of the married group(3.8%. 1.8%) while a higher proportion of the married group(83. 6%) preferred the day duties than the single group(69.0%). These differences were found to be statistically all significant(p=.001). 9. The findings on preferences of three different types of fixed duty hours namely, B, C. and D(with additional monetary incentives) are as follows in order of preference: B type(12hrs a day, 3days a wk): day shift(64.1%), evening shift(26.1%). night shift(6.5%) C type(12hrs a day. 4days a wk) : evening shift(49.2%). day shift(32.8%), night shift(11.5%) D type(10hrs a day. 4days a wk): showed the similar trend as B type. The findings of higher preferences on the evening and night duties when the incentives are given. as shown above, suggest the need for the introductions of different patterns of duty hours and incentive measures in order to overcome the difficulties in rostering the nursing duties. However, the interpretation of the above data, particularly the C type, needs cautions as the total number of respondents is very small(n=61). It requires further in-depth study. In conclusion. it seemed to suggest that the patterns of nurses duty hours and shifts in the most hospitals in the country have neither been tried for different duty types nor been flexible. The stereotype rostering system of three shifts and insensitiveness for personal life aspect of nurses seemed to be prevailing. This study seems to support that irregular and frequent rotations of duty shifts may be contributing factors for most nurses' maladjustment problems in physical and mental health. personal and family life which eventually may result in high turnover rates. In order to overcome the increasing problems in personnel management of hospital nurses particularly in rostering of evening and night duty shifts, which may related to eventual high turnover rates, the findings of this study strongly suggest the need for an introduction of new rostering systems including fixed duties and appropriate incentive measures for evenings and nights which the most nurses want to avoid, In considering the nursing care of inpatients is the round-the clock business. the practice of the nursing duty shift system is inevitable. In this context, based on the findings of this study. the following are recommended: 1. The further in-depth studies on duty shifts and hours need to be undertaken for the development of appropriate and effective rostering systems for hospital nurses. 2. An introduction of appropriate incentive measures for evening and night duty shifts along with organizational considerations such as the trials for preferred duty time bands, duty hours, and fixed duty shifts should be considered if good quality of care for the patients be maintained for the round the clock. This may require an initiation of systematic research and development activities in the field of hospital nursing administration as a part of permanent system in the hospital. 3. Planned and regular intervals, orientation and training, and professional and personal growth should be considered for the rotation of different duty stations or units. 4. In considering the higher degree of preferences in the duty type of "10hours a day, 4days a week" shown in this study, it would be worthwhile to undertake the R&D type studies in large hospital settings.

• Animal cells and systems
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.357-365
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• 2012

We have examined the effect of circadian disturbances induced by night shifts (NSs) on the phenotypes of the tibiae and abdominal adipose tissues (ADTs) in a mouse model by using in vivo micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). We found that the volumes of total and visceral ADTs in the night-shifted group of mice were significantly larger (69 and 92%, respectively) than those in the control. The mean polar moment of inertia, cross-sectional thickness, and bone mineral density of the cortical bone in the night-shifted group of mice were less (13, 5, and 3%, respectively) than those in the control. Moreover, the volume and the thickness of growth plates (GPs) of the tibiae in the night-shifted mice were significantly smaller (22 and 20%, respectively) than those in the control. Taken together, our results indicate that disturbances in the mouse circadian rhythms induced by NSs affect the morphological characteristics of cortical bone, the volume and the thickness of GPs, and the volume of ADTs.

• 임상간호연구
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.63-73
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare job satisfaction and nursing performance of nurses on fixed night shifts (FNS) and nurses working three shifts (W3S), to identify the environment of night work and recognition of the viability of the FNS system. Methods: The research was conducted with 106 nurses on FNS and 257 on W3S. The nurses had worked for 1 to 11 years at A hospital, Seoul. Results: Job satisfaction was significantly higher (t=-3.51, p< .001) for nurses on FNS. However, no significant difference was found for nursing performance (t=-1.019, p=.309) between the two groups. Both groups of nurses were mostly satisfied. Subjective fatigue scores (0 to 10 points) during the night for nurses on FNS (6.02) were lower than for W3S nurses (7.28) A high percentage (88.7%) of nurses on FNS indicated a willingness to further participate in FNS. Conclusion: Results indicate that the demonstration FNS system showed its effectiveness. Therefore, efforts are needed to enhance and revitalize FNS and to upgrade the system to control patient transfer time from emergency departments to wards, and to provide nurses needed resources for emergency or intensive care.

• 대한영양사협회학술지
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.13-30
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• 2023

This study investigates the effect of working hours on the dietary behaviors and dietary quality of male industrial workers employed in rotating shifts. The survey was conducted from February to March 2022, enrolling 209 male workers operating in rotational shifts at industries in the Chungcheongnam-do region. Eating behavior and health awareness were investigated during the morning shift, afternoon shift, and night shift for the same subjects. The shift timings were found to be associated with dietary behavior, which had an impact on the dietary quality of workers. Negative effects of shift timings on diet and health were also perceived by the shift workers. The frequency of alcohol consumption was high during the morning shift, and the frequency of night time snack intake was high during the afternoon shift. During the night shift, there was decreased vegetable intake and increased ramyeon intake. Compared to the morning shift, a significant decrease in dietary quality scores was found during the night shift. The workers recognized that rotating shift work negatively affected health, eating habits and sleep. There was a high demand for providing a variety of menus and healthy night snacks in the company cafeteria. When nutritional counseling and educational health services were provided, the willingness to participate was high. Therefore, to improve the health and dietary quality of shift workers, there is a need to provide diets suitable for the working environment and the characteristics, and to provide nutrition management services.

• 성인간호학회지
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• 제20권6호
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• pp.941-949
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• 2008

Purpose: This study was conducted to describe the effects of aroma inhalation on sleep and fatigue in night shift nurses. Methods: The research design was one group pre-posttest design. The subjects were 17 night shift nurses who work at neurosurgery intensive care unit of K hospital of C university in Seoul. During three consequent night shifts, the participants were worn the Actigraph to measure the sleep pattern on their wrist since their first night shift work. The quality of sleep and fatigue was measured by survey when they awoke at 6 pm after second night shift work. And these measures were repeated during the night shifts in second and third week. Aroma inhalation was applied before going to bed after finishing each night shift work during second and third week. SPSS 12.0 program was used for data analysis. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in sleep latency and total sleeping time. However, significant differences were found in the sleep efficiency, awakening number, sleep quality, subjective symptom and intensity of fatigue. Conclusion: These results showed that aroma inhalation had positive effects on the pattern and quality of sleep and reducing fatigue in night shift nurses.

• 기본간호학회지
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.77-97
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• 1994

The circadian system represents a temporal order which is mediated by the mutual coupling of oscillators and by the synchronizing effects of zeitgebers. It is known that well-being of man depends partly on the maintenance of this order, and that repeated or long lasting disturbances to it such as shift work will Cause harmful effects. This study was a quasi-experimental study to test the effect of shift directions for the clinical nurses on the circadian rhythm. Fourteen nurses working at the general units of Y hospital were selected according to the established criteria. Fourteen subjects were assigned to a weekly shift but the directions of shift work were phase delay first and then phase advance or vice versa. Oral temperature, total sleeping time, frequency of sleep-wake cycle, fatigue, mental performance, and physical symptom were measured during these days except holidays. The data collection period was from April 26, 1993 to July 3, 1993. MANOVA and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used for statistical analysis. The results are summarized as follows. 1. Having worked on evening and night shifts in either phase delay or phase advance schedules, temperature rhythms of shift workers were gradually adapted to the new sleep-wake cycles. A complete adaptation to work on the night shift was achieved the sixth day of the night shift in the phase delay schedule compared to the partial adaptation to the work on the night shift in the phase advance schedule. Accordingly, by putting evening shift between day and night shifts, it will be possible for circadian rhythm to adapt easily to the night shift. 2. There were differences in the total sleeping time, frequency of steep-wake cycle, fatigue, and physical symptom except for mental performance between night shift and day, evening shift. This indicates further that shift workers working on the night shift have a hard time adapting to the shift work compared to the other shifts. 3. Evaluating all the acrophases of temperature rhythm either in phase delay or phase ad-vance schedules, it was shown that night to evening shift in the phase ad-vance schedule revealed the smallest phase move. Also phase advance schedule showed poorer adaptation to shift work than phase delay schedule in connection with total sleeping time, frequency of sleep-wake cycle, fatigue, mental performance, and physical symptom. It is suggested, taken together, these findings reflect that phase delay schedule facilitated the degree of adjustment to the shift work compared to the phase advance schedule.

• 대한산업공학회지
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.181-189
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sleep/wake behavior for shift workers in the iron and steel industry using wrist actigraph for 59 male workers on a continuous full-day three-team three-shift system of backward rotation including on-duty and off-duty periods. The wrist actigraph data were recorded for 15 days (l shift cycle) for each subject. The sleep length at home during night shift decreased significantly as compared to the morning or evening shifts. The night shift nap length increased significantly in all sections as compared to the morning or evening shifts. The nap length in the Steel Manufacturing Process and Rolling Process during night shift decreased significantly as compared to the Machine Maintenance Section, the Forwarding of Products Section, and the Field Management Section. However, the sleep length at home while off-duty period increased significantly. The percentage of nap length during night shift in the Rolling Process, Steel Manufacture Process, and the other three types of jobs was 16.0%, 20.4%, and about 50.0%, respectively. The nap length during night shift for the above 50 year olds increased significantly as compared to the below 50 year olds. Finally, we discussed the role of nap-taking during the burden on night shift workers and the increased difficulty in continuing their job.

• 기본간호학회지
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.403-412
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• 2014

Purpose: Shift work disrupts the synchronization between the human biological clock and the environment. Sleep disturbances are common for shift work nurses, and may threaten patient safety. This study was done to investigate the sleep characteristics and medication errors (ME) of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses who work shifts, and ascertain if there is an association between these factors. Methods: Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire from 126 ICU nurses on three shifts. Collected data included their sleep characteristics including sleep patterns and sleep disturbances, and ME for the past 2 weeks. Results: There were significant differences in sleep duration and sleep latency according to shift. Day shift nurses had the shortest sleep duration, and their sleep latency was the longest (about 49 minutes) compared to nurses on evening and night shifts; 54% reported sleep disturbances, 16% experienced ME, and among these nurses 50% were on the night shift. Logistic regression analysis revealed significant associations between nurses' sleep duration and ME (adjusted OR 0.52 [95% CI 0.32-0.85]). Conclusions: The results confirmed that shift work nurses in the ICUs experience sleep disturbance, and that less sleep is associated with ME.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.49-57
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the meaning of job experiences of fixed night shift nurses participating in a pilot project by a tertiary hospital, and to provide basic information for improving their night shift working environment. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted using individual interviews in September 2022. Three female nurses who worked fixed night shifts were recruited from a tertiary hospital. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Results: By analyzing the meaning of job experience as a fixed night shift nurse, four categories and nine subcategories were identified. The four categories of job experience of fixed night shift nurses were: expecting an improvement physical health due to predictable working hours, enjoying leisure time due to long off-duty hours, regretting for loosened relationships, and considering a successful settlement of fixed night shift nursing. Conclusion: As night shift work is essential for nurses to provide continuous nursing to patients, it is necessary to develop various strategies to improve the physical health of night shift nurses through fatigue management and good sleep quality, mental health through work-life harmony, and social health through intimate relationships between patients and coworkers.

• 한국식생활문화학회지
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• 제35권2호
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• pp.156-166
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• 2020

In this study, 594 questionnaires administered to men and women residing in the capital metropolitan area who work night shifts were analyzed in order to study the effect of health information cognition on healing needs in accordance with the type of food selection criteria of the night worker. The results of confirmatory factor analysis in deriving food selection type identified four categories, a safety seeking type, a food exploratory type, a habitual seeking type, and a rational type, and the cognition types on health information were classified into physical cognition and psychological cognition. The need for healing, which was the investigated factor, was found to have a high correlation between questionnaire items with high reliable consistency. The results of this study were as follows. First, the food selection types of safety seeking type and habitual food seeking type had significant positive effects on the cognitive level of physical health information, and food exploratory type and habitual seeking type had significant positive effects on the cognitive level of psychological health information. In addition, it was shown that food exploratory type and rational type had significant positive effects on healing needs. As a result of this study, it was found that the cognition level of physical and psychological information was different according to food selection type, and the higher the cognitive level, the higher the healing needs. In particular, the result that the level of psychological health information significantly affected healing needs signifies that there is a demand to develop programs and menus that satisfy various needs related to healing and recovery from fatigue. In addition, further interest and study on the health and healing of night workers are required.