• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2017

Purpose: This study aimed to estimate the appropriate nurse staffing ratio in intensive care units (ICUs) by measuring nursing workload based on patient's severity and needs, using the Korean Patient Classification System for critical care nurses. Methods: The data were collected from January 18 to February 29, 2016 using a standardized checklist by observation or self-report. During the study period, 723 patients were included to be categorized from I to IV using the patient classification system. Measurement of total nursing workload on a shift was calculated in terms of hours based on the time and motion method by using tools for surveying nursing activities. The nursing activities were categorized as direct nursing care, indirect nursing care, and personal time. Total of 127 cases were included in measuring direct nursing time and 18 nurses participated in measuring indirect and personal time. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Two patients were classified into Class I (11.1%), 5 into Class II (27.8%), 9 into Class III (50%), and two into Class IV (11.1%). The amount of direct nursing care required for Class IV (513.7 min) was significantly more than that required for Class I (135.4 min). Direct and indirect nursing care was provided more often during the day shift as compared to the evening or night shifts. These findings provided the rationale for determining the appropriate ratio for nursing staff per shift based on the nursing workload in each shift. Conclusions: An appropriate ratio of nurse staffing should be ensured in ICUs to re-arrange the workload of nurses to help them provide essential direct care for patients.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was to identify the extent of and the relationships among self-efficacy, spiritual well-being, and job stress in clinical nurses. Methods: The subjects were 201 clinical nurses from three different general hospitals in B city. Data were collected from May 26 to August 9, 2012 and analyzed by using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, One-way ANOVA, Sheff$\acute{e}$ test, and Partial correlation coefficients. Results: The mean scores of self-efficacy, spiritual well-being, and job stress were moderate, 3.50, 3.58, and 3.44 respectively. There were statistically significant relationships between marital status, influence of religion, the number of night shifts per month, motives for choosing nursing as a career, job satisfaction and self-efficacy. Spiritual well-being was found to be significantly related to all participants' general characteristics, and job stress was significantly related to marital status and type of religion. There was a significantly weak positive correlation between self-efficacy and spiritual well-being, and a weak negative correlation between self-efficacy and job stress. There was no significant correlation between job stress and spiritual well-being. Conclusion: This study suggests that effective strategies to foster spiritual well-being is needed to enhance clinical nurses' self-efficacy, which should equip clinical nurses to better deal with job stress in their work places.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2019

Background: Few studies have examined the effects of a forward rotating shift pattern on police employee performance and well-being. This study sought to compare sleep duration, cognitive performance, and vigilance at the start and end of each shift within a three-shift, forward rotating shift pattern, common in United Kingdom police forces. Methods: Twenty-three police employee participants were recruited from North Yorkshire Police (mean age, 43 years). The participants were all working the same, 10-day, forward rotating shift pattern. No other exclusion criteria were stipulated. Sleep data were gathered using both actigraphy and self-reported methods; cognitive performance and vigilance were assessed using a customized test battery, comprising five tests: motor praxis task, visual object learning task, NBACK, digital symbol substitution task, and psychomotor vigilance test. Statistical comparisons were conducted, taking into account the shift type, shift number, and the start and end of each shift worked. Results: Sleep duration was found to be significantly reduced after night shifts. Results showed a significant main effect of shift type in the visual object learning task and NBACK task and also a significant main effect of start/end in the digital symbol substitution task, along with a number of significant interactions. Conclusion: The results of the tests indicated that learning and practice effects may have an effect on results of some of the tests. However, it is also possible that due to the fast rotating nature of the shift pattern, participants did not adjust to any particular shift; hence, their performance in the cognitive and vigilance tests did not suffer significantly as a result of this particular shift pattern.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.113-127
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• 2021

Purpose: This study examined health behaviors, use of health services, and depression among women who perform daytime and shift work in Korea, as well as factors related to depression. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis using data from the 2018 data of the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Data on women, 1,493 regular daytime workers and 322 shift workers, were analyzed. Results: Women shift workers (χ²=43.97, p<.001), had a lower education level (χ²=45.56, p<.001), and lower personal income (χ²=16.85, p=.030) than their daytime counterparts. A higher proportion of shift workers were unmarried (χ²=37.47, p<.001) and they typically worked fewer than 40 hours per week (χ²=69.94, p<.001). The depression score of shift workers was higher than that of daytime workers (t=2.85, p=.005). A higher proportion of shift workers also drank alcohol (χ²=6.49, p=.032) and smoked (χ²=30.79, p<.001). Over 8% of shift workers typically slept fewer than 5 hours per night (χ²=14.17, p=.024). It was confirmed that depression in women shift workers was affected by age, personal income, marital status, health status, and smoking status, in addition to cancer screening participation, unmet medical care needs, and unmet dental care needs. Conclusion: More attention should be given to the health needs of women working shifts. Health promotion programs specific for women shift workers are needed to improve their physical and mental health, encourage use of medical care services, and improve public health policies and systems.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.425-434
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• 2022

Objectives: This study analyzes TVOC concentrations in root industry workplaces in order to prevent probable occupational disease among workers. Root industry includes all the infrastructure of manufacturing, such as casting and molding. Methods: Real-time TVOC sensors were deployed in three root industry workplaces. We measured TVOC concentrations with these sensors and analyzed the results using a data-analysis tool developed with Python 3.9. Results: During the study period, the mean of the TVOC concentrations remained in an acceptable range, 0.30, 2.15, and 1.63 ppm across three workplaces. However, TVOC concentrations increased significantly at specific times, with respective maximum values of 4.98, 28.35, and 26.65 ppm for the three workplaces. Moreover, the analysis of hourly TVOC concentrations showed that during working hours or night shifts TVOC concentrations increased significantly to higher than twice the daily mean values. These results were scrutinized through classical decomposition results and autocorrelation indices, where seasonal graphs of the corresponding classical decomposition results showed that TVOC concentrations increased at a specific time. Trend graphs showed that TVOC concentrations vary by day. Conclusions: Deploying a real-time TVOC sensor should be considered to reflect irregularly high TVOC concentrations in workplaces in the root industry. It is expected that the real-time TVOC sensor with the presented data analysis methodology can eradicate probable occupational diseases caused by detrimental gases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.32-38
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• 2023

Job stress factors are factors that induce biological, psychological, and behavioral responses in individuals when they encounter mental and physical stimuli in the workplace. According to occupational safety and health standards, employers are responsible for the health consequences of job stress when workers engage in activities that result in high levels of physical fatigue and mental stress. Such activities include long working hours, shift work (including night shifts), driving vehicles, and operating precision machinery. Therefore, precautionary measures should be implemented. Following the COVID-19 epidemic, the logistics industry in Korea has experienced rapid growth owing to the shift from offline to online platforms facilitated by advanced digital infrastructure. Consequently, this study conducted a survey to analyze job stress factors among delivery workers. The survey utilized a Korean job stress factor assessment tool comprising 43 items and analyzed job stress factors considering the work characteristics of the courier business field obtained from responses provided by 421 courier workers nationwide. The survey analysis revealed that the physical environment, job demands, and job autonomy exhibited higher stress indices among Korean workers. Furthermore, the younger the age, the higher the stress on job demands, whereas the higher the age, the higher the stress on relationship conflict, job instability, and workplace culture. In addition, daytime delivery work was associated with higher stress levels in job demands and job instability compared with nighttime delivery work. These findings can serve as foundational data for reducing and preventing job stress among courier workers, whose workload has increased owing to the growth of the logistics industry.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.67-77
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• 2024

Increasing energy efficiency in factories is an activity aimed at optimizing resource allocation in manufacturing processes to establish production plans. However, this strategy may not apply effectively when night shifts are unavoidable. Additionally, continuous fluctuations in production requirements pose challenges for its implementation in the factory. Recently, with the rapid proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs), technology utilizing electric vehicle batteries as energy storage systems has gained attention. Technology using these batteries can be an alternative for factory energy management. In this paper, a factory energy management method using EV batteries is proposed. The proposed method is analyzed using PSCAD/EMTDC software, considering the state of charge of EV batteries and Time-of-Use (TOU) rates. The proposed method was compared with production scheduling established considering predicted power usage and TOU rates. As a result, production scheduling saved 4,152 KRW per day, while the proposed method saved 7,286 KRW in electricity costs. Through this paper, the possibility of utilizing EV batteries for factory energy management has been demonstrated.

• The Korean Nurse
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.63-75
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• 1995

The need of oriental nursing role is recently increasing. The implication of this trend is enormous not only for the need of independent of independent oriental nursing intervention. Hence, this study was designed to describe the characteristics of oriental nursing activity and identify the meaning of nursing activity in oriental hospital. A total of 24 nurses were selected by convenience sampling from eight units at one oriental hospital. A total of 168 data were collected using minute-by-minute recording during nurse s work shift. The data were analyzed using nova and scheffe method as post-hoc test The results of this study are as follows; 1. the category of nursing activity in oriental hospital 74.4% of nursing activity was the patient-oriented nursing care. The nursing activity included others (18.28%), the function-oriented nursing care (7.07%), and staff-oriented care (0.2%). 29.1 % of the patient-oriented nursing care was the direct care, and 24. 5 % of the patient-oriented nursing care was the indirect care. There was a lack of patient education and the communication patient. 2. Nursing activity in oriental hospital by characteristics 1) Nursing activity by unit For patient-oriented nursing care, there was a statistically significant difference among 8 units. In the critical care unit, the patient-oriented nursing care was mostly performed. For function-oriented nursing care, there was statistically significant difference among 8 units. In the physical therapy unit, the function-oriented nursing care was mostly performed. 2) Nursing activity in oriental hospital For all kinds of nursing activity, there was a statistically significant difference between shifts. In night shift patient-oriented nursing care, function-oriented nursing care, and other kinds of nursing care was mostly performed. Patient-oriented nursing care included indirect care, treatment set management, and the breaktime. In day shift, staff-oriented nursing care was performed. 3) Nursing activity in oriental hospital For all kinds of nursing activity, there was not a statistically significant difference by day. The day has not impact on nursing activity. 3. the meaning of activity in oriental hospital The results of this study show that the patient-oriented care was vital check, input! output check, medication, bedsore prevention, nasogastric feeding, oral care, catheterization care, perinatal care, nursing care associated with acupuncture and moxacautery, observation (fever, sweating), heat and cold application communication with patent and family, and patient room management In conclusion, two issues associated with the findings of the research appeated to be involved in the difficulty of nursing activity in hospital. The first issue was the nursing care in oriental hospital provided by nurses who have a limited understading of the principles of oriental medicine. The second issue was the deficiency of systematic guideling for oriental nursing activity. The findings suggest the need to develop the systematic guideline for oriental nursing activity. The need of continuing education for nurses who work in the oriental hospital, and the need of nursing education including oriental nursing are critical.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.208-214
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• 2005

Objectives: This study was performed to examine the factors affecting re-smoking in male workers. Methods: A self-administrated questionnaire survey was conducted during April 2003 to examine the smoking state of 1,154 employees of a company that launched a smoking cessation campaign in1998. Five hundred and eighty seven persons, who had stopped smoking for at least one week, were selected as the final study subjects. This study collected data on smoking cessation success or failure for 6 months, and looked at the factors having an effect on re-smoking within this period. This study employed the Health Belief Model as its theoretical basis. Results: The re-smoking rate of the 587 study subjects who had stopped smoking for at least one week was 44.8% within the 6 month period. In a simple analysis, the re-smoking rates were higher in workers with a low age, on day and night shifts, blue collar, of a low rank, where this was their second attempt at smoking cessation and for those with a shorter job duration (p<0.05). Of the cues to action variables in the Heath Belief Model, re-smoking was significantly related with the perceived susceptibility factor, economic advantages of smoking cessation among the perceived benefits factor, the degree of cessation trial's barrier of the perceived barriers factor, smoking symptom experience, recognition of the degree of harmfulness of environmental tobacco smoke and the existence of chronic disease due to smoking (p<0.05). In the multiple logistic regression analysis for re-smoking, the significant variables were age, perceived susceptibility for disease, economic advantages due to smoking cessation, the perceived barrier for smoking cessation, recognition on the degree of harmfulness of environmental tobacco smoke, the existence of chronic disease due to smoking and the number of attempts at smoking cessation (p<0.05). Conclusion: From the result of this study, for an effective smoking ban policy within the work place, health education that improves the knowledge of the adverse health effects of smoking and the harmfulness of environmental tobacco smoke will be required, as well as counter plans to reduce the barriers for smoking cessation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.82-87
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• 2016

As contemporary society has become more complicated, specialized, and segmented, people are experiencing more diverse types of stress. In particular, while several factors associated with job stress have been examined among nurses, who belong to a professional group, the existing research has made no quantitative assessments of stress that reflect temporal differences in individuals. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand the effects of job stress on alpha-amylase with regard to the working hours of nurses, to assess the variations in jobs stress over time, and provide basic data to improve the quality of nursing services. Ninety nurses working in three shifts in general, emergency, and intensive care wards of a university hospital in D City participated in this study. Salivary alpha-amylase (SAA) was extracted and analyzed at two-hour intervals from 07:00 to 15:00 from nurses on the day shift and from 23:00 to 07:00 from those working the night shift. The SAA level was highest between 23:00 and 01:00 for nurses in general wards ($mean{\pm}S.D.\;39.00{\pm}14.88$) and between 11:00 and 13:00 for those in both intensive care units and emergency wards ($mean{\pm}S.D.\;67.50{\pm}62.93$ and $mean{\pm}S.D.\;39.67{\pm}35.96$, respectively). The characteristic variation in SAA was significant between 23:00 and 01:00 (p < 0.01) and for those in their fifties or older (p < 0.01). The activation ratio of alpha-amylase, a stress reactant, showed an increase when the sympathetic nervous system was activated by mental stress; in addition, job stress was manifested with the effect of awakening at different time segments and at different ages among the nurses. With the aim of raising the level of service based on the nurses maintaining their mental health, it is necessary to focus sharply on the time segment for critical control and to conduct repetitive studies to determine the divisions of eustress critical values as well as to expand the population.