• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.55-63
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• 2017

Purpose: This study aims to report on and compare the conditions of practicing nurses and nursing graduates in Korea and other OECD countries to suggest policy to improve nurse staffing in Korea. Methods: Data on nurses and nursing graduates from 34 OECD countries in 2015 (or the nearest year) were analyzed. The proportion of practicing nurses among nurses who were licensed to practice and nursing graduates per population and per the number of practicing nurses were examined. Results: The number of practicing nurses per 1,000 population in Korea was 5.9 and, in Korea, only 31.0% of licensed nurses were practicing, whereas the OECD average was 69.5%. Korea had the highest number of nursing graduates (109.0) per 100,000 population and the highest number of nursing graduates (183.5) per 1,000 practicing nurses in the OECD countries. Skill-mix analysis indicated that 52.2% of the practicing nurses in Korea were professional practicing nurses, which was the second-lowest among the OECD countries. The ratio of nurses' wages to those of physician specialists was 0.43 in the OECD countries. Conclusion: Nurse staffing and skill-mix in Korea were very low in comparison to other OECD countries. Policies for retention of nurses via improved working conditions are required.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was done to identify the influence of nursing work environment and social support on multidimensional organizational commitment among nurses. Methods: The survey was conducted in August 2012 with self-report questionnaire. Participants were 480 registered nurses working in one general hospital. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression using SPSS/WIN(16.0). Results: The average scores were; for affective commitment 2.84, for continuance commitment 2.48, and for normative commitment 2.57. There were significant relationships between affective, continuance, normative commitment and sub-factors of nursing work environment and social support. The affective, continuance, and normative commitment were all influenced by 'staffing and resource adequacy' and 'nursing foundations for quality of care', sub-factors of nursing work environment. Distinctively, affective commitment was influenced by 'staffing and resource adequacy', nurses' age, 'nurse-doctor relations', 'supervisor's emotional support', 'nurse participation in hospital affairs', 'nursing foundations for quality of care', and 'supervisor's informational support', which explained 30.9% of variance in affective commitment(F=31.57, p<.001). Conclusion: The findings show that programs which promote supervisors' emotional and informational support are important to enhance nurses' affective commitment. Also, it is necessary to improve nursing work environment to improve nurses' organizational commitment.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.239-250
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• 2017

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to analyze the types of hospitals participating and the factors influencing comprehensive nursing service. Methods : Data were gathered from 231 hospitals offering the comprehensive nursing service in 2016. Collected data were analyzed using the multinomial logistic regression with the SPSS 24 version program. Results : First, factors influencing the types participating comprehensive nursing services were identified as hospital type, number of beds, medical doctor and, nurses per bed. Second, if all tertiary hospitals, general hospitals and hospitals participated in the service, approximately 122,022 ~ 166,274 nurses would be needed for the service. Conclusions : Hospitals providing the comprehensive nursing service will be expanded gradually. As such, thoughtful policy considerations are required to successfully establish services, such as improvement in hospitals, required nurse staffing level and demand and supply of nurses. Therefore, it is necessary to control the participation ratio of hospitals in consideration of the various circumstances.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.275-287
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• 2013

This study aims to derive implications on current problems in the nursing manpower management in Korea through the comparison with the nursing workforce and employmentrent in the United States and Japan. There are various issues in nursing policy, such as nursing shortage, quality of the nursing service, and the increased cost of management due to the high turnover rate of nursing staffs and it is urgent to seek various policy measures to resolve this. Although nursing shortage is a commom problem in the world, the U.S. and Japan were higher rate of employment than Korea in nursing staffs, which implicates the importance of the legislation of mandatory minimum staffing ratios, the establishment of policies such as the fees and charge policy and the nursing work environments. For quality nursing care and patient safety through the stable workforce of qualified nursing staffs, administrative mechanisms that support adequate nurse staffing and promote positive work conditions are needed, for which the improvement of legal system is required.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.98-108
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• 2007

Purpose: The objective of this research was to explore the levels of patient satisfaction and job satisfaction according to the level of nurse manpower, in order to provide effective management for nurses. Methods: The research was conducted from November 1 to December 30, 2006, with a survey of 310 nurses and 240 patients at eight tertiary hospitals in Seoul. Data were collected according to the level of nurse manpower from the first (a nurse vs. patient ratio of below 2.0) to the sixth (a ratio of over 4.0) rank. The survey tools were used Park-Yoon's job satisfaction (1992) and Wandelt and Ager (1974)'s patient satisfaction. The acquired data were analyzed with SPSS $PC^+$ 12.0 program using descriptive methods, ${\chi}^2$ test, ANCOVA, and Scheffe. Results: Overall job satisfaction of nurses showed 3.10 and patient satisfaction of patients showed 4.15. Analysis based on the level of nurse manpower showed that hospitals of first and second rank had higher scores than those of lower rank for nurse's job satisfaction and patient satisfaction. Conclusion: Hospitals with a higher level of nurse manpower showed higher score of nurse's job satisfaction and patient satisfaction.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.715-727
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• 2015

This study was conducted to explore the impact of nursing staffing on inpatient nursing outcomes in long term care hospitals. A secondary analysis was done of national data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Services including evaluation of long term care hospitals. Patients per RN was a significant indicator of foley catheter ratio in high risk group and low risk group. Patients per RN&NA was a significant indicator of decline in ADL for patients with dementia, non dementia, urinary incontinence and new pressure ulcer development in the high risk group. The average nursing outcome of inpatient in high grade was higher than that low grade in long care hospital. This higher level of nursing staffing and the higher the grade shown a positive effect on the nursing outcomes of the inpatient. We therefore recommend modifying the above nurse staffing policy so as to make it more effective in improving nursing outcomes.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.106-116
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• 2014

Purpose: In this paper issues and challenges of the workforce policy for nursing were explored and appropriate policy responses identified. Results: Many countries, including South Korea, are facing a shortage of nurses. In South Korea, the number of practicing registered nurses is about half the average for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. The shortage of nurses is not necessarily a shortage of individuals with nursing qualifications but also includes complex issues, such as lack of well-educated nurses, shortage of nurses willing to work, and geographical imbalances of nurses. The present nurse workforce policies are to increase number of nursing schools, to reduce the length of training, and to replace nurses with nursing assistants. However, the findings of many studies have shown that these attempts resulted in a worsening of patient outcomes and increasingly low quality of care. Conclusion: The findings in this study indicate that nurse workforce policy should have a multi-faceted approach in order to address the many factors affecting nurse shortages.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.138-149
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• 2011

Purpose: The objective of this research was to explore levels of patient safety and safe nursing activities depending on the level of nurse staffing, in order to provide effective management of nurse personnel. Methods: The research was conducted with 455 nurses from eight hospitals in B city. Data were collected according to the level of nurse personnel from second (nurse vs. patient ratio of 2.0-2.5) to fifth (ratio of 3.5-4.0) rank. The survey tools were, 'Questionnaire on Patient Safety, a Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture developed by AHRQ (2007), and 'Questionnaire on Patient Safety Nursing Act, in which the questions were selected from nursing-related items (Medication 6 & Safety Nursing Assurance Act 4) in the Safety Evaluation developed by Evaluation Institute of Medical Institution. Data were analyzed with SPSS PC 12.0 program using descriptive statistics, $x^2$ test, ANCOVA and $Scheff{\grave{e}}$. Results: The nurses' overall cognition level on patient safety and safe nursing activities showed that nurses who are in the second and third rank had higher scores than those in lower ranks. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that hospitals need a higher ratio level for nurse personnel in order to assure patient safety and safe nursing activities.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.137-146
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was done to examine the attitude and awareness of nurses about rooming-in for new mothers and their infants. Methods: Data were collected from 462 nurses from 40 hospitals from August 10 to September 20, 2008 using a questionnaire, and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA. Results: The mean score for attitude and awareness of nurses about rooming-in was 3.02 (range=2.13~3.80), which indicates that the nurses had positive opinions of the system. The factors with the highest and lowest scores were awareness of a successful implementation method (mean=3.35) and awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of the system (mean=2.73), respectively. The attitude and awareness of nurses about rooming-in differed significantly with age, religion, education level, parity, type of hospital, hospital nurse staffing grade (bed-to-nurse ratio), and presence of a rooming-in system. Conclusion: This results of the study show that attitudes and awareness of nurses to rooming-in differed significantly according to personal factors (age, parity, religion, educational level) and work characteristics (hospital type, hospital nurse staffing grade, presence of rooming-in system). These findings can be used as basic data in determining optimal strategies for a system of rooming-in in the future.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.355-362
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to conduct the impact of unit-level nurse practice environment on turnover intention among nurses in a tertiary hospital. A cross-sectional study was carried out using questionnaires with 267 nurses in 24 nursing units of hospital in Seoul. Data were collected in November 2013 and were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 23.0. The results of the study indicate that nurse turnover intention is associated with the nurse practice environment at the unit level. In addition, the model including age, unit-level nurse practice environment explained 23.0% of the variance for nurse turnover intention. Hospital can improve nurse retention and lower turnover intention by changing the nurse practice environment of unit, such as nurse participation in hospital affairs, improvement of the nurse manager leadership and nurse-physician collaborative relationships.