• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.154-165
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• 2004

Purpose : To provide basic data for establishing the policy of safe handling of cytotoxic drugs and for building training materials and clinical guidelines for nurses handling cytotoxic drugs. Methods: 255 nurses in Seoul and 257 nurses in D metropolitan area participated in the study. Questionnaires were based on the safe handling guideline for cytotoxic drugs issued by OSHA and ONA. Results: Nurses in Seoul scored higher in the cognition for safe handling guidelines of cytotoxic drugs in preparation, administration. as well as total score compared with nurses in D metropolitan area. The practical score also showed higher in nurses in Seoul in administration, disposal and total score. But both groups showed low level of practical score. The answers why they could not follow the guideline for cytotoxic drugs were "don't have", "busy", and "don't know", etc Conclusion: Handling of the cytotoxic drug is very common and important. The study findings suggest that hospitals especially in D metropolitan area should educate the nurses and supply equipments for safe handling of cytotoxic drugs. Thus, repetitive and continual education of all nurses including experts is needed. In addition, it is necessary to supply enough protective equipment for preventing exposure to the cytotoxic drugs.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.757-766
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• 2002

Purpose: Recently there have been many changes in health care environments in Korea. To perform public health programs effectively and efficiently, it is necessary to analyze and identify the demand and supply for the public health nurses. Method: The study analyzed experts' opinions regarding the supply of public health nurses, as well as national and foreign statistical data on workforce supply of public health nurses. Two methods for estimating the amount of demand for public health nurses were used: one was applying the indicators of developed countries for public health nurses based on population: the other was to refer to regulations and/or recommended guidelines in Korea. Result: 1) The number of public health centers, public health sub-centers, and primary health care posts have decreased between 1990 and 2001, from 260 to 242, 1318 to 1270, 2038 to 1907, respectively. 2) Between 1997 and 2002, the number of public health nurses has also decreased from 5572 to 5112. 3) In the case of applying regulations, the number (5112) of existing public health nurses falls shortly by 942. 4) In 2001, the Korean population per one public health nurse was 9262. 5) In the case of applying regulations, the number of public health nurses required to meet the demand for health services in 2001 and 2020 is estimated at 5932 and 6347, respectively. 6) In the case of applying the indicators of developed countries, the number of public health nurses required to meet the demand for health service in 2001 and 2020 is estimated at 9.469 and 10.310, respectively. Conclusion and suggestions: Because of the importance of public health industry, public health nurses have been approved as a field specialist and specialized nurse practitioner by the newly revised legal regulation, there have been absence of approval of their role differentiation and capability. In addition, organizational activity and insufficient number of the public health nurses have contributed to the inactive utilization of them. As community public health is focused on caring individuals as well as organizations, it requires more autonomy and special skills than other fields. Therefore, public health nurses need to enhance the capability as health educator, consultant, and information management persons through advanced education course for public health nurses. Public health nurses need to be prepared as advanced nurse practitioners by receiving advanced education courses and field experiences.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2003

This study aimed to investigate predictors of turnover intention of home visiting nurses at 16 public health centers in Busan. There are two groups of independent factors: non-work related(i. e., age, educational level, working duration as nurses in hospitals, and certificate), and work related factors(i. e., working duration as nurses in public health centers, working duration as home visiting nurse, position, number of households visited per week, workload, cooperation among staff, support by supervisors, supply of vehicles, and supply of materials). Data were collected with self-administrated questionnaires which consisted of 4 items of non-work related factors, 9 items of work related factors, and 1 item of turnover intention to other department. Data were analyzed using an univariate logistic regression and multiple logistic regression. According to the results, heavy workload (Yes vs No, OR=4.31, $95\%$ CI=1.16-16.04) was the most powerful predictor on the turnover intention. In conclusion. this result was similar to those of other studies on the predictors of turnover intention of clinical nurses at hospitals. To decrease the turnover intention among home visiting nurses at public health centers in Busan, alleviating the workload is needed.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.68-90
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• 2007

Nurse staffing level is an important factor that influences the quality of health service and patient outcomes. This study was carried out to examine the current state of acute hospital nurse staffing and find out factors that affect the nurse staffing level. Nurse staffing of individual hospitals was measured using the number of registered nurses per 100 beds. Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were conducted using 592 acute care hospitals' data. Regression model included structure factors such as referral level, ownership, medical and general staffing, and financial outcome factors such as occupancy rate, inpatient and outpatient revenues. Market characteristics included strength of competition, supply of nurses, and income and health status level of consumers. The average number of nurses per 100 beds was 28 and showed a great variation according to the referral level. Regression model explained this variation as much as 76.87%. Hospital structure variables which affecting the hospital nurse staffing level positively were ICU bed ratio, the staffing level of specialist, training doctor and employees except doctor and nursing personnel, while the negative factor was nurse aid staffing level. General hospitals employed more nurses than hospitals. Among outcome characteristics, occupancy rate and the amount of health insurance inpatient revenue affected positively on the hospital nurse staffing level. The more supply of the new nurse and the higher consumer income and health status in the medical service markets, the more nurses were employed by the medical institutes. According to the study result, hospitals employed more nurses when they had more financial incentive by increasing nurses. This means appropriate hospital incentive policy and regulation policy, which hospital violate nurse staffing level have to pay penality, should be needed. Clarifying job description between nurses and nurse aids and the reentry program for unemployed experienced nurses will be helpful to increase nurse staffing level.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.587-597
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• 2003

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the demand and supply of visiting nursing services provided by health centers in urban area, aiming at strengthening infrastructure, which may improved the quality of life and health status of vulnerable population in the community. Methods: This study was conducted through nominal group discussion, focus group study. The demand and supply of visiting nursing were estimated by health economists based on the secondary analysis data from 25 health centers in Seoul. Result: Primary targets for the visiting nursing must be people who are homebound in the community. They can be classified into: a group of Level I: chronic patients who need visiting nursing care at least once a week: and a group of Level II: vulnerable families that need management periodically e. g. twice a month. Based on the estimation of demand for visiting nursing services in the community, the estimated supply required was $651{\sim}770$ visiting nurses including home health nurses in visiting nursing programs based on health centers in Seoul. Conclusions: The estimated demand and supply of visiting nursing are expected to provide basic data for establishing alternative policies on visiting nursing infrastructure that might be accomplished through demand-based visiting nursing programs by districts.

• The Korean Nurse
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• v.12 no.4 s.66
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• pp.42-44
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• 1973

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was to compare job stress and job satisfaction between ward nurses and outpatient nurses, and to identify the correlation between job stress and job satisfaction. Methods: The subjects of this study were 200 ward nurses and 85 outpatient nurses in G and I University Hospital in Incheon. The data were collected in March 2010 and analyzed with t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: There was no significant difference in overall job stress between two groups, but slightly higher stress level for ward nurses. In sub-area of job stress, 'nursing duty' was primary for both groups. And in 'nursing duty' (t=2.05, p=.041), 'conflict with patients' (t=2.73, p= .007), and 'working environment' (t=3.37, p<.001) ward nurses showed significant higher level of stress than outpatient nurses. For job satisfaction, outpatient nurses showed higher level significantly (t=-2.98, p=.003). And both groups of nurses' job satisfaction was negatively correlated with job stress significantly (r=-.31, p<.001). Conclusion: It will be possible to reduce job stress and promote job satisfaction level for both groups of nurses by adding staffs, and specifically for ward nurses by improving facilities for relax and appropriate supply, and for outpatient nurses by managing interpersonal stress and reducing side tasks.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.701-711
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• 2013

Purpose: The plan proposed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2012 did not reflect the position of nurses and focused only on how to increase the number of nurses. There is a need for coming up with a specific and viable alternative plan considering the qualitative aspect of nursing, delegation of nursing tasks, the in-death analysis of the reasons for leaving the nursing profession, and the legal standards based on varying nursing tasks. Methods: Drawing on a review of existing literature, this report was written to examine policy directions and the factors that influence the institutional environment that regulates the supply and demand of the nursing workforce in Korea. Results: Implementing the government's plan for introducing a new type of nurse, the registered practical nurse, which generally requires a two-year associate's degree, must be reconsidered. Also, a concrete plan to make use of unemployed nurses and to close the salary gap between nurses working at hospitals in cities and those working at hospitals in rural areas must be prepared. Furthermore, there is a need for introducing a new rating system aimed at boosting the quality of nursing care in small-and medium-sized hospitals, thereby increasing the number of nursing professionals who provide high quality care. Conclusion: In preparation for expected poor quality of care and looming unemployment crisis due to the increase in the number of nursing professionals, a practical and concrete plan for the supply and demand of the nursing workforce should be made. The Korean Nurses Association should mount a profession-wide campaign to make the government formulate a new and viable policy on the supply and demand of the nursing workforce.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.167-175
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the subjective experience of moral distress among nurses working in long-term care hospitals. Methods: A phenomenological approach was used for the study. Data were collected from May to July, 2019 using open-ended questions during in-depth interviews. Participants were nurses working in long-term care hospitals and had reported experiences of moral distress. Nine nurses participated in this study. Results: Three themes emerged from the analysis using Colaizzi's method: (1) confusion and distress about the meaning of care, (2) a feeling of helplessness caused by connivance, (3) enduring in the organization. Conclusion: Sufficient labor supply, environmental improvements, programs for improving interpersonal skills, education and counseling on end-of-life care, and recognition improvement about long-term care hospitals are suggested to reduce the moral distress of long-term care hospital nurses.