• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.74-84
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• 2018

Purpose: For this study an examination was done of relationships between intensive care unit (ICU) nurses' knowledge related to sedation and their clinical competencies in sedation practice. Methods: Ninety one ICU nurses were recruited from two tertiary hospitals in South Korea. A self-report questionnaire was used to examine the levels of knowledge related to sedation and nursing practice competence based on Ajzen's theory of planned behavior. Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlations were performed using the IBM SPSS 21.0 Results: ICU nurses are more knowledgeable about general information on sedation rather than up-to-date information. Continuing education on sedation was related to difference in knowledge levels. However, the levels of knowledge were not related to competence in sedation practice. Instead, a positive attitude toward sedation practice was significantly related to the subjective norms; orders and goals, perceived behavioral control, practice of sedation, and intention to use. Conclusion: The results of this study provide fundamental information on levels of knowledge related to sedation practices of Korean ICU nurses. Continuing education should emphasize up-to-date information on sedation practice and need for positive attitudes which influence all other competencies towards sedation practices to achieve optical care of sedation in the ICU.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.157-172
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to construct and test a hypothetical model to explain the predictive factors and causal pathways for exercise levels in patients with ankylosing spondylitis based on the self-determination theory. A conceptual framework was constructed assuming that autonomy support by health care providers would satisfy the three basic psychological needs of patients, which would increase their autonomous motivation for exercise, resulting in its initiation and continuation. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 221 patients with ankylosing spondylitis who were visiting rheumatology clinics in two tertiary hospitals. Health Care Climate Questionnaire-exercise regularly, Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction scale, Behavior Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2, and exercise level were used to collect data. Results: The fitness of the hypothetical model met the recommended level (𝛘²/df ≤ 3, SRMR ≤ .08, RMSEA ≤ .08, GFI ≥ .90, AGFI ≥ .85, NFI ≥ .90, TLI ≥ .90, CFI ≥ .90). The model effect analysis revealed that autonomy support by health care providers had a positive effect on patients' autonomy, competence, relatedness, autonomous motivation, and exercise level. Competence and relatedness had positive effects on autonomous motivation and exercise level, respectively. Autonomous motivation had a positive effect on exercise level. Conclusion: The predictive factors of exercise level in patients with ankylosing spondylitis were autonomous motivation, health care providers' autonomy support, competence, and relatedness. Considering these factors, we recommend the development of an effective program for improving exercise levels in these patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.251-258
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to analyze patient satisfaction and perception of nutritional counseling services quality. A patient satisfaction and perception survey was conducted for 1,095 patients from 43 tertiary hospitals and 20 general hospitals. The number of returned questionnaires was 656 (response rate: 60.0%). Data from 633 questionnaires were analyzed after the questionnaires with unanswered items were excluded. Five domains were identified from the result of the factor analysis using the maximum likelihood and oblique rotation. The five domains were named empathy, responsiveness, tangibles, reliability, and skill and specialty. Patient perception mean score of nutritional counseling was 4.54/5.00. Patient satisfaction scores were significantly higher in empathy (P<0.001), responsiveness, and skill and specialty (P<0.01) with a college or graduate school education than in patients with a middle school education. There was no statistically significant difference between satisfaction scores in tertiary hospitals and those in general hospitals, but patients in capital hospitals reported significantly higher scores than their local counterparts in empathy, responsiveness, reliability, skill and specialty (P<0.001), and tangibles (P<0.05). In responsiveness, significantly higher (P<0.01) scores were observed in patients who received nutritional counseling only once compared to patients who received counseling two times. Patients perception of nutritional counseling services was significantly correlated with their satisfaction of five domains, reliability (r=0.721), responsiveness (r=0.697), empathy (r=0.690), skill and specialty (r=0.678), and tangibles (r=0.622).

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.255-264
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• 2014

Objective: The aims of this study are to investigate the total volume of prescribed medicines against Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the trends of usage by analyzing the claims-data from the Korea National Health Insurance Service. Method: The demographic and claims-data were included the major AD treating medicines such as donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine, and analyzed during the period of 2010~2012. The assessing criteria were gender, age, habitation, types of medical institution, code of ingredients, outcomes of treatment, volume and amount of claims, and the numbers of patients with dementias. After trimming the data, it were analyzed by the market size, demographic traits, characteristics of medical service, characteristics of each anti-AD medicine, etc. Results: Among the chosen 4 medicines, donepezil had the top prescription volumes. Most prevalent prescribing preparations of donepezil were conventional types. However, among the non-conventional types, oro-dispersible formulation is the fast increasing one in both volume and growth rate. This specialized preparations to improve both toleration and adherence, tend to being prescribed generally at the tertiary medical institutions. While the younger patients with mild-to-moderate AD mostly treated by expensive medicines in resident at the tertiary hospitals, the rest older patients with severe AD have been treated non-expensive one at long-term care facilities. Conclusion: AD is a chronic illness therefore, long-term use of therapeutic medications are highly important. If an anti-AD treatment was applied steadily in the earlier stages, it would be achieved not only improving the quality of life of patient but also reducing the expenses in the medical and nursing cares. As the socioeconomical impacts of AD is expanding, healthcare professionals need to aware the importance of pharmacotherapy and to improve sociopolitical fundamentals.

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.399-412
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• 2024

Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) can lower antibiotic use, decrease medical expenses, prevent the emergence of resistant bacteria, and enhance treatment for infectious diseases. This study summarizes the stepwise implementation and effects of ASPs in a single university-affiliated tertiary care hospital in Korea; it also presents future directions and challenges in resource-limited settings. At the study hospital, the core elements of the ASP such as leadership commitment, accountability, and operating system were established in 2000, then strengthened by the formation of the Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Team in 2018. The actions of ASPs entail key components including a computerized restrictive antibiotic prescription system, prospective audit, post-prescription review through quantitative and qualitative intervention, and pharmacy-based interventions to optimize antibiotic usage. The AMS Team regularly tracked antibiotic use, the effects of interventions, and the resistance patterns of pathogens in the hospital. The reporting system was enhanced and standardized by participation in the Korea National Antimicrobial Use Analysis System, and educational efforts are ongoing. Stepwise implementation of the ASP and the efforts of the AMS Team have led to a substantial reduction in the overall consumption of antibiotics, particularly regarding injectables, and optimization of antibiotic use. Our experience highlights the importance of leadership, accountability, institution-specific interventions, and the AMS Team.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.6 no.1_2
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• pp.80-91
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• 1999

Background : With the CQI concepts, which emphasize doing the right things right the first time, we tried to enhance the timely completion of medical records by changing the review process from retrospective method to concurrent one. Methods : Against the current retrospective QA activity, Medical record administrator did the concurrent QA of the inpatient medical records with the deficiency sheets. One general surgery ward was chosen as a trial one. The deficiency rate of the medical records of the discharged patients was compared before and after the enforcement of the system. Job analysis of the medical record departments was done about four tertiary care hospitals located in Seoul to estimate the cost and the time consumed by current system. Results : There was a little improvement in the completion rate of the medical records after the trial. The new system was effective. And job analysis showed that much money and time were wasted by current retrospective feedback system. Conclusion : Though the result was not so satisfactory, it should be considered that this test was a voluntary one and the interns and residents were not forced to complete the medical records during this trial period. If there be any strong motivation to complete the medical record in time, this system is sure to be succeed. As the DRG system requires the concurrent review of the medical records to confirm severity of the patient's illness and to assure the timely discharge, it is desirable to enforce this method with the DRG system together. DRG coding and reducing deficiency rate of the medical records can be accomplished simultaneously.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.84-97
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• 2020

This pilot study evaluated the reach and efficacy of nurse training program to provide palliative care to patients with advanced chronic diseases. A mixed method was used (an one-group pre-post research design and a group interview). To examine the changes in knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy, paired t-test were used with SPSS 21.0. To obtain pivoting information in real settings, a content analysis was conducted in the data obtaining from a group interview. There were significant improvements on knowledge and self-efficacy scores after the program. Additionally, high retention rate and program satisfaction were found in the participants while recruitment strategies, especially nurses working for tertiary hospitals, need to be modified in future research. A full-fledged research is warranted to find effective strategies to implement and disseminate the program for nurses working in diverse settings.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.259-263
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• 2015

Background: In the field of cancer, the ICD-10 coding convention is based on the site of a neoplasm in the body and usually ignores the morphology, thus the same code may be assigned to tumors of different morphologic types in an organ. Nowadays, all general (provincial) and center hospitals in Thailand are equipped with the hospital information system (HIS) database. Objective: This study aimed to find the characteristics and magnitude of agreement represented by the positive predictive value (PPV) of provisional cancer diagnoses in the HIS database in Pattani Hospital in Thailand in comparison with the final cancer diagnosis of the ICD-10 codes generated from a well established cancer registry in Songklanagarind Hospital, the medical school hospital of Prince of Songkla University. Materials and Methods: Data on cancer patients residing in Pattani province who visited Pattani Hospital from January 2007 to May 2011 were obtained from the HIS database. The ICD-10 codes of the HIS computer database of Pattani Hospital were compared against the ICD-10 codes of the same person recorded in the hospital-based cancer registry of Songklanagarind Hospital. The degree of agreement or positive predictive value (PPV) was calculated for each sex and for both sexes combined. Results: A total of 313 cases (15.9%) could be matched in the two databases. Some 222 cases, 109 males and 113 females, fulfilled the criteria of referral from Pattani to Songklanagarind Hospitals. Of 109 male cancer cases, 76 had the same ICD-10 codes in both hospitals, thus, the PPV was 69.7% (95%CI: 60.2-78.2%). Agreement in 76 out of 113 females gave a PPV of 67.3% (95%CI: 57.8-75.8%). The two percentages were found non-significant with Fisher's exact p-value of 0.773. The PPV for combined cases of both sexes was 68.5% (95%CI: 61.9-74.5%). Conclusions: Changes in final diagnosis in the referral system are common, thus the summary statistics of a hospital without full investigation facilities must be used with care, as the statistics are biased towards simple diseases able to be investigated by available facilities. A systematic feedback of patient information from a tertiary to a referring hospital should be considered to increase the accuracy of statistics and to improve the comprehensive care of cancer patients.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.30-38
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• 2022

Purpose: The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) in South Korea initiated a quality assessment (QA) program for blood transfusion healthcare services in 2020 to ensure patient safety and appropriate blood use. This study examines the quality of blood transfusion services since the first national QA program for blood transfusion services in Korea. Methods: We analyzed HIRA claims and QA investigation data based on inpatient medical records from all tertiary, general, and primary hospitals between October 2020 and March 2021. The target population was patients aged 18 years and older who received either total knee arthroplasty or red blood cell transfusion. The QA indicators for transfusion healthcare service consisted of four quality indicators and four monitoring indicators. Results: We analyzed the results of QA indicators for transfusion service from the medical records of 189,668 patients from 1,171hospitals and expressed indicators as proportions. The average results for evaluation indicators were as follows: transfusion checklist presence, 64.8%; irregular antibody tests, 61.8%; transfusions in which the hemoglobin levels before transfusion met the transfusion guidelines for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, 20.6%, and transfusions in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, 59.3%. The average results for monitoring indicators were as follows: transfusion management implementation in medical institutions, 56.9%; preoperative anemia management in anemia patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, 43.9%; one-unit transfusions, 82.5%; and the transfusion index. Conclusion: The quality of blood transfusion healthcare varied and the assessment revealed that there is scope for improvement. Hospitals require more effective blood transfusion management and this can be facilitated by providing feedback on the QA results about blood transfusion healthcare services to medical institutions, and by disclosing the results to the public.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.105-116
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• 2019

Purpose: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) is emphasized as standard care for children with life-limiting conditions to improve the quality of life. In Korea, a government-funded pilot program was launched only in July 2018. Given that, this study examined various PPC delivery models in other countries to refine the PPC model in Korea. Methods: Target countries were selected based on the level of PPC provided there: the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, and Singapore. Relevant literature, websites, and consultations from specialists were analyzed by the integrative review method. Literature search was conducted in PubMed, Google, and Google Scholar, focusing publications since 1990, and on-site visits were conducted to ensure reliability. Analysis was performed on each country's process to develop its PPC scheme, policy, funding model, target population, delivery system, and quality assurance. Results: In the United Kingdom, community-based free-standing facilities work closely with primary care and exchange advice and referrals with specialized PPC consult teams of children's hospitals. In the United States, hospital-based specialized PPC consult teams set up networks with hospice agencies and home healthcare agencies and provide PPC by designating care coordinators. In Japan, palliative care is provided through several services such as palliative care for cancer patients, home care for technology-dependent patients, other support services for children with disabilities and/or chronic conditions. In Singapore, a home-based PPC association plays a pivotal role in providing PPC by taking advantage of geographic accessibility and cooperating with tertiary hospitals. Conclusion: It is warranted to identify unmet needs and establish an appropriate PPD model to provide need-based individualized care and optimize PPC in South Korea.