Development of the Core Task and Competency Matrix for Unit Managers / 임상간호연구

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to develop the nursing management core task and competency matrix for hospital unit managers. The perceived level of importance and performance of identified core competencies by unit managers were also investigated. METHODS: Literature review and expert survey identified nursing management core task and competencies. Subsequently, the core task and competency matrix was developed and validated by expert panel. A survey of 196 nurse managers from 3 cities identified perceived importance and performance of core competiences. RESULTS: Thirty-eight nursing management core task and thirty-seven nursing management core competencies were identified comprising five categories; Clinical practice knowledge, Evidence-based practice, Employee development, Strategic planning and Initiative. Based on the core task and competencies, the task and competency matrix for unit managers was developed. In the analysis of importance and performance of core competencies, the mean score of importance (3.50±0.30) was higher than the mean score of performance (3.03±0.34). CONCLUSION: The development of core task and competencies for unit managers in hospitals provides a guide for the development and evaluation of programs designed to increase competence of unit managers.

An Empirical Analysis of Costs related to Nursing Practice / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify nursing service costs associated with all health care costs incurred by the institution. METHODS: This study was an empirical case study research in which the nursing cost was separated from total medical cost. The nursing cost index was calculated through a cost allocation method after summarizing costs for personnel, raw materials and administration of each department in one public hospital. The 2014 budget plan, published in ‘Public Hospitals Alert’, was used as data and the data were analyzed using the Microsoft Office EXCEL 2013 program. RESULTS: When comparing total medical costs and nursing costs, the nursing cost were 27.14% of the total medical cost. The nursing cost per nurse per hour was calculated as ₩29,128 The nursing cost per inpatient per day was calculated as ₩157,970, and the administration cost per patient was calculated as ₩133,710. CONCLUSION: The results of the research present the process of cost allocation of specific cost elements in the hospital and evidence for administrative costs which in the past have been only vaguely formulated. These are the significant implications of this study.

Factors Influencing Performance of MultiDrug-Resistant Organisms Infection Control in Nurses of General Hospital / 기본간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing performance of MultiDrug-Resistant Organisms (MDROs) infection control by nurses in general hospitals. METHODS: The research design was a descriptive survey design using convenience sampling. Data were collected from 130 nurses working in 6 general hospitals. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 21.0 program for descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: General hospital nurses' MDROs infection control performance was influenced by their awareness of environmental safety, recognition of MDROs infection control, number of beds in the hospital, whether nurses had nursing experience with infection control and guidelines for MDROs infection control. The most important predictors of MDROs infection control performance were awareness of environmental safety and recognition of MDROs infection control. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that it is necessary to include content related to awareness of environmental safety and recognition of infection control in developing MDROs infection control education programs for general hospital nurses.

Organizational Culture and Organizational Support as Factors Affecting the Innovative Behaviors of General Hospital Nurses / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify the effects of organizational culture and organizational support on the innovative behavior of general hospital nurses. METHODS: The participants in this study were 356 nurses, working in hospitals in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces, and Daejeon City. Data were collected from June to August, 2012. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection and data was analyzed using the SPSS/WIN program. RESULTS: The organizational culture positively correlated with innovative behavior. The most significant predictors of innovative behavior were age, organizational support and hierarchy-oriented culture. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that nurses' organizational culture and organizational support were linked to innovative behavior. Management-level workers in these hospitals should have the skills and strategies to develop nurses' innovative behavior and increases nurses' recognition of organizational support to achieve high performance through innovation.

An Analysis on the Nurse Expansion Policies through Policy Network / 보건행정학회지

BACKGROUND: Policy network theory was proved to be an appropriate analytic tool for the current social welfare policy making process. This study aimed to analyze policy making process related to the nurse expansion and policy output while focusing on the interactions and activities among various policy actors. METHODS: In this study, we used reports related to the need for expansion of nursing personnel journals, dissertations, newspaper articles, for hearings and debate policies for securing nurse data, and interviews. We examined three components of policy network, that is, policy actors, interactions, linkage of interest. RESULTS: For that to expand the nurse before the 2000s in expanding the supply of medical supplies have been conducted without much disagreement among policy actors under the government's initiative. However, there was lacked a close relationship between the expanding supply of nurses and inaccurate analysis of supply and demand. As the policy is applied between the various policy actors' needs and claims, conflict was intensified and many policy options had been developed. Government only took a role as a coordinator among policy actors in the 2000's. Also, it was difficult to find sufficient and clear evidence that policy-making process based on fair judgment. CONCLUSION: Therefore, it is urgently required to determine the policy through a social consensus to address the appropriate policy means and the process by correct analysis of the policy issues.

Issues and Challenges of Nurse Workforce Policy: A Critical Review and Implication / 간호행정학회지

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.

Relationship of Nurse Practice Environment and Work-Family Conflict to Job Satisfaction in Hospital Nurses in Korea / 간호행정학회지

No abstract available.

Effects of Self-esteem and Academic Stress on Depression in Korean Students in Health Care Professions / 정신간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to identify factors affecting depression in college students and the correlation of depression with self-esteem and academic stress, and to identify differences among student self-esteem, academic stress, and general characteristics and the relationship of these variables to depression. METHODS: The study was done in April 2011 with 852 students in health-related majors (medicine, nursing science, and dental hygiene) of a medical college in Korea. A self-rating survey containing 10 items from the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, 20 items from the Self-rating Depression Scale, and 22 items on academic stress was used. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and logistic regression. RESULTS: Medical students' scores for self-esteem were significantly higher than dental hygiene students, but for academic stress scores, the result was the opposite. Logistic regression showed that self-esteem, academic stress, academic major and satisfaction with it (positive affect), and home income level (negative affect) significantly affected the level of depression. CONCLUSION: Designing and implementing realistic programs tailored to students' academic majors to enhance their self-esteem and provide practical knowledge in dealing with academic stress will help these students obtain a healthier school life emotionally as well as academically.

Change Commitment and Learning Orientation as Factors Affecting the Innovativeness of Clinical Nurses / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify the effects of change commitment and learning orientation on the innovativeness of clinical nurse. METHODS: The participants in this study were 268 nurses, working in hospitals in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces, and Daejeon City. Data were collected from June to August, 2012. A structured questionnaire was used for data collect and data was analyzed using the SPSS/WIN program. RESULTS: The most significant predictors of innovativeness were education, normative commitment, continuance commitment and learning commitment. Continuance commitment negatively correlated with innovativeness. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that nurses' commitment to change and learning commitment were strongly linked to innovativeness. Management-level workers in these hospitals should have the skills and strategies to promote commitment to change include developing positive expectations about change positive outcomes.

Development of the Quality Indicators in Long Term Care Service / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: This study was designed to develop quality outcome indicators for nursing homes and community-based home care that would contribute to an appropriate evaluation and improvement of quality of long term care in Korea. METHODS: The preliminary quality indicators of long term care were developed from a literature review and clinical expert panel. A content validity testing was done using a panel of experts who were selected from academic and clinical field of long-term care. The final quality indicators were confirmed after application in four nursing homes and four home care agencies to test clinical validity. RESULTS: The preliminary quality indicators consisted of 3 domains and 19 indicators. The final quality indicators were composed of 4 domains and 17 indicators. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the feasibility of outcome quality indicators in long term care. These quality indicators can be effectively used to evaluate the quality of nursing home and home care and to improve the quality of care in the Korean long-term care system.

The Effects of Medical Staffing Level on Length of Stay / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of medical staffing level as bed-to-medical staff ratio on patient outcomes as length of stay (LOS) among hospitals in Korea. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty one hospitals participated in the study between January and March 2008. Data for the study was requested by an electronic data interchange from the Health Insurance Review Agency in 2008. In data analysis, SPSS WIN 15.0 program was utilized for descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. RESULTS: The mean score for length of stay was 13.6 days. The mean of operating bed-to-nurse ratio was 7.93:1. The predicting factors for LOS were bed-to-nurse's aide ratio, bed-to doctor's ratio, severely ill patient rate, and hospital type. These factors explained 28.9% of the variance in patient outcomes. CONCLUSION: This study results indicate that the relationship between medical staffing level and patient outcomes is important in the improvement of the quality of patient care. Thus, improvements in the quality of the nurse practice environment could improve patient outcomes for hospitalized patients.

The Effects of Switching Cost Perceived by Patients and Negative Word of Mouth on Revisiting Intention for Hospital Patients / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of patient perception of the switching cost and negative word of mouth on revisit intention of patients in out-patient departments (OPDs) of general hospitals. METHODS: The participants were 306 patients in general hospital, selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation coefficient, and logistic regression with SPSS Win. RESULTS: Relational switching cost was positively correlated with revisit intention (r=.58, p=<.001), but not financial switching cost or procedural switching cost. Negative word of mouth was negatively correlated with revisit intention (r=-.22, p=<.001). The significant predictors influencing revisit intention in patients was relational switching cost. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that hospital and nursing managers should seek to bolster perceptions of switching costs and negative word of mouth, which subsequently increases revisit intentions in small hospitals located in the country as well as urban large hospitals.

The Relationships among Waiting Time, Patient's Satisfaction, and Revisiting Intention of Outpatients in General Hospital / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the degree of delay in waiting time, and the relationships of waiting time, patient satisfaction, and revisiting intention of outpatient in general hospitals. METHODS: The data were collected from June 22 to July 4, 2009. A total of 536 outpatients who visited 21 clinics of a general hospital were subjected to evaluate the waiting time. The survey tools used were the Korea Health Industry Development Institutes (2008) tool for patient satisfaction and Reichheld & Sasser (1990) for revisiting intention. The data were analyzed by SAS version 9.1, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The mean patient's waiting time was 28.3+/-30.7 min, the revealed mean score of patient's satisfaction was 2.92, and the revisiting intention showed was 4.56. The waiting time was negatively correlated with patient's satisfaction (r=-.10, p<.019). Patient's satisfaction was positively correlated with revisiting intention (r=-.51, p<.001). CONCLUSION: Waiting time management is an important factor of increasing patient's satisfaction and revisiting intention in general hospitals. It is mandatory that reservation management systems take into account the patient's characteristics of visiting outpatient department in order to shorten the real waiting time.

Identification of Factors related to Hospital Nurses' Organizational Citizenship Behavior using a Multilevel Analysis / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to nurses' organizational citizenship behavior using multilevel analysis which included both nurse characteristics at individual levels and nursing unit characteristics at group levels. METHODS: The sample was composed of 1,996 nurses who were selected from 182 nursing units in 28 hospitals in six metropolitan cities and seven provinces using cluster sampling. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires from February to March 2006. RESULTS: The results of the study indicated that individual level variables related to organizational citizenship behavior were religion, job position, clinical career, self efficacy, positive affectivity, and supervisor support. The group level variables related to organizational citizenship behavior were collective efficacy, number of nurses in a nursing unit, and the average salary level of a nursing unit. 30.9% of individual level variances of organizational citizenship behavior were explained by the nurses' individual level variables. The explanatory power of group level variables, which is related to group level variances of organizational citizenship behavior, was 75.5%. CONCLUSION: This research showed that it was necessary to develop appropriate strategies related to not only individual factors, but also higher-level organizational factors such as collective efficacy, to improve individual performances in the hospital.

Development of a Performance Measurement Scale for Hospital Nurses / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to develop a performance measurement scale for nurses in the hospital setting and to test the reliability and validity of the scale. METHODS: This study was conducted in three phases including an application of conceptual framework, development of scale items, and test of validity and reliability of the scale. In order to test validity and reliability, data was collected from 1,966 nurses who work in twenty eight hospitals nation-wide. The data was analyzed by the SAS 8.0 program using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and reliability coefficients. RESULTS: The Performance measurement scale consisted of 4 factors which included competency, attitude, willingness to improve, and application of nursing process, and a total of 17 items. The Four factors explained 63.45% of the total variance, and Cronbach's alpha of the scale was .92. CONCLUSION: The performance measurement scale developed by this study is a reliable and valid instrument that is utilized effectively to evaluate the performance of hospital nurses. Furthermore, it could be used as a steping stone to assess educational needs of nurses, develop professionalism among nurses, and improve quality of nursing care in the hospital setting.