Mutual Recognition Agreement for Nursing Professionals: Policy Issues and Alternatives / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE@#The purpose of this study was to identify the current issues concerning a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) for nursing professionals, and to suggest policy alternatives in South Korea.@*METHODS@#The study was conducted through a literature review.@*RESULTS@#The nursing MRA was signed by the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia-New Zealand, India-Singapore, and the Caribbean Community. The United States and Japan have not concluded a nursing MRA with other countries, but they have lowered the entry barriers for foreign nurses from certain countries. In order to prepare for a nursing MRA with developed countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia, it is necessary to establish international standards for nursing and to build a verification system for the qualifications of foreign nurses. In addition, there is a need to establish an independent professional licensing authority that assumes responsibility for all the tasks regarding a nursing license.@*CONCLUSION@#The findings of this study can be used as basic data for the preparation of a nursing MRA, and can contribute to the establishment of policies for foreign nurses.

Adequacy of Nurse Staffing Level in Integrated Nursing Care / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluate the adequacy of nurse staffing in integrated nursing care. METHODS: Statistical data on integrated nursing care from the National Health Insurance Corporation was used in this study. We extracted hospital data and patient data related to patient needs for nursing care. We analyzed the differences in patient needs by staffing level of each type of medical institution. RESULTS: Approximately 70% of medical institutions provided nursing care by the mid level of nurse staffing, which was 1:6, 1:10 and 1:12 in the tertiary hospital, general hospital and semi-hospital, respectively. The patients' characteristics were significantly different by hospital type. Especially, the distribution of the main diagnosis was completely different between the tertiary hospital and semi-hospital. In the tertiary hospital, the patient needs measured by severity and activities of daily living dependency were higher at higher staffing level than at lower staffing level. However, the nurse staffing was less relevant to the patient needs in the general hospital and semi-hospital. CONCLUSION: To provide high-quality nursing care, accurate workload forecasting is required at the start, and then the standard nurse staffing level can established based on workload forecasting.

Policy Issues and New Direction for Comprehensive Nursing Service in the National Health Insurance / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify issues surrounding comprehensive nursing care within the national health insurance, analyze results and problems within national health insurance and to suggest new policy directions for stability. METHODS: A literature search was performed using RISS, KISS, PUBMED databases. Eighteen studies were analyzed. RESULTS: For implementation of comprehensive nursing care, there was improvement in nursing and in facilities. By improvement of structure, this new system showed positive outcomes in term of patient satisfaction and indicators related to patient safety. However, issues related to overload, job stress and evaluation of the system remain. In order to establish this system, staffing levels for nurses and nurse aids need to be adjusted to appropriate levels that reflect requirements for nursing. In addition, range of work needs to be determined clearly. Lastly, regular and systematic evaluation is needed to provide safe quality services to patients and to prevent waste of financial resources. CONCLUSION: Comprehensive nursing care needs to be implemented in ways that patients can be provided with safe and high quality service. There is a need to resolve several issues to allow this new system to function.