• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.40-58
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• 2000

Nurses are medical personnel, who play a key role in supporting patient care, so it is important to supply them adequately in balance with ever increasing medical demand. But there appears severe shortage of nurses in some hospitals because of their uneven distribution, especially in small sized-hospitals and rural-hospitals. As nationwide distorted distribution of nurses in Korea is just like what monopsony model(a kind of market structure model) tells us, it is attempted to explain this situation of nurse labor market in Korea on the basis of monopsony model and presented in this paper. Specifically, determinants of nurse wage and the level of their relative employment were examined, and monopsony impact on their wage and the level of relative employment controlling those determinants were studied. Major results of this study arc as follows. The most important determinant of nurse wage level in this study was the wage level of a local community where each hospital located Hospital owner's characteristics an educational function of each hospital were also important factors. With these factor controlled, it was found that monopsony power of each hospital was negativel associated with nurse wage level as expected. 1% increase in monopsony power of hospital(measured by Herfindah-Hirschman Index) reduced nurse wage by $5,674{\sim}19,19$ won(in Korean currency). With regard to the level of relative employment, the most important determinant wa the capacity for supplying nurses of the local community. Again, hospital owner characteristics and educational function of each hospital were also important. With these factors controlled, it was found that monopsony power of each hospital was negative associated with the number of nurses per bed, as expected. 1% increase in monopsony power of each hospital(again measured by Herfindah-Hirschman Index) reduced the number of nurses per 100 bed as much as $0.46{\sim}0.67$. In conclusion. structural factors of nurse labor market influence the instability of nurse labor supply in Korea. Further consideration for these market structural characteristics needed for policy making related to nurse resource allocation.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.404-412
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• 2008

Purpose: To analyse hospital nurse staffing level of the general nursing unit, ICU, ER and OR in general hospitals. Method: The study sample was 105 acute general hospitals which had reported the bed size and number of nurses by the nursing units. Number of bed per nurse was analysed by the hospital characteristics and the staffing levels of the doctors and the nursing assistant personnels using t-test or ANOVA and Pearson's correlation. Results: Number of bed per nurse was 3.86 in general nursing units and 0.95 in ICU. Tertiary hospitals employed more nurses in general nursing units and ICU than general hospitals. Hospitals located in Seoul and public hospitals employed more ICU nurses. OR nurse staffing level was higher in academic hospitals. Hospital size was positively correlated with nurse staffing level of the general nursing unit, ICU, ER and OR respectively. Total nurse staffing level of the hospital was positively correlated with doctor and nursing assistant personnels staffing levels. Conclusion : Differentiated nursing fee schedule was needed to implement in ER or OR. Regulation policy should be needed for the hospitals which violated hospital nurse staffing level of the law.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify nurse's intention to keep current job in the hospital. Methods: Data were collected from 1,143 nurse's working in over 300 beds hospital. The questionnaire with 47 items was developed by researchers to measure nurse's intention to keep his/her current nursing job in hospital. The questionnaire was developed through a focus group interview asking nurse's about their work experiences and literature review, and validated by researchers. Using descriptive statistics, data were analyzed in frequency and severity of nurse's intention to keep nursing job. The Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ of the questionnaire was .906. Results: The mean score of nurse's intention to keep current nursing job was 2.66. The highest mean scores of item of nurse's intention to keep nursing job was "as a nurse it is my duty to help others" ($3.19{\pm}0.45$), and the lowest was "the rotating shift helps me doing housework and raise for my kids" ($1.77{\pm}0.64$). And there are significant differences between period of working (F=9.71, p<.001), current position (F=5.91, p<.001), educational level (F=13.44, p<.001), and impulse experience of changing a job (F=71.20, p<.001). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed possibilities to develop programs for heightening the pride of professional nurse and increasing nurse's intention to keep nursing job in order to increase nurse's professional satisfaction and achievement.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.39-49
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• 2013

Purpose: To analyze the structure of Korean nurse labor market and examine its effect on hospital nurse staffing. Methods: Secondary data were obtained from Statistics Korea, Education Statistics, and Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service and Patient Survey. Intensity of monopsony in the nurse labor market was measured by Herfindahl Hirshman Index (HHI). Hospital nurse staffing level was divided into high and low. While controlling for confounding factors such as inpatient days and severity mix of patients, effects of characteristics of nurse labor markets on nurse staffing levels were examined using multi-level logistic regressions. Results: For characteristics of nurse labor markets, metropolitan areas had high intensity of monopsony, while the capital area had competitive labor market and the unemployed nurse rate was higher than other areas. Among hospital characteristics, bed occupancy rate was significantly associated with nurse staffing levels. Among characteristics of nurse labor markets, the effect of HHI was indeterminable. Conclusion: The Korean nurse labor market has different structure between the capital and other metropolitan areas. But the effect of the structure of nurse labor market on nurse staffing levels is indeterminable. Characteristics such as occupancy rate and number of beds are significantly associated with nurse staffing levels. Further study in support of the effect of nurse labor market is needed.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.177-184
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate career choice of male nursing students and identify factors influencing their career choice. Methods: Subjects were 123 male nursing junior and senior students in B city, U city, and GN area. Career types were classified into a hospital nurse and a community nurse. Subjects were asked about 29 items of nurse image and 31 items of satisfaction on clinical practice. The collected data were analyzed by frequency, percentage, average and standard deviation, t-test, ${\chi}^2$-test, and logistic regression, using SPSS 21.0 program. Results: The percentage of career choice which subjects hoped when admitted into nursing universities consisted of hospital nurses of 77.2%, while the percentage changed to hospital nurses of 52.8% at the time of this survey. The nurse image represented as an influencing factor, and it was found that if nurse image score increased one unit, the hoping units of career type of hospital nurse increased 2.69 times. Conclusion: The educational institutions have to provide career education programs and information concerned to not only hospital nurses but also community nurses, and further studies on the positioning and expanding roles of community male nurses need to be conducted.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.273-280
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• 2014

Objectives: To evaluate the occurrence of patient adverse events in Korean hospitals as perceived by nurses and examine the correlation between patient adverse events with the nurse practice environment at nurse and hospital level. Methods: In total, 3096 nurses working in 60 general inpatient hospital units were included. A two-level logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: At the hospital level, patient adverse events included patient falls (60.5%), nosocomial infections (51.7%), pressure sores (42.6%) and medication errors (33.3%). Among the hospital-level explanatory variables associated with the nursing practice environment, 'physician-nurse relationship' correlated with medication errors while 'education for improving quality of care' affected patient falls. Conclusions: The doctor-nurse relationship and access to education that can improve the quality of care at the hospital level may help decrease the occurrence of patient adverse events.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.747-762
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to examine the current satisfaction levels with nurse uniforms at Taizhou General Hospital in China and to find areas for improvement in order to develop nurse uniforms with improved comfort, fit and convenience. To investigate satisfaction with nurse uniforms, a survey was conducted of 150 nurses. The general characteristics of the nurses, uniform conditions, feelings of satisfaction, fit, preferred designs, inconvenient aspects of the uniforms, and areas for improvement were analyzed. Eight materials of cotton/polyester blended fabrics were selected according to Chinese nurse uniform regulations, and the physical properties of the materials were tested along with the materials used in current nurse uniforms. Four new nurse uniforms with increased aesthetics, functionality, and comfort were developed based on the survey results. Materials with excellent absorption, moisture permeability, and ventilation were used as main fabrics. According to the preferred designs of nurses at Taizhou City General Hospital, China, 4 types of nurse uniforms designed, consisting of design 1 (shirt and pants), design 2 (shirt and pants), design 3 (dress), and design 4 (shirt and skirt). The new nurse uniforms offered better functionality with an improved fit at the armpits, waist, hips, and knees based on product measurements.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between the nurse staffing level and the patient mortality using Korean National Health Insurance data. Methods: The data of 1,068,059 patients from 913 hospitals between 2015 and 2016 were analyzed. The nurse staffing level was categorized based on the bed-to-nurse ratio in general wards, intensive care units (ICUs), and hospitals overall. The x² test and generalized estimating equations (GEE) multilevel multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to explore in-hospital mortality and 30-day mortality after admission. Results: The in-hospital mortality rate was 2.9% and 30-day mortality after admission rate was 3.0%. Odd Ratios (ORs) for in-hospital mortality were statistically lower in general wards with a bed-to-nurse ratio of less than 3.5 compared to that with 6.0 or more (OR=0.72, 95% CI=0.63~0.84) and in ICUs with a bed-to-nurse ratio of less than 0.88 compared to that with 1.25 or more (OR=0.78, 95% CI=0.66~0.92). ORs for 30-day mortality after admission were statistically lower in general wards with a bed-to-nurse ratio of less than 3.5 compared to that with 6.0 or more (OR=0.83, 95% CI=0.73~0.94) and in ICUs with a bed-to-nurse ratio of less than 0.63 compared to that with 1.25 or more (OR=0.85, 95% CI=0.72~1.00). Conclusion: To reduce the patient mortality, it is necessary to ensure a sufficient number of nurses by improving the nursing fee system according to the nurse staffing level.