Changes in Nurse Staffing Grades in General Wards and Adult and Neonatal Intensive Care Units
10.22650/JKCNR.2017.23.1.64
- Author:
Kyung Jin HONG
1
;
Sung Hyun CHO
Author Information
1. Doctoral Student, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Nurse;
Inpatient Nursing Fees;
Staffing;
General Ward;
Intensive Care Unit
- MeSH:
Adult;
Hospitals, General;
Humans;
Infant, Newborn;
Insurance, Health;
Intensive Care Units;
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal;
Intensive Care, Neonatal;
Patients' Rooms;
Tertiary Care Centers
- From:
Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
2017;23(1):64-72
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore the distributions of nurse staffing grades and to report changes in staffing grades in general wards and adult and neonatal intensive care units(ICUs) by hospital type and location. METHODS: Data collected from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service were analyzed. Nurse staffing was categorized from grades 1 to 6 or 7 for general wards, 1 to 9 for adult ICUs, and 1 to 4 for neonatal ICUs based on the nurse-to-bed ratio. RESULTS: The staffing grade for the general wards improved during 2008-2016 in 69.8% of the tertiary hospitals, 58.5% of the general hospitals, and 31.7% of the non-general hospitals. The adult ICUs at tertiary hospitals exhibited a greater improvement in staffing grades (48.8%) than did those of general hospitals (44.2%) during 2008-2015. Tertiary hospitals in non-capital regions showed a greater improvement than those in the capital region. The majority of neonatal ICUs (67.1%) had no change in the staffing grade during 2008-2015. CONCLUSION: Improvements in nurse staffing differed by hospital type and location. Government policies to improve nurse staffing in non-tertiary hospitals and those in non-capital regions are required to reduce variations in nurse staffing.
