PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the trends of nurses' stress based on the last 10 years of international research and to suggest directions for future research. METHODS: Fifty three articles between 2002 and 2011 were selected using key words such as 'nurse' and 'stress' from the PubMed and CINAHL. RESULTS: The number of experimental studies increased. The nurses from the various fields were studied. Most studies used a reliable and valid tool for measuring stress of specific nursing staff. The Internet survey was recently used for a data collection method. Significant variables correlated with nurses' stress were categorized into 8 domains: Individual susceptibility, quantitative workload, qualitative workload, physical environment, organizational factors, and interpersonal conflict. CONCLUSION: In Korea, the next phase of research on nurses' stress needs to consider the experimental study design to find more specific causal relationships. Also, it is necessary to develop the nurses' stress tool for reliable and valid measurement.
Data Collection ; Humans ; Internet ; Korea ; Nursing Staff

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the health status between foreign workers and native workers and to examine the influencing factors of health status of foreign and native workers. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of the data collected from the 3rd (2011) Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS). The sample included 101 foreign workers and 101 native workers matched by age and gender. RESULTS: The difference in health status between foreign workers and native workers was not statistically significant. The most commonly complained health problem of foreign workers was muscle pain of the upper limbs. Among foreign workers, hazard exposure, coworker support and supervisor support were significant predictors of health status. Among native workers, income level and obesity were significant predictors of health status. CONCLUSION: For health management and health promotion of foreign workers, employers and health providers need to establish coworker supporting systems in workplace and improvement strategies of work environment. Particularly, they must pay closer attention to management of foreign workers' musculoskeletal disorder.
Health Promotion ; Myalgia ; Obesity ; Upper Extremity

PURPOSE: This study was done to describe the research trend of nurses' job stress in Korea and abroad. METHODS: A narrative literature review of nurses'job stress related literature published from 1990 to Sept. 2011 was done. A total of 691 original articles were reviewed by two independent reviewers using analysis guidelines. Finally, 261 articles (Korean 177, international 84) were selected using exclusion criteria developed by the researchers. RESULTS: In Korea, most of the researches were in correlational survey design, using questionnaires and the tool of Kim and Gu (1984) to measure job stress. International researches were more diversified than Korean's in the research design, measurement tool, and data collection method. Especially, most of international researches focused on job related factor (number of patients, working time, etc.) and physical effects (tension, heart rate, etc.) of job stress. CONCLUSION: The results of the study may provide with information that can improve researches on nurses' job stress in Korea.
Data Collection ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Korea ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Research Design

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study were to compare working condition, socioeconomic status, and health status between elderly and non-elderly workers and to examine the influencing factors of health status according to age groups. METHODS: This study is a secondary analysis of data extracted from the 2014 Korean Working Conditions Survey. For the present analysis, 15,980 elderly workers over the age of 55 and 32,037 non-elderly workers under the age of 55 were selected. RESULTS: The prevalence of subjective unhealthy status and poor mental health were significantly higher among the elderly workers than the non-elderly workers. The elderly workers were more likely to have lower level of education and income than the non-elderly workers. They also reported less support from colleagues and managers, however, have more decision authority. Among the elderly workers, long working hours, awkward posture, physical environmental risks, quantitative demand, decision authority, social support, age discrimination, education level, and income level were significant predictors of subjective health status or mental health. CONCLUSION: For keeping elderly workers healthy and productive, work environment needs to become more age-friendly. An age-friendly workplace may include: accommodative support, workers' participation, minimization of environment risk, etc.
Aged* ; Ageism ; Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Education ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Posture ; Prevalence ; Social Class* ; Socioeconomic Factors

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate muscle pains of emotional laborers and determine whether there were differences in their muscle pains depending on the hours spent on emotional labor. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of the data collected from the 3rd (2011) Korean Working Conditions Survey. 50,032 participants responded to the study's questionnaire. Among them, 15,669 participants were emotional laborers who directly dealt with people such as customers, passengers, pupils, patients, etc. RESULTS: Thirty three percent of subjects had reported muscle pains. Muscle pains of subjects were positively related to the hours spent on emotional labor (p<.001). According to the logistic regression analysis, the adjusted odd ratio of the subjects who spent about almost all of the work hours on emotional labor was 1.32 (95% CI: 1.15~1.52), compared to the subjects who spent about a quarter of their work hours on emotional labor, when other factors were controlled. CONCLUSION: The study's findings indicate that engaging in emotional labor for longer hours increases the risks of muscle pains. Occupational nurses must pay closer attention to the management of muscle pains of emotional laborers.
Humans ; Logistic Models ; Myalgia* ; Pupil ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to estimate the job stress and depression of female and male service workers and to determine the predictors influencing depression. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, the data were collected from hotel, wholesale, and insurance companies. A total of 244 workers were recruited. Among them, 118 were female workers. A self-administered questionnaire was consisted of personal characteristics, job stress, daily life stress, social support, and depression. Depression was measured using a CES-D Korean version. RESULT: The average job stress of female workers was higher than that of male workers (P<.05). The average depression scores of female workers were higher than those of male workers, but the difference was not statistically significant. Multiple regression analysis showed that role conflict and low social support were significant predictors of depression in female workers. In male workers, role conflict, low social support, and under-utilization of abilities were significant predictors of depression. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that depression of service workers may be prevented by creating a workplace environment that focuses on role conflict and social support. Also, health providers should consider the vulnerability of working women to job stress.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Insurance ; Male ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sex Characteristics ; Stress, Psychological ; Women, Working

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between customer contact service and mental health among Korean taxi drivers. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of data collected from the 2015 Korean Working Conditions Survey. The sample included 496 taxi drivers in South Korea. The effect of customer contact service on mental health was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The independent variables were general characteristics, working conditions, and hazardous factors in interactive service. RESULTS: The prevalence of poor mental health was 56.3%. Taxi drivers experienced emotional involvement (17.2%), hiding feeling (32.0%), and contact with angry clients (18.3%) in their job. During the first month of their work, 33.7% experienced verbal abuse and 12.3% threats/humiliating behaviors. In bivariate analysis, verbal abuse, threats/humiliating behaviors, and physical violence were associated with mental health of taxi drivers. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed 'emotional involvement' and 'contact with angry clients' were significant predictors of mental health. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study may be useful in developing intervention programs to improve the mental health of taxi drivers in South Korea.
Korea ; Logistic Models ; Mental Health* ; Physical Abuse ; Prevalence

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between psychosocial working conditions and psychological well-being depending on the gender among Korean interactive service workers. METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis of the data extracted from the 2011 Korean Working Conditions Survey. For the present analysis, 15,669 workers who interact with others at work were selected. Based on the existing literature, a set of variables was chosen from the KWCS. Psychological well-being was measured using the WHO-5 well-being index. RESULTS: The prevalence of poor psychological well-being was significantly higher among men (43.1%) than women (39.6%). Women were more likely to be exposed to demands for hiding emotions, bullying, and discrimination, whereas men were more likely to be exposed to psychological job demands, cognitive demands, demands for responsibility, role conflict and long working hours. Most factors were associated with poor well-being among women and men except demands for hiding emotions, skill discretion and development, physical violence, and sexual harassment. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, some practical suggestions are offered to help interactive service workers adjust to their duties.
Bullying ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prevalence ; Sexual Harassment ; Violence

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to compare the rates of industrial accidents in workplaces that adopted the 2011 Workplace Health Promotion Subsidy Scheme before and after the implementation. METHODS: The study analyzed the raw data of industrial accidents of 304 workplaces which received subsidies for health promotion activities in 2011. The raw data covered the period from February 2010 to July 2012, based on the dates of industrial accidents. RESULTS: Workplaces subsidized for health promotion activities reported fewer occurrences in staff injuries and illnesses than before the subsidization, as the total number of industrial accident victims dropped from 0.35 to 0.24. The rate of industrial accidents also dropped from 0.49 to 0.35, with the number of working days decreased from 35,433 to 23.867, about 33%. CONCLUSION: The study showed that financial support for health-promoting activities contributed to the decease in industrial accidents, which is an important indication advocating the need for corporate and government investment on workers health promotion programs. Furthermore, this study is also significant as it is the first research conducted in Korea to examine the impact of a workers health promotion project using a direct indicator, the rate of industrial accidents.
Accidents, Occupational ; Financial Support ; Health Promotion ; Investments ; Korea

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of references in articles published in Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing. METHODS: All references in articles from 2007 to 2009 were compared with PubMed for authors, years, titles, journals, volume, and page accuracy. Four hundred twenty six references were reviewed. Errors were classified either major or minor. RESULTS: Overall rate of inaccurate reference was 46.5%. 34.5% were major errors and 18.8% were minor errors. Most common major errors occurred in the authors, whereas most common minor errors occurred in the titles. CONCLUSION: It is necessary that authors, reviewers, and editorial committees make more efforts to enhance the reference accuracy.
Occupational Health ; Occupational Health Nursing