This study aimed to investigate the effects of job satisfaction and self-esteem on psychological burnout in dietitians at a geriatric hospital in Busan. The survey was conducted from July 8 to August 31, 2014, and the data were analyzed using the SPSS program. The age group of over 36 years showed higher job satisfaction than the 'Under 25' group. Subjects that worked less than 2 years at their present jobs showed lower job satisfaction in job-itself than the 'Over 4 years' group did, and those who worked less than 1 year showed lower job satisfaction in terms of communication, appraisal compensation, and co-workers than did the other groups. Those who worked in '100approximately149 bed' hospitals showed higher job satisfaction than those in the 'Under 100 bed' group did. 'Over 200 bed' hospital dietitians showed higher satisfaction in supervision of superiors than did the other groups. Their experience of psychological burnout turned out to be 2.39 out of 5. Psychological burnout had a negative relationship with job satisfaction and self-esteem. Higher emotional exhaustion correlated with lower satisfaction in job-itself, less communication, and less supervision of superiors. Dehumanization correlated with lower satisfaction in job-itself, lower self-esteem, and worse communication, and while decreased personal achievement correlated with lower self-esteem, worse co-workers, lower satisfaction in job-itself, worse appraisal compensation, and worse communication. These results suggest that it would be effective for prevention and management of psychological burnout to mediate factors of job-itself, communication, supervision of superiors, co-worker, and appraisal compensation of dietitians in geriatric hospitals.
Busan* ; Compensation and Redress ; Dehumanization ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction* ; Nutritionists* ; Organization and Administration

Unfortunately, we have poor knowledge of medical technology in North Korea. This study has thus attempted to identify the level and status of medical technology development through analyzing the contents of medical textbooks currently in use. This study has assumed that three factors are influencing the level and status of medical technology in a society ; the level of socio-economic development in general, the level of scientific technology revolution and health policy. Forty textbooks are collected for this purpose. The main findings are summarized as follows: 1) North Korea has strengths in that (1) its herb drugs, which are in a broad use, are cheaper, more safe and more attainable than bio-equivalent chemical ones, and (2) the development of its medical technology was carried out with emphasis on the practical and basic health needs. 2) North Korea has weaknesses in that (1) its medical diagnostic method largely depends on manual procedures, (2) the R & D investment in the development of chemical drugs, especially antibiotics, is very small, (3) the amount of medical equipments is in a absolute shortage, and (4) the medical technology is destitute of specialty, caused mainly by the overemphasis on Juche-Uihak or herb medicine. 3) Medical technology has two faces, positive and negative so that it cannot be successfully evaluated by one. It eventually acts a positive function for public health through developments of drug, equipment and new medical treatment method. But it is also true that it has negative effects such as the dehumanization of high cost medical technology, cost hike due to over-investments in expensive equipments, and the absence of wholistic care from overspecialization. 4) We have to consider economic status and the social needs of medical care in order to evaluate the medical technology of a society. It is also the ease with North Korea. A whole picture of the North Korean medical technology could be understood only if further comprehensive studies of medical technology are to be carried out for North Korea.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Dehumanization ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea* ; Health Policy ; Herbal Medicine ; Investments ; Public Health