In November 2009, through Republic Act 9792, Davao Medical Center was renamed Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC). This act also provided for the increase in the bed capacity of the hospital from 600 to 1,200 beds.1 The set of implementing rules and regulations for the legislation subsequently specified the increase in the number of health human resources in SPMC to cope up with the hospital's growing number of clients.2 Currently, SPMC has a total of 4,737 personnel, composed of 3,329 employees with plantilla positions and 1,408 employees with non-plantilla positions, deployed to the different divisions of the hospital. Roughly a third of the total personnel are administrative staff, and two thirds are medical and allied medical staff. The Medical Center Chief (MCC) oversees the operations of the whole hospital. Five administrators directly assist the MCC in hospital management: the Chief of Medical Professional Services, the Chief Nurse, the Chief Administrative Officer, the Financial and Management Officer, and the Chief of Allied Professional Services. Due to the increasing bed occupancy rates and the pressing need to increase health human resources in SPMC, an increase in the institution’s bed capacity from 1,200 to 1,500 is presently being proposed through House Bill 7061.3 Once the bill is passed into law, it is expected that additional plantilla items will be created in order to meet the greater operational demands of a bigger hospital.
Hospital Administration ; Hospital Administrators

This paper describes a GPSS-based, multi-server queueing model that was developed to simulate the patient flow, and to analyze the effectiveness of the patient scheduling system under various conditions. Unpredictable and unacceptably long waits to receive the service at the outpatient department of a general hospital necessitated the study. Arrival and service time distribution needed for the simulation model were generated from actual arrival and service patterns observed during the peak hours. The simulation results show that a change in patient scheduling system (i.e. time interval between appointments, starting time, and the number of physicians) from a current system would significantly reduce the patient wait time. This study provides the hospital administrator with an analysis of patient scheduling system under several conditions, and will be used to plan future scheduling system and staffing. Studies such as this can demonstrate the value of simulation in providing information for use in future planning.
Appointments and Schedules ; Hospital Administrators ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Outpatients*

PURPOSE: This descriptive study was done to identify effects of perceived organizational support (POS) on job involvement and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in hospital nurses. METHODS: Data were collected from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15, 2011. Participants in this study were 324 nurses working in 6 general hospitals in S, K, and C cities. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. RESULTS: POS was positively correlated with job involvement, and OCB (altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy, sportsmanship and civic virtue). Factors influencing job involvement were POS and marital status, which accounted for 15.7% of the variance, marital status influenced altruism, which accounted for 4% of the variance, POS influenced conscientiousness, which accounted for 10% of the variance, religion and marital status influenced courtesy, which accounted for 6.5% of the variance, age influenced sportsmanship, which accounted for 7.9% of the variance, and POS and clinical career influenced civic virtue, which accounted for 23.1% of the variance. Job involvement mediated on the relation between perceived organizational support and organizational citizenship behavior. CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that hospital administrators should explore ways of improve POS for better job involvement, conscientiousness, and civic virtue.
Altruism ; Hospital Administrators ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Marital Status ; Virtues

PURPOSE: This descriptive correlation study was done to identify the hardiness, coping behavior, and organizational commitment of general hospital employees and show how these variables affect increases in role performance and problem solving ability to have a positive influence on organizational harmony. METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive research design was used with a sample of 368 employees working in general hospitals in M and C cities. A survey was used to collect the data. RESULTS: The score for perception of hardiness of general hospital employees was 2.85, and coping behavior was 2.40, both out of a possible 4 points, and organizational commitment, 3.03 out of a possible 5 points. There were statistically significant positive correlations between hardiness and coping behavior (r=.33, p<.001), also between hardiness and organizational commitment (r=.51, p<.001), and also between coping behavior and organizational commitment (r=.22, p<.001). CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that hardiness, coping behavior, and organizational commitment in general hospital employees have positive correlations, and thus hospital administrators should explore ways of increase individual employee hardiness and coping behavior, and make efforts to harmonize their organizations by enhancing organizational commitment.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Hospital Administrators ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Problem Solving ; Research Design ; Statistics as Topic

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the handwashing in clinical nurses for prevention and control of nosocomial infection. METHODS: The subjects were 192 nurses at a university hospital in Busan. The data were collected using questionnaires, which included items to measure the method, application time, and frequency of handwashing related to nursing intervention activities, and were analyzed using the mean score, frequency and percentage. RESULTS: Each day, the nurses had an average of 10.5 times of hand washing. 34.9% of nurses had evaluated "not enough" concerning their handwashing performance. Nurses indicated that the performance of handwashing had interrupted by overwork, lack of facilities, skin irritation with itching, etc. 19.4% of nurses had not received education program about handwashing. Some nurses did not strictly follow a handwashing protocol allowing potential chances of nosocomial infection to occur. The rate of handwashing performance increased after the activities of nursing intervention than before activities related to respiration, nutrition, elimination, hygiene, medication, etc. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that hospital administrators must develop education programs and policies for the prevention of nosocomial infection. We recommend that nurses participate in education to search for practical methods to improve the management of nosocomial infection such as handwashing performance.
Busan ; Cross Infection ; Education ; Hand Disinfection* ; Hospital Administrators ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Nursing ; Pruritus ; Respiration ; Skin ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate clinical nurses' perception on nursing managerial competencies. METHODS: This was a descriptive study. The data were collected from 198 nurse managers who had worked in six general hospitals using a self-reporting questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Importance-Performance Analysis. RESULTS: Only 32% of the participants had experienced nursing managerial competency training. The mean score for perceived performance of nursing managerial competency was lower than that for perceived importance. There were significant differences in perceived importance, performance, and importance-performance gaps among head, charge, and staff nurses. Importance-performance analysis showed that three of the 30 nursing managerial competencies require further development: staffing, human resources development and education, and nursing standard development competency. There were significant differences in importance-performance gaps according to age, career years in current hospital, work shift, position, nursing delivery system, and nursing managerial competency-education experience. CONCLUSION: A training program for developing and improving nursing managerial competencies which is focused on the gaps in importance and performance level is needed for clinical nurses. In addition, it should be considered to improve nursing work conditions such as nursing delivery system and formal appointment in order to increase the performance of nursing managerial competencies.
Education ; Head ; Hospital Administration ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Nurse Administrators ; Nursing* ; Professional Competence ; Staff Development

The propose of this study is to give a theoretical basis for better home health service by looking at the subjective structure the collaboration between the home health nurse and doctor and at how collaboration can be improved. There are at least three types of recognition that can help the collaboration. The first type is to put more weight on the relationship between doctors and home health care nurses. This means that doctors and home health care nurses should make an effort to improve, their collaboration. The second type is to put more weight on the reward for doctors' participation. Reward will help collaboration. The third type is to put more weight on organization support. Organization support will bring about trust between doctors and home health care nurses The following conclusion were reached: 1) Trust should exist between doctors and home health care nurses. 2)Doctors should maintain an equal relationship with home health care nurses and accept them as professionals. 3) Appropriate reward should be given to doctors for their participation. 4)Home health care nurses should reinforce their skills through education, training, and professionalization. 5) Home health care nurses should cooperate with doctors by building a system that centers on patients. 6) Collaboration between doctors and home health care nurses is important because it is useful to recognize patients and their families in a broader light. 7) Doctors and home health care nurses need to be more concerned about patients. 8)More active support of hospital administrators and systems is needed to enhance collaboration between doctors and home health care nurses. 9) The present legal system for collaboration between doctors and home health care nurses can be a factor. The nine nursing strategies above will help doctors and home health care nurses build more positive relations and get closer to their patient, more effective home healthcare will get closer to people who want quality medical service.
Cooperative Behavior* ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Health Services* ; Hospital Administrators ; Humans ; Nurses, Community Health ; Nursing ; Reward

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of organizational justice and dispositional affectivity on job satisfaction and intent to leave among nurses. METHODS: The sample of this study consisted of 274 nurses from 2 general hospitals located in Incheon. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires and were analyzed by hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: Distributive and interactional justices had positive impacts on nurses' job satisfaction. Distributive, procedural and interactional justices had negative impacts on nurses' intent to leave. It was found out that positive affectivity significantly moderated the effect of interactional justice on job satisfaction while dispositional affectivity did not significantly moderate the effect of organizational justice on the intent to leave. CONCLUSION: The results imply that hospital administrators should pay attention to the dispositional affectivity of nurses to increase their job satisfaction. Further, hospital needs to maintain organizational justice to reduce nurses' turnover.
Hospital Administrators ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Social Justice

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the job experiences of oncology nurse specialists. METHODS: Nine oncology nurse specialists participated in the study. Data were collected through in-depth unstructured interviews with individual participants from February to June, 2014. Theoretical sampling was used to the point of theoretical saturation. Data were analyzed using Corbin and Strauss's grounded theory method. RESULTS: From open coding, 98 concepts, 24 sub-categories, and 11 categories were identified. Analysis revealed that the core category of the job experiences of oncology nurse specialists was 'tightrope walking of professionalism without safeguards', consisting of four phases: Enthusiastic beginning, conflict, exertion, and internalization. To manage the 'tightrope walking of professionalism without safeguards', participants utilized various action/interactional strategies such as 'keeping the balance point' and 'taking a step forward.' As a result, participants experienced falling into a habitual routine and professional self-actualization. CONCLUSION: In-depth understanding of the job experiences of oncology nurse specialists will guide hospital administrators to promote effective interventions and policies to better support Korean oncology nurse specialists.
Clinical Coding ; Hospital Administrators ; Humans ; Nurse Clinicians ; Oncology Nursing ; Qualitative Research ; Specialization* ; Walking

PURPOSE: The importance of human dignity in care is well-recognized. Care recipients' experiences with undignified care have been reported in many countries. However, few studies have measured these situations quantitatively, especially as there are no tools applicable to inpatients receiving ordinary daily care. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable Inpatient Dignity Scale (IPDS) that can measure inpatients' expectations of and satisfaction with dignity in daily care. METHODS: We conducted a three-phase research project: item generation and a preliminary survey with 47 items related to patients' dignity in Japan, a main survey with 36 items with deliberate translation into English in Singapore, and a confirmatory survey with 35 items in England, with 442, 430, and 500 inpatients as participants in questionnaire surveys, respectively. Data from each survey were processed using factor analysis. RESULTS: Authors obtained a scale with a four-factor structure with acceptable reliability: (F1) respect as a human being, (F2) respect for personal feelings and time, (F3) respect for privacy, and (F4) respect for autonomy. CONCLUSION: The Inpatient Dignity Scale can be periodically used by hospital administrators or nurses to preserve inpatients' dignity in daily care by monitoring inpatients' views regarding their expectations of and satisfaction with dignity.
England ; Great Britain ; Hospital Administrators ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Japan ; Nursing ; Personhood ; Privacy ; Psychometrics ; Singapore