Today, the circumstances surrounding the medical economy are severer than ever. Therefore, it is vitally important for a hospital to rationalize management and implement a labor-saving system drastically.In October 2000, Atsumi Hospital moved to a newly built complex. At that time, those sections and departments which do not have any direct relation to medical treatment and care were restructured and established a supply center in order to use human resources effectivily.Before the establishment of the supply center, we had reviewd simple, routine tasks such as ward nursing assistant services, office work and management itself. While introducing our hospital supply center in this paper, we compare efficiencies before and after the move to the new building and dwell on advantages of centralization of ward nursing services.The rearrangement of the personnel, materials and information has made it possible to increase the efficiency of simple work and reduce the number of nursing assistants by 20%. Henceforth, it would be necessary to educate the staff, work on proper personnel changes, carefully make a plan for outsourcing, and choose trustworthy dealers.
Human Resources ; Work ; Economic supply ; Effective ; Central

A reduction in electricity and heating expenses is a major consideration with every hospital in Japan. In our hospital, all the personnel including the members of the facilities division have joined forces to mount the “1,300kW campaign” aimed at cutting down on the amount of maximum instantaneous electric power consumption (demand) from 1,500kW to 1,300kW in one year, and succeeded in curtailing heating and lighting expenses by well over 4 million yen. The key to success was how to control the amount of demand. The cooperation of all the personnel of the hospital was vital. Therefore, it was important to raise the awareness of all the personnel concerning energy conservation. We thought that setting the concrete numerical target “from 1,500kW to 1,300kW” was effective. It is no exaggeration that such a cutback in energy consumption contributes not only to the management of a medical institution but also to the environmental preservation on a global scale. Finally, the medical institutions should put contribution to the community into the basic principles at the time when environmental preservation (ecology), energy consumption reduction, risk management and catastrophic disaster etc. have become topics of conversation.
Hospitals ; Consumption of goods ; Human Resources ; success ; Economic demand

The emerging global needs call for an expanded role of public health nurses in global health. Their competency is essential in responding to the emerging health challenges and to contribute to the attainment of Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals. This paper determined the self-assessed level of confidence of public health nurses on the global health competencies. The study utilized a quantitative, descriptive research design. A survey tool that contains a list of the global health competencies on global burden of disease, health implications of travel and displacement, social and environmental determinants of health, globalization of health and health care, health care in low resource settings, health care as a human right and development resource was utilized. A total of 17 public health nurses from the 16 health centers in Baguio City, Philippines were recruited through total enumeration. Higher scores were given to the competencies on social and environmental determinants of health while lower scores were found on competencies related to globalization of health and health care. Overall, the public health nurses in Baguio City assessed themselves as often confident on the global health competencies. The study highlights areas for improved education and training, which are essential in attaining the global health competencies. Integration of global health concepts in the practice of public health nurses is required to enhance their competency in dealing with global health issues and challenges. This study recommends global health training for public health nurses to enhance their awareness, preparation, and confidence in the global health competencies.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Nurses, Public Health ; Global Health ; Philippines ; Global Burden Of Disease ; Goals ; Health Resources ; Internationality ; Surveys And Questionnaires ; Awareness ; Human Rights ; Conservation Of Natural Resources

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe the socio-ecological and health profile of the Philippine LIFECARE study sites, its health care services and leading causes of mortality and morbidity.

METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study that recruited participants aged 20-50 years from Metro Manila and four provinces (Bulacan, Batangas, Quezon, Rizal). Study sites were characterized according to their geographical area, terrain and environmental profile, and available health care system.

RESULTS: 3,072 subejects were included, with male-to-female ratio of 1:1.3 and majority aged 30-50 years. Metro Manila was the most congested site. Two-thirds of the 62 villages (barangays) were rural, outside the town proper, and in lowlands. One-fourth were along coastal area. Almost all were accessible by public transportation. Majority have reduced forest cover, but were relatively safe from environmental hazards. Rural health units, hospitals, and professional health care workers were concentrated in Metro Manila. Leading cause of morbidity was respiratory tract infection, while cardiovascular diseases caused most of mortalities.

CONCLUSION: Study sites were mainly rural, outside the town proper and in lowlands, with available public transportation. There is an unequal distribution of health resources. Cardiovascular diseases is still the leading cause of mortality. The disparities in geographical access to health care play an important role in shaping human health.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Health Care Facilities, Manpower, and Services ; Delivery of Health Care ; Health Resources

There are many international guidelines that have been developed to ensure that the conduct of researches by countries, institutions and individuals are ethical. There are, however, unique opportunities as well as challenges in research in the ASEAN region which mandate not only adherence to these guidelines but which necessitate regional as well as individual country efforts to ensure that biomedical researches uphold the dignity, ensure safety and protect the rights of participants. Some of the challenges are: the widespread poverty or uneven distribution of resources in developing countries which cause patients to participate in clinical trials to avail of services that otherwise are inaccessible, lack of a research infrastructure that makes ethics review of protocols inadequate or slow, and lack of post-trial access to medications which have been tested in precisely the populations that need these drugs. The aim of this paper is to review the ethical challenges in health research encountered in Asia and to describe the regional efforts being undertaken to address them.

Human ; Asia ; Developing Countries ; Health Occupations ; Health Resources ; Poverty ; Research ; Safety ; Ethics ; Biomedical Research ; Ethics, Research

Human resources for health ; demand and supply projection ; medical specialists ; demand-based approach ; physician requirement

The Korean Society for Legal Medicine (KSLM) was founded in 1976 and launched its official journal, the Korean Journal of Legal Medicine (KJLM), in 1977. They have played an important role in Korea's forensic medicine and science, the demand for which has increased in Korean society over the years. A historical review is important and has a significant value in the advancement of forensic medicine and science in Korea. Accordingly, this study reviews and analyzes all papers published in KJLM for 39 years, from Volume 1, Issue No. 1 in 1977 to Volume 39, Issue No. 4 in 2015. There are 891 published papers, which are categorized into 318 review articles, 339 original articles, and 234 case reports. Of the total 891 papers, 377 (42.3%) are related to forensic pathology, whereas 111 (12.5%) concern forensic genetics. The major submitting institutes are forensic medicine departments of universities and the National Forensic Service. KJLM's history can be divided into two phases. The first phase is from the 1970s to the 1990s, and the second, from the 2000s to the present. Many review articles were published in the first phase; approximately 10% of these articles concern clinical forensic medicine and law. Articles on forensic genetics, identification, and entomology also started to be published in the first phase. In the next phase, many case reports from the National Forensic Service were published, and the number of articles on forensic pathology and forensic genetics multiplied. The results of this study provide KSLM and KJLM with direction toward sustainable development. This study is part of the organization's 40th anniversary celebration, and in commemoration of its contribution to advancing human rights and social stability in Korea.
Academies and Institutes ; Anniversaries and Special Events* ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Entomology ; Forensic Genetics ; Forensic Medicine* ; Forensic Pathology ; Human Rights ; Jurisprudence ; Korea

Geo-authentic herbs lay stress on their producing areas. The producing areas of most geo-authentic herbs have never changed since the ancient times. However, many other geo-authentic herbs have experienced significant changes in the long history. There are two main causes for the change in producing areas of herbs-change of natural environment and development of human society, which are restricted by each other and play a great role throughout the development process of geo-authentic herbs.
Conservation of Natural Resources ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Ecosystem ; Geography ; Human Activities ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quality Control

PURPOSE: This pioneering study aimed to investigate social disparities in breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) incidence rates among women across Iran's provinces from 2003 to 2009. METHODS: Provincial level population distribution data pertaining to women were obtained from the Statistical Centre of Iran. Age-standardized incidence rates of BC and OC were gathered from the National Cancer Registry. Human Development Index was used as the provinces' social rank (SR), and rate ratio and Kunst and Mackenbach relative index of inequality were used to assess social disparities. Annual percentage change (APC) was calculated using joinpoint regression, and Spearman rank correlation was used to examine the association between APC and SR. RESULTS: It was found that over the study period, annual incidence rates rose by 11.6% and 9.7% for BC and OC, respectively. Social disparities were substantial and stable in favor of provinces with lower SR in Iran, and were more profound for BC than OC. Correlations between APC and SR were small and nonsignificant for both BC and OC. CONCLUSION: The results showed that both BC and OC incidence increased in Iran during 2003 to 2009. There were positive associations between BC and OC incidence rates and the provinces' SR. This study's recommendations provide valuable information for health resource allocation pertaining to BC and OC control programs across provinces in Iran.
Breast Neoplasms ; Breast* ; Demography ; Female ; Health Resources ; Health Status Disparities ; Human Development ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Iran* ; Longitudinal Studies ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Socioeconomic Factors

BACKGROUND: Epidemics of aseptic meningitis due to enteroviruses has occurred annually in the late spring and early summer season. The early detection of such epidemics is important for the prevention of further infection. Enteroviruses consist of 67 serotypes but one or two serotypes may be the causative agents of epidemics in the year and several different serotypes involve sporadic cases. In order to discriminate epidemics from sporadic infection, the serotype should be determined. We evaluated the significance of the single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products of 5'-untranslated region (UTR) for the determination of serotypes. METHODS: The specimens of patients were cultured with RD cell and the RT-PCR was performed in case of the positive cytopathic effect. For the amplification of 153-bp of 5'-UTR, primers (EN1: 5'-CTC CGG CCC CTG AAT GCG GCT AAT-3'; EN2: 5'-ATT GTC ACC ATA AGC AGC CA-3') were used. The RT-PCR products were denatured with 95% formamide at 95degrees C for 5 min and SSCP was performed. 12.5% polyacrylamide gel (49/1 acrylamide/bis) was made by using Mighty SmallTM SE245 Dual Gel Caster (Hoefer Scientific Instruments Inc., USA). Electrophoresis was done at 10 mA for 1.5 h, and silver nitrate stain was performed. The SSCP patterns were compared with serotypes determined by sequence analysis of VP1 region. RESULTS: Coxsackievirus A9 (two strains), coxsackievirus A16 (10), coxsackievirus B2 (two), coxsackievirus B3 (two), echovirus 3 (two), echovirus 11 (two), echovirus 16 (seven), echovirus 19 (two), echovirus 30 (three), and enterovirus 71 (six) showed the different SSCP patterns according to their serotypes. The same pattern was observed in the same serotype, except echovirus 30 showing two different patterns. CONCLUSIONS: The SSCP of RT-PCR products of 5'-UTR may be helpful to determine the serotype and discriminate epidemics from sporadic cases. This has the advantage to be able to test the specimens directly without the viral culture. But the serotype should be determined by other method such as neutralization or sequence analysis in case of the first isolate in the epidemic season and the stains showing the new SSCP patterns.
Coloring Agents ; Electrophoresis ; Enterovirus B, Human ; Enterovirus* ; Genotype* ; Humans ; Meningitis, Aseptic ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Seasons ; Sequence Analysis ; Silver Nitrate ; Natural Resources