Purpose: This study aimed to identify changes in the regional distribution of nurses from 2011 to 2020 and to measure the degree of geographic inequality in the distribution of nurses. Methods: National statistics from 2011 to 2020 were used to analyze the distribution of practicing nurses and nursing graduates by region. The degree of geographic inequality in these distributions was measured using the Gini coefficient. Results: Between 2011 and 2020, the number of nursing graduates increased significantly in the non-capital regions and medically underserved areas.However, non-capital regions observed a smaller increase in the number of practicing nurses than in the number of nursing graduates produced, while capital regions experienced a larger increase in the number of practicing nurses than in the number of nursing graduates produced. Furthermore, the degree of geographic inequality in the distribution of practicing nurses worsened between 2011 and 2020. Conclusion Effective policies to prevent the outflow of rural nurses are necessary to mitigate geographical inequality in the distribution of nurses.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify changes in the regional distribution of nurses from 2011 to 2020 and to measure the degree of geographic inequality in the distribution of nurses. Methods: National statistics from 2011 to 2020 were used to analyze the distribution of practicing nurses and nursing graduates by region. The degree of geographic inequality in these distributions was measured using the Gini coefficient. Results: Between 2011 and 2020, the number of nursing graduates increased significantly in the non-capital regions and medically underserved areas.However, non-capital regions observed a smaller increase in the number of practicing nurses than in the number of nursing graduates produced, while capital regions experienced a larger increase in the number of practicing nurses than in the number of nursing graduates produced. Furthermore, the degree of geographic inequality in the distribution of practicing nurses worsened between 2011 and 2020. Conclusion Effective policies to prevent the outflow of rural nurses are necessary to mitigate geographical inequality in the distribution of nurses.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify changes in the regional distribution of nurses from 2011 to 2020 and to measure the degree of geographic inequality in the distribution of nurses. Methods: National statistics from 2011 to 2020 were used to analyze the distribution of practicing nurses and nursing graduates by region. The degree of geographic inequality in these distributions was measured using the Gini coefficient. Results: Between 2011 and 2020, the number of nursing graduates increased significantly in the non-capital regions and medically underserved areas.However, non-capital regions observed a smaller increase in the number of practicing nurses than in the number of nursing graduates produced, while capital regions experienced a larger increase in the number of practicing nurses than in the number of nursing graduates produced. Furthermore, the degree of geographic inequality in the distribution of practicing nurses worsened between 2011 and 2020. Conclusion Effective policies to prevent the outflow of rural nurses are necessary to mitigate geographical inequality in the distribution of nurses.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify changes in the regional distribution of nurses from 2011 to 2020 and to measure the degree of geographic inequality in the distribution of nurses. Methods: National statistics from 2011 to 2020 were used to analyze the distribution of practicing nurses and nursing graduates by region. The degree of geographic inequality in these distributions was measured using the Gini coefficient. Results: Between 2011 and 2020, the number of nursing graduates increased significantly in the non-capital regions and medically underserved areas.However, non-capital regions observed a smaller increase in the number of practicing nurses than in the number of nursing graduates produced, while capital regions experienced a larger increase in the number of practicing nurses than in the number of nursing graduates produced. Furthermore, the degree of geographic inequality in the distribution of practicing nurses worsened between 2011 and 2020. Conclusion Effective policies to prevent the outflow of rural nurses are necessary to mitigate geographical inequality in the distribution of nurses.

BACKGROUND: Glycemic control is an effective way to reduce the cardiovascular complications of diabetes, but more than half of the adults with diabetes in Korea are improperly controlling their glycemic levels. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors associated with poor glycemic control in type 2 diabetes patients. METHODS: This study analyzed 1,261 subjects ≥30 years old diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who participated in the fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010-2012). Poor glycemic control rates were defined as hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level ≥7%. To shed light on the causes of poor glycemic control, socio-demographics, diabetes severity, health status, and health behavior factors were adjusted and logistic regression was done. RESULTS: Of the total 1,261 patients, 53.0% of patients with type 2 diabetes had HbA1c ≥7%. After running a logistic regression model, the odds ratio of poor glycemic control was higher in high school graduates than elementary school graduates; in people living in Chungcheong and Jeolla/Jeju than those living in Seoul; in the group with diabetes for over 5 years had diabetes less than 5 years; in a group with insulin and oral hypoglycemic agent treatment than non-treatment; in a group with hypertriglyceridemia than without hypertriglyceridemia; and in the group with slept less than 6 hours slept 7-8 hours. CONCLUSION: We need a comprehensive public health policy to reduce the poor glycemic control rates in type 2 diabetes patients. We should recognize the education levels, duration of diabetes, diabetes treatment, hypertriglyceridemia, and sleep duration were associated with poor glycemic control.
Adult ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* ; Education ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Hypertriglyceridemia ; Insulin ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Odds Ratio ; Public Health ; Running ; Seoul

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the current issues concerning a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) for nursing professionals, and to suggest policy alternatives in South Korea. METHODS: The study was conducted through a literature review. RESULTS: The nursing MRA was signed by the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia-New Zealand, India-Singapore, and the Caribbean Community. The United States and Japan have not concluded a nursing MRA with other countries, but they have lowered the entry barriers for foreign nurses from certain countries. In order to prepare for a nursing MRA with developed countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia, it is necessary to establish international standards for nursing and to build a verification system for the qualifications of foreign nurses. In addition, there is a need to establish an independent professional licensing authority that assumes responsibility for all the tasks regarding a nursing license. CONCLUSION The findings of this study can be used as basic data for the preparation of a nursing MRA, and can contribute to the establishment of policies for foreign nurses.

Radiocontrast media-induced acute severe thrombocytopenia is a very rare complication and potentially life-threatening. Here, we report the case of a 63-year-old male patient with severe acute thrombocytopenia following first exposure to intravenous non-ionic contrast media without immediate allergic reactions. His platelet count dropped from 107000/µL to 2000/µL after six hours of radiocontrast infusion. After administration of corticosteroid and transfusion of platelet concentrates, the platelet count returned gradually to normal within 5 days. To the best of our knowledge, non-ionic contrast media-induced isolated acute severe thrombocytopenia following no signs or symptoms of immediate allergic reaction has never been described.
Acute Disease ; Administration, Intravenous ; Contrast Media/administration & dosage ; Contrast Media/adverse effects ; Humans ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Platelet Count ; Thrombocytopenia/etiology

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluate the adequacy of nurse staffing in integrated nursing care. METHODS: Statistical data on integrated nursing care from the National Health Insurance Corporation was used in this study. We extracted hospital data and patient data related to patient needs for nursing care. We analyzed the differences in patient needs by staffing level of each type of medical institution. RESULTS: Approximately 70% of medical institutions provided nursing care by the mid level of nurse staffing, which was 1:6, 1:10 and 1:12 in the tertiary hospital, general hospital and semi-hospital, respectively. The patients' characteristics were significantly different by hospital type. Especially, the distribution of the main diagnosis was completely different between the tertiary hospital and semi-hospital. In the tertiary hospital, the patient needs measured by severity and activities of daily living dependency were higher at higher staffing level than at lower staffing level. However, the nurse staffing was less relevant to the patient needs in the general hospital and semi-hospital. CONCLUSION: To provide high-quality nursing care, accurate workload forecasting is required at the start, and then the standard nurse staffing level can established based on workload forecasting.
Activities of Daily Living ; Diagnosis ; Forecasting ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; National Health Programs ; Nursing Care ; Nursing ; Tertiary Care Centers

PURPOSE: To evaluate the structural characteristics of a scientific network of radiation oncology society. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1,512 articles published from 1986 to April 2010 with the terms 'radiation oncology' or 'therapeutic radiology' were obtained in the KoreaMed database. The co-authors were analyzed according to their affiliation, and their relationship was used to build a matrix. With the matrix, centralization indices and the Key Player index were analyzed. We used UCINET 6.0 for the network analysis, Netdraw for determining a sociogram and Key Player 1.44 for the key player analysis. RESULTS: The centralization of the radiation oncology field decreased from 8.29% for the period from 1986~1990 to 1.84% from 2006~2010. However, when the Korean Journal of Medical Physics was excluded, centralization increased from 2.32% for the period from 2001~2005 to 3.80% from 2006~2010. This suggested that the communication in the clinical research field of radiation oncology is decreasing. In a node centralization analysis, Seoul National University was found to be the highest at 7.9%. Seoul National University showed the highest indices in the Outdegree (6.50%) and Indegree (8.54%), in addition to Betweenness (14.94%) and Eigenvector (135.234%). The Key Player analysis indicated that Inha University had the highest index at 0.491, but when the Korean Journal of Medical Physics was excluded, Yonsei University had the highest Key Player index at 0.584. CONCLUSION: The degree centrality in the network of radiation oncology decreased in the most recent period as more institutions are participating in network. However, the Betweenness centrality is still increasing, suggesting that the communications among research groups (clique) in radiation oncology is warranted.
Korea ; Radiation Oncology

OBJECTIVES: Little is yet known about the determinants of bone mineral density (BMD) in young adults. Thus, in this study, we aimed to determine the factors that have an impact on BMD in young men. METHODS: Questionnaires were sent out to 111 male medical students. Information on age, socio-economic status, medical history, lifestyle, physical activity during adolescence, school club participation, current physical activity, and dietary intake were collected by the survey. Height, weight, percent body fat and muscle mass were estimated by bioelectrical impedance, and BMD was obtained using calcaneal quantitative ultrasound. Using the Poisson regression model, prevalence ratios (PRs) were used to estimate the degree of association between risk factors and osteopenia. RESULTS: The height and current physical activity showed a correlation to the Osteoporosis Index. Among the categorized variables, past physical activity during adolescence (p=0.002) showed a positive effect on the bone mineral content. In the multivariate model, past physical activity (> or =1 time/wk) had a protective effect on osteopenia (PR, 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18 to 0.75) and present physical activity (1000 metabolic equivalent of task-min/wk) decreased the risk of osteopenia (PR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.91). CONCLUSIONS: Past physical activity during adolescence is as important as physical activity in the present for BMD in young men.
Adult ; Body Mass Index ; *Bone Density ; Calcium, Dietary ; Humans ; Male ; *Motor Activity ; Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Students, Medical/psychology ; Young Adult