PURPOSE: This study was designed to develop Nursing Service Quality Indicators(NSQIs) in nursing homes that would lead to an appropriate evaluation and improvement of nursing service quality. METHODS: The preliminary NSQIs were developed through literature reviews and analysis of existing quality indicators. A content validity testing was done twice by using a panel of experts who were from academia and the clinical areas. The final NSQIs were confirmed and applied in three nursing homes to test feasibility. RESULTS: The preliminary NSQIs had 4 domains and 31 indicators. Two content validity testings were performed. The indicators scoring over .80 CVI for each testing were selected and modified by experts' opinions. The final NSQIs consisted of7 domains and 33 indicators. They were applied in three nursing homes and it was revealed that all the indicators were applicable. CONCLUSION: In this study, it is shown that this new 'Nursing Service Quality Indicators in Nursing Homes' is suitable for a holistic evaluation of nursing service quality of elderly patients in nursing homes. This NSQIs will be able to provide a basis for establishing nursing care standards and improving the nursing care quality in nursing homes.
Humans ; Nursing Evaluation Research ; Nursing Homes/*standards ; Nursing Services/*standards ; *Quality Indicators, Health Care ; Reproducibility of Results

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to identify the factors influencing service quality in nursing homes, and to develop an evaluation instrument for service quality. METHODS: A three-phase process was employed for the study. 1) The important factors to evaluate the service quality in nursing homes were identified through a literature review, panel discussion and focus group interview, 2) the evaluation instrument was developed, and 3) validity and reliability of the study instrument were tested by factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, Cronbach's alpha and Cohen's Kappa. RESULTS: Factor analysis showed that the factors influencing service quality in nursing homes were healthcare, diet/assistance, therapy, environment and staff. To improve objectivity of the instrument, quantitative as well as qualitative evaluation approaches were adopted. The study instrument was developed with 30 items and showed acceptable construct validity. The criterion-related validity was a Pearson correlation coefficient of .85 in 151 care facilities. The internal consistency was Cronbach's alpha=.95. CONCLUSION: The instrument has acceptable validity and a high degree of reliability. Staff in nursing homes can continuously improve and manage their services using the results of the evaluation instrument.
Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Nursing Evaluation Research ; *Nursing Homes/standards ; Program Development ; Quality of Health Care/*standards ; Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to provide researchers with a simplified approach to undertaking exploratory factor analysis for the assessment of construct validity. METHODS: All articles published in 2010, 2011, and 2012 in Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing were reviewed and other relevant books and articles were chosen for the review. RESULTS: In this paper, the following were discussed: preliminary analysis process of exploratory factor analysis to examine the sample size, distribution of measured variables, correlation coefficient, and results of KMO measure and Bartlett's test of sphericity. In addition, other areas to be considered in using factor analysis are discussed, including determination of the number of factors, the choice of rotation method or extraction method of the factor structure, and the interpretation of the factor loadings and explained variance. CONCLUSION: Content validity is the degree to which elements of an assessment instrument are relevant to and representative of the targeted construct for a particular assessment purpose. This measurement is difficult and challenging and takes a lot of time. Factor analysis is considered one of the strongest approaches to establishing construct validity and is the most commonly used method for establishing construct validity measured by an instrument.
Analysis of Variance ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Nursing Research/*standards ; Publishing

PURPOSE: This study was done to comparatively analyze the general education curriculum of 4-yr and 3-yr nursing schools in Korea. METHODS: Ten university 4-yr nursing schools were selected based on universities in Korean Accreditation Board of Nursing 2010 or "2009 Korea's Best Universities-Top 10" published by Joong-Ang Daily. Ten college 3-yr nursing schools were selected based on colleges in Korean Accreditation Board of Nursing 2010. RESULTS: 1) Generally 4-yr nursing schools maintained the relationships between organizational philosophy/purposes and subjects in the general education curriculum. But 3-yr nursing schools did not. 2) In 4-yr nursing schools there was a relatively higher credits ratio of general education curriculum and selective courses than in 3-yr nursing schools. 3) In 4-yr nursing schools variety of courses was relatively higher than 3-yr nursing schools. 4) In 4-yr nursing schools, operating conditions were relatively better (number of tenure professors, ratio of professors to students, Identification of exclusive organization in charge of the general education curriculum) for the general education curriculum than 3-yr nursing schools. CONCLUSION: The results identify significant differences in the general education curriculum of 4-yr and 3-yr nursing schools in Korea, indicating that 3-yr nursing schools should make efforts to improve the good quality of general education curriculum.
*Curriculum ; Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate/*standards/trends ; Education, Nursing, Diploma Programs/*standards/trends ; Humanities/*education ; Humans ; Nursing Education Research ; Republic of Korea

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to explore problems of clinical nurse performance appraisal system. METHODS: This study employed a descriptive qualitative approach. The participants were purposively selected from clinical nurses working across all of the hospital units in a large metropolitan teaching hospital in Tehran, Iran in 2012. Data were collected using five focus group interviews, which were audio taped. The number of participants in each group ranged from 7 to 10. The semi-structured interviews were guided by a set of nondirective questions, and continued until the data reached saturation. Data were analyzed using framework analysis. RESULTS: Four major themes regarding the problems of clinical nurse performance appraisal system emerged from the analysis of textual data. These themes were contextual problems, problems related to performance appraisal structure, problems related to performance appraisal process and those related to performance appraisal results. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study reveal that the nurse performance appraisal system confronts with various problems. Some of these problems are related to organizational context while the others concerned structure, process and results of the performance appraisal system. In order to achieve high quality of patient care as the final goal of performance appraisal, changing and revision of this system is necessary.
Adult ; *Clinical Competence ; Employee Performance Appraisal/*standards ; Female ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Iran ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nurse Clinicians/*standards ; *Nursing Methodology Research ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*standards ; Qualitative Research

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to set up a Nursing Core Competencies required for staff nurses and to set up Objectives for Nursing Clinical Education based on the Nursing Core Competencies. The objectives in this study are to be achieved ultimately through clinical practice because it is a common avenue of work and the basic objective regardless of the education system and curriculum. METHOD: A nursing Core Competencies were established by literature review and verified by 15 experts. Nursing Clinical Education Objectives were established by literature review and analysis, and a survey for validity using a five point Likert scale was given to 257 nursing professors, 503 head-nurses, 509 staff nurses who had less than 3 years clinical experience in 34 general hospitals and 738 senior student nurses from 81 nursing colleges. RESULT: Nine nursing core competencies were set up. In addition 39 Objectives for each of the nursing clinical core competencies were set up. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study will contribute to professional nursing education to provide comprehensive nursing care by applying knowledge to nursing practice to achieve the Nursing Core Competency as a professional nurse.
*Clinical Competence ; Education, Nursing/methods/*standards ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Nurse Clinicians/*education ; Nursing Assessment/methods ; Nursing Education Research ; Nursing Staff/*education ; Nursing, Supervisory ; Schools, Nursing ; Students, Nursing

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to assess the quality of meta-analyses on nursing published in South Korea. METHODS: Relevant meta-analyses were identified through searches of the National Assembly Library, KISS (Korean Studies Information Service System), and the DBpia and RISS4U databases from 1990 to May 2013. Quality assessments were conducted using AMSTAR, a validated tool for assessing the quality of systematic reviews. RESULTS: Forty-two meta-analyses were included in this study. Twenty-nine published between 1990 and 2010, and 13, between 2011 and May 2013. Two high quality studies and 11 moderate quality studies were published in the latter period. The mean score for the reviews was 5.61 (range 3-10); 11 studies were rated as low quality, 29 as moderate quality, and two as high quality. CONCLUSION: Although an improvement in the quality of meta-analyses conducted by nursing researchers in South Korea was observed across the study period, the study results indicate a need to use of more rigorous research methods when conducting systematic reviews or meta-analyses.
Databases, Factual ; Humans ; Nursing Research/*standards ; Peer Review, Research ; Republic of Korea

PURPOSE: This study was to determine the current trend of nursing research as exploring both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and to provide the explicit direction to improve the quality of published papers. METHODS: Total of 366 articles published between 2004 and 2006 was reviewed using the criteria of analysis. RESULTS: There was more number of quantitative studies than qualitative studies. More studies were conducted with subjects who had health problems, and studies that targeted women and elderly population have been significantly increased. In quantitative methodology, utilization of experimental and quasi-experimental designs has been increased, however descriptive study was dominant as yet. In qualitative methodology, studies using grounded theory and phenomenology were frequently published. It was noted that theoretical framework and rational for sample size were rarely presented in quantitative study. Philosophical position and the process of preparation for study, which guided the research, were not clearly described in qualitative study. CONCLUSION: The findings of this review suggest that published studies have been improved and diversified, however, detailed and clear evaluation tool that assesses study process and method should be developed as a way to further improve the quality of published papers.
Bibliometrics ; Humans ; Korea ; Nursing Methodology Research/*standards ; *Periodicals as Topic ; Qualitative Research

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument of task performance evaluation for clinical nurses, thus testing the validity and the reliability of the scale. METHOD: Data was collected from 84 Head Nurses and 255 General Nurses. A conceptual framework, composed of 4 factors of meaning in task performance evaluation, was identified through review of the relevant literature. A total of 78 items were developed and were used on a five-point likert scale. Through factor analysis, items whose factor loading was below 0.50 were deleted, thus 35 items remained. To test the validity and reliability of the instrument, the SPSS 11.0 windows program was used. RESULT: The results of the factor analysis indicated that 4 factors were classified and the cumulative percent of variance was 67.54%. The results of the reliability test indicated that Cronbach's coefficient of the total 35 items was over 0.9176. The results of the factor analysis indicated that factor loadings of all items was over 0.50. Conclusively, the validity and the reliability of the scale were proven. CONCLUSION: This study was identified as a tool with a high degree of reliability and validity.
*Task Performance and Analysis ; *Nursing Evaluation Research ; Nursing/*standards ; Middle Aged ; Korea ; Humans ; Female ; Adult

PURPOSE: This study was performed to identify current characteristics of the Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing and to explore a way to elevate it to an international level and to critique the overall review process so as to delineate the advanced, objective paper appraisal in this journal. METHODS: Data was collected using self administered questionnaires to 75 journal reviewers belonging to the Korean academy of nursing and its division academy of nursing from August 15th to September 30th, 2006. RESULTS: The majority of reviewers pointed out a lack of discrimination between the Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing and other journals. Among the main answers of reviewers, Creativeness(52.3%) and excellence of nursing(38%) will be critical factors to develop in order to elevate to an the journal to an international level. In specific evaluation areas, reviewers preferred a subjective critique method(60%), and the condition of the decision making process regarding paper acceptance as a combination of checklist and subjective evaluation(84%). Subjective evaluation opinions with major categories will occur in the next revised evaluation format. 76% of reviewers agreed with the current objective evaluation form. CONCLUSIONS: The journal review process should be evaluated on a regular basis to elevate the journal level and a mutual agreement of the journal's scope, range, and purpose will be necessary. As a recommendation, an attempt at various approaches in journal reviews and reviewer training should be made.
Adult ; Advisory Committees/standards ; Editorial Policies ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Nursing Research ; *Peer Review, Research ; Periodicals as Topic/*standards