OBJECTIVETo investigate the occupational stressors and modifiers of pediatricians and nurses in order to find the measurements for control of the job stress.

METHODS427 pediatricians and nurses working in five hospitals of a city served as subjects. Of them, the staff in section of pharmacy and toll offices in each hospital mentioned above served as control group. The General Job Stress Questionnaire was used to investigate the job stress by self-assessment.

RESULTSThe scores of job demand, job risk, drug using, daily job stress, positive feelings, patient A behavior, physical environment and feeling balance in pediatricians and nurses were higher than those of control group, but the scores of job-person conflict, environmental control, technology utility, mental health, responsibility on things were lower than those of control group (P<0.05). The points of job future, job locus of control, self-esteem, job satisfaction, job load variance, depression in nurses were higher than those of pediatricians, and non-work activities, job risk and daily life stress were lower than those of doctors (P<0.05). The main affecting factors on job strain of pediatric staff included job monotony, higher job demand, more non-work job, lower job control, more job risk, job future ambiguous, poorer social support, lower job locus control and lower self-esteem.

CONCLUSIONThe stress degree of pediatric staff is higher than that of controls. The pediatricians have more job stress than that of nurses. The main stressors of pediatric staff are job monotony, higher job demand, more non-worker activity, lower job control, higher job risk and ambiguous job future. The main modifiers are good social support, external job locus of control and higher self-esteem.

Adult ; Burnout, Professional ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Staff, Hospital ; psychology ; Nursing Staff, Hospital ; psychology ; Pediatrics ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: Nursing research is recognized as an essential basis for the continuous development of the scientific nursing knowledge and practice. An understanding of the barriers and attitudes to research among nurses is important to improve clinical nursing research activities. METHOD: Data were collected from nurses at a general hospital, located in D city, using a self-reported questionnaire, from March 15th to April 4th, 2003, and 133 questionnaires were used for the analyses. A 5 pointscale instrument was used to measure barriers and attitudes towards nursing research, with a Cronbach's alpha of .85 and .89, respectively. RESULTS: Nurses had limited experience in research and were not well prepared to conduct it. Lack of experience, training and time were the major barriers for conducting research. However, the nurses had positive attitudes toward research. There was a difference in barriers (t=2.68, p=.02) and research attitudes (t=-2.74, p=.00) according to the nurses' position. Also, the nurses' research experience influenced research attitudes (t=-3.27, p=.00). The degree of research preparation (F=6.98, p=.00) had an effect on the attitudes toward nursing research but not on the barriers. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to promote both the ability and environment for clinical nurses to actively participate in research. As the majority of nurses had little experience and low confidence in research and perceived many barriers, this promotion can be accomplished by enhancing their confidence in research through continuing education and by gradually eliminating the barriers to research.
Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; *Nursing Research ; Korea ; Humans ; Female ; *Attitude of Health Personnel ; Analysis of Variance

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze types of nurse's attitudes toward the aging process. METHODS: A Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. Thirty-four selected Q-statements from each of 38 subjects were classified into a shape of normal distribution using a 9 point scale. The collected data was analyzed using a QUANL PC program. RESULTS: Five types of attitudes towards the aging process from research subjects in Korean nurses were identified. Type I is a positive acceptance type, Type II is a negative acceptance type, Type III is a passive coping type, Type IV is an active coping type, and Type V is an ambiguous acceptance type. CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that different approaches of educational programs for elderly care are recommended based on the five types of nurse's attitude toward the aging process.
Adult ; Aging/*psychology ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; Q-Sort ; Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of mental health hospital workers. METHODS: Participants in the study were a total of 8 mental health hospital workers who consisted of nurses, social welfare workers and health managers. To prevent them from being omitted, the interviews were all recorded under the participants prior agreement. The method was analysis using the phenomenological method proposed by Colaizzi(1978). RESULTS: The experiences of the participants of this study were classified into 15 significant areas, from which 10 subjects hard work, conflicts, heavy feeling, irritability, getting familiar, changes of recognition, aptitude determination, feeling of achievement and sense of pride were drawn out. These subjects were then grouped into 5 themes. These five themes were finally grouped into 5 categories, negative emotion, depressive emotion, changes of thinking, delight and value discovery. CONCLUSIONS: The study tried to analyze the experiences of key informants like nurses, social welfare workers and health managers all of whom were serving at mental health hospitals, contribute to social recognition about the special medical establishment, promote qualitative mental health nursing and further provide educational information necessary for understanding mental health hospital workers.
Health Personnel/*psychology ; Helping Behavior ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; *Mental Health ; Models, Nursing ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; Workplace/psychology

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine anger-expression patterns and their association with state and trait anger and physical and psychological health status in health care workers. METHOD: Four hundred and forty eight nurses, physicians and technicians from a large medical center completed standardized questionnaires of anger, anger-expression patterns and mood. They also had blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose and body mass index measured during their annual physical examinations. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, chi-square and ANOVA. RESULTS: Subjects showed two major clusters of anger-expression patterns: anger-control and anger-in/out. Subjects with the anger-in/out pattern reported higher state and trait anger and more anxiety, depression and fatigue than subjects with the anger-control pattern. Physical health indicators, however, were not significantly different between the two clusters of anger-expression patterns. CONCLUSION: Anger-expression patterns are associated with psychological health status but not with physical health status. Anger-expression patterns, however, need to be examined over time to assess their long-term effects on the physical and psychological health status in future studies.
Adult ; *Anger ; Expressed Emotion ; Female ; *Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; Middle Aged ; Models, Nursing ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology

PURPOSE: This study was aimed at (a) describing professional nursing practice environments embedded in nursing care units and (b) examining its relationships to nurses' task motivation. METHOD: Using the Nursing Work Index Revised (NWI-R) and the Work Preference Inventory (WPI), a descriptive study was conducted with a sample of 320 registered nurses on 26 nursing care units in one University hospital in Korea. RESULT: Mean scores were 12.9 on a 5-20 score range of an autonomous environment scale, 7.3 on a 3-12 score range of a collaborative environment, and 15.8 on a 7-28 score range of control over nursing practice. Nurses' age, educational level, job position, working period at the hospital and employment status were significantly related to the degree of a professional practice environment. The extent to which a professional practice environment accounted for task motivation was 19.5%. CONCLUSION: There is a certain degree of professionalism in the workplace environment that nurses perceived within the nursing care units. When nurses care for patients, the degree of task motivation depends on the work environment supporting the professional nursing practice.
*Organizational Culture ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; Nursing Service, Hospital/*organization & administration ; *Motivation ; Male ; Korea ; *Job Satisfaction ; Humans ; Female ; Adult

PURPOSE: This study was aimed to examine how subjects' characteristics and nursing service quality influence hospital revisiting intent, to compare perceptions of patients with those of nurses. METHOD: The questionnaire was developed and distributed to 300 patients and nurses at six general hospitals in a provincial city, Korea. For data analysis, the SPSS/PC program was used. RESULT: The nursing service quality's scores of patients is 3.61, that of nurses is 3.77, and there is a significant difference. The hospital revisiting intent's score of patients is 4.84, that of nurses is 4.61, and there are no significant differences. In subjects' characteristics, patients perceive that the hospital is the only different factor, and place hospital revisiting intent at 3.6%. Nurses perceive that education level and position are different factors, and place hospital revisiting intent at 3.3%. In nursing service quality, patients perceive that 2 attributes explain hospital revisiting intent at 17.8% and 2 factors explain it at 16.5%; whereas, nurses perceive that 2 attributes explain hospital revisiting intent at 15.3% and 3 factors explain it at 12.2%. CONCLUSION: There are perception gaps between consumers and providers. So nursing and hospital managers must recognize these facts and provide various marketing strategies to overcome them.
Questionnaires ; Patient Satisfaction ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; Nursing Service, Hospital/*standards ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Humans ; Female ; *Attitude of Health Personnel ; Adult

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between depression, perceived stress, fatigue and anger in clinical nurses. METHOD: A descriptive survey was conducted using a convenient sample. Data was collected by questionnaires from four hundred clinical nurses who worked at a university hospital. Radloff's CES-D for depression, Cohen, Kamarck & Mermelstein's Perceived Stress Scale, VAS for Fatigue, and Spielberger's STAXI for anger were used. The data was analyzed using the pearson correlation coefficient, students' t-test, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression with SPSS/WIN 12.0. RESULT: The depression of clinical nurses showed a significantly positive correlation to perceived stress(r=.360, p=.000), mental fatigue(r=.471, p=.000), physical fatigue(r=.350, p=.000), trait anger(r=.370, p=.000), anger-in expression(r=.231, p=.000), and anger-control expression(r=.120, p=.016). There was a negative correlation between depression and age(r=-.146, p=.003). The mean score of depression of nurses, 26, was a very high score and 40.8% of clinical nurses were included in a depression group. The main significant predictors influencing depression of clinical nurses were mental fatigue, trait anger, perceived stress, anger-in expression, and state anger, which explained about 32.7%. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that clinical nurses with a high degree of perceived stress, mental fatigue and anger-in expression are likely to be depressed.
Adult ; Analysis of Variance ; *Anger ; Depression/*psychology ; Expressed Emotion ; Fatigue/*psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; *Stress, Psychological

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Spirituality Promotion Program(SPP) for young nurses working in the stressful university hospital environment. METHODS: The study included 41 nurses in the experimental group, nurses who had worked less than 5 years and completed 8 weeks of SPP between June and July in 2011. The control group, 44 nurses, also received the same program after the study was completed. For the study, a survey was conducted of all participants concerning spirituality, perceived stress, positive and negative affect, empathy, job satisfaction, and leadership practice. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between the two groups on study variables. Perceived stress decreased significantly in the experimental group (p=.012). Spirituality (p=.019), positive affect (p=.014), empathy (p=.004), job satisfaction (p=.016), and leadership practice (p=.021) increased significantly in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: The results show that the Spirituality Promotion Program has positive effects on the spiritual and psychosocial aspect of young nurses. Continuation of this program for nurses is recommended in order to help them develop their selfcare ability and improve nursing competency.
Adult ; Empathy ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction ; Leadership ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; *Program Evaluation ; *Spirituality ; Stress, Psychological

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe nurses' experience of a career ladder program (CLP) in a general hospital in Korea. METHODS: The data were collected from 15 nurses who participated in the CLP. Each nurse completed individual in-depth interviews, for which the main interview question was "How do you describe your experience of CLP?". All interview data were transcribed and were analyzed using the grounded theory method. RESULTS: The core category of the experience of CLP was identified as "challenging to rebirth as an expert". The participants used five action/interaction strategies such as "taking some time for introspection", "appreciating the essence of nursing", "making use of feedback positively", "throwing away doubts about their own capabilities", "exerting themselves with confidence". The consequence of the process of adjusting to CLP was "positioning a differentiated expert." CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that participants recognized CLP as a powerful resource which leads them to professional growth and development. Thus, CLP could be utilized as a clinical career-promoting program and ultimately as a program for providing high-quality nursing services.
Adult ; *Career Mobility ; Female ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; Program Evaluation