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: This study was done to identify issues surrounding comprehensive nursing care within the national health insurance, analyze results and problems within national health insurance and to suggest new policy directions for stability. METHODS: A literature search was performed using RISS, KISS, PUBMED databases. Eighteen studies were analyzed. RESULTS: For implementation of comprehensive nursing care, there was improvement in nursing and in facilities. By improvement of structure, this new system showed positive outcomes in term of patient satisfaction and indicators related to patient safety. However, issues related to overload, job stress and evaluation of the system remain. In order to establish this system, staffing levels for nurses and nurse aids need to be adjusted to appropriate levels that reflect requirements for nursing. In addition, range of work needs to be determined clearly. Lastly, regular and systematic evaluation is needed to provide safe quality services to patients and to prevent waste of financial resources. CONCLUSION: Comprehensive nursing care needs to be implemented in ways that patients can be provided with safe and high quality service. There is a need to resolve several issues to allow this new system to function.
Humans ; Job Satisfaction ; National Health Programs* ; Nursing Care ; Nursing Services* ; Nursing* ; Patient Safety ; Patient Satisfaction

BACKGROUND: Sub-umbilical surgery under caudal block in conjunction with sevoflurane sedation may be safe in terms of maintaining spontaneous breathing and avoiding complications associated with general anesthesia. However, sevoflurane-induced emergence agitation (EA) continues to be a clinically important phenomenon in children. To compare the incidence of EA in children undergoing sub-umbilical surgery under caudal block with two different doses of sevoflurane.METHODS: Forty children (aged 1–5 years) scheduled to undergo inguinal hernia repair under caudal block with sevoflurane sedation via a face mask were randomized into either the low-dose (1.0%) end-tidal sevoflurane concentration group (Group LS) or the high-dose (2.5%) end-tidal sevoflurane concentration group (Group HS). We monitored EA episodes at 5 and 30 min in the post-anesthetic care unit (PACU) by using the four-point agitation scale and the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) scale.RESULTS: The four-point agitation scale scores and PAED scores were not different between the groups at 5 min. However, the agitation score was higher in Group HS than in Group LS at 30 min after arriving in the PACU. The time required to recover from sedation was longer in Group HS than in Group LS.CONCLUSIONS: Face-mask sedation with 1.0% sevoflurane in conjunction with caudal block may be more effective than that with 2.5% sevoflurane in preventing EA.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Child ; Delirium ; Dihydroergotamine ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Humans ; Incidence ; Masks ; Respiration

Management of airway in a child with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) should be given due consideration because most of them have the problems related to difficult airway. The GlideScope video laryngoscope can be attempted during routine intubation, however it is mostly used in case of difficulty. With adequate preoperative airway assessment, we used the pediatric video laryngoscope as useful alternative airway device in a child with CdLS and orotracheal intubation proceeded uneventfully.
Airway Management ; Child ; De Lange Syndrome ; Humans ; Intubation ; Laryngoscopes

Management of airway in a child with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) should be given due consideration because most of them have the problems related to difficult airway. The GlideScope video laryngoscope can be attempted during routine intubation, however it is mostly used in case of difficulty. With adequate preoperative airway assessment, we used the pediatric video laryngoscope as useful alternative airway device in a child with CdLS and orotracheal intubation proceeded uneventfully.

BACKGROUND: In dental intravenous sedation, continuous intravenous infusion of a low-dose drug requires an infusion pump such as a syringe pump. To develop a new syringe pump for clinical use, the functions of the pump must meet certain international standards. Various safety and efficacy tests must be performed on the syringe pump, as stipulated by these standards, and an approval must be received from the approving agency based on such test results. METHODS: The authors of the present study developed a novel syringe pump and performed efficacy evaluation by testing its infusion speed at 1 and 25 ml/h, and infusion performance testing at 2 and 24 h. Moreover, performance evaluation was conducted by comparing the novel pump to an existing pump with the infusion speed varied from 1 to 5 ml/h. RESULTS: In the efficacy testing on the newly developed syringe pump, infusion with the infusion speed initially set to 1 ml/h resulted in infusion speeds of 1.00 and 0.99 ml/h in the 2- and 24-h assessment, respectively. Changing the infusion speed setting to 25 ml/h resulted in an infusion speed of 25.09 and 23.92 ml/h in the 2- and 24-h assessment, respectively. These results show no significant differences when compared with other commercially available pumps. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy testing of the newly developed syringe pump showed the accuracy to be within tolerance. Based on these findings, we believe that the newly developed syringe pump is suitable for clinical use.
Data Accuracy ; Infusion Pumps ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Syringes*