PURPOSE: This study was performed to analyze the characteristics and trends of published research papers related to infection control in Korean nursing journals. METHODS: A total of 177 studies published between 1970 and 2011 were reviewed using analysis criteria. Subject articles were selected through KoreaMed and journal database searches on the website of subject academic societies using key words related to healthcare-associated infections. RESULTS: Most reports were quantitative studies and the majority of them were descriptive studies. The most common subjects of research were infection control measures for pathogens, followed by disinfection and sterilization, and hand hygiene. Among them, the most descriptive studies were conducted on the knowledge, attitude, and performance of infection control. Theoretical framework, criteria for sample size and ethical consideration were rarely presented in quantitative studies. CONCLUSIONS: To enhance the quality of infection control studies and establish infection control studies as a nursing knowledge body, meta-analyses and systematic literature reviews as well as quantitative studies are needed. Moreover, studies employing behavioral science to identify factors influencing the level of knowledge and practice and to change infection control behaviors are also warranted.
Bibliometrics ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea ; Humans ; *Infection Control ; Nursing Research/standards/*trends ; Periodicals as Topic/*trends ; 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 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: 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 the study was to understand and describe the hospital workers' experience related to the hospital evaluation program implemented in Korea between 2004 and 2009. METHODS: During 2010, data were collected using focus group interviews. Four focus group interviews were held with a total of 28 hospital workers participating. All interviews were recorded and transcribed as they were spoken, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Nine themes emerged from the analysis: 1) Positive change in the necessity of the evaluation; 2) Improvement in the hospital system, facilities, and human resources; 3) Unity through cooperation among departments; 4) Nursing work overload; 5) Lack of physicians' awareness and responsibilities; 6) Unfair and unrealistic evaluation items; 7) Lack of credibility of the outcome; 8) Shifting responsibility for negative outcomes to the workers; 9) Lack of pragmatic utility. CONCLUSION: The results of the study demonstrate that the hospital evaluation program played a key role in improving some work environments and communication among departments. At the same time, they show various negative themes resulting from the context of very authoritarian hospital systems and a connection-oriented society in Korea.
Adult ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Female ; Focus Groups ; Hospitals/*standards/*statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*statistics & numerical data ; Qualitative Research ; Tape Recording

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: This methodological research was designed to develop performance evaluation key indicators (PEKIs) for management by objectives (MBO) and to estimate their weights for hospital nurses. METHODS: The PEKIs were developed by selecting preliminary indicators from a literature review, examining content validity and identifying their level of importance. Data were collected from November 14, 2007 to February 18, 2008. Data set for importance of indicators was obtained from 464 nurses and weights of PEKIs domain was from 453 nurses, who worked for at least 2 yr in one of three hospitals. Data were analyzed using chi-square-test, factor analysis, and the Analytical Hierarchy Process. RESULTS: Based upon Content Validity Index of .8 or above, 61 indicators were selected from the 100 preliminary indicators. Finally, 40 PEKIs were developed from the 61 indicators, and categorized into 10 domains. The highest weight of the 10 domains was customer satisfaction, which was followed by patient education, direct nursing care, profit increase, safety management, improvement of nursing quality, completeness of nursing records, enhancing competence of nurses, indirect nursing care, and cost reduction, in that order. CONCLUSION: PEKIs and their weights can be utilized for impartial evaluation and MBO for hospital nurses. Further research to verify PEKIs would lead to successful implementation of MBO.
Adult ; *Employee Performance Appraisal ; Humans ; Models, Nursing ; Nursing Evaluation Research ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*standards ; Task Performance and Analysis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a balanced scorecard (BSC) for performance measurement of a Korean hospital nursing organization and to evaluate the validity and reliability of performance measurement indicators. METHOD: Two hundred fifty-nine nurses in a Korean hospital participated in a survey questionnaire that included 29-item performance evaluation indicators developed by investigators of this study based on the Kaplan and Norton's BSC (1992). Cronbach's alpha was used to test the reliability of the BSC. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with a structure equation model (SEM) was applied to assess the construct validity of the BSC. RESULT: Cronbach's alpha of 29 items was .948. Factor analysis of the BSC showed 5 principal components (eigen value >1.0) which explained 62.7% of the total variance, and it included a new one, community service. The SEM analysis results showed that 5 components were significant for the hospital BSC tool. CONCLUSION: High degree of reliability and validity of this BSC suggests that it may be used for performance measurements of a Korean hospital nursing organization. Future studies may consider including a balanced number of nurse managers and staff nurses in the study. Further data analysis on the relationships among factors is recommended.
Adult ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Nursing Evaluation Research ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/organization & administration/*standards ; Questionnaires ; Task Performance and Analysis ; Young Adult

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