Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the associations of chronic physical disease between patients with severe mental illness (SMI) and the general population of South Korea. Methods: This study was conducted with National Health Insurance Corporation data from 2014 to 2019. A total of 848,058 people were diagnosed with SMI in this period, and the same number of controls were established by matching by sex and age. A descriptive analysis was conducted on the sociodemographic characteristics of patients with SMI. Conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the associations between comorbid physical disease in patients with SMI and those of the general population. SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1 (SAS Inc, Cary, NC, USA) were used to perform all statistical tests. Results: The analysis revealed significant differences in medical insurance, income level, and Charlson Comorbidity Index weighted by chronic physical disease, between patients with SMI and the general population. Conditional logistic regression analysis between the two groups also revealed significant differences in eight chronic physical diseases except hypertensive disease. Conclusion This study confirmed the vulnerability of patients with SMI to chronic physical diseases and we were able to identify chronic physical disease that were highly related to patients with SMI.

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the financial performance research trends in medical institutions and to suggest the necessity and future research direction for financial management from the perspective of nursing organizations. Methods: Financial performance research in medical institutions was extracted by combining the keywords ‘finance’, ‘nursing’, ‘medical’, and ‘hospital’ in three domestic and foreign online databases. 55 studies were finally extracted. Results: Of the 55 studies selected, 41.8% have been published after 2010, and 79.6% have been published in Korea. 83.6% of the studies used financial statements, and 74.5% used the financial ratio. Among the studies on the use of financial statements, 40 balance sheets and 41 profit and loss statements were used. Conclusion There were some limitations in deriving implications for financial performance management at the level of nursing organization. When establishing strategies for future financial performance improvement, it is recommended to prioritize nursing cost optimization and profitability enhancement at the nursing organization level.

Objective: To overcome the limited effectiveness of standard case management services, the Seoul Intensive Case Management program (S-ICM) for patients with serious mental illnesses was introduced in 2017. This study aimed to evaluate its effectiveness in reducing the length of hospital stay. Methods: Monitoring data from April 2019 to March 2020 were retrieved from the Seoul Mental Health Welfare Center. A total of 759 participants with serious mental illnesses were included. The average length of admission per month was compared between the pre-ICM (previous year) and during-ICM periods. For post-ICM observation subgroup, average length of admission per month was compared between pre-ICM, during-ICM, and post-ICM periods. To determine the relative contributions of risk factors for during-ICM and post-ICM admission, multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: The average admission stay for pre-ICM period was significantly longer than that for during-ICM period (1.47 vs. 0.26 days). Among the predictors for during-ICM admission, pre-ICM psychiatric admission was the most important risk factor, followed by medical aid beneficiary and suicidal behavior. In the subgroup analysis of the post-ICM observation period, the pre-ICM, during-ICM, and post-ICM average admission stays were 1.45, 0.29, and 0.57 days/month, respectively. There was a significant difference in the average length of stay between the pre-ICM and during-ICM periods and between the pre-ICM and post-ICM periods. Post-ICM admission risks included pre-ICM admission, S-ICM duration <3 months, and chronic unstable symptoms. Conclusion The results suggest that the S-ICM effectively reduces psychiatric hospitalization duration, at least over a short-term period.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify nursing students’ experience with the Nursing Management Practicum based on the service design concept to provide a basis for an ideal subject design. Methods: This study was a qualitative research that analyzed the experience of students and their clinical instructors based on the blueprint of Nursing Management Practicum. Focus group interviews were conducted with 13 graduates from two nursing schools and 11 clinical instructors from three hospitals. Results: The students went through six stages during the practicum. They met clinical instructors during the ward orientation and learning activities in wards and met school instructors during the general orientation and conference. The students perceived the learning activities and teaching from the clinical instructors in wards as the most important practicum factors. Conclusion This study provided information which helped us to understand nursing students’ experience with the Nursing Management Practicum as the time passed by. This information can be used to improve students’ experience with the practicum and convert the subject into a more learner-centered education.

Purpose: This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify trends in nursing ethics education research for Korean nursing students and nurses. Methods: The data search was conducted in July 2020; domestic and foreign academic journals were targeted for the search. A combination of search terms was entered into major databases, and the year of publishing was limited to the last 10 years (2010~2020). Results: The systematic review analyzed 25 experimental and 13 non-experimental studies, and education methods included lectures, discussions, role play, film-use classes related to nursing ethics, action learning, and case-based learning. The meta-analysis of 12 studies revealed that ethical education has significant differences in effect size of biomedical ethics, critical thinking, moral judgment, and moral sensitivity. A subgroup analysis of education methods showed that in addition to traditional lecture and discussion education methods, there were significant differences in the effect size of sense of biomedical ethics between the following two methods: lecture and discussion including additional methods and lecture and discussion only. Conclusion Ethics education for nursing students and nurses has been found to be effective in improving ethics-related competencies, and various teaching methods other than lectures and discussions must be utilized.