Yu Soyoung, Kim Tae Gon
College of Nursing, CHA University, Seongnam, Korea.
J Nurs Manag. 2015 May;23(4):479-86. doi: 10.1111/jonm.12155. Epub 2013 Sep 20.
This study aimed to evaluate registered nurse staffing levels and outcomes enforced by the current Korean nursing regulations.
Registered nurse staffing levels are closely related to patient and nurse outcomes. Thus, the government's policy regarding nursing staffing has a practical impact, and better policies could lead to more appropriate nurse staffing. The actual evaluation of the government-recommended staffing levels in Korea is paramount for the establishment of a realistic and effective system that promotes quality care and patient safety.
The participating hospital operated under the government-recommended staffing levels (Grade 2 of the Graded Fee of Nursing Management Inpatient System). For unit-level evaluations, one surgical unit was chosen and its staffing level was changed by assigning one additional registered nurse for 6 months. Length of hospitalisation, incidents of death, overtime hours and nursing job performance were measured prior to and after the addition of the extra staff.
After 6 months, the length of patient hospitalisation and registered nurse overtime hours reduced and nurse job performance scores in the unit analysed improved.
The results demonstrated that increasing the number of registered nurses beyond the current government-recommended staffing level improves patient and nurse outcomes. This indicates the importance and value of empirically assessing the need for changes in the recommended nurse staffing levels to develop appropriate, realistic and effective policies.
本研究旨在评估韩国现行护理法规所规定的注册护士人员配备水平及成效。
注册护士人员配备水平与患者及护士的结局密切相关。因此，政府有关护理人员配备的政策具有实际影响，更好的政策可带来更合适的护士人员配备。对韩国政府推荐的人员配备水平进行实际评估，对于建立一个促进优质护理和患者安全的切实可行且有效的系统至关重要。
参与研究的医院按照政府推荐的人员配备水平运作（护理管理住院系统分级收费二级）。对于科室层面的评估，选择了一个外科科室，并通过额外分配一名注册护士为期6个月来改变其人员配备水平。在增加额外人员之前和之后，测量住院时间、死亡事件、加班时长以及护理工作表现。
6个月后，患者住院时间和注册护士加班时长减少，且所分析科室的护士工作表现得分有所提高。
结果表明，将注册护士数量增加至超出当前政府推荐的人员配备水平可改善患者和护士的结局。这表明通过实证评估推荐的护士人员配备水平变化需求，以制定合适、切实可行且有效的政策具有重要性和价值。
