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Cho and Kim: Determinants of Registered Nurse Skill Mix & Staffing Level in Korea
Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration 2014; 20(1): 10-21.

Published online: 29 January 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11111/jkana.2014.20.1.10

Determinants of Registered Nurse Skill Mix & Staffing Level in Korea

Su-Jin Cho1, Jinhyun Kim2

1College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Korea.

2College of Nursing · The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Korea.

Corresponding author: Kim, Jinhyun. College of Nursing, Seoul National University, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongro-gu, Seoul 110-799, Korea. Tel: +82-2-740-8818, Fax: +82-2-766-1852, jinhyun@snu.ac.kr

Received 4 October 2013       Revised 3 December 2013       Accepted 31 December 2013

Copyright © 2014 Korean Academy of Nursing Administration

(open-access):

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

This study was done to identify determinants of registered nurse (RN) skill mix and staffing level focused on hospital characteristics.

Methods

Data were obtained from health insurance claims data and hospital reporting system in the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) for the year 2010. Data from 2,998 hospitals were analysed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis.

Results

The RN skill mix and staffing level were positively related to hospital size and the percentage of inpatients to total patients. RN skill mix and staffing level were statistically different across regions. Including nursing aides (NA), however, there was no difference in staffing levels across regions. Medically vulnerable regions, bed operation rate, and the number of patients per doctor were also related to RN skill mix and staffing level.

Conclusion

The statically significant determinants of RN skill mix and staffing level included hospital size, region, bed operation rate, percentage of inpatients, doctor-patient ratio. Further study needs to be done to investigate factors including RN supply and wages.

Keywords: Nursing staff, Skill-mix, Staffing level, Hospital

Figures and Tables

Table 1
General Characteristics of Hospitals (N=2,298)
jkana-20-10-i001

RN=Registered nurse; NA=Nurse assistant; CT=Computerized tomography; MRI=Magnetic resonance imaging.

Table 2
Distribution of Hospitals and Nurse Skill Mix and Staffing Level according to Hospital Characteristics
jkana-20-10-i002

RN=Registered nurse; NA=Nurse assistant.

Table 3
Relationship between Nurse Skill Mix and Staffing Level and Hospital Characteristics
jkana-20-10-i003

RN=Registered nurse; NA=Nurse assistant; CT=Computerized tomography; MRI=Magnetic resonance imaging.

Table 4
Hospital Factors affecting to Nurse Skill Mix
jkana-20-10-i004

RN=Registered nurse; NA=Nurse assistant; CT=Computerized tomography; MRI=Magnetic resonance imaging.

Table 5
Hospital Factors affecting Nurse Staffing Level
jkana-20-10-i005

RN=Registered nurse; NA=Nurse assistant; CT=Computerized tomography; MRI=Magnetic.

Notes

This study was conducted with the assistance of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service for their help with database.

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