[Predictors of nursing service need for nursing homes residents]

A study on the nursing knowledge, attitude, and performance towards pressure ulcer prevention among nurses in Korea long-term care facilities

This study aimed to investigate Korean nurses' level of knowledge, attitude, and performance of pressure ulcer prevention in long-term care facilities. A descriptive study was performed. Convenience sampling was used, and registered nurses were recruited from the attendees of a continuing education programme for nurses in long-term care facilities. A total of 282 participants (RN) completed the questionnaire. Data were collected from September to December 2015. Nurses participating in this study demonstrated a moderate level of knowledge of pressure ulcer prevention (60.1%) and exhibited positive attitudes towards pressure ulcer prevention (33.80 ± 2.48). Nurses regularly assessed the risk factors of pressure ulcers during the hospitalisation period for all patients in the hospital when performing pressure ulcer prevention care. However, the plan for preventive nursing care was not properly reviewed. It was also found that nurses did not consider changes in the patient's condition as important to why they had to change their nursing plans to prevent pressure ulcer. Therefore, this study suggested that appropriate guidelines, education programmes, and an environment that makes it possible to provide continuing education should be created for nurses to prevent pressure ulcers in Korea's long-term care facilities.

Impact of the nursing home scale on residents' social engagement in South Korea

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to describe the levels of social engagement and to examine the relationship between the nursing home scale groups and social engagement in nursing homes in South Korea.

METHODS

A total of 314 residents were randomly selected from rosters provided by 10 nursing homes located in three metropolitan areas in South Korea. The outcome variable was social engagement measured by the Revised Index of Social Engagement (RISE), and the key independent variable was the nursing home scale (small, medium, and large). Individual factors (age, gender, activities of daily living and cognitive function, and depressive symptoms) and organizational factors (location, ownership, and staffing levels) were controlled in the model as covariates. Multilevel logistic regression was used in this study.

RESULTS

About half of the residents (46%) in this study were not socially engaged in the nursing home (RISE=0) where they resided. Controlling for individual- and organizational-level factors, the nursing home facility size was a significant factor to predict the likelihood of residents' social engagement, with that the residents in large-scale nursing homes being less likely to be socially engaged than those in medium-scale nursing homes (odds ratio = 0.457; p-value = 0.005).

CONCLUSION

This study supports evidence from previous studies that smaller-scale nursing homes are likely to provide more person-centered care compared to larger-scale nursing homes. Subsequent quality studies are needed to examine how the mechanisms for how smaller-scale nursing homes can enhance residents' social engagement in terms of care delivery processes.