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Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the workplace response system (WRS) against infectious disasters (IDs) based on the response attitudes and capacity of occupational health nurses (OHNs) who worked during the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in South Korea. Methods: Fifty-one participants who had worked as OHNs at the time of the 2015 MERS outbreak were surveyed from November 20 to December 10, 2016. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and McNemaer's test. Results: According to the survey results, the following were lacking in the WRS: a dedicated ID-response team, manuals, related education programs for OHNs, and health education programs for workers. Results also confirmed that workers were vulnerable to new infectious diseases because of the lack of health checkups and support for workers before and after business trips abroad. Among the respondents, 98.0% answered affirmatively that an ID was important for health management in the workplace, but 64.7% answered that it was difficult to manage an ID. The perceived capacity items to respond to IDs ranged from 3.0 points to 3.3 points. This scores were generally high. Conclusion: As the WRS is currently insufficient, it is necessary to develop an adequate WRS to IDs by addressing the identified problems.

Purpose: The study aimed to determine the impact of post-traumatic stress and ways of stress coping on problem drinking in firefighters. Methods: Data were collected from May 11 to June 11, 2015, in fire brigades across South Korea. Participants were 183 male firefighters who used self-report questionnaires containing questions from the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Ways of Coping Checklist (WCC), and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Data were analyzed using x2 test, t-test, and logistic regression with the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. Results: The prevalence of PTSD among firefighters was 36.7% and that of problem drinking was 39.3%. Firefighters with single (OR=0.23, 95% CI=0.038~1.321) and married status (OR=0.46, 95% CI=0.069~3.040) were less likely to have problem drinking than those who were divorced or bereavement. Those with invasion symptoms (OR=1.17, 95% CI=1.031~1.327) and hyperarousal symptoms (OR=0.85, 95% CI=0.722~0.989) were more likely to have problem drinking than those with avoidance symptoms. Conclusion: Post-traumatic stress symptom was a major risk factor that increased problem drinking, and married status reduced problem drinking. There is a need to develop post-traumatic stress symptom management program and early education content for symptom management.

Purpose: This descriptive correlational study investigated the effects of violent experience and resilience on burnout in emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Methods: The participants were 160 EMTs working in fire stations (safety center and local center) located in U, B, and D city. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA, Scheffé test post-hoc analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0. Results: The number of EMTs getting into ambulances was significantly associated with violent experience, resilience, and burnout. Position of EMTs was significantly associated with both resilience and burnout. In the multiple regression analysis, the subscales of durability and optimism in resilience were significantly associated with burnout after controlling for confounding variables. Conclusion: This study indicated that improving durability and optimism in resilience was important to cope with experience of violence and to prevent burnout in EMTs.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationships among job characteristics, knowledge sharing, organizational culture, and organizational commitment in occupational health nurses (OHN) and clinical nurses (CN) to identify factors that might influence organizational commitment. It aimed to contribute to the improvement of knowledge management in health care organizations, including industrial workplaces and hospitals. Methods: A convenience sample of 188 nurses, specifically 100 OHN and 88 CN, was selected. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-tests, correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis. Results: OHNs had a significantly higher education level and current work experience; higher proportion of participants with contract employment status, day work shift, less turnover experience, good lifestyle; and higher scores on organizational culture (3.3±0.61) and organizational commitment (3.1±0.60). Additionally, the correlations among organizational commitment, job characteristics, knowledge sharing, and organizational culture ware higher (r=.38~.57) among OHNs as compared to those among CNs. Further, the organizational commitment of OHNs was significantly influenced by knowledge sharing, organizational culture, working hours, and salary (R2=.32), while that of CNs was influenced by organizational culture and life event stress (R2=.11). Conclusion: There is a need to develop measures to enable nurses to contribute to the improvement of knowledge management in health care organizations as major human resources, by including interventions for the major factors leading to between-group differences in organizational performance.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the individual and working environment- related factors affecting hypertension among middle-aged and elderly self-employed workers in South Korea. Methods: This was a secondary data analysis of data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA). The study sample included 1,319 middle-aged and elderly self-employed workers who were diagnosed without hypertension and older than 45 years at Wave 1 of the KLoSA. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis using SPSS 20.0. Results: About 20% of the middle-aged and elderly self- employed workers were diagnosed with hypertension within about 8 years from the baseline. the significant predictors of hypertension among the participants were age, diabetes mellitus, body mass index, frequency of health examinations, working hours per week, the presence of regular day off, and the type of job. Conclusion: Middle-aged and elderly self-employed workers are vulnerable to work-related health problems. In order to prevent hypertension among self-employed workers, it is necessary to improve the work environment-related factors as well as individual life styles.

Purpose: The study aimed to identify factors influencing work-life balance in female service workers. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with an online survey of 234 service workers using volunteer panels. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire from July 16 to 24, 2017. Major variables included work-life balance, resilience, emotional intelligence, job stress, and fatigue. Using the SPSS 24.0 program, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were conducted. Results: The mean score of the work-life balance level of female service workers was 2.9±0.85 on a total score of 6. A multiple regression analysis revealed that smoking, resilience, job stress and fatigue were statistically significant factors in the model (p<.001), with an explanatory power of 50.3%. Emotional intelligence was not significantly associated with work-life balance. Conclusion: The level of work-life balance was considerably low in female service workers. This study suggests that nursing interventions to enhance work-life balance are required at both the individual and organizational levels.