J Korean Clin Nurs Res.  2019 Aug;25(2):107-119. 10.22650/JKCNR.2019.25.2.107.

Study on the Establishment of Fixed Night Shifts and Flexible Work Arrangements for Nurses

• Kim JH
• Choi EJ
• Kim MS
• Yu M
• Jun JH
• Kim YH

• KMID: 2457422
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22650/JKCNR.2019.25.2.107

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the welfare status of nurses and the status of fixed night shifts and flexible work arrangements in both general hospitals and advanced general hospitals in Korea.
METHODS
A total of 167 hospitals participated in this study, done from April to October 2018.
RESULTS
There were 103 hospitals utilizing the fixed night shift system, 22 in the two-shift system, 3 in the fixed holiday shift, 79 in the fixed shift system, and 39 in the short-time working system. The average welfare benefits for nurses increased to 33.02 million won on average. However, welfare services for the nurses were poor: 41.8% of the respondents had a nurses' lounge, 81.7% were given dormitory space at their place of employment, 41.8% had access to welfare facilities, and 56.4% were provided with welfare support countermeasures.
CONCLUSION
The results show an increasing trend of hospitals to utilize fixed night shift and flexible work arrangements. An institutional strategy at the national policy level should be established to implement flexible work arrangements including the fixed night shift system, which has a poor level of welfare.

Keyword

Nurses; Work; Welfare

MeSH Terms

Employment
Holidays
Hospitals, General
Korea
Surveys and Questionnaires