This study was conducted to examine activities of daily living (ADL) of older adults admitted to Korean long-term care hospitals (LTCHs), and to explore the patient and organizational factors that have an impact on the ADL of this population.

A secondary analysis of the Korean minimum data set (K-MDS) of patients (N=14,369) and of the profiles of LTCHs (N=358) from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service was done between January and July 2008. The outcome variable was ADL score 6 months after baseline assessment. Multi-level linear regression was employed to explore the patient and organizational factors that affected ADL scores.

Of the patients, 45.4% had a baseline ADL score of between 31 and 40, with a score of 40 indicating that the patient was entirely dependent for all items. None of the organizational characteristics were significantly associated with effects on the ADLs of older adults who had been in a LTHC for at least 6 months. However, patient characteristics, such as age, baseline ADL, frequency of physical therapy, urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, pressure ulcers, and having a tube or catheter, were significantly associated with ADL 6 months after baseline.

In order to maintain and improve the ADL of older adults in LTCHs, we should develop strategies to prevent urinary and fecal incontinence, pressure ulcers, unnecessary tubes or catheters, providing adequate physical therapy. Additional studies should include more detailed information regarding nursing staff, including RN hours for direct care, education level and turnover.

To develop and test the validity and reliability of the Korean version of PES-NWI measuring nursing work environments in hospitals.

The Korean version of the PES-NWI was developed through forward-backward translation techniques, and revision based on feedback from focus groups. An internal consistency reliability and construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis were conducted using SPSS WIN (16.0) and AMOS (18.0). Survey data were collected from 733 nurses who worked in three acute care hospitals in Seoul, South Korea.

The Korean version of PES-NWI showed reliable internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha for the total scale of .93. Factor loadings of the 29 items on the five subscales ranged from .28 to .85. The five subscales model was validated by confirmatory factor analysis (RMR<.05, CFI>.9).

The findings of this study demonstrate that the Korean version of PES-NWI has satisfactory construct validity and reliability to measure nursing work environments of hospitals in Korea.