Young Suk Park

Purpose: Nature-based interventions have increasingly been explored as strategies to promote workers’ health and well-being. However, both the characteristics of such research and its practical application among Korean workers have not been systematically examined. This study aimed to conduct a scoping review of nature-based interventions and related research in this population.Methods: Following the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for scoping reviews, studies were searched in three databases: RISS (Research Information Sharing Service), DBpia, and ScienceON. Studies published in KCI (Korea Citation Index)-indexed journals were included. A total of 41 studies were analyzed to identify research trends, theoretical frameworks, types of nature, applied activities, and related variables at the individual, job, and organizational levels.Results: Nature-based interventions and related research among workers have grown steadily since 2011, accompanied by an increasing number of experimental studies evaluating intervention effects. However, despite this progress, the explicit application of theoretical frameworks and the integration of job- and organizational-level contextual factors remain limited. Most studies have focused on green spaces, while research addressing diverse natural environments, including blue spaces, was scarce. Furthermore, the literature has primarily examined individual-level psychosocial and physiological outcomes, with comparatively little attention given to job- and organizational-level variables.Conclusion: Although nature-based interventions and related research among Korean workers are increasing, further studies are warranted to strengthen theoretical frameworks, incorporate job and organizational context variables, and explore diverse types of nature to optimize the development and efficacy of nature-based strategies for workplace health promotion.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the characteristics and relationships among nurses’ spiritual well-being, self-perceived spiritual needs, nursing work environment, and spiritual care practice in long-term care hospitals. Methods: Participants were 235 nurses working at 16 long-term care hospitals with 300 or more beds located in the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions. Data were collected from February 17 to June 27, 2025, through an online survey platform, with a paper questionnaire provided upon request. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were performed. Results: Significant correlations were identified among spiritual care practice, nurses’ spiritual well-being, self-perceived spiritual needs, and the nursing work environment. In the final regression model, factors influencing spiritual care practice were meaning and purpose (β=0.23, p=.017), existential well-being (β=-0.20, p=.007), marital status (β=-0.19, p=.001), spiritual care education in the current hospital (β=0.17, p=.013), and staffing and resource adequacy (β=0.15, p=.037), explaining 35% of the variance. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of developing and implementing spiritual care programs that promote a sense of meaning and purpose, address nurses’ spiritual needs, and thoughtfully support their existential well-being, while ensuring adequate staffing levels and resource allocation within long-term care hospitals. Integrating structured spiritual care education and supportive organizational systems into nursing practice may enhance the quality of holistic care provided to older adults in long-term care hospitals.

Nurses working amid the COVID-19 pandemic are at increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study was conducted to verify the reliability and validity of the Korean version of Impact of Event Scale—Revised (IES-R), one of the most used tools for assessing trauma. Secondary data of 249 nurses who performed face-to-face nursing tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic, collected through an online survey, were analyzed by conducting a factor analysis of the K-IES-R and testing the internal consistency and concurrent validity with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7), and Dimensions of Anger Reactions-5 (DAR-5). The result of an exploratory factor analysis of the K-IES-R supported a three-factor structure of intrusion, avoidance, and sleep disturbance, with CMIN/DF = 2.98, RMSEA = 0.09, SRMR = 0.03, CFI = 0.93, and TLI = 0.90. The Cronbach’s alpha of each subscale was 0.88–0.94. The total K-IES-R score and each factor’s value showed a significant correlation (moderate or higher) with the PSS, GAD-7, and DAR-5. The K-IES-R was verified as a useful tool for assessing post-traumatic stress symptoms in nurses who directly perform nursing tasks in crises such as COVID-19. This study suggests the tool be used for early assessment of post-traumatic stress symptoms in nurses and providing appropriate interventions.

Yuri Song, Young Suk Park. Stress 2020;28:246-53. https://doi.org/10.17547/kjsr.2020.28.4.246

So Li Kim, Young Suk Park. Stress 2020;28:33-9. https://doi.org/10.17547/kjsr.2020.28.1.33

Young Suk Park. Stress 2018;26:149-58. https://doi.org/10.17547/kjsr.2018.26.3.149

Lee JM, et al. J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2017 Mar;26(1):67-76. https://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2017.26.1.67

Kim JH, et al. J Korean Acad Nurs Adm. 2015 Jan;21(1):111-121. http://dx.doi.org/10.11111/jkana.2015.21.1.111

YoungSuk Park. Korean J Str Res 2014;22:221-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.17547/kjsr.2014.22.4.221