Ewha Research Team Develops Real-Time Workload Measurement System for Nurses
- 작성처
- Date2025.10.10
- 10598
Ewha Research Team Develops Real-Time Workload Measurement System for Nurses
A joint research team from Ewha Womans University’s Colleges of Nursing and Engineering has developed a real-time, location-based system designed to objectively assess nursing workload. The study was published in the internationally recognized Journal of Nursing Management (nursing field top 3.1%).
Currently, nurse staffing shortages pose a global challenge. In Korea, the number of patients per nurse is two to five times higher than the OECD average, resulting in a significant workload burden. Traditional methods such as supervisor observation or self-reporting are susceptible to bias and inaccuracies, making them unreliable for workforce planning. To address this, the research team developed a beacon-based system that records nurses’ real-time movement within hospital wards.
The system consists of four components: beacons (data-generating devices), a smartphone app (for nurses), a server, and a database. Beacons installed in key areas, such as hospital rooms, hallways, and medication rooms, emit signals. These signals are captured by nurses’ smartphones, transmitted to a server, and then stored in a database. Experimental results showed a recognition rate of up to 97.5 percent with a setup of 12-15 beacons and one smartphone, demonstrating high accuracy.
This system enables the objective measurement of nurses’ travel distance, working hours, and movement patterns. The research team plans to integrate AI and big data analytics to develop predictive models tailored to hospital types, departments, and shifts. This is expected to optimize staffing, lower turnover, and improve patient safety and overall care quality.
Professor Younhee Kang stated, “This system represents the first technical approach to the precise measurement of nursing workload. It is expected to serve as a core tool for rational workforce allocation and improving the quality of healthcare services.” This research is the outcome of a convergence project supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP), which has been ongoing since 2021.