PURPOSE: This study was to evaluate the strengthening process of advanced beginner's nursing competence through the concept mapping methods. METHODS: This study was conducted with focus group study for 1 month from November to December 2012 (n=5). Data were analyzed through open coding, axial coding and selection coding stage. RESULTS: Advanced beginner to represent the experience of nursing empowerment and the three categories of the nine concepts were derived. The first category is 'able to see the entire search.' This concept is to start a search query, the search process of thinking, behavior change is expected. The second category is 'behavior change through the acquisition of knowledge.', and this concept is the embodiment of knowledge, confidence rising, and action changing. The third category is 'nursing empowerment', the aesthetic, ethical, and personal knowledge acquisition, as well as self-growth. CONCLUSION: Advanced beginner saw the full flow through the concept mapping and obtained knowledge, and changed behavior. Thus, the concept mapping is effective to strengthen the nursing competence.
Clinical Coding ; Focus Groups* ; Humans ; Mental Competency* ; Nursing* ; Power (Psychology) ; Thinking

PURPOSE: For this study an examination was done of relationships between intensive care unit (ICU) nurses' knowledge related to sedation and their clinical competencies in sedation practice. METHODS: Ninety one ICU nurses were recruited from two tertiary hospitals in South Korea. A self-report questionnaire was used to examine the levels of knowledge related to sedation and nursing practice competence based on Ajzen's theory of planned behavior. Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlations were performed using the IBM SPSS 21.0 RESULTS: ICU nurses are more knowledgeable about general information on sedation rather than up-to-date information. Continuing education on sedation was related to difference in knowledge levels. However, the levels of knowledge were not related to competence in sedation practice. Instead, a positive attitude toward sedation practice was significantly related to the subjective norms; orders and goals, perceived behavioral control, practice of sedation, and intention to use. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide fundamental information on levels of knowledge related to sedation practices of Korean ICU nurses. Continuing education should emphasize up-to-date information on sedation practice and need for positive attitudes which influence all other competencies towards sedation practices to achieve optical care of sedation in the ICU.
Clinical Competence ; Clinical Protocols ; Critical Care ; Education, Continuing ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Intensive Care Units ; Intention ; Korea ; Mental Competency ; Nursing ; Tertiary Care Centers

Background and Objectives: The 10-item Standardized Cosmesis and Health Nasal Outcomes Survey (SCHNOS) is a recently developed questionnaire for assessing both nasal obstruction and nasal cosmetic satisfaction. It is widely used in rhinoplasty clinics based on its high level of reliability and efficacy in Western countries. In this study we evaluated the validity of the Korean version of the SCHNOS (K-SCHNOS).Subjects and Method The SCHNOS was translated into easily-understandable Korean following the guideline of the developers. Twenty-seven patients undergoing rhinoplasty and a control group of 29 non-rhinoplasty patients completed K-SCHNOS twice at intervals of 2 weeks regardless of pre- or postoperative state. The K-SCHNOS was evaluated for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity. Results: Of the 56 study participants, 39 (69.6%) were male and 17 (30.4%) were female, with the mean (standard deviation) age of 33.5 (12.9) years. Both obstructive domain and cosmetic domains showed high internal consistency with their respective Cronbach’α values being 0.92 and 0.91. The correlations in the test-retest analysis for each item were acceptable, ranging from 0.6-0.82. The association between the obstructive domain and cosmetic domain was 0.48 (95% confidence interval, 0.32-0.61), indicating a very weak correlation. Conclusion The K-SCHNOS has proven to be a reliable and valid questionnaire to be used by Korean-speaking patients undergoing functional or cosmetic rhinoplasty.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to cigarette smoking (CS) is a major risk factor for the development of lung cancer. CS is known to cause oxidative DNA damage and mutation of tumor-related genes, and these factors are involved in carcinogenesis. 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is considered to be a reliable biomarker for oxidative DNA damage. Increased levels of 8-OHdG are associated with a number of pathological conditions, including cancer. There are no reports on the expression of 8-OHdG by immunohistochemistry in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: We investigated the expression of 8-OHdG and p53 in 203 NSCLC tissues using immunohistochemistry and correlated it with clinicopathological features including smoking. RESULTS: The expression of 8-OHdG was observed in 83.3% of NSCLC. It was significantly correlated with a low T category, negative lymph node status, never-smoker, and longer overall survival (p < .05) by univariate analysis. But multivariate analysis revealed that 8-OHdG was not an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in NSCLC patients. The aberrant expression of p53 significantly correlated with smoking, male, squamous cell carcinoma, and Ki-67 positivity (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of 8-OHdG was associated with good prognostic factors. It was positively correlated with never-smokers in NSCLC, suggesting that oxidative damage of DNA cannot be explained by smoking alone and may depend on complex control mechanisms.
Carcinogenesis ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; DNA ; DNA Damage ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Tobacco Products