PURPOSE: This study was aimed at understanding the nature of the suffering of families with patients in mental health nursing homes and hoped to contribute to the rehabilitation process of those with a chronic mental disorder. METHOD: Research methodology was based upon Parse's human becoming research methodology. RESULTS: a) Despite the despair the family feels by the violence caused by their now-institutionalized relative, they also realize anew the importance of their role as protectors b) Although they fear social stigmatization they also try to be supportive, out of guilt feelings; c) They regret their severe rearing style and wish to be more sympathetic, d) They find courage and hope through family therapy, which leads to a better understanding of the illness, e) With hopes of rehabilitation, the family members feel happy and go through an emotional release, by sharing the pain with each other. CONCLUSION: Families of nursing home residents share a focus on the process of human-health-universe. This is a positive, 'human-becoming' process with which, based on past feelings of despair, fear, resignation, and pain, one can render meaning into his or her experiences in the present in the pursuit of love, conquest, hope, liberty and success.
Caregivers/*psychology ; Chronic Disease ; *Family Nursing ; Family Relations ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Nursing Homes ; Nursing Methodology Research/*methods ; Psychiatric Nursing ; Schizophrenia/*nursing

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning and nature of pain experienced among patients with chronic pain. The present study adopted a hermeneutic phenomenological method which was developed by van Manen. METHOD: The participants for this study were 4 men and 5 women, who were over the age of 20 with chronic pain more than 6 months. Data was collected by using in-depth interviews and observations from September, 2004 to December, 2004.The contents of the interviews were tape-recorded with the consent of the subject. RESULT: The essential themes that fit into the context of the 4 existential grounds of body, time, space and other people were 'untamed and unremitting pain', 'the body as an obstacle', 'continuity of suffering time as if the moment would never end', 'a narrow radial range of action' and 'separating from other people'. CONCLUSION: Patients with chronic pain experienced and perceived the world through the filter of their pain. It is necessary for nurses to understand the experiences of chronic pain patients and to provide more empathic, supportive care. Further research is needed on nursing interventions that could help chronic patients cope with and find the meaning in their suffering.
Pain Measurement ; Pain/nursing/*psychology ; Nursing Care ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Low Back Pain/nursing/*psychology ; Humans ; Female ; *Extremities ; Chronic Disease ; Aged ; Adult ; Adaptation, Psychological

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to help families decrease and alleviate the burden on family care-givers taking care of elderly patients. METHOD: Data was collected by a questionnaire from 100 family members who were registered in the department of home health care nursing at 4 hospitals of H University Medical Center from September 20 to October 25, 2005. The collected data was analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, t-test and One-Way ANOVA with the Duncan's test, and Stepwise multiple regression. RESULT: The average burden on family care-givers of elderly patients with chronic diseases was 3.31. The social burden was the highest(M=3.68), the lowest was the emotional burden (M=2.95). In ADL of elderly patients with chronic diseases, all 10 questions showed an average point above 2.50. The dependency level of going up and down the stairs was the highest (M=2.88). CONCLUSION: This research is necessary for the application of a plan in the social support system in order to reduce the burden on family care-givers who are taking care of elderly patients with a chronic disease.
*Activities of Daily Living ; Adult ; Aged ; Body Burden ; Caregivers/*psychology ; Chronic Disease/*nursing/psychology ; Cost of Illness ; Dependency (Psychology) ; *Family ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Questionnaires ; Regression Analysis ; Social Behavior

OBJECTIVES: This study examined job satisfaction, empowerment, job stress, and burnout among tuberculosis management nurses and physicians in public healthcare institutions. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study analyzing survey data collected from 249 nurses and 57 physicians in 105 public health centers, three public tuberculosis hospitals, and one tertiary hospital. The survey questionnaire comprised general characteristics, work-related characteristics, and four index scales (job satisfaction, empowerment, job stress, and burnout). The two-sample t-test was used to estimate the mean differences in the four index scales. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether general and work-related characteristics affected the four index scales. RESULTS: The job satisfaction and empowerment scores of the nurses were lower than those of the physicians. Except for the tuberculosis-specialized hospitals alone, the average job satisfaction scores of nurses were higher than those of physicians. Moreover, the nurses reported more job stress and burnout than did the physicians in tuberculosis departments in public healthcare institutions in Korea; in particular, the burnout reported by nurses was significantly higher than that reported by physicians at the National Medical Center. Marital status, nursing position, number of coworkers, the average number of days of overtime work per month, self-rated health, and hospital type were associated with the four index scales. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, nurses were more vulnerable to job stress and burnout than physicians. Reducing the workload of nurses by ensuring the presence of sufficient nursing staff and equipment, as well as by equipping facilities to prevent tuberculosis infections, should be considered priorities.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Delivery of Health Care ; Hospitals, Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction* ; Korea ; Marital Status ; Nursing ; Nursing Staff ; Power (Psychology) ; Public Health ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tuberculosis* ; Weights and Measures