PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among knowledge and attitude toward palliative care and perception of death for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurses. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with 110 nurses who work in NICUs in South Korea. The participants filled out a questionnaire regarding their knowledge, attitude towards palliative care and perception of death. The attitude scale was divided into 3 subscales: comfort level, nurses' role and nurses' involvement with family. RESULTS: Comfort level regarding attitude towards palliative care was positively correlated with knowledge (r=.220, p=.016) and the perception of death (r=.194, p=.042). Nurses' role showed a positive correlation with perception of death (r=.395, p=.001). CONCLUSION: NICU nurses' knowledge of palliative care was below standard across the board, implying that there is a definite need for palliative care education for nurses. The education program for palliative care should include a section that focuses on fostering a positive perception of death as well as defining and delineating the role of nurses.
Education ; Foster Home Care ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal* ; Intensive Care, Neonatal* ; Korea ; Palliative Care*

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the clinical characteristics and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) findings of firefighters suffering from partial posttraumatic stress disorder (partial PTSD). They were treated by eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and the treatment effect was evaluated. METHODS: A total of 116 firefighters were screened and 15 of them were diagnosed as partial PTSD. 1) We compared sociodemographic and psychological characteristics between the firefighter partial PTSD group and the firefighter control group. 2) Subjects in the firefighter partial PTSD group (n=10), firefighter control group (n=8), and general control group (n=12) underwent fMRI with traumatic, negative, positive, and neutral picture stimuli. We compared clinical characteristics and fMRI findings among these three groups. 3) Seven firefighters in the partial PTSD group were treated by EMDR and the treatment effect was evaluated according to psychological scales. RESULTS: In fMRI analysis, there was a left middle temporal/occipital activation in the order of the general control group, firefighter control group, than the firefighter partial PTSD group for the Traumatic-Baseline contrast. For the Negative-Baseline contrast, there was an increased left middle temporal/occipital activation in the general control group versus decreased activation in the firefighter control group and the firefighter partial PTSD group. All firefighters in the partial PTSD group treated by EMDR showed significant improvement of Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale scores. CONCLUSION: These results show high incidence rate of partial PTSD in firefighters. In addition, partial PTSD firefighters exhibited distinct clinical characteristics and fMRI findings and showed significant improvement by EMDR treatment.
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing ; Eye Movements* ; Firefighters* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Occipital Lobe ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* ; Temporal Lobe ; Weights and Measures