PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine medical professionals' perception and knowledge of hospice and palliative care (HPC) and attitude toward death. METHODS: The survey was performed on 84 physicians and 172 nurses in Busan, Korea. Data were collected from April 5, 2012 to April 30, 2012. RESULTS: Regarding the purpose of HPC, the most popular perception was "To alleviate pain and accommodate comfort" among both physicians and nurses. For the need for HPC, "Terminal patients need a separate ward for emotional fluctuation" the answer chosen by both groups the most. Both groups scored low on knowledge of HPC. For pain and symptom management, physicians scored higher than nurses (physicians: 6.97+/-1.82, nurses: 5.68+/-1.93, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Considering the survey results, we suggest development of a program to improve medical professionals' perception and knowledge of HPC and attitude toward death.
Hospice Care* ; Hospices* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Palliative Care

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to analyze a trend in studies of hospice care in Korea and to suggest future research directions. METHODS: This study analyzed a total of 183 studies related to hospice care which were found at http://www.riss.kr. RESULTS: Of the 183 studies, 62 (33.9%) were for thesis studies for a degree, 121 (66.1%) for academic journals. There were 159 (87.8%) quantitative studies, 18 (8.9%) qualitative studies, and 6 (3.3%) Q-Method studies. The most frequently used study design was a descriptive study. The majority of study participants were terminal cancer patients, patients' family members and health care personnel. The thesis articles were searched by using key words as follows: health, nursing, environment, children's hospice, and others. CONCLUSION: The number of studies of hospice care has increased, and research key words varied. Furthermore, more experimental research is needed on nursing intervention such as pain relief, alternative therapies and hospice care for children.
Child ; Complementary Therapies ; Delivery of Health Care ; Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Humans ; Korea

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of self-efficacy and depression on the sense of family coherence in both cancer patients and their caregivers using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) analysis.METHODS: A total of 274 patients were registered in the study, including 137 cancer patients who were undergoing chemotherapy in a day care ward and 137 primary caregivers. The data was collected from December 30, 2017 to July 30, 2018. Data were analyzed by the data analysis method using SPSS/WIN 20.0 (SPSS Korea Data Solution Inc) and AMOS 21.0 (SPSS Korea Data Solution Inc).RESULTS: Self-efficacy of cancer patients had a direct effect on patient depression (β=−.24, p=.008). Self-efficacy of primary caregivers also had a direct effect on patient depression (β=−.51, p < .001). Factors significantly affecting cancer patient FSOC were cancer patient self-efficacy (β=.34, p < .001) and cancer patient depression (β=−.42, p < .001). Factors significantly affecting primary caregiver FSOC (Family Sense of Coherence) were cancer patient self-efficacy (β=.13, p=.026) and caregiver depression (β=−.29, p=.008).CONCLUSION: It is thought that self-efficacy and depression should be controlled to improve the family cohesion of cancer patients and their primary caregivers.
Caregivers ; Day Care, Medical ; Depression ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Korea ; Methods ; Sense of Coherence ; Statistics as Topic

PURPOSE: This study is done to investigate the attitudes of teachers toward mental illness and to provide appropriate information about mental illness. METHODS: The participants were 228 teachers recruited from 15 elementary schools in the National Capital region and B metropolitan city. Data were collected from October to December, 2013 and analyzed using t-test, ANOVA and Scheffee test with SPSS 18.0. RESULTS: Neutral attitudes (77.4+/-7.79) toward mental illness were shown among the teachers. A negative attitude for stereotyping (23.2+/-6.08), a positive attitude for optimism (19.3+/-3.01) and neutral attitudes for coping (19.3+/-1.92) and understanding (15.6 +/-3.05) were revealed. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that elementary school teachers have neutral attitudes towards mental illness which is closely related to the experience of learning about mental illness. Thus, when teachers learn about mental illness they can understand and guide children who have unusual behaviors.
Child ; Humans ; Learning ; Mentally Ill Persons ; Stereotyping

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning and nature of the experience of mentally disabled persons living in group homes. Methods: Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews with six mentally disabled persons from April to October in 2017. The data were analyzed using hermeneutic phenomenological methodology based on four fundamental existential concepts: that lived space, lived body, lived time, and lived others. Results: Ten essential themes emerged: lived space-settle down in a strange environment, wish for my independent space in a daily routine; lived body-make a balance between soul and body, lead normal daily life by myself; lived time-rewrite my life; lived others-unapproachable relationship, meet my advocators. Conclusion The meaning of living in group homes as mentally disabled persons was ‘living as an ordinary person’. This information would be useful in providing interventions to enable such people to return to the community.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the interpersonal caring program for young North Korean defectors which we developed based on Kim's interpersonal caring technique. Methods: This study employs a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The subjects of this study are 36 young North Korean defectors living in three areas. The participants are recruited through alternative schools, churches, and acquaintances. The experimental group consists of 20 participants and the control group consists of 16 participants. Experiments are conducted by four days. Specifically, the experiments are conducted eight times and each takes about 120 minutes. Furthermore, we run the camp for two nights and three days. We test our hypothesis by using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Independent t-test, Paired t-test, and Independent t-test. Results: All the test statistics support our hypotheses such as self-esteem (t=1.87, p=.035), mental health (t=-1.69, p=.049), interpersonal relationships (t=1.93, p=.031), and quality of life (t=1.88, p=.034). Conclusion We found that the interpersonal caring program developed in this study is effective in improving North Korean defectors’ self-esteem, mental health, interpersonal relationships, and quality of life.

PURPOSE: This study is aimed to investigate the relationship among terminal care stress, job satisfaction and terminal care performance nurses in internal medicine wards and to provide a basis to improve terminal care performance. METHODS: This is a descriptive study performed with 201 nurses who have at least one year of experience and are stationed at the internal medicine department of three general hospitals and three university hospitals in P city of a metropolitan city B. The nurses also had an experience with a dying patient. Data were collected from March 1 through March 31, 2014. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Kosin University. RESULTS: Job satisfaction was negatively correlated with stress in end-of-life care (r=-212, P=0.003) and positively correlated with terminal care performance (r=0.383, P<0.001). There was no correlation between terminal care stress and terminal care performance. CONCLUSION: Appropriate programs are needed to improve job satisfaction for high quality terminal care performance.
Ethics Committees, Research ; Hospitals, General ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Internal Medicine* ; Job Satisfaction* ; Stress, Psychological ; Terminal Care*

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify family burden, resilience, spiritual well-being and quality of life of primary caregivers of people with mental illness. METHODS: Participants were 160 primary caregivers of people with mental illness being treated at one of three mental health clinics in Busan. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe test, Pearson's correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: Quality of life was positively correlated with resilience (r=.55, p=.006), spiritual well-being (r=.41, p<.001), and negatively correlated with family burden (r=-.28, p<.001). Factors influencing quality of life were resilience (β=.36), family monthly income (β=.24), support from others (β=.20) and education (β=.18). The explanatory power of these factors for quality of life of primary caregivers of people with mental illness was 45%. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that resilience is the most important factor affecting quality of life of primary caregivers of people with mental illness. Therefore, the development of nursing interventions to improve resilience and enhance the quality of life of primary caregivers is necessary.
Busan ; Caregivers* ; Education ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Nursing ; Quality of Life*

PURPOSE: This study aimed to understand the experiences of married North Korean women's child-rearing, working lives, and their home and work environment in depth.METHODS: This study adopted van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological method to qualitatively analyze data. The participants were 8 married North Korean women defectors. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and observations from July 4 to August 20, 2018.RESULTS: Nine essential themes emerged: more personal challenges after overcoming a life-threatening crisis; hopes of firmly settling in this land; the wound from the north, which chased them here; a body that becomes stronger through hardship; being stuck in a past full of anxiety and pain; the present is full of hope; hope for the future; sense of alienation from coworkers that cannot be overcome; and sense of power to endure an exhausting work life.CONCLUSION: This study provided a broader understanding of the life and experiences of married women from North Korea. It highlights the need for nurses to recognize their importance in nursing care. The study also suggests that academic and practical approaches for nursing, and basic data for a nursing intervention for married women from North Korea be provided. The study findings can be used as a basis for preparing a national policy that will help North Korean defectors to find employment and gain stability.
Anxiety ; Child ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Employment ; Female ; Hermeneutics ; Hope ; Humans ; Methods ; Nursing ; Nursing Care ; Qualitative Research ; Wounds and Injuries

PURPOSE: This study aimed to understand the experiences of married North Korean women's child-rearing, working lives, and their home and work environment in depth. METHODS: This study adopted van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological method to qualitatively analyze data. The participants were 8 married North Korean women defectors. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and observations from July 4 to August 20, 2018. RESULTS: Nine essential themes emerged: more personal challenges after overcoming a life-threatening crisis; hopes of firmly settling in this land; the wound from the north, which chased them here; a body that becomes stronger through hardship; being stuck in a past full of anxiety and pain; the present is full of hope; hope for the future; sense of alienation from coworkers that cannot be overcome; and sense of power to endure an exhausting work life. CONCLUSION This study provided a broader understanding of the life and experiences of married women from North Korea. It highlights the need for nurses to recognize their importance in nursing care. The study also suggests that academic and practical approaches for nursing, and basic data for a nursing intervention for married women from North Korea be provided. The study findings can be used as a basis for preparing a national policy that will help North Korean defectors to find employment and gain stability.