A study was done to identify the differences of women's perception of fatigue according to the period of pregnancy. Questionnaires were collected from 510 normal pregnant women in 3 University Hospitals in Korea from April to November of 1999. The questionnaires used to measure pregnant women's fatigue were the "Subjective Symptoms of Fatigue Test" designed by the Research Committee of Industrial Fatigue in Hygienic Association of Japanese Industry. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS-Win. The results revealed that there was a significant difference according to the periods of pregnancy: The degree of fatigue was the highest in the first trimester and then third and second trimester in decreasing order (F=89.53, p=0.000). The degree of fatigue was also compared with the respect to the general characteristics of women: There were statistically significant differences according to number of pregnancy (t=6.41, p=0.000), expectation of pregnancy (t=-291, p=0.004) and weight change (F=8.07, p=0.000). Therefore, variable nursing intervention should be provided to alleviate the fatigue according to the each trimester of pregnant period. Especially the nursing intervention program to alleviate the physical fatigue in the first trimester is necessary.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Fatigue* ; Female ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Korea ; Nursing ; Pregnancy Trimester, First ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The Purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of breastfeeding using a phenomenological research methodology. The sample consisted of 9 primiparous mothers who had breastfed their babies at least for 3 consecutive months. Data were collected from January 10 to February 28, 1998 through interviewing. The research question was "What was the meaning of breastfeeding to breastfeeding mothers?" Responses to non-structured open-ended question was audio-recorded during the interview. Data were analyzed using the phenomenological method of Colazzi. From the protocols, significant statements about meaning of breastfeeding were clustered into 8 themes. Mothers perceived meaning of breastfeeding as feeling of unification through tie, expression of love, gift, nutritional supplement, duty as a mother, nurturing, mystery, and identity. From the results of this study, breastfeeding mothers perceived breastfeeding positively, so nurses need to encourage mothers to breastfeed her baby and develop program which can promote successful breastfeeding.
Breast Feeding* ; Humans ; Love ; Mothers* ; Research Design

PURPOSE: This study was done to develop a sexual health education program for unmarried mothers that were intended to provide the correct sexual knowledge, to help them establish positive sexual perception and to improve sexual health. The program was applied and its effect was evaluated. METHOD: One group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research design was applied to evaluate the effect of a sexual health education program unmarried mothers. The research team developed a 34 hour program of 16 units, where the basic schemes were human development, relationships, personal skills, sexual behavior, sexual health, and society & culture. We applied the program to 32 unmarried mothers in the Institute for unmarried mothers in Gangwon-do, Korea from April 19, 2004 to June 14, 2004. RESULT: After the application of an 8 week sexual health education program, the subjects significantly showed a better perception of self-efficiency, self-esteem, sexual knowledge and sexual behavior than before the program. CONCLUSION: The sexual health education program for unmarried mother in this study was effective on improving sexual perception and promoting sexual health behavior.
Education* ; Gangwon-do ; Health Education ; Human Development ; Humans ; Illegitimacy* ; Korea ; Reproductive Health* ; Research Design ; Sexual Behavior ; Sexuality ; Single Person*

PURPOSE: This study was to investigate the types and seriousness of pregnancy-related physical and psychological symptoms among pregnant couples. METHOD: Subjects consisted of 77 pregnant couples at one hospital in Seoul, Korea. The pregnant couples had not been diagnosed with any medical complications. Data were analyzed by the SPSS WIN program. RESULT: In the degree of physical and psychological symptoms of pregnancy experienced by subjects, the mean score of perceived physical symptoms (2.40, 1.86) was higher than the mean score of psychological symptoms (2.13, 1.83) for both pregnant women and their spouses. In the couple's difference of physical and psychological symptoms of pregnancy experienced by subjects, there were not statistically significant differences in the physical symptoms: "I have hemorrhoids" (t=1.91, p=.06), "My body weight decreased" (t=1.78, p=.08), "I have colds more often" (t=1.77, p=.08), and "I became more active than ordinary times" (t=1.99, p=.05) or in the psychological symptoms: "I am more elated than ordinary times" (t=.83, p=.41), and "I feel inferior" (t=1.62, p=.11). Therefore, these symptoms are coincidental between couples. In the difference of physical and psychological symptoms of pregnancy experienced by subjects according to general characteristics, there were not significant differences. In the relationship between physical and psychological symptoms experienced by subjects, there were statistically significant correlations between subject's physical symptoms and psychological symptoms (r=.54, p< .001; r=.78, p< .001). CONCLUSION: Physical and psychological symptoms of pregnancy experienced by pregnant couples are an issue for nurses who perform an important role in the care of pregnant women and their spouses
Body Weight ; Family Characteristics* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Seoul ; Spouses

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a physical exercise program using elastic bands in rural area women. METHOD: This study adopted a pre-post test design. The subjects were 89 rural area women who were selected from four community health care centers. The physical exercise program was executed 30 times for 10 weeks (3 times a week) from August 23 to October 31, 2003. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the attitude of physical exercise (t=-5.517, p=.000). In the degree of joint pain, there were significant differences in the flextion and extension of the shoulder joint (t=2.557, p=.020; t=5.625, p=.000), and there was a significant difference in the flextion of the knee joint (t=4.747, 0=.000) but there was no significant difference in the extension of the knee joint (t=1.795, p=.083). CONCLUSION: Physical exercise programs need to be implemented and spread continuously.
Arthralgia* ; Community Health Services ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Exercise* ; Female ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; Shoulder Joint

PURPOSE: This study was done to develop and evaluate multilingual education materials to promote health and adaptation to pregnancy for immigrant women in Korea. METHODS: This study had three procedures: First, contents of the education materials were developed according to pregnant women's needs, literature reviews, and group discussion. Details in contents were constructed based on Roy's adaptation model; Second, validity verification and translation of education materials were accomplished; Third, evaluation of the education materials was done through a survey of immigrant women. RESULTS: The education materials were developed in six languages (Korean, English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Cambodian). The title is "Healthy mother, happy family: eight-step guide to a healthy pregnancy". It was composed of an eight-step guide to healthy pregnancy, self-examination check list, websites for childbirth education and information, and guidelines on education materials in a brochure. In the evaluation, the average response score for the questionnaire items was high (3.23 on a four-point Likert scale). The average score for Cambodian immigrants was the highest of all immigrant women. CONCLUSION: Multilingual education materials developed in this research will help community health nurses to manage pregnancies for immigrant women and will be useful for health education for these women.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Education* ; Emigrants and Immigrants* ; Female ; Health Education ; Humans ; Korea ; Mothers ; Multilingualism ; Nurses, Community Health ; Pamphlets ; Pregnancy* ; Prenatal Education ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Self-Examination

Purpose: With Korea’s recent rapid change into a multicultural society, cultural competence is being emphasized as a core nursing competency. This study investigated the effects of a cultural nursing course that aimed to enhance the cultural competence of nursing students in Korea. Methods: This was a single-group pre- and post-comparison study. The subjects were 69 nursing students at Dongyang University who attended a cultural nursing course in 2015, of whom 62 students responded to the survey. The 13-week cultural nursing course was held for 2 hours a week. The methods of the course included small group activities, discussions and presentations, experiential learning, reflective activities, and lectures. Nursing students’ cultural competence was measured pre- and post-course with the Cultural Competence Scale for Korean Nurses, which contains 33 items scored on a 7-point Likert scale. Results: After completing the cultural nursing course, students’ total cultural competence scores increased, as did their scores in each category (cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural sensitivity, and cultural skills) (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in cultural competence by gender (P<0.001). Conclusion This cultural nursing course was found to be effective in enhancing the cultural competence of nursing students. Therefore, the educational program developed in this study can be extended to other university-level nursing programs in Korea.

PURPOSE: This study was done to develop a reliable and appropriate evaluation tool for sexual educational materials and to apply it to video materials for recommendation of excellent materials. METHOD: The items of the content for evaluation were based on the previous studies on the sexual education and evaluation tools. After testing validity and reliability of tool, final evaluation tool for sexual educational materials was developed. The evaluation tool was applied to 84 video materials and the excellent materials were recommended. RESULT: The final evaluation tool for sexual educational materials which consisted of two parts was developed. One is the evaluation of basic information which includes 8 items: target population, type of materials, producer, year of production, subject, theme, running time, and guide book. The other is the evaluation of content which includes 36 items related to characteristics of material, purpose, efficiency and scope of content.After applying the tool to 84 video materials, 39 excellent sexual education materials were suggested. CONCLUSION: The systematic development of materials for sexual education appropriate to the specific subjects should be done. Producers should describe the basic information on the outside of materials. For recommending the excellent materials, the periodical standardized evaluation of sexual educational materials should be done, and the database of the excellent materials should be provided for further utilization.
Education ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Reproducibility of Results ; Running ; Child Health

PURPOSE: We try to disclose how much the keywords of the papers from the Journal of the Korean Academy of Nursing coincide with MeSH terminologies and to understand the major subjects of the recent nursing research in Korea from keywords. METHODS: Keywords of journals were extracted and compared with MeSH terms. The frequency of the appearance of each keyword was sorted by a descending order. RESULTS: Coincidence rate of 1,235 keywords with MeSH terms was 51.6%. Out of them, depression, elderly, stress, self efficacy, quality of life, exercise, middle-aged women, and women appeared most frequently in descending order. CONCLUSION: Coincidence rate of the keywords with MeSH terms was at an acceptable level, however to improve it, the education of submitters and editorial board members are required, as well as the copy editor, to take a role in checking keywords. To infer the subjects of the research from keywords might well represent the recent topics of research work.
*Periodicals ; *Nursing ; *Medical Subject Headings ; Korea ; *Abstracting and Indexing

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to assess immigrant women's needs for pregnancy and postpartum adaptation and to test the reliability and validity of the scale. METHODS: To construct scale items, critical issues and difficulties associated with pregnancy and postpartum adaptation of immigrant women were identified and categorized through a literature review. Fifty-two scale items were constructed, and data for validity and reliability testing was collected with a questionnaire survey from 367 immigrant women. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and reliability coefficients. RESULTS: The final measurement scale to assess immigrant women's pregnancy and postpartum adaptation consisted of 48 items and 7 factors (adaptation to daily activity during pregnancy, cross-cultural understanding and personal respect, understanding of the process of pregnancy and delivery, baby rearing and family support, physical and emotional adaptation after childbirth, nutrition during pregnancy, and sexual life adaptation). The seven factors accounted for 64.26% of the variance, and Cronbach's alpha was .96. CONCLUSION: The scale developed by this study is a reliable and valid instrument and can be used to assess needs of pregnancy and postpartum adaptation and can be utilized in providing nursing interventions for immigrant women.
Emigrants and Immigrants* ; Female ; Humans ; Needs Assessment ; Nursing ; Parturition ; Postpartum Period* ; Pregnancy* ; Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Reproducibility of Results