PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the role experiences of occupational health nurse. The research question was "what are daily experiences in practice?" METHODS: The data were collected through the focus-group interviews with nine occupational health nurses and analyzed by the grounded theory of Strauss and Corbin (1998). RESULTS: The core category on occupational health nurse role experience was named as "struggling alone with the dual role". The causal conditions included 'unfamiliar area' and 'new work'. The contextual conditions included 'overload of work', 'tasks beyond OHN job' and 'disharmony with colleagues'. The intervening conditions were analyzed as supportive factors and discouraging factors. There were action/interaction strategies 'getting information about tasks', 'working as a professional', 'establishing a cooperative relationship', 'seeking help' by trying to regulate the phenomenon. Finally they succeed in 'establishing the identity' and 'feeling proud', but sometimes they could be 'suffering from low morale', or 'considering turnover'. CONCLUSION: Through these results, it can be explained that occupational health nurses have been exerting themselves to establish their role with various situation through the conflicted context. Based on the findings, we suggest developing the diverse continuing education programs to be tailored for OHN's needs and reinforcing the occupational health services under the legal and political support.
Education, Continuing ; Focus Groups ; Nurse's Role ; Occupational Health ; Occupational Health Nursing ; Occupational Health Services

The spontaneous rupture of splenic artery aneurysm during pregnancy is a rare but catastrophic event. Two thirds of all ruptures happen during the third trimester. Clinical presentation is often non-specific, with good hemodynamic compensation, followed by a rapid deterioration. Active management and operation are the most important procedures for diagnosis and therapy of the bleeding. Abdominal delivery will help to establish diagnosis and should be performed immediately. We report a case of a patient at 38 weeks of gestation suffering epigastric pain and fetal distress. At emergency cesarean delivery, an aneurysmal rupture of the splenic artery was found to be the reason for the hemoperitoneum. Spleen, aneurysm and the tail of the pancreas were removed. In spite of fatal hemorrhage, the patient survived but her fetus was dead. With a review of the literature on this topic, diagnostic aspects and treatment options are discussed.
Aneurysm* ; Cesarean Section ; Compensation and Redress ; Diagnosis ; Emergencies ; Female ; Fetal Distress ; Fetus ; Hemodynamics ; Hemoperitoneum ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Pancreas ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third* ; Rupture ; Rupture, Spontaneous* ; Spleen ; Splenic Artery*

Pneumocephalus can be developed after a dural puncture, which occurs in association with epidural procedures. A 37-year-old, gestational age 40 weeks, pregnant woman was admitted for vaginal delivery. She asked for epidural analgesia when she suffers with labor pain. Epidural anesthesia was done at the L3-L4 interspace with the loss of resistance technique, using air. During the identification of the epidural space, an accidental dural puncture was diagnosed by observing a free flow of CSF, through the needle. The patient developed headache 2 hours later. She was treated with hydration, oxygen, analgesics and the autologus blood patch procedure was done, at the L4-L5 interspace. Despite these measures, the patient's symptoms worsened with nausea and vomiting. A brain CT scan showed the presence of pneumocephalus. After 100% oxygen therapy and metoclopramide injection, she was discharged on postpartum 2 days, without any complications.
Adult ; Analgesia, Epidural ; Analgesics ; Anesthesia, Epidural ; Brain ; Epidural Space ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Headache ; Humans ; Labor Pain ; Metoclopramide ; Nausea ; Needles ; Oxygen ; Pneumocephalus ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Punctures ; Vomiting

Objective: Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) emit less blue light than traditional light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and we previously found that early-night OLED light exposure (LE) delays the melatonin phase by less than LED at a color temperature of 4,000 K. As a follow-up study, we investigated the effects of OLED and LED at a different color temperature (3,000 K) on melatonin profile, sleep, and vigilance. Methods: 24 healthy subjects (27.5±5.1 years) were exposed to three light conditions [OLED, LED, and dim light (DL)] from 17:30 to 24:00, in a random order and with a 1-week interval. Saliva samples for melatonin were taken every hour from 18:00 to 24:00. Polysomnography (PSG) and a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) were performed. Results: Melatonin onset time was significantly delayed under OLED and LED compared with DL, with no significant difference between OLED and LED. The mean melatonin level at 24:00 under LED was lower than that under DL, but there was no significant difference between OLED LE and DL. The percentage of slow wave sleep (N3) in LED was significantly lower than in OLED. Conclusion Exposure to light in the evening can suppress melatonin secretion late at night and disturb deep sleep, and those effects are slightly worse under LED than OLED.

Objective: Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) emit less blue light than traditional light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and we previously found that early-night OLED light exposure (LE) delays the melatonin phase by less than LED at a color temperature of 4,000 K. As a follow-up study, we investigated the effects of OLED and LED at a different color temperature (3,000 K) on melatonin profile, sleep, and vigilance. Methods: 24 healthy subjects (27.5±5.1 years) were exposed to three light conditions [OLED, LED, and dim light (DL)] from 17:30 to 24:00, in a random order and with a 1-week interval. Saliva samples for melatonin were taken every hour from 18:00 to 24:00. Polysomnography (PSG) and a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) were performed. Results: Melatonin onset time was significantly delayed under OLED and LED compared with DL, with no significant difference between OLED and LED. The mean melatonin level at 24:00 under LED was lower than that under DL, but there was no significant difference between OLED LE and DL. The percentage of slow wave sleep (N3) in LED was significantly lower than in OLED. Conclusion Exposure to light in the evening can suppress melatonin secretion late at night and disturb deep sleep, and those effects are slightly worse under LED than OLED.

Background: There are several differences in the clinical course of hypertension due to the biological and social differences between men and women. Resistant hypertension is an advanced disease state, and significant gender difference could be expected, but much has not been revealed yet. The purpose of this study was to compare gender differences on the current status of blood pressure (BP) control and clinical prognosis in patients with resistant hypertension. Methods: This is a multicenter, retrospective cohort study using common data model databases of 3 tertiary hospitals in Korea. Total 4,926 patients with resistant hypertension were selected from January 2017 to December 2018. Occurrence of dialysis, heart failure (HF) hospitalization, myocardial infarction, stroke, dementia or all-cause mortality was followed up for 3 years. Results: Male patients with resistant hypertension were younger but had a higher cardiovascular risk than female patients. Prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy and proteinuria was higher in men than in women. On-treatment diastolic BP was lower in women than in men and target BP achievement rate was higher in women than in men.During 3 years, the incidence of dialysis and myocardial infarction was higher in men, and the incidence of stroke and dementia was higher in women. After adjustment, male sex was an independent risk factor for HF hospitalization, myocardial infarction, and all-cause death. Conclusion In resistant hypertension, men were younger than women, but end-organ damage was more common and the risk of cardiovascular event was higher. More intensive cardiovascular prevention strategies may be required in male patients with resistant hypertension.