PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among emotional intelligence, interpersonal relationship, and job satisfaction among clinical nurses. METHODS: Data were collected from 315 nurses who had worked for more than 6 months at five general hospitals by a self-reported questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe-test, Pearson's correlation, and hierarchial regression using SPSS 18.0 program. RESULTS: The mean score of emotional intelligence was 3.42 and the score of self emotional appraisal was the highest. The mean score of interpersonal relationship was 3.44 and the score of intimacy was the highest. The mean score of job satisfaction was 3.04. Emotional intelligence and interpersonal relationship were positively correlated with the job satisfaction. Hierarchial multiple regression analysis showed that use of emotion was the main factor of affecting job satisfaction, which explained 30.8% of the variance for the nurses' job satisfaction together with intimacy, regulation of emotion, position, and monthly salary. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that emotional intelligence and interpersonal relationship, especially use and control of emotion and intimacy contributed to nurses' job satisfaction. It is necessary to develop and implement the program for increasing emotional intelligence and interpersonal relationship for improving job satisfaction.
Emotional Intelligence* ; Hospitals, General ; Job Satisfaction* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of LH receptor in folliculogenesis, we confirm the expression level of LH receptor (LH-R) mRNA in human granulosa cells (GCs) and its expression levels were analyzed by comparison to embryo developmental rate and pregnancy rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: GCs were obtained at the time of oocyte retrieval from the patients undergoing IVF-ET program. The patients were divided into two groups: Group I (n=20) is poor responder (retrieved oocyte(s)< or =3ea), Group II (n=80) is normal responder (retrieved oocytes>3ea). After the extraction of total RNA, semiquantitative RT-PCR was performed and the expression level of LH-R mRNA was normalized by beta-actin. Statistical analysis was performed by using Chi(2) test, Student's t-test and Pearson correlation. RESULTS: In Group II, the relative values of LH-R mRNA (0.680 vs. 0.463, p<0.005) and pregnancy rate (54.7% vs. 23.1%, p<0.05) were significantly higher than in Group I. Number of retrieved oocyte(s) was gradually increased when the expression of LH-R mRNA was increased (p<0.05). But the quality of retrieved oocyte and transferred embryo were not related with the expression of LH-R mRNA. When the pregnancy rate was compared with FSH only group and FSH combined with hMG group in the ovarian stimulation protocol, FSH combined with hMG group was significantly higher than FSH only group in Group I (37.5% vs. 0%), and the expression of LH-R mRNA was significantly higher in hMG combined group than FSH only group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Expression level of LH-R mRNA has important role in ovarian function related with the response to gonadotrophin in human folliculogenesis. Furthermore these data might provide the evidence that additional use of hMG is helpful to poor responders.
Actins ; Embryonic Development ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Granulosa Cells ; Humans ; Oocyte Retrieval ; Oocytes ; Ovulation Induction ; Pregnancy Rate ; Pregnancy* ; Receptors, LH* ; RNA ; RNA, Messenger

BACKGROUND: It is said that tuberculous pleuritis responds well to anti-tuberculous drug in general, so no further aggressive therapeutic management is unnecesarry except in case of diagnostic thoracentesis. But in clinical practice, we often see some patients who need later decortication due to dyspnea caused by pleural loculation or thickening despite several months of anti-tuberculous drug therapy. Therefore, we want to know the clinical difference between a group who received decortication due to complication of tuberculous pleuritis despite of anti-tuberculous drug and a group who improved after 9 months of anti-tuberculous drug only. METHODS: We reviewed 20 tuberculous pleuritis patients(group 1) who underwent decortication due to dyspnea caused by pleural loculation or severe pleural thickening despite of anti-tuberculous drug therapy for 9 or more months, and 20 other tuberculous pleuritis patients(group 2) who improved by anti-tuberculous drug only and had similar degrees of initial pleural effusion and similar age,sex distribution. Then we compared between the two groups the duration of symptoms before anti-tuberculous drug treatment and pleural fluid biochemistry like glucose, LDH, protein and pleural fluid cell count and WBC differential count, and we also wanted to know whether there was any difference in preoperative PFT value and postoperative PFT value in the patients who underwent decortication, and obtained following results. RESULTS: 1) Group 1 patients had lower glucose level{63.3+/-30.8(mg/dl)} than that of the group 2{98.5+/-34.2(mg/dl), p<0.05}, and higher LDH level{776.3+/-266.0(IU/L)} than the group 2 patients{376.3 +/-123.1(IU/L), p<0.05), and also longer duration of symptom before treatment{2.0+/-1.7(month)} than the group 2{ 1.1 +/-1.2(month), p<0.05)}, respectively. 2) In group 1, FVC changed from preoperative 2.55+/-0.80(L) to postoperative 2.99+/-0.78(L)(p<0.05), and FEV1 changed from preoperative 2.19 +/- 0.70(L/sec) to postoperative 2.50+/-0.69(L/sec) (p<0.05). 3) There was no difference in pleural fluid protein level(5.05+/-1.01(gm/dL) and 5.15+/-0.77 (gm/dl), p>0.05) and WBC differential count between group 1 and group 2. CONCLUSION: It is probable that in tuberculous pleuritis there is a risk of complication in the case of showing relatively low pleural fluid glucose or high LDH level, or in the case of having long duraton of symptom before treatment. We thought prospective study should be performed to confirm this.
Biochemistry ; Cell Count ; Drug Therapy ; Dyspnea ; Glucose ; Humans ; Pleural Effusion* ; Pleurisy ; Prospective Studies ; Tuberculosis, Pleural*

Atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) was reported as a cause of unknown origin of central or peripheral thromboembolism with patent foramen ovale, aortic debris and spontaneous echo contrast. Especially the paradoxical right to left shunt via micro-fenestration on this sac may be the important cause of this embolism. We report a case of 39 year-old female patient who had atrial septal aneurysm with multiple renal infarction. Symptom was improved with aneurysmectomy and patch closure, then long term anticoagulation has been continued.
Adult ; Aneurysm* ; Embolism ; Female ; Foramen Ovale, Patent ; Humans ; Infarction* ; Thromboembolism

Endobronchial foreign bodies are difficult to diagnose as the cause of obstructive pneumonia and atelectasis, However, once discovered, they can generally be removed, leading to an immediate and dramatic resolution of the symptoms. Occasionally, small foreign bodies that lodge in the peripheral airway are often initially asymptomatic but become symptomatic several years later. We reported a case of obstructive pneumonia and massive hemoptysis caused by a foreign metallic body. The patient knew that the foreign body was lodged in the peripheral airway on the chest X-ray, but did not want treatment. Several years later, he had a massive hemoptysis and obstructive pneumonia. Removal with a flexible bronchoscope failed, but the metallic foreign body was self-expectorated by coughing after the procedure. The pneumonia was resolved after removing the foreign body. The patient improved and was discharged without any sequela.
Bronchoscopes ; Cough ; Foreign Bodies* ; Hemoptysis* ; Humans ; Pneumonia* ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Thorax

A 11-month-old male with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) received allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). He had suffered from recurrent infection and chronic diarrhea. Two older brother died of pneumonia 2 months after birth, but his HLA identical sister was healthy. He had very low number of T lymphocyte and NK cell. Although number of B lymphocyte was normal, level of immunoglobulin was extremely low. First BMT was done when he was 11 months old. Eighteen milliliter of bone marrow was simply infused without conditioning or GVHD prophylaxis. T lymphocyte appeared and fever which persisted despite use of antibiotics disappeared at day 7. Grade II GVHD developed, but was well controlled with corticosteroid. T lymphocyte subpopulation became normal at day 42. But pancytopenia developed and persisted despite use of G-CSF. Second BMT was done 4 months after 1st BMT. The conditioning regimen included busulfan (8 mg/kg) and cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg), and ATG, cyclosporine and short-course MTX were used for GVHD prophylaxis. He achieved ANC> 500/uL at day 20 and platelet> 20,000/uL at day 29. BM examination on day 45 showed that 100% of marrow cells were donor origin. Acute and chronic GVHD did not develop. Since T lymphocyte was observed on day 21, various immunological parameters were normalized sooner or later. Immunological reconstitution was complete on day 280. Vaccination was given after 1 year of BMT and he is healthy now.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bone Marrow ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Busulfan ; Cyclophosphamide ; Cyclosporine ; Diarrhea ; Fever ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Infant ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Lymphocytes ; Male ; Pancytopenia ; Parturition ; Pneumonia ; Siblings ; Tissue Donors ; Vaccination

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the application rate and effectiveness of endoscopic operations based on 6,017 cases in the field of gynecology. METHODS: Six-thousand-seventeen cases of endoscopic operations were performed from March 1993 to June 2004 in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Endoscopy, Good Moonhwa Hospital. Endoscopic operations were done on the majority of patients who had benign gynecologic diseases. We applied "two-surgeons system" and simplified methods of operation consisted of endoloop-ligation, endosuture and endotying. RESULTS: Our endoscopic operations were successful in 5,994 cases (99.62%) out of 6,017 attempts. Twenty-three cases (0.38%) were converted to laparotomy due to severe pelvic adhesion, excessive bleeding or difficulty in accessibility. In the first year endoscopic operations were done in 29.0% of the total gynecologic operations, but was increased to 52.9% during the next 4 years. In 2003, 93.0% and in 2004, 99.0% of the total gynecologic operations were done by endoscope. While the simple technique surgeries showed a high application rate, the more complicated technique surgeries, which began at a lower rate, showed a steady increase up to 89.3%. Blood loss and operation time were markedly declined during 3 year period and maintained at a low level thereafter. A 3 years' period of endoscopic operations (about 500 cases) is necessary for a hospital learning curve while, 26.4 cases is necessary an individual surgeon's learning curve. The major complications during the study period was 28 cases (0.47%). CONCLUSION: Endoscopic operations can be applied in almost all benign gynecologic diseases. In particular, "two-surgeons system" is a safe method with few complications and minimal learning period. These results suggest that if appropriate techniques could be learned, endoscopic operation might be preferred to laparotomy for both surgeons and patients.
Endoscopes ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Genital Diseases, Female* ; Gynecology ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Learning ; Learning Curve ; Obstetrics

BACKGROUND: Chronic postoperative pain (CPOP) is defined as pain of at least 2 months duration after a surgical procedure. Until recently, it has been a neglected topic, because it can occur after a wide spectrum of operations; however, little is known regarding its underlying mechanism, prevalence, risk factors, and treatments. We investigated characteristics of CPOP after various operations via a questionnaire. METHODS: Patients were contacted at > 2 months after surgery, irrespective of sex, type of operation or anesthesia method, and a follow-up pain questionnaire was administered by phone. RESULTS: One hundred forty-five of 400 patients (36.3%) described CPOP. The prevalence of CPOP was significantly lower in laparoscopic surgery (29/159, 18.2%) than open surgery (116/241, 48.1%). The prevalence of CPOP was higher with the use of PCA (patient controlled analgesia), (45.3%) than without PCA (24.6%). There were no significant differences regarding sex, anesthetic method, or duration of operation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the prevalence of CPOP may be related to use of an endoscope and PCA. However, it is difficult to completely explain the correlation, because this is a complex area of research. More research is needed to improve the quality of pain relief.
Anesthesia ; Endoscopes ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Pain, Postoperative ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors

Malignant intestinal lymphoma complicating ulcerative colitis has been reported. Although the association of colorectal cancer with ulcerative colitis is well described, the association of intestinal lymphoma, ulcerative colitis and prior immunosuppression remains unclear. However, it is important to be aware of the possible risk of lymphoma and carcinoma when patients shows unexpected signs of deterioration or when the clinical course of ulcerative colitis is atypical. Substantial biopsies with colonoscopy are required to make an unequivocal diagnosis in such patients. We report the case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in ulcerative colitis with review of the literature.
Biopsy ; Colitis, Ulcerative* ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Immunosuppression ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin* ; Ulcer*

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of the expression of p53 gene product in operable invasive breast cancer by performing immunohistochemical analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 1993 and December 2001, 440 operable invasive breast cancer patients underwent immunohistochemical staining for p53, and we retrospectively analyzed these results together with the clinical outcomes. RESULTS: The overexpression of p53 was detected in 51.6% of the cases. The overexpression of p53 was inversely correlated with lymph node metastasis (p=0.005). The tumor size, tumor histology, histologic grade, hormonal receptor status and tumor stage were not related to the overexpression of p53. Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicate that lymph node metastasis, tumor size and the p53 expression were the significant prognostic factors for overall survival; lymph node metastasis, the estrogen receptor status and the p53 expression were the significant prognostic factors for relapse free survival. On the subgroup analysis, the p53 non-expressors showed better 7-year overall survival (92.7% vs. 76.7%, respectively, p=0.011) and relapse free survival (74.9% vs. 57.8%, respectively, p=0.032) than did the p53 overexpressors for the patients with lymph node metastasis. However, for the patients without lymph node metastasis, the survival rates were not different for both the p53 non-expressors and the p53 overexpressors. CONCLUSION: Immunohistochemical staining of the p53 gene product was an independent prognostic factor for predicting survival of the lymph node positive invasive breast cancer patients.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Estrogens ; Genes, p53* ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate