PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify factors affecting nurses' burnout in secondary general hospitals. METHODS: Data were collected through structured questionnaires from 241 nurses working at the secondary general hospitals with below 400 beds in the P, C, and S city between April and May, 2009. Data analysis was done with independent t test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple stepwise multiple regression with SPSS WIN v 17.0. RESULTS: Burnout was significantly different according to religion, age, clinical experiences, and shift work. Burnout score of the subjects was 58/100. Burnout of the subjects were positively correlated with job stress and negatively correlated with hardness, self efficiency, self esteem, spiritual wellbeing, social support, and job satisfaction. The explained variances for burnout was 51.8% and factors affecting nurses' burnout in secondary general hospitals were job stress, hardness, self efficiency, job satisfaction and shift work. CONCLUSION: These results showed the significant factors fo nurses' burnout in secondary general hospitals. These findings can be utilized to development of strategies for reducing job stress and enhancing hardness, self efficiency and job satisfaction.
Hardness ; Hospitals, General ; Job Satisfaction ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Self Concept ; Statistics as Topic

This study was conducted to gather basic data on the tasks and roles of nutrition teachers by analyzing the changes inwork importance, performance frequency, and organizational environment after dietitians were transposed to nutrition teachers. E-mail surveys were sent to 100 newly assigned nutrition teachers who previously served as dietitians in Gyeonggi province. A total of 72 teachers responded to the survey. The respondents were asked the importance and frequency of 9 work-related duties performed as a dietitian and nutrition teacher, respectively. They were also surveyed regarding their satisfaction perceptions for 5 organizational changes. The majority of respondents were 36 to 40 years old (48.6%) and had 10~20 years of work experience (58.3%). Significant differences were found for work importance after changing to the role of nutrition teacher (p<0.001). In addition, work performance frequency differences were found for the categories of nutrition education, nutrition counseling, and dietary guidance. These results were attributable to the differences in work importance and performance frequency by now being a nutrition teacher rather than a dietitian. The respondents had increased satisfaction levels after changing from dietitian to nutrition teacher (p<0.001) in terms of 'pride for change in work', 'satisfaction level for pay', and 'satisfaction level for change in the organizational environment'. In order for nutrition teachers to have effective work performance, 'personal capabilities' and 'school manager support' should be coordinated. Overall, the results of this study suggest that effective training programs should be developed for nutrition teachers they can effectively complete newly assigned work tasks.
Counseling ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Electronic Mail ; Organizational Innovation

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of preclinical clinical performance examination (CPX) on nursing students' confidence in their nursing skills and critical thinking competence. METHODS: The design of this research was one-group pretest-posttest, and the participants were 112 nursing students. The preclinical CPX consisted of a clinical examination, patient-nurse relationship, oral test of related knowledge, written test of the nursing process, and debriefing using comprehensive scenarios based on real patient cases. The confidence of nursing skills consisted of an 8-item NRS and the critical thinking competence consisted of a 12-item 4-point scale developed by researchers and measured in both the pretest and posttest. The collected data were analyzed using paired t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The score for confidence in nursing skills (t=10.60, p<.001) and that for critical thinking competence (t=7.03, p<.001) increased significantly after preclinical CPX. CONCLUSION: This study showed that preclinical CPX was effective in improving nursing students' confidence in their nursing skills and critical thinking competence. Therefore, preclinical CPX is expected to be utilized in nursing practice education. Additional studies including those on control groups are recommended to compare differences between the preclinical CPX group and control group.
Education ; Humans ; Mental Competency* ; Nursing Process ; Nursing* ; Students, Nursing ; Thinking*

The purpose of this study was to compare dietitians' with cooks' actual sterilization performance for improving points of sanitation practices of cooking instruments and facilities in Kyonggi Province school foodservices. A total of 400 questionnaires were mailed to the dietitians and the cooks at elementary and middle schools in Kyonggi Province. Finally, 140 dietitians and 140 cooks replied by making a total of 280 replies(70%). The results of this study found that the cooks' attitudes toward the sterilization of the vegetable cutter body, multiple shelf, and distributing cart showed higher frequencies than the dietitians'. Cooks disinfected the vegetable cutter blade, multiple shelf, distributing cart, cook's aprons, and 'L' transporting cart better than dietitians' guides expected. In the sterilization method, cooks performed better than indicated when cooking with rubber gloves. The most difficult thing in dietitians' managing sterilization was the lack of cooking facilities and instruments. They strongly demanded the detailed explanatory notes according to their own Cities and Provinces and the circumstantial manual of disinfection parts in School Foodservice Sanitary Management Guide. There were possibilities of food-poisoning, infection and safety incidents due to the budgetary shortage of cooking facilities and instruments.
Cooking ; Disinfection ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Humans ; Nutritionists ; Postal Service ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rubber ; Sanitation* ; Sterilization ; Vegetables

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the attributes, antecedents, and consequences of nurse's work interruptions. METHODS: Walker and Avant's concept analysis method was used to analyze this concept. Relevant articles published before August 2018 were searched through MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, KISS, and RISS databases using “interruption,” “work or task,” and “nurse” as keywords. RESULTS: The attributes of work interruption by nurses were as follows: 1) new tasks to do; 2) cognitive transition of work priorities; 3) loss of work continuity; 4) tasks to be resumed. The antecedents of work interruption were intrusion of unplanned events, internal and external factors that result in nurses forgetting their original intentions, an unpredictable work environment, and cultural climate where interruptions are considered as a part of the work process. The consequences of work interruption were decline in job satisfaction, trigger of work errors, lengthening of work completion time, decline in work productivity, increase in work stress, and delay of transferring needed information in a timely manner. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide basic data to reduce the negative consequences of nurses' work interruptions, and contribute to expanding the knowledge necessary for improving patients' safety and nurses' performance.
Climate ; Efficiency ; Intention ; Job Satisfaction ; Methods ; Walkers ; Work Performance

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL), a phenolic compound derived from licorice, exhibits various biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-tumor, and antioxidant effects. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its anti-cancer effects are not well understood in SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells. Melanoma, a highly aggressive and treatment-resistant cancer, remains a significant health challenge. This study investigates the anti-cancer effects of ISL, focusing on identifying reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated apoptosis mechanisms on SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells. Our results show that ISL treatment induces apoptosis in SK-MEL-28 cells, as evidenced by the cleavage of caspase-9, -7, -3, and PARP. ISL increased Bax expression, decreased Bcl-2 expression, and promoted cytochrome C release into the cytosol. ISL also reduced the expression of cell cycle markers, including cyclin D1, D3, and survivin. Notably, ISL treatment markedly increased intracellular ROS levels and pretreatment with N-acetyl cysteine, a ROS scavenger, abrogated the ISL-induced inhibition of the p38/mTOR/STAT3 pathway and prevented apoptosis.Moreover, ISL significantly diminished the constitutive phosphorylation of mTOR and STAT3 in SK-MEL-28 cells by blocking the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, an upstream kinase of mTOR. Pharmacological inhibition of mTOR attenuated the STAT3 signaling, indicating that mTOR acts as an upstream kinase of STAT3 in these cells. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that ISL inhibits SK-MEL-28 cell growth by downregulating cell survival proteins and inducing apoptosis through ROS generation.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL), a phenolic compound derived from licorice, exhibits various biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-tumor, and antioxidant effects. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its anti-cancer effects are not well understood in SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells. Melanoma, a highly aggressive and treatment-resistant cancer, remains a significant health challenge. This study investigates the anti-cancer effects of ISL, focusing on identifying reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated apoptosis mechanisms on SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells. Our results show that ISL treatment induces apoptosis in SK-MEL-28 cells, as evidenced by the cleavage of caspase-9, -7, -3, and PARP. ISL increased Bax expression, decreased Bcl-2 expression, and promoted cytochrome C release into the cytosol. ISL also reduced the expression of cell cycle markers, including cyclin D1, D3, and survivin. Notably, ISL treatment markedly increased intracellular ROS levels and pretreatment with N-acetyl cysteine, a ROS scavenger, abrogated the ISL-induced inhibition of the p38/mTOR/STAT3 pathway and prevented apoptosis.Moreover, ISL significantly diminished the constitutive phosphorylation of mTOR and STAT3 in SK-MEL-28 cells by blocking the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, an upstream kinase of mTOR. Pharmacological inhibition of mTOR attenuated the STAT3 signaling, indicating that mTOR acts as an upstream kinase of STAT3 in these cells. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that ISL inhibits SK-MEL-28 cell growth by downregulating cell survival proteins and inducing apoptosis through ROS generation.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL), a phenolic compound derived from licorice, exhibits various biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-tumor, and antioxidant effects. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its anti-cancer effects are not well understood in SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells. Melanoma, a highly aggressive and treatment-resistant cancer, remains a significant health challenge. This study investigates the anti-cancer effects of ISL, focusing on identifying reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated apoptosis mechanisms on SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells. Our results show that ISL treatment induces apoptosis in SK-MEL-28 cells, as evidenced by the cleavage of caspase-9, -7, -3, and PARP. ISL increased Bax expression, decreased Bcl-2 expression, and promoted cytochrome C release into the cytosol. ISL also reduced the expression of cell cycle markers, including cyclin D1, D3, and survivin. Notably, ISL treatment markedly increased intracellular ROS levels and pretreatment with N-acetyl cysteine, a ROS scavenger, abrogated the ISL-induced inhibition of the p38/mTOR/STAT3 pathway and prevented apoptosis.Moreover, ISL significantly diminished the constitutive phosphorylation of mTOR and STAT3 in SK-MEL-28 cells by blocking the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, an upstream kinase of mTOR. Pharmacological inhibition of mTOR attenuated the STAT3 signaling, indicating that mTOR acts as an upstream kinase of STAT3 in these cells. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that ISL inhibits SK-MEL-28 cell growth by downregulating cell survival proteins and inducing apoptosis through ROS generation.

Penile metastases are rare, and usually secondary to other genitourinary primary tumors. Bladder, prostate and renal tumors are the main sources of penile metastasis. Rectal and respiratory neoplasms also metastasize to the penis. However, metastatic penile cancer originating from the pancreas is extremely rare. Here, a case of pancreatic cancer, with penile metastasis, is reported.
Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pancreas* ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Penile Neoplasms* ; Penis ; Prostate ; Urinary Bladder

A lymphoma of the prostate is very rare, and is usually incidentally discovered. Malignant lymphomas can be divided into either primary or secondary according to their origin. Secondary involvement of the gland is the most common presentation. Most non-Hodgkin's lymphomas that affect the prostate are of the B-cell type, and present with non-specific obstructive symptoms. A variety of methods have been used for their, including prostatectomy, radiotherapy or combinations of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, the prognosis remains poor, regardless of the patient's age, histological type, treatment or clinical stage at presentation. Here, the case of a patient with a B-cell lymphoma, who presented with symptoms of a bladder outlet obstruction, is reported. The patient has been in complete remission following the completion of 6 cycles of doxorubicin-based chemotherapy and accompanying radiotherapy.
B-Lymphocytes* ; Drug Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination* ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell* ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Prognosis ; Prostate* ; Prostatectomy ; Radiotherapy* ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction