Purpose: Nursing students are future healthcare workers responsible for maintaining public health. Owing to the increase in early resignation among new nurses, nursing education outcomes must be evaluated by investigating students' practice readiness. Methods: Using convenience sampling, we recruited fourth-year students from two nursing colleges to participate in a cross-sectional online survey in November 2023. The Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey was used to assess practice readiness and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and ANOVA. Results: Among the 157 participants (female, 77.7%; mean age, 23.12±1.93 yrs), the overall practice readiness score was 63.53±8.30 (range: 20~80) and the mean subscale score was 23.14±3.73 for clinical problem-solving (range: 7~28), 6.69±1.25 for learning techniques (range: 2~8), 16.87±2.46 for professional identity (range: 5~20), and 16.82±3.46 for trials and tribulations (range: 6~24). Practice readiness did not differ significantly by gender or age and was greater among subgroups with high grades and satisfaction with the major, classroom practice, simulation practice, clinical practice, and lectures. Conclusion Universities must improve the quality of classes and practical education to enhance fourth-year nursing students’ practice readiness.Nursing education programs incorporating problem-based learning must be developed and evaluated to strengthen students’ clinical inference and critical-thinking skills.

Purpose: Nursing students are future healthcare workers responsible for maintaining public health. Owing to the increase in early resignation among new nurses, nursing education outcomes must be evaluated by investigating students' practice readiness. Methods: Using convenience sampling, we recruited fourth-year students from two nursing colleges to participate in a cross-sectional online survey in November 2023. The Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey was used to assess practice readiness and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and ANOVA. Results: Among the 157 participants (female, 77.7%; mean age, 23.12±1.93 yrs), the overall practice readiness score was 63.53±8.30 (range: 20~80) and the mean subscale score was 23.14±3.73 for clinical problem-solving (range: 7~28), 6.69±1.25 for learning techniques (range: 2~8), 16.87±2.46 for professional identity (range: 5~20), and 16.82±3.46 for trials and tribulations (range: 6~24). Practice readiness did not differ significantly by gender or age and was greater among subgroups with high grades and satisfaction with the major, classroom practice, simulation practice, clinical practice, and lectures. Conclusion Universities must improve the quality of classes and practical education to enhance fourth-year nursing students’ practice readiness.Nursing education programs incorporating problem-based learning must be developed and evaluated to strengthen students’ clinical inference and critical-thinking skills.

Purpose: Nursing students are future healthcare workers responsible for maintaining public health. Owing to the increase in early resignation among new nurses, nursing education outcomes must be evaluated by investigating students' practice readiness. Methods: Using convenience sampling, we recruited fourth-year students from two nursing colleges to participate in a cross-sectional online survey in November 2023. The Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey was used to assess practice readiness and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and ANOVA. Results: Among the 157 participants (female, 77.7%; mean age, 23.12±1.93 yrs), the overall practice readiness score was 63.53±8.30 (range: 20~80) and the mean subscale score was 23.14±3.73 for clinical problem-solving (range: 7~28), 6.69±1.25 for learning techniques (range: 2~8), 16.87±2.46 for professional identity (range: 5~20), and 16.82±3.46 for trials and tribulations (range: 6~24). Practice readiness did not differ significantly by gender or age and was greater among subgroups with high grades and satisfaction with the major, classroom practice, simulation practice, clinical practice, and lectures. Conclusion Universities must improve the quality of classes and practical education to enhance fourth-year nursing students’ practice readiness.Nursing education programs incorporating problem-based learning must be developed and evaluated to strengthen students’ clinical inference and critical-thinking skills.

Purpose: Nursing students are future healthcare workers responsible for maintaining public health. Owing to the increase in early resignation among new nurses, nursing education outcomes must be evaluated by investigating students' practice readiness. Methods: Using convenience sampling, we recruited fourth-year students from two nursing colleges to participate in a cross-sectional online survey in November 2023. The Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey was used to assess practice readiness and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and ANOVA. Results: Among the 157 participants (female, 77.7%; mean age, 23.12±1.93 yrs), the overall practice readiness score was 63.53±8.30 (range: 20~80) and the mean subscale score was 23.14±3.73 for clinical problem-solving (range: 7~28), 6.69±1.25 for learning techniques (range: 2~8), 16.87±2.46 for professional identity (range: 5~20), and 16.82±3.46 for trials and tribulations (range: 6~24). Practice readiness did not differ significantly by gender or age and was greater among subgroups with high grades and satisfaction with the major, classroom practice, simulation practice, clinical practice, and lectures. Conclusion Universities must improve the quality of classes and practical education to enhance fourth-year nursing students’ practice readiness.Nursing education programs incorporating problem-based learning must be developed and evaluated to strengthen students’ clinical inference and critical-thinking skills.

It is inconvenient to perform serum lipid analysis in fasting state in diabetic patients with drug treatment. In patients with statin treatment and Asian diet, it has not been clearly known whether non-fasting values could be used for the clinical decision making in diabetic patients. In this study, fasting and post-prandial plasma lipid profiles of hospitalized type 2 diabetic patients taking statin, were measured in whom standard diabetic breakfast in traditional Korean style were provided. In repeated-measures ANOVA, there were no significant differences among fasting, post-prandial 2 and 4 hr low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol values. When compared to fasting levels, both post-prandial 2 hr and 4 hr LDL cholesterol levels were misclassified as not achieved target goal only in 4% of patients. Post-prandial HDL cholesterol matched with fasting values in women, without exception. In conclusion, the fasting and post-prandial LDL and HDL cholesterol levels are not significantly different each other and can be used in the assessment of achieving target goal in type 2 diabetes taking statin after Korean diet.
Aged ; Cholesterol, HDL/*blood ; Cholesterol, LDL/*blood ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/*blood/drug therapy ; Diet ; Fasting ; Female ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors/*therapeutic use ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Postprandial Period ; Pregnancy

Purpose: Cystoscopy is the most common procedure used to diagnose urological diseases; however, it is invasive and can be associated with pain and anxiety. Although pain relieving medications, such as lidocaine lubricants, are used during cystoscopy, the procedure still causes discomfort. Therefore, non-medical intervention is needed to reduce pain and anxiety during the procedure and increase patient satisfaction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of heating therapy on pain, anxiety, physiologic measures, and satisfaction during cystoscopy. Methods: This was a single-blinded, single-center, randomized controlled trial. A total of 145 participants who underwent cystoscopy between August 2017 and October 2017 were recruited and randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. Before and after cystoscopy, all the participants self-reported the degree of pain they felt, while pain was objectively assessed by trained nurses. Anxiety was evaluated using the validated Korean version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Blood pressure and pulse rate were also recorded as physiologic measures. After cystoscopy, satisfaction was measured in the experimental group only using the Korean version of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. Results: Heating therapy reduced both subjective and objective pain and anxiety in the experimental group compared to the control group. Heating therapy also decreased the systolic and diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate in the experimental group compared to the control group. Women reported significantly greater satisfaction than men. Conclusion Heating therapy during cystoscopy is a convenient and effective nursing intervention that decreases pain and anxiety and enhances patient satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is known to be the causative agent of infectious mononucleosis and EBV-related malignancies. In this study, we compared the results of three real-time PCR kits for EBV DNA assays. METHODS: A total of 300 whole blood samples submitted for quantitative EBV PCR between January 2013 and September 2014 at Severance Hospital were included. The samples were tested by using the Artus EBV RG PCR Kit (Qiagen, Germany), AccuPower EBV Quantitative PCR Kit (Bioneer, Korea), and Real-Q EBV Kit (BioSewoom, Korea). Samples with discordant results between the three kits were confirmed by direct sequencing. RESULTS: The result concordance rate and kappa coefficient (K) were 86.3% and 0.69 for Artus-AccuPower, 93.3% and 0.85 for Artus-Real-Q, and 92.3% and 0.83 for AccuPower-Real-Q, respectively. The correlations between the three kits were found to be significant, with a correlation coefficient of r=0.854 for Artus-AccuPower, -0.802 for Artus-Real-Q, and -0.977 for AccuPower-Real-Q, respectively (P<0.0001). If the real-time PCR concordant results of 258 samples and the direct sequencing results of 42 real-time PCR discordant samples were assumed to be true, the sensitivity/specificity values were 0.921/0.976 for Artus, 0.902/0.965 for AccuPower, and 0.967/1.000 for Real-Q. CONCLUSIONS: The three real-time PCR kits showed excellent sensitivities and specificities. All these kits would be acceptable for clinical and therapeutic management of EBV. However, some discordant results between the kits indicate the need for caution in clinical diagnosis and staging. Further implementation of standardized methodology would be needed for EBV DNA assays.
Diagnosis ; DNA* ; Herpesvirus 4, Human* ; Infectious Mononucleosis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction*

This study aimed to examine the relationship between nutrition intake and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) indicating kidney function in Korean individuals without diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Study participants from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013–2014 (n = 4,378, 30–65 years) were classified by their eGFR levels (mL/min/1.732 m²): ≥ 120 (n = 299), 119–105 (n = 789), 104–90 (n = 1,578), 89–60 (n = 1,685), < 60 (n = 27). After adjusted for confounding factors (age, sex, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, total caloric intake [TCI], income status, education level, body mass index, and physical activity), blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, fasting glucose, and glycated hemoglobin were higher, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were lower in participants with lower eGFR levels than those with higher eGFR levels. n-3 fatty acid (FA) and n-6 FA (% of TCI/day) intake were also significantly higher in participants with higher eGFR levels than in those with lower eGFR levels. Based on the above results, participants were subdivided into 3 groups according to n-6 FA intake levels (Q1: ≥ 2.93%, n = 1,462; Q2: 2.92%–1.88%, n = 1,463; Q3: < 1.88%, n = 1,453). People consuming higher n-6 FAs, particularly the Q1 group showed higher eGFR levels and lower levels of LDL cholesterol and creatinine. In conclusion, higher intake of n-6 FAs within the range of dietary reference may be beneficial to maintain healthy kidney function.
Adult* ; Alanine Transaminase ; Alcohol Drinking ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Blood Pressure ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Creatinine ; Education ; Energy Intake ; Fasting ; Glomerular Filtration Rate* ; Glucose ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Humans ; Kidney ; Korea* ; Lipoproteins ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Smoking

BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is one of the most prevalent causes of viral infection in humans. EBV infection stage (acute, past, or absent infection) is typically determined using a combination of assays that detect EBV-specific markers, such as IgG and IgM antibodies against the EBV viral capsid antigen (VCA) and IgG antibodies against the EBV nuclear antigen (EBNA). We compared the diagnostic performance and agreement of results between three commercial EBV antibody assays using an EBV performance panel (SeraCare Life Science, Milford, MA, USA) as a reference. METHODS: EBV antibody tests of EBV VCA IgM, VCA IgG, and EBNA IgG antibodies were performed by the Architect (Abbott Diagnostics, Wiesbaden, Germany), Liaison (DiaSorin, Saluggia, Italy), and Platelia (Bio-Rad, Marnes-la-Coquette, France) assays. Agreement between the three assays was evaluated using 279 clinical samples, and EBV DNA and antibody test results were compared. RESULTS: The three EBV antibody assays showed good diagnostic performance with good and excellent agreement with the performance panel (kappa coefficient, >0.6). The overall VCA IgM positivity rate was higher in EBV DNA-positive samples than in EBV DNA-negative samples for all three EBV antibody assays (P=0.02). The three EBV antibody assays exhibited good agreement in results for the clinical samples. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic performance of the three EBV antibody assays was acceptable, and they showed comparable agreement in results for the clinical samples.
Antibodies ; Biological Science Disciplines ; Capsid ; DNA ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections ; Herpesvirus 4, Human* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Immunoglobulins

We report a case of a 14-year-old Korean boy presenting with pain in the left lower quadrant, persisting for over 10 days. Except for the persistent pain, no other symptoms, such as vomiting and diarrhea, were observed. In addition, laboratory findings were normal. He was eventually diagnosed with epiploic appendagitis, a rare disease in children. This case highlights the need for imaging study for early diagnosis of epiploic appendagitis or surgical emergencies in children who visit emergency departments with pain in the left lower quadrant without specific clinical findings.