PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a workbook program on percieved stress levels, maternal role confidence and breastfeeding practices of mothers of premature infants. METHOD: This study employed a quasi-experimental non-equivalent pre-and-post test to compare the two groups. Data was collected from 32 subjects from March 10. to September 5, 2003 at an NICU located in S. city. In the sample, fifteen mothers were in the experimental group and seventeen were in the control group. A workbook program was provided twice during a period from two-three days after the baby's admission to one week after the first intervention. The instruments used were the PSS and self confidence scale. Data was analyzed by means of frequency, SD, x2-test, Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney test, and the Wilcoxon signed rank test. RESULT: There was a significant difference in perceived stress levels between the experimental and control group (U=2.366, p=.018). There was not a significant difference in maternal role confidence between the two groups (U=1.002, p=.316). There was a significant difference in breastfeeding practice between the two groups (X2= 4.910, p=.035). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that a program using a workbook has a positive effect on decreasing the perceived stress level and increasing breastfeeding practice.
Stress, Psychological/*prevention & control ; Mothers/*education ; *Maternal Behavior ; *Manuals ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; *Infant, Premature ; Infant, Newborn ; Humans ; Female ; Breast Feeding/*psychology ; Adult

Some fifty survivors participated in the narrative therapy sessions from March 2003 to December 2004, and thirty cases were analyzed using the transcripts. Each participant's surviving story was summarized, and then interpreted and reinterpreted by the survivors themselves in collaboration with the researcher. Thetwo main principles in narrative analysis were hermeneutical distanciation and hermeneutical circulation. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: First, nursing involvement should play active roles from the early stages of disaster incidents. Specifically, emergency nursing and flexible coping plans are to be available according to the specific properties of each case. Secondly, it is necessary to try to understand the extreme emotional experiences of disaster survival. The horror and pain people feel at an incident cannot simply be generalized, and it requires that each case be approached individually to help stop social alienation. Thirdly, more constant and long-term studies are required to set up nursing strategies for disaster survivors. Forming a trustingrelationship with survivors is basic, and formally registering as participants is necessary for continuous interventions. Fourthly, we should deeply appreciate the danger and complexity of modern society and understand the complex nature of disaster. Fifthly, interdisciplinary activities and studies are necessary in combination with various other fields to establish a framework of total nursing care for disaster incidents. Lastly, it is urgently necessary to educate families and friends of the survivors and the society as a whole about life after a disaster.
Survivors/*psychology ; Railroads ; Korea ; Humans ; *Fires ; *Emergency Nursing ; *Disasters

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affect the psychological well-being in family caregivers of stroke patients. METHOD: The General Health Perception, short form 36, Health Survey Questionaire was used to measure health perception. The Caregiving Mastery Scale was used to assess the mastery, while the Psychological General Well-Being Index was used to examine the level of well-being. RESULT: Subjective health, caregiving mastery, patient's ADL and caregiving duration influenced on caregiver's psychological well-being. Subjective health had effect on psychological well-being both directly and indirectly. Caregiving duration and patient's ADL had indirect effect on psychological well-being through caregiving mastery. CONCLUSION: It is need to develop a health program for the caregivers of stroke patient's and to provide nursing intervention to improve the caregiver's ability, thereby improving the well-being of the family caregivers.
Quality of Life ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Korea ; Humans ; *Home Nursing ; Health Status ; Female ; *Family ; Cerebrovascular Accident/*nursing ; Caregivers/*psychology ; Adult

PURPOSE: This study was aimed at providing basic data for developing a nursing intervention program which enables systematic and correct visual acuity care by discovering out visual acuity conditions, prevalence rate of myopia, and the factors related to myopia with Preschool children. METHOD: The subjects of this study consisted of 519 children between 3 and 6 years of age from 12 kindergartens in Seoul which were selected through multiple cluster sampling. Myopia was defined as the spherical equivalent (SE) of more than -0.5 diopters (D) inthe right eye. The data was analyzed by t-test, X2-test, ANOVA, and logistic regression by using the SAS program. RESULT: The prevalence rate of myopia was 8.7%. the odds ratio of child myopia when one parent had myopia was 2.2 times higher than when neither parent had myopia. The odds ratio of child myopia when reading more than three books per week was 0.27 times higher than reading less than three books. CONCLUSION: Myopia should be continuously and intensively managed from the age of 3.
Visual Acuity ; Prevalence ; Myopia/diagnosis/*epidemiology/nursing ; Male ; Korea/epidemiology ; Humans ; Female ; Child, Preschool ; Child

PURPOSE: This longitudinal study was done to investigate critical thinking dispositions and critical thinking skills of nursing students enrolled in a 4-year baccalaureate program at a university in Korea. METHOD: The study used a longitudinal design. A convenience sample of 32 nursing students who were completing their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year in a baccalaureate program at a selected university was included. The subjects completed the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCTDI), the California Critical Thinking Skill Test (CCTST), and a demographic questionnaire. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, repeated ANOVA, adjusted p-values, and Pearson's correlation coefficient with SAS 8.12. RESULTS: There was statistically significant improvement according to academic year in the CCTDI total mean score (F=7.54, p= .0001) and subscales of Open-mindedness, Self-confidence, and Maturity. Contrarily, no statistically significant difference was found in the CCTST total mean score and subscales' score except Analysis. CONCLUSION: There is no significant correlation between critical thinking dispositions and skills, so it will be necessary to repeat a study like this, and the translated instruments should be modified by considering Korean culture.
*Thinking ; Students, Nursing/*psychology ; Longitudinal Studies ; Korea ; Humans ; *Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate ; Adult

PURPOSE: This study was to investigate the effects of a taping method on pain and ROM of the knee joint in the elderly. METHOD: The subjects were seniors registered in a senior welfare center in D city. An experimental group of 30 persons and acontrol group of 33 persons were chosen and according to the proper conditions and a knee pain score was marked from 1-5 on a Numerical Pain Rating Scale. For the experimental group, the taping method was conducted three times a week for four weeks (twelve times in all) but the control group did not receive taping.. The measuring instrument of knee pain was a numerical pain rating scale from 0 to 10 and the ROM score was the average value of three measured values witha goniometer. The data was analyzed with SPSS WIN 10.0 using an chi-square-test, t-test,repeated measures ANOVA, and time contrast. RESULT: Knee joint pain was significantly decreased in the experimental group over that of the control group (p=.001). In addition, knee joint ROM of the experimental group was significantly improved over that of the control group (p=.001). CONCLUSION: It was proven that the taping method was effective for pain relief and increasing ROM of the knee joint in the elderly.
*Range of Motion, Articular ; Middle Aged ; Male ; *Knee Joint/physiopathology ; Humans ; Female ; *Bandages ; Arthralgia/physiopathology/*therapy ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aged

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to design and evaluate a scale for measuring reliability and validity in the field of oriental nursing education. METHOD: A questionnaire was administered to 495 university nursing students using a convenience sampling method. The period of time for collecting data was from September 2003 to January 2004. RESULT: The derived outcome tool consisted of 6 factors and 22 inquires on the basis of a conceptual frame of three domains (knowledge, attitude, and skill), As a result of the item analysis, 22 items were selected and the internal consistency alpha coefficient was .767. The value of Cronbach' Alpha of knowledge(factor 1) was .885, attitude(factor2)was .756, and skill (factor 3) was .610. The three factors accounted for 65.110% of the variance in the total scale. Addressing the explanatory variance of each domain Cognitive domain was 22.477%, affective domain was 20.543%, and psychomotor domain was 17.090%. CONCLUSION: Further studies need to be done to verify educational evaluation and apply our outcomes to oriental nursing education.
*Medicine, Oriental Traditional ; Korea ; Humans ; Female ; Educational Measurement ; *Education, Nursing ; Adult

PURPOSE: This study was aimed at (a) describing professional nursing practice environments embedded in nursing care units and (b) examining its relationships to nurses' task motivation. METHOD: Using the Nursing Work Index Revised (NWI-R) and the Work Preference Inventory (WPI), a descriptive study was conducted with a sample of 320 registered nurses on 26 nursing care units in one University hospital in Korea. RESULT: Mean scores were 12.9 on a 5-20 score range of an autonomous environment scale, 7.3 on a 3-12 score range of a collaborative environment, and 15.8 on a 7-28 score range of control over nursing practice. Nurses' age, educational level, job position, working period at the hospital and employment status were significantly related to the degree of a professional practice environment. The extent to which a professional practice environment accounted for task motivation was 19.5%. CONCLUSION: There is a certain degree of professionalism in the workplace environment that nurses perceived within the nursing care units. When nurses care for patients, the degree of task motivation depends on the work environment supporting the professional nursing practice.
*Organizational Culture ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; Nursing Service, Hospital/*organization & administration ; *Motivation ; Male ; Korea ; *Job Satisfaction ; Humans ; Female ; Adult

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the relationship among health-related quality of life, smoking knowledge, smoking attitude, and smoking cessation intention in male smokers. METHOD: The subjects were 259 male smokers in J city. The data was collected using structured questionnaires from Nov. to Dec. of 2003. The data was analyzed by the SPSS (ver.10.0)computer program, and it included descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and Stepwise Multiple Regression. RESULT: The smoking cessation intention had a significant positive correlation among health-related quality of life (r=.159), smoking knowledge (r=.161), and smoking attitude (r=.127). These variables account for 26.8% of smoking cessation intention. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that the smoking cessation program to enhance the health-related quality of life, smoking knowledge, and smoking cessation intention and to increase a negative influence on smoking attitude need to be developed. Therefore, these findings give useful information for constructing a smoking cessation program in male smokers.
Smoking Cessation/*psychology ; Smoking/*psychology ; *Quality of Life ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Korea ; *Intention ; Humans ; *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Adult

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dependency and abuse on depression according to gender in widowed elderly. METHOD: A convenient sample consisted of 246 widowed elderly who were more than 65 years old in four cities. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire from August to September, 2002. A dependency Scale developed by Ahn (1999) was used to measure the level of dependency. Emotional abuse and physical abuse were measured by 10 items for emotional abuse and 7 items for physical abuse selected out of the Conditions Scale of Elder Abuse. The level of depression was measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS).The SPSS WIN 11.0 version program was used for data analysis. RESULT: In male widowed elderly, dependency affected depression indirectly through emotional abuse. While in female widowed elderly, dependency affected depression directly and affected emotional abuse indirectly. CONCLUSION: The study showed that dependency was the most explainable variable on depression in widowed female elderly. Therefore, it dependency should be assessed first in nursing intervention to relieve depression of widowed elderly.
Widowhood/*psychology ; Male ; Humans ; Female ; Elder Abuse/*psychology ; Depression/*etiology ; *Dependency (Psychology) ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aged