PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music therapy on pain, depression, and anxiety in terminally ill patients. METHODS: Twenty patients in the experimental group were provided with music via headphones for 30- 40 min at a time as they requested for 2 weeks, whereas no music was provided for the nineteen patients in the control group. Data were collected using a questionnaire. The research instruments included Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Depression & Anxiety Inventory Scale. Data were analyzed using chi-square-test, t-test, and Fisher's exact test, using SPSS 15.0. RESULTS: There were significant decreases in the scores of pain at present (t=-2.54, p<.05), depression (t=-2.187, p<.05) and anxiety (Z=-2.114, p<.05) in the experimental group compared to those in the control group. CONCLUSION: Music therapy is considered non-invasive and inexpensive intervention and can be easily applied to alleviate pain, depression and anxiety for terminally ill patients.
Anxiety ; Depression ; Humans ; Music ; Music Therapy ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Terminally Ill

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to establish the framework for development of the curriculum of genetics in Nursing Education. METHODS: The Internet search, literature review of the US system of genetic nurses, genetic graduate nursing education programs and curricula for nurse in Korea were reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: American Nurses genetic system consists of APNG and the GCS and all the APNG credential provided by the GNCC of ISONG. The curriculums of genetic nursing education in the US are mainly conducted in of master's program and genetically related subjects consists of basic genetics subjects, basic applied genetics subjects, genetics in nursing subjects and practical training subjects. Lastly a genetic nursing education program in Korea 44 hr of lectures and practical training of 4 hr is composed of basic genetics, genetic cancer, genetics in nursing and practicum in the computer lab and online include family history assessment, pedigree construction, breast and colorectal cancer risk calculations, and ELSI discussions. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that genetic nursing education course needs in master's program as detailed subjects. Also the establishment of the genetic nurse system is an urgent needed.
Breast ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Curriculum ; Education, Nursing ; Education, Nursing, Graduate ; Humans ; Internet ; Korea ; Lectures ; Pedigree ; Pyridines ; Thiazoles

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a breathing exercise intervention by measuring pulmonary function test (PFT) three times; preoperative, 3rd and 5th day after operation. METHODS: This study was designed as a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. A total of 55 patients with lung cancer were recruited from a Chonnam university hospital in Hawsun-gun, Korea from January to December 2008. RESULTS: 'Forced Vital Capacity (FVC)' and 'Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1)' were significantly improved in the experimental group than those in the control group (p<.05). CONCLUSION: Breathing exercise intervention was found to be effective in improving pulmonary function among lung cancer patients underwent lung lobectomy. Thus, the breathing exercise can be applied in hospitals and communities for patients with lung cancer as one of the nursing intervention modalities for their better postoperative rehabilitation.
Breathing Exercises ; Humans ; Korea ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Respiration ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Vital Capacity

PURPOSE: This study was to identify the effect of hand massage on comfort in women with gynecologic cancer undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used for this study. Hand massage was provided to the experimental group for 5 min (2.5 min for each side) once on admission day, twice from the second day until the day before discharge, and once in the morning on discharge day. RESULTS: Findings showed no significant differences in pre and post levels of general, physical, psycho-spiritual, social and environmental comfort. However, women's comfort levels in all domains were increased after the chemotherapy in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: Although there were some increases in women's comfort levels on all domains after the treatment, hand massage was not proved as a statistically useful nursing intervention in comforting women with gynecologic cancer. The results suggest that hand massage could be effective if it is applied longer than it was in this study. The future implications of hand massage in patients with various cancers are discussed.
Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Massage

PURPOSE: This study was aimed to analyze the contents and trend of published research in oncology nursing during the past five years in Korea and to suggest the direction for future research. METHODS: Using the key words "cancer", "cancer patients", and "tumor", 391 nursing research published from 2003 to 2008 were selected for the analysis. RESULTS: 1) Three hundred fifty-five (90.8%) of the studies used quantitative research approach, whereas most studies were descriptive in nature. 2) The main subjects of the study were cancer patients with mixed diagnosis (36.4%) and breast cancer patients (20.0%). 3) Complementary alternative therapy (28.9%), educational program (25.6%), and psycho-social and spiritual program (16.7%) were the most frequently used nursing interventions. Most frequently measured outcome variables were psycho, socio, and spiritual factors (38.8%), symptoms (28.2%) and physiological factors (14.6%). 4) Most frequently used key words were identified as quality of life, fatigue, coping, pain, anxiety, anorexia, and depression. CONCLUSION: The number of published research in oncology nursing in Korea has been increased. It is suggested to conduct international studies to develop, compare, and replicate nursing interventions for patients with cancer in future. Increasing funding, establishing research infrastructure, and removing methodological challenges are warranted for better research environment.
Anorexia ; Anxiety ; Breast Neoplasms ; Depression ; Fatigue ; Financial Management ; Humans ; Korea ; Nursing Research ; Quality of Life

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to identify job definition, duties and tasks of Korean oncology Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) and assess frequency, importance, and difficulty for each of duty and task using the DACUM method. METHODS: The DACUM committee was organized with nine oncology APNs. The committee documented the job definition, duties and tasks based on their daily job descriptions. Validity of the elicited duties and tasks was tested by a study team and 6 oncology APNs. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from 53 oncology APNs. RESULTS: The job description of oncology APNs was identified 12 duties and 66 tasks. Among the twelve duties, 'education for patients/ families' was the most frequently performed and was the most important duty. 'Case management' was the most difficult duty. Among 66 tasks, 'providing education for patients/families' was most frequently performed. 'Providing education for patients/families' and 'assessing patient condition comprehensively' were the most important tasks. 'Implementation research' as the principal investigator was perceived as the most difficult task. CONCLUSION: In this study, Korean oncology APNs' job performances were identified and analyzed. It is recommended that job description for oncology APNs needs to be standardized and reshaped in advanced way in future.
Humans ; Job Description ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Research Personnel

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze nursing research trends on the complementary and alternative therapies (CAT) for the cancer patients in Korea. METHOD: Thirty eight articles published in 17 nursing-related journal from 1987 to 2008 were analyzed. RESULTS: Nursing Researches on CAT for the cancer patients have increased since 2000. Among the 38 studies, 34 studies used Quasi-experimental design and 13 studies (33%) were conducted for the breast cancer patients. Mind-body therapy (53%), manual healing therapy (42%), and pharmacologic and biological therapy (5%) were the often used CAT types. Nausea, vomiting, vital signs, immune cell, pain, and fatigue were measured as physiologic outcome variables; anxiety, depression, and hope as psychological outcome variables; and quality of life as social outcome variables. CONCLUSION: More CAM studies are needed targeting the patients with various cancer types and home-based cancer patients.
Animals ; Anxiety ; Biological Therapy ; Breast Neoplasms ; Cats ; Complementary Therapies ; Depression ; Fatigue ; Humans ; Korea ; Mind-Body Therapies ; Nausea ; Nursing Research ; Quality of Life ; Vital Signs ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyse the level of sexual function among breast cancer survivors as compared with that among healthy women. METHOD: A total of 208 women participated in this study: 103 breast cancer survivors attending self-help group and 105 community-residing healthy women in G city. A self-reported questionnaire with the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was used to obtain data. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Win 14.0 K+ for descriptive statistics, t-test, and two-way ANOVA. RESULTS: The sexual function score of breast cancer survivors was significantly lower than that of healthy women, respectively 14.9+/-9.9 and 20.6+/-11.1 (p<0.001). The sexual function of recurrent breast cancer survivors was significantly lower than that of women without recurrence. However, there were no significant differences in the sexual function score according to the cancer stage, period since diagnosis, and types of cancer treatment modality. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate the importance of sex-related counseling and educational programs to improve the quality of life of breast cancer survivors.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Counseling ; Female ; Humans ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Recurrence ; Self-Help Groups ; Survivors

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate perceived family support and quality of life in patients with cancer. METHOD: Data were collected from 83 cancer patients in the 3 cities of Korea. Family support was measured using the Tae's Family Support Scale and quality of life was measured using Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G). RESULTS: The mean scores of family support and quality of life were 30.48 and 53.04 respectively. Family support was significantly different according to marital status, education level, income, living together, helper, type of treatment, and weight change. Quality of life was significantly different according to the purpose of treatment, weight change, performance status, exercise, and sleep. There was a positive correlation between family support and quality of life (r=0.499, p<0.000). CONCLUSION: The study results underscore the importance of family support in improving the quality of life of patients with cancer.
Humans ; Korea ; Marital Status ; Quality of Life

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to develop an educational program reflecting the educational needs of Hospice Smart Patient service providers. METHOD: The description, goal, curriculum, method, and process evaluation of the educational program were constructed based on Modified Tyler-type Ends-Means Model followed by the analysis of current curriculum and needs of service providers. RESULTS: The curriculum was constructed based on hospice volunteer program currently offered in Korea and the recommendations of hospice service volunteers and experts. A total of 90 hr was required to complete the curriculum that was composed of 'Introduction to cancer', 'Treatment and treatment complications of cancer', 'Post-treatment nutritional care', 'Helpful information', 'Introduction to hospice and palliative care', 'Comprehension of life and death', 'Holistic hospice and palliative care', 'How to communicate as a smart patient', 'Hospice and ethics', 'Pediatric hospice', 'Bereavement management', and 'Clinical practicum'. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to implement the developed educational program and evaluate its effectiveness, as well as making the service available to a greater number of cancer patients.
Curriculum ; Health Personnel ; Hospices ; Humans ; Korea ; Palliative Care