PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop Nurse's Suffering Experience Scale and to test the reliability and validity of the instrument. METHOD: The subjects used to verify the scale's reliability and validity were 220 nurses who were taking care of the end stage cancer patients, while working at university and general hospitals in Daegu and Kyungbuk province from April 20. to July 10, 2001. The data was analyzed by the SPSS/WIN 8.0 program. RESULTS: A factor analysis was conducted, and items that had a factor loading more than .40, and an eigen value more than 1.0. were selected. The factor analysis classified a total of seven factors statistically, and it's communality was 44%. The explanation of factors based on the conceptual framework and item content are as follows: The first factor was expanding self consciousness, the second factor was forming empathy with family, the third factor was professional challenge, the fourth factor was change of values, the fifth factor was spiritual sublimation, the sixth factor was helplessness, and finally the seventh factor was rejection to death. Cronbach's coefficient to test reliability of the scale was .8665 for total of 44 items. The Scale for Nurse's Suffering Experience developed in the study was identified as a tool with a high degree of reliability and validity. Therefore this scale can be effectively utilized for the evaluation of the degree of nurse's suffering experience in clinical settings.
Consciousness ; Daegu ; Empathy ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sublimation

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore clinical nurse's reported conflict experience toward end-of-life medical decision making. METHODS: Data were collected by in-depth interviews with eight nurses from three different wards of university hospital in D city of Korea. Conventional qualitative analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Results were three major themes and twelve categories from the analysis. The three major themes were prioritization of treatment, non-disclosure of diagnosis, and hierarchical and power relations. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that shared decision making in end of life among patient, family members, physician, and nurse may contribute to improve end-of-life care performance as well as dignified dying of patient in end of life.
Decision Making ; Humans ; Korea

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a nurse presence program on suicide prevention for elders with chronic disease. METHOD: The subjects were recruited from two different elderly institutions located in D city and K province, Korea. Twenty subjects in the control group received no intervention and nineteen subjects in the experimental group received a nurse presence program. RESULT: There were more significant decreases in suicide ideation, and the cortisol level and increases in life satisfaction in the experimental group compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: According to the above results, a nurse presence program for elders with a chronic disease decreased stressful events like suicide ideation and increased self esteem through therapeutic interaction. These findings suggest that this program can be used as an efficient independent nursing intervention for elders in a critical situation.
Aged ; *Chronic Disease ; Female ; Frail Elderly ; Geriatric Assessment ; Geriatric Nursing ; Health Services ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations ; Nursing Methodology Research/*methods ; Personal Satisfaction ; Self Concept ; Social Support ; Suicide/*prevention & control

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to describe events resulting in perceived hurts in nursing, and to identify factors influencing forgiveness in clinical nurses. METHODS: The study was a descriptive correlation design. From May to July, 2009, the researcher used interviews to collect data from 148 clinical nurses from five hospitals in D city. RESULTS: Clinical nurses received perceived hurt from peer-nurses, care-givers, and doctors, and the reasons for the perceived hurts were blame, neglect, and valuation. Levels of forgiveness in clinical nurses were different according to who caused the perceived hurt, the degree of the perceived hurt, and endeavors to resolve the perceived hurts. Levels of forgiveness in clinical nurses were negatively correlated with age, degree of perceived hurt, and degree of anger expression, and positively correlated with degree of self-esteem. The strongest predictors of forgiveness in clinical nurses were degree of anger expression, age, and degree of hurt. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study suggest that nursing staff should be able to identify reasons for perceived hurt in clinical nurses and provide a forgiveness program for each nursing situation.
Anger ; Forgiveness ; Humans ; Nursing Staff

PURPOSE: The study was done to develop a dignified dying scale for Korean adults. METHODS: The process included construction of a conceptual framework, generation of initial items, verification of content validity, selection of secondary items, preliminary study, and extraction of final items. The participants were 428 adults who lived in one of 3 Korean metropolitan cities: Seoul, Daegu, and Busan. Item analysis, factor analysis, criterion related validity, and internal consistency were used to analyze the data. Data collection was done from March to June 2010. RESULTS: Thirty items were selected for the final scale, and categorized into 5 factors explaining 54.5% of the total variance. The factors were labeled as maintaining emotional comfort (10 items), arranging social relationship (9 items), avoiding suffering (3 items), maintaining autonomous decision making (4 items), and role preservation (4 items). The scores for the scale were significantly correlated with personal meanings of death scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the 30 items was .92. CONCLUSION: The above findings indicate that the dignified dying scale has a good validity and reliability when used with Korean adults.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Aged ; Analysis of Variance ; Attitude to Death/*ethnology ; Decision Making ; Demography ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Program Development ; Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea

This study is a methodical research to develop a health behavior assessment scale for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and to test the validity and reliability of the instrument. The research procedure was as follows; 1) The first step was to develop conceptual framework based on a comprehensive review of the literature, in-depth interviews patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This conceptual framework was organized in eight dimensions; pain management, exercise, rest, diet control, active committment, self-management, positive thinking, interpersonal maintenance. Initially 56 items were selected from 164 statement. 2) These items were reviewed by panel of eight specialists and the Index of Content validity (CVI) was calculated, and forty six items were selected which met more than 70% on the CVI. 3) 174 rheumatoid arthritis pateints were interviewed, and data was gathered from Jan. 25 to Feb. 18, 1999 for test reliabilities and validities of the scale. The item analysis was carried out and 40 items were selected. Factor analysis by varimax rotation was carried out to test construct validity. The internal consistency by chronbach's alpha was calculated. The findings were as follows; 1) Item analysis and factor analysis were carried out to test the validity of the health behavior assessment scale. The item analysis was based on the corrected item`s to total correlation coefficient (.30 or more), and information about the alpha estimate. However, this was only if this item was deleted from the scale. As a result of the item analysis, forty items were selected. Thirty items were selected by a initial factor analysis by varimax rotation, and ten items were deleted because of factor complexity. In the secondary factor analysis, eight factors were labled as 'positive thinking', 'exercise', 'rest', 'pain management', 'active committment', 'self-management', 'diet control', and 'interpersonal maintenance', each similar with the conceptual framework. 2) Chronbach's alpha coefficient to test reliability of the scale was. 903 for total the thirty items. The Scale for assessing health behavior developed in this study was identified to be a tool with a high degree of reliability and validity. Therefore this scale can be effectively utilized for assessment in the health behaviors of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Diet ; Health Behavior* ; Humans ; Pain Management ; Reproducibility of Results ; Self Care ; Specialization ; Thinking

PURPOSE: The Purpose of this study is to understand the meaning and the essence of suffering as viewpoint and to find the meaning and structure of the experience from encounters with patients in their terminal stages of illness. METHOD: A descriptive design based on the phenomenological approach model developed by Collaizzi was used. The period of data collection was from August to November of 2000. Data collection was conducted by open-ended and audio-taped interviews. The participants were nine female nurses who were willing to take part in this study. RESULTS: Results of this study were classified into five main categories. The main category clusters were "difficulty in experiencing suffering," "professional challenges to expert nurses," "formation of empathic relationships," "expanding consciousness through suffering," and "alleviation of the patient's suffering." CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the implications for providing nursing care to end-stage patients in the throes of suffering is both rewarding and stressful. However, sharing these research results may help other nurses discover and experience deeper meanings in their own practice and careers.
Consciousness ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Female ; Humans ; Nursing Care ; Reward

PURPOSE: To understand the meaning of death seen by nursing students through collage art works. METHOD: The qualitative research method and the content analysis were used. The text were collage and related essays written by 42 senior nursing students about the impressions on death through collage art works. RESULT: Statements were classified into three categories and seventeen themes. The three categories include 'efinitions of death', 'feelings about the death', and 'attitudes about the death and the dying patients'. CONCLUSION: It is shown that participants recognize their position as nursing student, although they may not escape the fear of death, will learn to deal with death, and the dying in a suitably professional manner. In this respect, the study is considered to be helpful for the students in learning the knowledge and information which are needed for hospice nursing care more effectively.
Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing ; Humans ; Learning ; Nursing* ; Qualitative Research ; Students, Nursing* ; United Nations

PURPOSE: To understand the meaning of death seen by nursing students through art works. METHOD: The qualitative research method and the content analysis were used. The text were essays written by 42 senior nursing students about their impressions on death through art works. RESULT: Statements were classified into six categories and twenty six themes. The six categories include definitions of death, feelings about the death of a main character, responses to the death of the main character, feelings of significant others about the death of the main character, feelings of participants in this study, and oaths of the participants in this study. CONCLUSION: It is shown that participants recognize their position as nursing students, although they may not escape the fear of death, will learn to cope with death, and the dying in a suitably professional manner. In this respect, the study is considered to be helpful for the students in learning the knowledge and information which are needed for hospice nursing care more effectively.
Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing ; Humans ; Learning ; Nursing* ; Qualitative Research ; Students, Nursing* ; United Nations

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the subjective opinions of first-generation Korean-Americans about survival. METHODS: The Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. The 34 selected Q-statements from each of 38 subjects were classified into a shape of normal distribution using a 9 point scale. The collected data was analyzed using a QUANL/WIN program. RESULTS: Four types of survival attitudes from 38 first-generation Korean-Americans were identified. Type I was a satisfaction type based on belief, Type II was an effort type based on purpose, Type III was an isolation type based on ethnicity, and Type IV was a compromise type based on adaptation. Results of this study indicate that approaches to a minority's survival strategies need to be differentiated taking this typology and various subject characteristics into account. CONCLUSION: This information may provide a basic understanding for healthcare providers who work with first-generation Korean-Americans.
Emigrants and Immigrants ; Health Personnel ; Humans