PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the effect of a Happiness Self-Coaching program for new graduate nurses working in cancer care units. METHODS: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest, nonequivalent control-group design was applied to conduct the study. Study participants were new graduate nurses employed within 12 months and working as shift employees at G university hospital, located in J city. A total of 21 new graduate nurses participated in the study, 10 in the experimental group, and 11 in the control group. The happiness self-coaching program was conducted weekly for 70 minutes from February 1 to June 6, 2016 for 6 weeks. The experimental group received the Happiness Self-Coaching program through lectures, presentation, group activities, and strength card play. Data were analyzed by using repeated measure ANOVA and paired t-test. RESULTS: The experimental group demonstrated significantly higher happiness (F=6.82, p=.003) and self-efficacy (F=3.38 p=.045) levels compared to the control group.
Happiness ; Lectures ; Nursing ; Oncology Service, Hospital ; Self Efficacy

PURPOSE: The main purpose of this study is to develop new payment rates for services of Radiation Oncology, considering costs of treating patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A survey of forty hospitals has been conducted in order to analyze the costs of treating patients. Before conducting the survey, we evaluated and reclassified the individual service items currently using as payments units on the fee-for-service reimbursement system. This study embodies the analysis of replies received from the twenty four hospitals. The survey contains informations about the hospitals' costs of 1995 for the reclassified service items on Radiation Oncology. After we adjust the hospital costs by the operating rate of medical equipment, we compare the adjusted costs with the current payment rates of individual services. RESULTS: The current payment rates were 5.05-6.58 times lower than the adjusted costs in treatment planning services, 2.22 times lower in block making service, 1.57-2.86 times lower in external beam irradiation services, 3.82-5.01 times lower in intracavitary and interstitial irradiation and 1.12- 2.55 times lower in total body irradiation. CONCLUSION: We could conclude that the current payment system on Radiation Oncology does not only reflect the costs of treating patients appropriately but also classify the service items correctly. For an example, when the appropriate costs and classification are applied to TBI, the payment rates of TBI should be increased five times more than current level.
Classification* ; Fee-for-Service Plans ; Hospital Costs ; Humans ; Radiation Oncology* ; Whole-Body Irradiation

PURPOSE: This study was performed to identify the level of stress perceived by nurses who attend dying patients in the cancer care unit; their understanding regarding end-of-life care and related training needs. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with 151 nurses stationed at the cancer care units of four general hospitals located in Seoul and Gyeonggi province in Korea. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires and the response rate was 96%. The data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA and Pearson's correlation analysis. SPSS 12.0 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Nurses experienced a high level of stress in the end-of-life care settings. Their understanding of end-of-life care was above the mid-point of the scale while their training needs for end-of-life care was relatively high. The more experienced the nurses were, the more stressed they were, particularly due to excessive workload. Nurses who served longer in the cancer unit tended to show greater needs for end-of-life care training. CONCLUSION: This study found nurses perform end-of-life care with a high level of stress but with insufficient understanding, and thus, showed great needs for related training. Such findings can be useful to develop an end-of-life care training program for nurses.
Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Korea ; Needs Assessment ; Oncology Service, Hospital ; Terminal Care

PURPOSE: This study was done to understand the meanings and nature of experiences of the burnout of nurses working in oncology wards. METHODS: The hermeneutic phenomenology developed by van-Manen was used. The period for data collection was from November, 2006 to May, 2007. This study took place in 3 university hospitals in B & U cities. Nine nurses working in oncology wards participated. Data collection was done through individual in-depth interviews. RESULTS: The eight most common themes demonstrated by participants from this study were 'being fed up with endless demands', 'collapsing in front of deaths', 'gasping for breath due to overwhelming tasks', 'uncontrollable suffering of body', 'gradually loosing self-esteem', 'frustration from the work world', 'beleaguered relationships', and 'desire to escape'. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that there is a need to develop a preventive burnout program for nurses working in oncology wards.
Data Collection ; Hospitals, University ; Hypogonadism ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Oncology Service, Hospital ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Stress, Psychological