Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine person-centered care, nursing professionalism, the nursing work environment, and empathy capacity among hospice ward nurses and to identify the factors affecting person-centered care. Methods: Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire completed by 120 nurses at 30 inpatient hospice institutions in South Korea from August 24, 2020 to September 8, 2020. The independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation analysis were conducted using SPSS version 26.0. Results: The scores were 3.76±0.45 for person-centered care, 3.58± 0.47 for nursing professionalism, 3.24±0.57 for the nursing work environment, and 4.00± 0.46 for empathy capacity. There were positive correlations between the variables. Factors that influenced the person-centered care of hospice nurses were being a manager (β=0.20, P=0.002), high nursing professionalism (β=0.20, P=0.012), a better nursing work environ-ment (β=0.15, P=0.033), and high empathy capacity (β=0.51, P＜0.001). The explanatorypower was 65.3%. Conclusion To reinforce the person-centered care competency of hospice nurses, it is necessary to improve nursing professionalism, the nursing work environment, and empathy competency. Opportunities for nurses to practice independently must be expanded for nurses to develop nursing professionalism. Sufficient nursing personnel and material resources must be provided to nurses to cultivate a positive work environment.Empathy should be improved by implementing integrated education programs that include nursing practice situations.

BACKGROUND: Hyperleukocytosis is a medical emergency that is characterized by increased blood viscosity and predisposition to various neurological, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal complications. In addition, patients are at risk of the tumor lysis syndrome because of the increased tumor burden. Therapeutic leukapheresis is an important treatment for these emergent states. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed therapeutic leukapheresis procedures that were performed in our institution during the last 10 yr. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed therapeutic leukapheresis procedures conducted from July 2005 to March 2015 at a tertiary care hospital. We present our observations, especially the procedural characteristics and hematological parameters before and after the aforementioned procedures. RESULTS: Seventy-two patients underwent a total of 146 therapeutic leukapheresis procedures. The average presenting white blood cell (WBC) count was 268×10(3)/µL, and ranged from 54×10(3)/µL to 673×10(3)/µL. After an average of two sessions, a statistically significant drop in the WBC counts was observed. The average WBC removal rates during the initial and entire therapeutic leukapheresis procedures of each patient were 33% and 46%, respectively. The platelet count and hemoglobin concentration were significantly reduced. CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic leukapheresis significantly reduces peripheral WBC counts and is a safe and effective procedure for the treatment of hyperleukocytosis.
Blood Viscosity ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Leukapheresis* ; Leukemia ; Leukocytes ; Platelet Count ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Healthcare* ; Tumor Burden ; Tumor Lysis Syndrome

Transfusion-associated circulatory overload (TACO) is recently becoming more important than transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) in terms of the number of patients with definite diagnosis as well as its prognosis. In order to diagnose TACO, it is helpful to recognize early the symptoms suspicious of transfusion reaction through electronic medical record system and computer network, and this will be of help for obtaining samples for brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurement before and after the onset of transfusion reaction. We report a case in which a transfusion reaction was diagnosed as TACO. A 62-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency room due to bleeding tendency. Two fresh frozen plasma units and one unit of leukocyte-reduced red blood cells were transfused. Blood pressure increased during transfusion, and the chest X-ray showed findings suggestive of newly developed pulmonary edema. N-terminal prohormone of BNP (NT-proBNP) test was carried out using the specimens in refrigerated storage. Compared with the NT-proBNP level measured 12 hours before the transfusion, that measured 6 hours after the transfusion was markedly increased (>48 fold of pre-transfusion level). As a result, this case was diagnosed with TACO.
Acute Lung Injury ; Blood Pressure ; Diagnosis ; Electronic Health Records ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Plasma ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Edema ; Thorax ; Transfusion Reaction

A global effort was made to respond to COVID-19 using convalescent plasma therapy. The United States Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization facilitated rapid deployment, enabling the treatment of 94,287 patients by August 2020. The guidelines continuously evolved to emphasize the importance of a high titer plasma and specific immunocompromised patient groups. Korea has developed guidelines for treatment with convalescent plasma based on the successful treatment of two patients. By December 2023, convalescent plasma was collected from 67 donors at nine blood centers and transfused to 67 patients at 10 hospitals in Korea. The Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies recommendations, based on recent research, are believed to encompass the therapeutic effects of convalescent plasma therapy in COVID-19 patients. Korea initially considered convalescent plasma but experienced difficulties in development because of the switch to hyperimmune globulin and monoclonal antibodies. The insights gained from COVID-19 convalescent plasma treatment will be helpful in future pandemics caused by new infectious agents, underscoring the importance of domestic readiness for timely policy implementation.

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia trachomatis is common etiological agent of sexual transmitted disease. We evaluated two real-time PCR assays for the detection of C. trachomatis; Cobas TaqMan CT test v2.0 (Roche Diagnostics, Switzerland) and AdvanSure CT/NG real-time PCR (LG Life Sciences, Korea). And we compared performance of two real-time PCR assays with Cobas Amplicor CT test (Roche Diagnostics, Switzerland). METHODS: Seventy-nine cervical swab specimens collected from patients with suspected C. trachomatis infection were tested using CTM CT, ADVANSURE, and AMPLICOR for the detection of C. trachomatis. RESULTS: Twenty-five (31.6%) samples showed positive results in all three assays. The positive and negative concordance rates among three assays were 100%. CONCLUSIONS: CTM CT and ADVANSURE showed excellent agreement with AMPLICOR. Therefore, these assays were reliable for the evaluation of C. trachomatis infection.
Biological Science Disciplines ; Chlamydia ; Chlamydia trachomatis ; Humans ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

A 54-yr-old male, who was treated by chemotherapy for gastric cancer 15 months ago, presented to Yongdong Severance Hospital, Seoul, with complaints of pain in his right eye caused by a foreign body from the ground in the previous week. He had been treated with topical and oral antibacterial in addition to antifungal agents, but did not show significant clinical improvement. After a positive corneal culture with mold, topical amphotericin B was added to the initial regimen. The mold was identified as Scedosporium apiospermum by macroscopic and microscopic morphologies and the nucleotide sequences of a fungal PCR product showing 99% homology with those of S. apiospermum (EF151349). He recovered with good results at 25 days after corneal epithelial debridement. The early diagnosis of S. apiospermum keratitis is very important for proper treatment. It is recommended that molecular diagnostic methods such as fungal PCR and sequencing be done with conventional cultures whenever a fungal infection is suspected.
Amphotericin B/therapeutic use ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Antifungal Agents/therapeutic use ; Cornea/microbiology ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Eye Infections, Fungal/*diagnosis/microbiology ; Humans ; Keratitis/*diagnosis/microbiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Scedosporium/genetics/growth & development/*isolation & purification ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

BACKGROUND: The clinical importance of transfusing older RBCs versus newer RBCs remains controversial, with some studies identifying adverse consequences and others have not. We evaluated the age of RBCs transfused in a Korean tertiary hospital and the improvement of the in-hospital inventory period by reducing the level of inventory in the hospital blood bank. METHODS: The packed RBCs that were issued from November 14th, 2009 to November 13th, 2010 were analyzed. The inventory level was reduced in May 14th, 2010. We compared the total inventory period, the in-hospital inventory period and the pre-delivery period between before inventory reduction and after inventory reduction. RESULTS: The in-hospital inventory period of the packed RBCs was significantly shortened after inventory reduction (6.0 day vs. 4.0 day, P<0.0001). Because the pre-delivery period was prolonged due to a temporary increase of blood donations, the total inventory period was not shortened. CONCLUSION: This study provides that the in-hospital inventory period can be improved by reducing the inventory levels in the hospital, but further studies are required to decide what the adequate inventory levels should be.
Blood Banks ; Blood Donors ; Erythrocytes ; Humans ; Tertiary Care Centers

Although Corynebacterium amycolatum can cause opportunistic infections, it is commonly considered as contaminant. In this report, we present a case of bacteremia caused by C. amycolatum with a novel mutation in the gyrA gene that confers high-level quinolone resistance to the organism.
Aged, 80 and over ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/*pharmacology ; Bacteremia/*microbiology ; Corynebacterium/drug effects/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Corynebacterium Infections/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; DNA Gyrase/*genetics ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial/genetics ; Fluoroquinolones/*pharmacology ; Humans ; Male ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Mutation ; Vancomycin/therapeutic use

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that thyroglobulin (Tg) measurement in fine-needle aspirates (FNA) of lymph nodes can assist in evaluating cervical lymph node metastasis. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performances of FNA-Tg, serum-Tg, and FNA-Tg/serum-Tg in detecting lymph node metastasis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the diagnostic performances of FNA-Tg and serum-Tg in 641 cases (518 patients) with papillary thyroid cancer that underwent ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration of cervical lymph nodes between March 2009 and February 2010. RESULTS: The number of lymph nodes and median FNA-Tg level of the positive lymph node cytology group were 99 and 1,300 ng/mL (range, 0.2-5,000), respectively, whereas corresponding values in the negative cytology group were 359 and 4.7 ng/mL (range, 0.1-1,173). The AUCs of FNA-Tg, serum-Tg, and FNA-Tg/serum-Tg ratio were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.90-0.97), 0.64 (95% CI, 0.57-0.70), and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.78-0.88), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of FNA-Tg were 90.9% and 98.3%, respectively, and the percentage agreement with the cytology results was 96.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The agreement of FNA-Tg with the cytology results was good at the cutoff value of 35.9 ng/mL. The measurement of FNA-Tg in cases with uninterpretable cytology results can be useful in evaluating lymph node metastasis of papillary thyroid cancer.
Area Under Curve ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms

The matrix protein 2 of influenza A virus (IFAV) has a relatively conserved ectodomain (M2e) composed of 23 amino acids, and M2e-based vaccines have been suggested to induce broad protective immunity in mice. In this study, we investigated whether N-terminal sequence of M2e (nM2e)-based vaccines with more conserved nM2e could induce influenza viral neutralizing activity. We constructed linear peptide vaccines with an nM2e sequence for PR8 virus (nM2Pr) connected to a probable 17-mer IFAV-derived helper T-cell epitope (ThE: T1, T2, or T3) at its N- or C-terminus. The peptide vaccines induced significant production of nM2e Abs regardless of either type or location of the ThE-epitope in BALB/c mice, while only T3 was effective in C57BL/6 mice. The Abs against nM2Pr-T3 elicited broader binding affinities to the nM2e peptides derived from various IFAVs than those against T3-nM2Pr. In addition, the nM2e-based vaccines efficiently protected the immunized mice from the lethal challenge of PR8 virus. These results suggest that the more conserved nM2e without cysteine will be useful for development of universal peptide vaccines than M2e.
Amino Acids ; Animals ; Antibodies, Neutralizing ; Cysteine ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Influenza A virus ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human ; Mice ; Peptides ; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer ; Vaccines ; Vaccines, Subunit