Purpose: Early adolescence is a pivotal developmental stage characterized by rapid physical, emotional, and social changes. Happiness during this period is crucial as it influences later life outcomes. This study examined 4-year changes in happiness and identified predictors among Korean early adolescents. Methods: A secondary analysis of longitudinal panel data was conducted using latent growth modeling to assess changes in happiness over 4 years, utilizing data from the Panel Study on Korean Children (11th–14th waves) with a total of 1,177 participants. Descriptive statistics were computed using IBM SPSS ver. 29.0, and latent growth modeling, including unconditional and conditional models with associated factors variables, was conducted using IBM AMOS ver. 29.0. Results: A nonlinear trajectory was identified with a sharp decline in happiness, particularly between the ages of 11 and 12 years. Self-esteem, peer attachment, and a creative school environment emerged as protective factors mitigating this decline, whereas parental attachment influenced baseline happiness but not its trajectory. Higher self-esteem, stronger peer attachment, and supportive school environments were associated with a slower decline in happiness. Conclusions Our findings highlight the importance of early interventions beginning around the age of 11 years, a critical period when happiness decreases more steeply. Practical implications include developing school-based and psychosocial programs that strengthen self-esteem and positive peer relationships, and fostering autonomy-supportive, creative educational environments. Coordinated efforts between schools and families are essential to promote adolescents’ emotional well-being and ensure balanced development in academic and socio-emotional domains.

Purpose: : This retrospective study clarified the peripheral limb ischemiaincidence and examined the differences in demographic, clinical, and nursing care-related characteristics according to the presence of peripheral limb ischemia in intensive care unit (ICU) patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy. Methods: : Participants were 170 patients who received ECMO therapy at a university hospital over a 10-year period (January 2013 to December 2022). Data, including general, clinical, and nursing care characteristics, were collected from electronic medical records. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, χ2-tests, and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: : Participants’ mean age was 57.49 years, 125 (73.5%) were male, and the average duration of ECMO therapy was 7.22 days. Among them, 75 (44.1%) patients developed peripheral limb ischemia. Significant differences were found between the groups with and without peripheral limb ischemia in mean arterial pressure (t=6.19, p ‹.001), vasopressor use (χ2=8.54, p =.003), anticoagulant use (χ2=15.01, p ‹.001), use of clotting factors (χ2=5.84, p=.016), presence of abdominal distension (χ2=8.97, p=.003), insertion site bleeding (χ2=8.14, p =.004), and laboratory values including white blood cell count (t=2.65, p =.009), hemoglobin (t=2.71, p =.008), platelet count (t=2.88, p =.004), creatine kinase (t=-4.47, p ‹.001), prothrombin time (t=-4.22, p ‹.001), international normalized ratio (t=-4.29, p ‹.001), and frequency of lower limb monitoring (t=5.57, p ‹.001). Conclusion : This study explored the clinical and nursing care-related characteristics associated with peripheral limb ischemia in ICU patients undergoing ECMO therapy. The findings provide evidence to support future research focusing on the early detection and proactive nursing interventions to prevent peripheral limb ischemia in this high-risk population.

Background: Sterility and safety assurance of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) products is critical in transplantation. Microbial contamination can lead to product disposal and increases the risk of unsuccessful clinical outcomes. Therefore, it is important to implement and maintain good practice guidelines and regulations for the HSC collection and processing unit in each hospital. We aimed to share our experiences and suggest strategies to improve the quality assurance of HSC processing. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed microbial culture results of 11,743 HSC products processed over a 25-year period (January 1996 to May 2021). Because of reorganization of the HSC management system in 2008, the 25-year period was divided into periods 1 (January 1996 to December 2007) and 2 (January 2008 to May 2021). We reviewed all culture results of the HSC products and stored aliquot samples and collected culture results for peripheral blood and catheter samples. Results: Of the 11,743 products in total, 35 (0.3%) were contaminated by microorganisms, including 19 (0.5%) of 3,861 products during period 1 and 16 (0.2%) of 7,882 products during period 2. Penicillium was the most commonly identified microorganism (15.8%) during period 1 and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was the most commonly identified (31.3%) during period 2. HSC product contamination occurred most often during HSC collection and processing. Conclusions The contamination rate decreased significantly during period 2, when the HSC management system was reorganized. Our results imply that handling HSC products by trained personnel and adopting established protocols, including quality assurance programs, aid in decreasing the contamination risk.

Purpose: This study was intended to evaluate the effects of an Infant Health Promotion Program (IHPP) for mothers with their firstborn infants. Methods: This study employed a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants consisted of 17 mothers with their firstborn infants in the experimental group and 17 in the control group from two women’s hospitals. The experimental group received eight sessions of the program for four weeks. The collected data were analyzed using the chi-square test and repeated-measures ANOVA using an SPSS/WIN ver. 22.0. Results: The experimental group receiving the program had statistically significant higher levels of infant health promotion knowledge (F = 22.91, p < .001), social support (F = 27.64, p < .001), maternal role confidence (F = 8.25, p = .005) and health promotion behavior for infants (F = 16.85, p < .001) than the control group. The experimental group had a statistically significant lower level of parenting stress than the control group (F = 29.93, p < .001). Conclusion The study’s findings indicate that the IHPP is effective in improving health promotion knowledge, social support, and maternal role confidence and decreasing parenting stress among mothers with their firstborn infants. A method of delivering intervention, focused on readily accessible online platforms, coupled with intervention strategies grounded in the theory of self-efficacy, proves to be an advantageous approach for this particular target group.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of fatigue, social support, and burnout among nurses caring for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, and to identify factors that affect burnout. Methods: Data were collected from 115 nurses who were caring for COVID-19 patients in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul from December 2021 to February 2022. Results: The mean scores for fatigue, social support, and burnout were 63.31 ± 11.48 (of 95), 48.34 ± 6.97 (of 60), and 81.90 ± 15.50 (of 132) points, respectively. The level of burnout of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 was high. Fatigue (β = .49, p < .001) and social support (β = -.21, p = .012) were significantly associated with burnout. Conclusion Higher levels of fatigue and lower levels of social support were associated with higher levels of burnout. Reducing fatigue among nurses and strengthening their social support can be a strategy to reduce nurse burnout.

Purpose: Medication adherence in older adults with multimorbidity is critical for self-care. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify the factors that influence medication adherence in older adults with multimorbidity. Methods: The patients were 116 adults 65 or older with three or more chronic diseases. The data were collected from December 2020 to April 2022 in outpatient clinics at a hospital in Daejeon. Results: The mean scores of depression, social support, and medication adherence were 16.18 ± 6.74 (of 30), 41.06 ± 6.56 (of 60), and 4.69 ± 1.85 (of 8) points, respectively. Patients with low adherence comprised the most with 75 patients (64.7%). Influencing factors on medication adherence were depression (β = -.35, p = .007) and family support among social support (β = .29, p = .006). Conclusion Among older adults with multimorbidity, lower depression as well as higher family support, results in higher medication adherence. It is necessary to develop a practical strategy toward improving medication adherence, by sensitively managing the degree of depression, as well as strengthening family support.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify symptom experience, social support, quality of life (QOL), and the influencing factors on QOL of patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 118 patients diagnosed with hematologic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy who visited an outpatient clinic in the Gyeonggi province. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G), MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used to assess predictors and QOL. The data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation, t-test, ANOVA, and hierarchical multiple regression. Results: The mean score of QOL was (69.32±14.34). The type of hematologic malignancies and patient’s occupation were significantly associated with QOL in terms of demographic and disease/treatment-related characteristics. Symptom severity and symptom influence, and the support of family, friends, and medical staff had a significant association with QOL. The regression analyses showed that symptom severity (β=-.41, p<.001), friend support (β=.27, p=.001), and occupation (β=.14, p=.034) were significantly associated with QOL. Conclusion The variables of symptom experience and social support must be acknowledged when improving QOL of hematologic malignancy patients undergoing chemotherapy. Greater focus on the reduction of symptom severity and increasing friend support could improve QOL among hematologic malignancy patients.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the relationships among emotional labor, grit, and job satisfaction of pediatric nurses and factors affecting job satisfaction. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 137 pediatric nurses working in a general hospital in Seoul. Data were collected from January 1, 2022 to January 31. The data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN version 28.0.1.1. Results: The mean score of job satisfaction was 3.63±0.43 (out of 5), emotional labor was 3.70±0.39 (out of 5), and grit was 2.90±0.30 (out of 4). Job satisfaction had positively correlated with emotional labor (r=.27, p=.002) and grit (r=.65, p<.001). The regression analyses showed subcategories of grit had a significant influence on job satisfaction. The factors significantly affecting job satisfaction were persistence to achieve long-term goals (β=.39, p<.001), patient-oriented intrinsic motivation (β=.30, p<.001), and passion to become a nursing professional (β=.21, p=.004). Conclusion These results suggested a need to increase grit for improving the job satisfaction. Furthermore, it would be necessary to develop a diverse program to increase job satisfaction for pediatric nurses by improving grit.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire-Korean (WCQ-K) among college students. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was employed to validate psychometrics properties of the WCQ-K among 248 students from a university-affiliated health-care center in Suwon, Korea. Structured questionnaires were used for psychometric evaluation. Item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and known-groups validity were performed for validity. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) were used for reliability. Results: A seven-factor model with 36 items explained 50.8% of the variance. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.90; the ICC for 2-weeks test-retest reliability was 0.80. Students with stable ways of coping tended to have a lower score on the perceived stress and depressive symptoms than their counterparts (all P<0.05). Conclusions The findings of this study provide evidence for the adequate psychometric properties of the WCQ-K. The WCQ-K may be used in school or clinical settings to examine the potential role of stress-coping strategies in enhanced stress management among Korean college students.

Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGLs) are rare catecholamine-secreting neuroendocrine tumors but can be life-threatening. Although most PPGLs are benign, approximately 10% have metastatic potential. Approximately 40% cases are reported as harboring germline mutations. Therefore, timely and accurate diagnosis of PPGLs is crucial. For more than 130 years, clinical, molecular, biochemical, radiological, and pathological investigations have been rapidly advanced in the field of PPGLs. However, performing diagnostic studies to localize lesions and detect metastatic potential can be still challenging and complicated. Furthermore, great progress on genetics has shifted the paradigm of genetic testing of PPGLs. The Korean PPGL task force team consisting of the Korean Endocrine Society, the Korean Surgical Society, the Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Korean Society of Pathologists, and the Korean Society of Laboratory Medicine has developed this position statement focusing on the comprehensive and updated diagnosis for PPGLs.