Core nursing practice and educational requirements according to nursing unit and clinical career in tertiary hospital / 기본간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to provide fundamental data to develop an educational program for the development of nurses' core competences, and to improve the curriculum in nursing education institutions. METHODS: This study, based on a descriptive survey, was conducted with 1,019 nurses working in a tertiary hospital in Seoul. Among 47 core nursing practice items, core nursing practices as perceived by the participants and relevant educational requirements were measured on a four-point scale. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics for the mean and standard deviation, one way ANOVA, and Duncan test as post-hoc test. RESULTS: Regarding the core nursing practice perceived as by the nurses, there were statistically significant differences in 43 out of 47 items according to nursing unit, and in 15 items according to clinical career. Regarding the educational requirements for core nursing practice, there were also statistically significant difference for the same items as perception differences according to nursing unit and clinical career. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest further study on the development of educational programs to advance the clinical expertise of nurses and for the development of curriculum reflecting the actual conditions and requirements in clinical nursing practice fields.

Adequacy of Lipid Emulsion Administration Prescription Rate in a Single Center

PURPOSE: IV-lipid emulsion can be a nutritional supplement to provide essential fatty acids and energy for patients who need total parenteral nutrition support. The recommended administration dose of lipid emulsion is less than 2.5 g/kg/d and the rate should not exceed 0.15 g/kg/h for adult patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the adequacy of the currently prescribed administration rate of IV-lipid emulsion in a single center. METHODS: We analyzed 1,739 lipid emulsion administration prescriptions in 1,095 patients over 18 years old at Ajou University Hospital from January 1, 2014 to March 31. RESULTS: The median prescription rate of total lipid emulsion was 0.134 (0.012~1.125) g/kg/h, and the exceeding portion of maximum recommended infusion rate was 36.9%. The median administration prescription rate of lipid emulsion was faster in 500 mL emulsions, compared to 250 mL emulsion (0.146 g/kg/h vs. 0.075 g/kg/h; P<0.001) and at emergency room (ER), compared to general ward (0.154 g/kg/h vs. 0.123; P<0.001). The exceeding portion of maximum recommended infusion rate of lipid emulsion was also higher in 500 mL emulsion, compared to 250 mL emulsion (52.2% vs. 30.4%; P<0.001) and at ER, compared to general ward (52.1% vs. 30.4%; P<0.001). Triglyceride level was higher in exceeding recommended infusion rate compared to less, but not statistically significant (119 mg/dL vs. 261 mg/dL; P=0.202). CONCLUSION: Administration prescription rate of lipid emulsion exceeded the recommended rate and this feature was dominant in 500 mL emulsion and at ER. Education and monitoring of lipid emulsion prescription is needed for appropriate lipid administration and prevention of fat overload syndrome.

Development and Evaluation of Learning Program for Oncology Unit-based Core Nursing Practice: Outcomes based Cancer Patients Pain Management Learning Program

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develop a nurse-learning program for the pain management of cancer patients. METHODS: In this methodological study, a learning program was developed between January and June 2011, following the methodological procedure based on the ADDIE Instructional System Design. RESULTS: The learning program consists of 4 parts: learning goal, learning outcomes, learning method, and evaluation method. Learner-centered learning goal and learning outcomes were established, and lecture-based group learning and self-directed study were combined as the learning method. For the evaluation, we developed a written test, a nursing skill checklist, and a case report evaluation tool. After a pilot test, the learning program was assessed by an expert group for its construct validity and content-related conformance. Moreover, the effectiveness of the program was validated by the results of the learning outcomes evaluation and the achievement levels of 40 trainees who participated in the program. CONCLUSION: On the basis of the results of this study, we suggest that this unit-based core nursing practice learning program, comprising 202 nursing units developed by a research institute nursing department since 2010, be shared by all nurses in clinical nursing care settings to improve their practical performance and ensure necessary specialization.

Cyclosporine in Relapsed Subcutaneous Panniculitis-like T-Cell Lymphoma after Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (SPTCL) is a rare T-cell lymphoma characterized by involvement of the subcutaneous tissue of neoplastic T lymphocytes. SPTCL with hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) is associated with an aggressive clinical course and treatment of SPTCL with HPS is not well established. Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone (CHOP) therapy is not successful in most patients suffering from SPTCL with HPS. The role of high dose chemotherapy followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains controversial. We report a case of relapsed SPTCL after CHOP chemotherapy and salvage chemotherapy followed by autologous HSCT, which had rapid improvement within weeks after cyclosporine and prednisolone. Immunosuppressive therapy may be an important and successful treatment option in SPTCL patients, even though they may have clinically aggressive disease.

A Case of Disseminated Crytococcosis in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus / 대한류마티스학회지

Disseminated cryptococcosis mainly occurs in immunocompromised patients. It enters the body through the respiratory tract and spreads to the lungs, skin, liver and lymphoid organs. Among cryptococcosis, cryptococcal meningitis is a relatively frequent manifestation and causes serious morbidity and mortality. It needs urgent diagnosis and initiation of effective antifungal therapy. It is difficult to differentiate cryptococcal meningitis from neuropsychiatric lupus due to similar clinical symptoms, laboratory and cerebrospinal fluid findings. We report a case of disseminated cyrptococcosis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus being managed with mycophenolate mofetil, prednisolone and hydroxychloroquine.

Complete remission of philadelphia chromosome-positive acute myeloid leukemia with imatinib mesylate / 대한내과학회지

Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute myeloid leukemia (Ph+AML) is a rare disease characterized by a poor prognosis with resistance to standard chemotherapy. We report a patient with Ph+AML with a minor BCR-ABL-positive mRNA transcript who achieved a hematologic, cytogenetic, and major molecular complete response after cytarabine-based chemotherapy followed by imatinib. After more than 6 months of continuous imatinib therapy, the patient is in continuous complete remission. Our results show that imatinib mesylate is effective in treating Ph+AML.

The prognostic significance of FDG-PET in advanced non-small cell lung cancer / 대한내과학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in Korea. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises 80~85% of lung cancer. Positron emission tomography with [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) shows various levels of FDG uptake for patients with NSCLC. This study determined whether the standardized uptake value (SUV) of FDG uptake by PET is a prognostic factor for advanced NSCLC. METHODS: FDG-PET was performed in 59 patients with stage IIIb and IV NSCLC. The SUV was calculated for each patient. Overall survival (OS) and time to progression were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and evaluated with the log-rank test. The prognostic significance was assessed using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: A cutoff of 7 for the SUV gave the best criminative value. In the univariate analysis, performance status (p=0.02) and SUV (p=0.03) were significant predictors of OS. The patients with low SUVs (7, p=0.04). A multivariate Cox analysis identified performance status and the SUV as important for the prognosis. CONCLUSIONS:These results suggest that SUV is a significant prognostic factor in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.