Effects of a Footbath Program on Heart Rate Variability, Blood Pressure, Body Temperature and Fatigue in Stroke Patients

PURPOSE: This study was to examine the effects of a footbath program on heart rate variability, blood pressure, body temperature and fatigue of stroke patients with stroke-induced hemiparesis. METHODS: A non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. Participants were 40 stroke patients, twenty for the footbath program and twenty for the control group, who were hospitalized in a long-term rehabilitation hospital in G city of Korea, from February to April 2014. The twenty participants in the experimental group received the intervention of footbaths and an educational program focused on the prevention of stroke complications; Collected data were analyzed by the IBM SPSS WIN 20.0 program using a t-test, chi2 test, Mann-Whitney U test and repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in heart rate variability, systolic blood pressure, hand and foot temperatures and fatigue between the two groups. But no significant differences were found in diastolic blood pressure, core temperatures, forehead temperatures, and hand temperatures between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The footbath program was an effective intervention for skin temperature change and fatigue reduction for stroke patients. Therefore, it is recommended that the footbath program can be utilized as an effective nursing intervention for stroke patients in long-term rehabilitation care hospitals.

Effects of Workplace Spirituality and Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Nursing Performance / 간호행정학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of workplace spirituality and organizational citizenship behavior on nurses' performance of nursing. METHODS: This study was done over a 6 month period, with 395 nurses participants from 5 different general hospitals with 400 beds in 4 regions of Korea. Data were gathered using self-reported questionnaires from July 23 to August 21, 2015. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analyses with IBM SPSS 21.0 program. RESULTS: Nursing performance showed positive correlations with workplace spirituality and organizational citizenship behavior. The significant predictors of the nursing performance by nurses were a master's degree or higher (β=.26), civic virtue (β=.19), courtesy (β=.12), 40 years of age or older (β=.09), a sense of empathy (β=.07), and a bachelor's degree in nursing (β=.06). These variables explained 39.2% of the variance in nursing performance by nurses. CONCLUSION: Based on the outcomes of this study, there is a need to develop intervention programs that can inspire nurse to show spontaneous organizational citizenship behavior, and enhance their workplace spirituality. Related variables including academic credentials should also be taken into account.

Knowledge Level of Human Papillomavirus, Cervical Cancer and Vaccination Status among Mothers with Daughters in High School

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to examine knowledge level of human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer, and vaccination status among Korean mothers' with a daughter in high school. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with a convenience sample of 234 Korean mothers. RESULTS: The mean score of HPV knowledge level was 4.21 out of 20, and cervical cancer knowledge was 3.88 out of 7. There were low levels of daughters' who received HPV vaccination (3.8%) and high levels of mothers' intention to get their daughters' vaccinated with HPV (85.0%). The major barrier to HPV vaccination was the concern for side effect from the vaccination. The most effective recommendation for HPV vaccination came from health care providers. CONCLUSION: HPV educational programs targeting mothers of daughters in high school is needed. Future studies need to determine actual HPV vaccination rates and factors related to high uptake using a larger sample from various socioeconomic background.

Development and Validation Study of a Cell Phone Addiction Scale for Korean Children

PURPOSE: This study was done to develop a cell phone addiction scale for Korean children. 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 268 children from grades 4 to 6 in two urban elementary schools. Construct validity, internal consistence reliability, and split-half reliability were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Nine items were categorized into 2 factors explaining 61.29% of total variance. The factors were labeled as obsessive compulsion (6 items) and dependency (3 items). Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the 9 items was .87, and Spearman-Brown coefficient was .83. Scale scores identified children as high risk users, at risk users, or average users by standard scores. CONCLUSION: The above findings indicate that the cell phone addiction scale for children has good validity and reliability when used with Korean children.

Women Religious and Married Women's Attitudes toward Menopause and Menopausal Symptoms / 여성건강간호학회지

PURPOSE: This study was done to extend the understanding and knowledge of menopause by comparing attitudes toward menopause and menopausal symptoms of women religious and married women. METHODS: The data were collected by self-report questionnaires from 126 women religious and 131 married women, between 40 and 59 years of age who lived in P city, D city and K province. A structured questionnaire was used which included demographic and health-related information, attitudes toward menopause, and menopausal symptoms. Data were analyzed by using chi2-test, t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficients with the SPSS/WIN 14.0 program. RESULTS: The mean score for attitudes toward menopause of women religious and married women was 69.46 +/- 6.15 and 66.98 +/- 6.12 respectfully, and the difference was significant (p=.001). The mean score for menopausal symptoms of women religious and married women was 41.33 +/- 23.55 and 55.99 +/- 30.81 respectively, and the difference was also significant (p<.001). Attitudes toward menopause were negatively correlated with menopausal symptoms (r=-.27, p<.001).

Effects of a Cognitive-Behavioral Nursing Intervention on Anxiety and Depression in Women with Breast Cancer undergoing Radiotherapy

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a cognitive-behavioral nursing intervention on anxiety and depression of patients with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy. METHODS: A nonequivalent control group design was used for the study. The research participants were patients with breast cancer (N=71; experimental group=35, comparison group=36) who received radiotherapy at P university hospital. The experimental group received a 6-week cognitive-behavioral nursing intervention (2 hr/week), which included nursing counseling, education about treatment choices for breast cancer and possible side effects and management strategies during radiotherapy, and rehabilitation exercise. RESULTS: Following the intervention, the experimental group showed significantly lower levels of anxiety (Experimental group=34.60+/-6.35, Comparison group=44.63+/-9.93, t=3.552, p<.001) and depression (Experimental group=10.20+/-6.61, Comparison group=17.81+/-10.85, t=3.542, p<.001) than the comparison group. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study showed that cognitive-behavioral counseling applied by nurses is very effective to reduce anxiety and depression among patients with breast cancer. Therefore, providing nursing counseling to broader spectrum of patients with cancer should be considered. Further research would warrant future clinical application of nursing counseling.

Relationship between Psychosocial Factors and Symptom Experience in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: Over a Six-month Follow-up Period / 기본간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between psychosocial factors and symptom experience of patients with cardiovascular disease over a 6-month follow-up period. METHOD: Baseline data for each of the 138 patients were collected. Eighteen patients were dropped for a final total of 120 patients in the present study. To monitor patients' symptom experience after discharge, each patient was interviewed by telephone, and interviewed directly with a questionnaire at each clinic visit. RESULTS: Mean scores for hostility, anger, anxiety, and depression were 51.63, 22.87, 48.95, and 41.21, respectively. Mean scores for the level of symptom experience at discharge, 3 months and 6 months after discharge were 32.83, 24.79, and 26.70, respectively. There were significant differences in the level of hostility by gender, BMI, job, and monthly income. Also the differences in the level of anxiety and depression were statistically significant according to gender and existence of spouse. In the regression analysis, depression was identified as the significant factor associated with symptom experience at discharge, 3 months, and 6 months after discharge. CONCLUSION: This study presented baseline data to elucidate whether psychosocial factors were associated with the progression of cardiovascular diseases. Accordingly, it suggests that nurses need to take into consideration psychosocial factor as well as physiological factor in symptom management for patients with cardiovascular disease.

Attitude, Beliefs, and Intentions to Care for SARS Patients among Korean Clinical Nurses: An Application of Theory of Planned Behavior / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: This study examined Korean clinical nurses' intentions to care for SARS patients and identify determinants of the intentions. Theory of planned behavior was the framework to explain the intentions of Korean nurses for SARS patients care. METHODS: A convenient sample of six hundreds and seventy nine clinical nurses from four university-affiliated hospitals located in Seoul and in Kyung-gi province was used. Self-administered (83-items) questionnaire was used to collect data. Intentions, attitude, subjective norm, perceive behavioral control, behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs were the study variables. All items were measured using 7-point Likert scale (-3 to +3). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation method, and stepwise multiple regression methods. RESULTS: Intentions and attitudes toward SARS patient care among Korean clinical nurses were moderate, but their subjective norm and perceive behavioral control of SARS patients care were negative. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that attitude toward SARS patient care, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm were the determinants of the intentions for SARS patients care as theory proposed. Among the behavioral beliefs, "SARS-patient caring would be a new experience", "during SARS-patient caring, I should be apart from my family", "after completing SARS-patient caring, I would be proud of myself being able to cope with a stressful event" and "with my SARS-patient caring, patients could recover from SARS" were the significant determinants. Among the normative beliefs, colleague approval, spouse approval, and physician approval were significant determinants of the intentions. Among the control beliefs, "SARS-patient caring would be a challenge" "SARS-patient caring is a professional responsibility", "tension during the care of SARS patients" and "support from team members" were the significant determinants of the intentions. CONCLUSIONS: Korean clinical nurses in this study were not willing to care for SARS patients and showed negative attitude toward the care. They believed their friends and family were not approved their care for SARS patients. Nurses were in conflicts between professional responsibilities to care for SARS patients and personal safety. This study was the first to understand stress and burden of Korean clinical nurses who are in front line to care for newly developed communicable disease such as SARS. Under the circumstance where several fatal communicable diseases are predictable, conflicts between professional responsibility and their personal risks should be taken into considerations by nurses themselves and by nursing administrators in order to improve quality of care.

A Comparative Study on Complaints of Menopausal Symptom of Nuns and Married Women / 간호학회지

The Purpose of this study is to extend the understanding and knowledge of menopause by comparing menopausal symptoms of married women and nuns in order to improve health and the quality of life for women. In this study a questionnaires were distributed to 116 nuns and 121 married women, from forty to fifty nine years old in Daegu metropolitan city. This study used the measurement of menopausal symptoms (Cronbach's Alpha=0.96) corrected and complemented by this student with consideration of various literature centered around menopausal symptoms, suggested by Janette M. Perz as 51 questions including 4 realms; [mental psychological factors], [physical physiological factors], [eyesight factors], and [urinary generative factors] in order to measure the degree of menopausal symptoms. The results are as follows : 1. There was a significant difference between educational background, religion, occupation, leisure time, satisfaction of marriage or ascetic life, existence of hormonal treatment, name of medical operation, and existence of counselling about menstruation as general and physiological characteristics of the nuns' group and the married women's group. 2. The menopausal symptoms of the nuns' group and the married women's group according to order in which they were presented were; 'feeling tired and lacking in energy(1.71 points)' 'vision not clear or clouded(1.69 points)', and 'be forgetful (1.57 points)' in nuns' group. 'be forgetful (1.87 points)', 'vision not clear or clouded(1.83 points)' and 'feeling tired and lacking in energy(1.76 points)' in the married women's group. The symptoms which showed the highest rank of menopausal symptoms had a maximum score of 4 points. 3. There was a statistical a significance (t=-3.9807, p<.0001) between the two groups which showed, on an average, 57.92 points in the married women's group and 43.03 points in the nuns' group from 0 to 196 of the possible points of menopausal symptoms. In difference of menopausal symptoms by menstrual aspect of the nuns' group and the married women's group, there was statistically significant difference between the two groups, showing 44.81+/- 26.07 score in the nuns' group and 72.33+/-35.29 score in the married women's group as the mean score of the groups with no menstruation(t=-4.1132, p=0.0001). 4. The differences in menopausal symptoms with respect to the general and physiological characteristics of the nuns' group and the married women's group were that the nuns' group showed less menopausal symptoms on all the items than that of the married women's group. Finally, in these results, the married women's group showed higher menopausal symptoms than that of the nuns' group. Especially as the score of menopausal symptoms since the climacteric was very high it is confirmed to be a new phenomenon. Accordingly, it is considered to be necessary to carry out an indepth study of the factors related to establishing a strategy for nursing service.

The Effect of Corticosteroid on the Fetal Pulmonary Maturation of Rats with Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes

The effect of dexamethasone of the maturation of the fetal lungs of rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes was studied morphologically and biochemically. By light and electron microscopy there was little difference in fetal pulmonary maturation between the untreated control group and the untreated diabetic group, but when both groups were treated with dexamethasone the fetuses showed accelerated pulmonary maturation, approximately one day earlier with an increase of air spaces per unit area and an earlier appearance of type II pneumocytes. The number of osmiophilic inclusion bodies per alveolus and per type II pneumocyte, and the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio in amniotic fluid increased markedly and they were statistically significant in both groups injected with dexamethasone, but were decreased in the untreated diabetic group, though only the L/S ratio of the animals of the 19th day gestation was statistically significant. Phosphatidylglycerol was present in the amniotic fluid of the groups injected with dexamethasone one day earlier than the untreated control and the untreated diabetic groups. However, the intensity of phosphatidylglycerol tended to be lower in the untreated diabetic group. It is concluded that the prenatal administration of dexamethasone to the diabetic pregnant rats will accelerate fetal pulmonary maturation morphologically and promote the synthesis of surfactant biochemically.