Development and Evaluation of Empowering Education Program for Maternal Fetal Intensive Care Unit (MFICU) Nurses / 여성건강간호학회지

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develop an empowering education program for Maternal-Fetal Intensive Care Unit (MFICU) nurses who provide intensive care to high-risk mother and fetus at hospitals, to test effects of the education program on nursing care confidence and nursing knowledge, and to examine program satisfaction. METHODS: This study comprised of 2 phases: program development and evaluation. First, we have followed a process of program development to develop and refine an empowering education program for MFICU nurses through collaborative works among clinical obstetrics and gynecology doctors and nurses and academic nursing professors. Second, the empowering education program was provided to 49 nurses and evaluated from July 5 to 6, 2019. Levels of MFICU nursing care confidence and knowledge were measured. RESULTS: The empowering education program included 18 hours of lectures, discussion, and Q & A, which continued for 2 days. This program significantly improved high-risk maternal-fetal nursing care confidence and knowledge of nurses. The program was well met with nurses' education need and goals, and found to be highly satisfactory. CONCLUSION: The empowering education program was observed to be effective in terms of improve nursing care confidence and knowledge of nurses in MFICU. It is proposed that this program should be open regularly for nurses to obtain and improve their clinical knowledge, confidence, and competency. Further study is needed to develop and run 2-levels of education such as basic and advanced levels based on nurses' clinical background and competency.

Correlates of the Pregnancy Experience and Attitude regarding Weight Change during Pregnancy in Primigravida Women / 여성건강간호학회지

PURPOSE: We aimed to examine the correlations between pregnancy experience and attitude regarding weight change during pregnancy. METHODS: This correlative study was conducted from July 2017 to October 2017 by involving 156 primigravida women who were over pregnancy 20 weeks in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do province. Data were collected using a questionnaire, which included questions on demographic data, experience during pregnancy, and attitude regarding weight change during pregnancy. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Also, independent t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 30.62 years and their score of attitude regarding weight gain during pregnancy was low. Moreover, a significant correlation was found between the pregnancy experience and attitude regarding weight gain during pregnancy in primigravida women. CONCLUSION: As a result of analyzing the correlation between pregnancy experience and attitude towards weight gain during pregnancy, it is apparent that attitudes toward weight change are different according to experience during pregnancy in women. Based on these results, it can be concluded that nursing intervention programs are necessitated to enhance the attitude of pregnant primigravida women towards pregnancy and weight gain.

Exercise Patterns and Factors Affecting Exercise Duration in Pregnant Women

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the exercise patterns and the factors affecting exercise duration in pregnant women. METHODS: The survey was conducted to assess walking and exercise duration in 146 pregnant participants, who live in Gyeongsang area. Data was analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and regression using the SPSS Win 23.0 program. RESULTS: The average age of the participants was 31 years, and more than 87% of them were primigravida. The differences in the mean walking duration, the daily exercise duration, and the exercise days of participants before and during pregnancy were not statistically significant, but the exercise duration during pregnancy was decreased compared to that before pregnancy. The factors affecting weekly exercise duration were diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus, concern about weight gain during pregnancy, and monthly income. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that development of an educational program to teach proper exercise practices during pregnancy is recommended.

Health Knowledge, Health Promoting Behavior and Factors Influencing Health Promoting Behavior of North Korean Defectors in South Korea

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify health knowledge, health promoting behavior and factors influencing health promoting behavior of North Korean defectors in South Korea. METHODS: Participants in this study were 410 North Korean defectors, over 20 years of age residing in Seoul. They were recruited by snowball sampling. Data were collected from April to June, 2010. Health knowledge, health promoting behavior, self-efficacy, perceived barriers to health promoting behavior and social support were measured by structured questionnaires, and perceived physical and mental health status were measured by one item with 10-point numeric rating scale. The data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression. RESULTS: Health knowledge, health promoting behavior, and perceived barriers to health promoting behavior were moderate while self-efficacy and social support were high. Factors influencing health promoting behavior of the participants were found to be self-efficacy, social support and perceived barrier to health promoting behavior. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that nursing intervention programs enhancing self-efficacy, social support and reducing perceived barriers to health promoting behavior need to be developed for North Korean defectors in South Korea.

Experience of People Living with HIV Working as Caregivers for AIDS Patients / 정신간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate in-depth and to understand the experience of people living with HIV who work as caregivers for patients with AIDS. METHODS: Data were collected from December 2010 to April 2011 through focus group and in-depth interviews. Ten people with HIV who work as caregivers for patients with AIDS participated in the research. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's method (1978). RESULTS: The results showed the important themes to be 'feelings of sympathy', 'burden of caregiving', 'identifying one's own self-worth' and 'hoping for a meaningful future'. People with HIV experienced deep empathy with patients with AIDS, and, even though they suffered physical and emotional distress from the caregiving process, they felt a sense of self-worth and found their existence connected with the world. Furthermore, they were taking more active care of themselves and hoping for a meaningful future. CONCLUSION: For successful social adaptation of people with HIV currently in job-seeking activities, various vocational rehabilitation services are necessary. The results of this study could be used in developing effective social support services for people living with HIV attempting workforce re-entry.