Nursing Missionary Elizabeth J. Shepping's Education and Holistic Care for Koreans

PURPOSE: This study was to present education and holistic care of Elizabeth J. Shepping (1880~1934), a nursing missionary and a founder of the Chosun Nursing Association who visited Korea during the Japanese colonial period. METHODS: Primary and secondary sources were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: This study provides important implications regarding Shepping's holistic nursing as follows: First, she came to Korea after studying nursing and bibliology and being trained for nursing missionary works. Second, she cared for many Koreans, especially Korean women, to protect them from poverty, oppression, ignorance, and illnesses. Third, she continued to spread holistic care in hospitals and other local communities. She trained nurses, developed nursing education, and produced a large number of domestic nursing leaders by establishing women's Bible school. Fourth, she founded the Chosun Nursing Association, serving as its first president for 10 years and applied to join the International Council of Nurses (ICN). CONCLUSION: Finally, suggestions were provided for future research, and it will be necessary to study thoroughly nursing achievements by nurses from other countries who practiced their nursing activities in Korea, and such studies are expected to lead to analysis of nursing missionaries' experiences.

The Effects of a Death Preparing Education Program on Death Anxiety, Spiritual Well-being, and Meaning of Life in Adults

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analysis the effect of death preparing education on death anxiety, spiritual well-being and meaning of life in adults. METHODS: This study adopted the one group pre-posttest design. Data collection and intervention were performed from January 19 to 25, 2009. The participants were 30 adults (aged 20 or older) in Jeonju City. The death preparing education program consisted of five steps. Data were analyzed through paired t-test with the SPSS/WIN 12.0 program. RESULTS: There were significant differences in death anxiety, spiritual well-being and meaning of life between before and after the death preparing education program. CONCLUSION: The death preparing education program for adults was confirmed to be an effective intervention to lower death anxiety and to improve spiritual well-being and the meaning of life. Therefore, we look forward to the broad application of this program to adults.

The Spiritual Well-Being and the Spiritual Nursing Care of Nurses for Cancer Patients / 한국호스피스완화의료학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the correlation between the levels of spiritual well-being and spiritual nursing care of nurses for cancer patients and to provide baseline data for spiritual nursing care. METHODS: In the study, there were 209 nurses involved who cared for cancer patients, and they were from Christian General Hospital in a city, Jeonju. Data were collected from September 17 to 30 in 2008 using structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed using research methods, including descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Duncan test, and Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The mean score of spiritual well-being of nurses was 63.41+/-10.32 (range 20~80) and that of spiritual nursing care was 26.96+/-7.05 (range 15~60). There was a significant positive correlation between the spiritual well-being of nurses and their spiritual nursing care (r=.353, P=.000). CONCLUSION: The spiritual well-being and spiritual nursing care have a positive correlation. The level of spiritual well-being of nurses was relatively significant, whereas that of spiritual nursing care was relatively low. Therefore, it is recommended, for spiritual nursing care that nurses responsible for cancer patients should pursue more spiritual growth, attend church services regularly, and should further be educated in their care and responsibility.

Effect of a Death Preparing Education Program on Death Anxiety and Meaning of Life in Volunteers / 한국호스피스완화의료학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of death preparing education on death anxiety and meaning of life for volunteers. METHODS: Data collection and intervention were carried out from January 11 to 25, 2009. The subjects included 60 volunteers in Jeonju city, and they were divided into two groups; 30 each of experimental group and control group. Death preparing education program contained 5 steps. Data were analyzed with t-test, chi-square-test, and ANCOVA test with SPSS version 12.0. RESULTS: The death anxiety scores in the experimental group were significantly lower than in the control group (F=4.01, P=0.046). The meaning of life scores in the experimental group were significantly higher than in the control group (F=6.32, P=0.015). CONCLUSION: The death preparing education program for volunteers was confirmed to be an effective intervention to lessen death anxiety and to improve the meaning of life. Therefore, I strongly recommend that this program should generously be applied to volunteers.