Parenting Stress in Preterm and Full-term Infant Mothers by Their Children’s Developmental Stages

Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to compare parenting stress in preterm mothers with that in fullterm infant mothers according to the developmental stages of their children. @*Methods@#This study used the secondary data analysis approach. Ninety-one preterm infant mothers and 364 full-term infant mothers were selected from the Panel Study on Korean Children using the propensity score matching method. Parenting stress measured at the infancy, toddler, preschool, and early schoolage stages were collected with the characteristics of mothers and children such as age, education level, employment, gender, and gestational age of children. A linear mixed model was used to analyze the effect of developmental stages of children on mothers’ parenting stress. @*Results@#Parenting stress was higher in preterm infant mothers at each developmental stage than in fullterm infant mothers. Parenting stress in preterm infant mothers increased from the infancy stage to the toddler stage but decreased afterward, while parenting stress in full-term infant mothers gradually de creased from the infancy stage to the school-age stage. The changes in parenting stress by developmental stage in preterm and full-term infant mothers were significantly different at the infancy and toddler stages (t=2.32, p=0.020). @*Conclusion@#Parenting stress showed a different pattern between preterm infant mothers and full-term infant mothers. Special consideration should be given to develop an educational intervention to assist preterm infant mothers to manage their parenting stress effectively.

Comparison of Job Performance, Job Satisfaction and Job Stress of Child Health Nurse Practitioners by Roles in the Work Place

PURPOSE: Child Health nurse practitioners (CHNPs) in Korea have important roles in disease management and health promotion for children and adolescents. Yet, practices of CHNPs licensed and employed in hospitals have not been adequately identified. Thus, in this study the scope of practice by CHNPs and job satisfaction and stress were investigated and compared according to the CHNPs' position in the working place. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used. All 53 licensed CHNPs participated in the mail survey which included a 71-item questionnaire on job performance and job satisfaction and a job contents questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, chi2 test, independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare CHNPs employed as nurse practitioner (NP) and CHNPs employed as staff nurses. RESULTS: Compared to CHNPs employed as staff nurses, CHNPs employed as NPs more frequently provided education, environment management, coordination and research in their practice areas. No significant difference was found in job satisfaction between the two groups except for the administration and income subdomains. Only the physical exertion subdomain in job stress was stressful to CHNP employed as staff nurse. Conclusions: Job performance of CHNPs in Korea needs to be revised to include more practical practice in education, coordination, and research related areas. CONCLUSIONS: Job performance of CHNPs in Korea needs to be revised to include more practical practice in education, coordination, and research related areas.