A Historical Trends of Doctoral Nursing Education in Korea / 한국간호교육학회지

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify historical backdrop leading to the introduction of the doctorate degree of nursing in Korea, and to explore trends of doctoral nursing education program. METHODS: The research design was a descriptive study adopting a historical approach. Documentation data were collected through web sites and mail survey. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 professors who were involved in the introduction of the doctorate degree of nursing. The outcomes of doctoral nursing education program were evaluated with a total of 1,153 dissertations' titles published from 1982 to 2007. RESULTS: First introduced in Korea in 1978, doctoral nursing education program had steadily increased totaling 21 doctoral program in 2007. This resulted in a rapid increase in the number of doctoral students, but the number of faculty and the quality were not as satisfactory as expected. Many doctoral program had the missions or goals that fostered nursing scholars, theorists, and researchers, a trend that seems set to continue. The majority of dissertations utilized the experimental design (39.9%), others were qualitative design (21.6%), and survey design (19.0%). CONCLUSION: Doctoral education that is the hallmark of nursing scholarship is further elaborated in terms of academic tradition of nursing school in Korea.

A study on Korean nursing students' educational outcomes / 보건의료교육평가

The purpose of this study was to describe outcome indicators of nursing education including critical thinking, professionalism, leadership, and communication and to evaluate differences among nursing programs and academic years. A descriptive research design was employed. A total of 454 students from four year baccalaureate (BS) nursing programs and two three-year associate degree (AD) programs consented to complete self-administered questionnaires. The variables were critical thinking, professionalism, leadership and communication. Descriptive statistics, chi2-test, t-tests, ANOVA, and the Tukey test were utilized for the data analysis. All the mean scores of the variables were above average for the test instruments utilized. Among the BS students, those in the upper classes tended to attain higher scores, but this tendency was not identified in AD students. There were significant differences between BS students and AD students for the mean scores of leadership and communication. These findings suggested the need for further research to define properties of nursing educational outcomes, and to develop standardized instruments for research replication and verification.

Research Trends and Quality Evaluation of Family Nursing Interventions Outside Korea

PURPOSE: This study investigated trends in family nursing intervention studies and evaluated the quality of studies using the RCT design. METHODS: This study included a total of 898 abstracts published from 1977 to 2007 in order to describe trends in family nursing intervention studies. Out of 898 studies, 153 RCT studies were selected for quality evaluation. The criteria of Jadad et al. (1996) were employed for the quality evaluation. RESULTS: The number of RCT studies on family nursing interventions increased since 2001. Only 6.8% of the studies were published in the area of nursing. Most of the family interventions (27.1%) focused on individual family members and only 8.2% of the studies provided interventions to family as a whole unit. Nine different modes of family nursing intervention could be categorized, but none of the studies used the double blind design. Few studies utilized protocols for interventions. Only 17.5% of the studies reported the rationale for sample size. The mean score was 1.6 out of 5 according to the criteria of Jadad et al. (1996). CONCLUSION: Refined definitions and attributes of family nursing intervention modes are needed. Most of the studies did not meet the expectations of RCT. Thus, it is needed to improve the quality of design. More RCT studies should be conducted to provide evidence-based practice of family nursing interventions.

Quality of Life in Low Income Korean Aged

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the quality of life and its predictors in low income Korean aged. METHODS: This was a predictive correlational study. An accessible sample from the population of people who were 65 and over and were supported by the basic livelihood security system was 1,040. Quota sampling with strata of state division in the nation was chosen. Quality of life and its predictors in the subjects were measured. RESULTS: The mean quality of life in the subjects was 47.0+/-10.7. Predictors of this study significantly explained 54.3% of the total variance of quality of life. Depression was the most significant predictor of quality of life. Health problems, district, social support, leisure activity, and health behavior had effects on quality of life. CONCLUSION: This finding indicates that quality of life in lower income Korean aged is different from other populations by economic status. Demographics, health status and social status were predictors of quality of life in the aged with a small income.

Health Status, Depression and Social Support of Elderly Beneficiaries of the National Basic Livelihood Security System / 성인간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was: 1) To investigate health status(health behavior, health problem and cognition), depression and social support of elderly beneficiaries of the National Basic Livelihood Security System. 2) To identify the relationships among health status, depression and social support. METHODS: This descriptive study used a cross-sectional design. The study sample was a total of 883 elderly recipients supported from the National Basic Livelihood Security System. Quotas for sampling were designed and conducted nationwide throughout Korea. RESULTS: The mean age was 76.2 and the 79.6% of the sample were female. The scores for the health behavior, health problem, ADL, and cognition were 23.9, 4.4, 39.6 and 24.9, respectively. Additionally, the depression score was 19.8 and the social support score was 63.2. Gender, age, education, religion, marital status and monthly income were found as important variables in increasing health status and in decreasing depression among the elderly. Furthermore, depression showed a positive correlation with health problems, but showed negative correlations with health behavior, ADL, and cognition. The upper 25% of social support recipients suffered less depression than the lower 25% of the recipients. Subjects with more social supports had higher ADL scores and less health problem. CONCLUSION: These findings provide significant practical implications for nursing intervention, including social support for the elderly receiving assistance from the National Basic Livelihood Security System.

Psychometric Evaluation of the Korean Social Support Questionnaire

PURPOSE: Research related to social support in Korea has been hampered by paucity of measurement tools reflecting Korean culture. The aim of the study was to develop Korean social support questionnaire (KSSQ) based on the Korean social support pyramid and to test psychometric properties of the KSSQ. METHODS: The questionnaire was administered to 701 subjects and 658 college students. Psychometric analyses included factor analyses, expert validity, criterion-related validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. RESULTS: A principal components analysis support for construct validity, eliciting a three factor solution accounting for 65.46% of variance in scores. Concurrent and discriminant validity supported criterion-related validity. Internal consistency of reliability was support with Cronbach's alpha of .97-.98 for the entire scale. Test-retest reliability was .76. CONCLUSION: This initial testing of KSSQ to measure Korean social support demonstrates evidence of reliability and validity. Assessment of known-group validity and norm establishment of KSSQ are suggested to provide further sound psychometric properties and practical measurement tools.

Analysis of RN-BSN Students' Clinical Nursing Competency / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate RN-BSN students' clinical nursing competency in order to establish baseline data for developing nursing competency based clinical education for RN-BSN students. METHOD: A survey of 1,453 RN-BSN students from 21 nursing schools was conducted using a self administered questionnaire. RESULT: The mean score of the clinical nursing competency was 2.93. The scores for competency were shown as 2.91 for nursing management, 2.94 for developing professionalism & legal implementation, 2.95 for critical thinking, 2.96 for teaching & leadership, and data collection, basic nursing care, and communication were above 3.00. The items perceived as insufficient competency were physical examination and observation & monitoring in data collection, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, psycho-social care, spiritual care, hospice in basic nursing care, application of knowledge and theory, formulating nursing diagnosis, nursing care planning in critical thinking, education material development, leadership, delegation in teaching and leadership, analysis of organization, planning, infection control, role & job description, evaluation of nursing activities in nursing management, quality improvement, and research in developing professionalism and legal implementation. CONCLUSION: This study will contribute to developing a nursing competency based on clinical education for RN-BSN students who have various education needs and clinical backgrounds.

Educational Issues and Strategies to Improve APN Education / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: This study was aimed at exploring the current status of graduate programs for an advanced practice nurse(APN) to recommend future directions of APN education. METHODS: A total of 142 students enrolled in seven APN specialty programs, 67 professors who were involved in APN education, and nine nurse administrators participated in the study. Data was collected by questionnaires and focus group interviews. RESULTS: The current definition of APN was found not to be specific enough to represent expected roles of APN in regards to knowledge, attitudes, roles, and skills. Standard curricula employed regardless of the area of APN specialty, lack of qualified clinical practice settings, as well as prepared instructors were found to be problematic. CONCLUSION: The following needs to be addressed: 1. redefining of APN roles, 2. tailoring specialty areas of APN, 3. consolidating educational programs, and 4. ensuring APN role models and faculty. Suggesting a CNS role in Korean APN, areas of APN should be rearranged toclarify their roles and educational programs need to be further developed to meet the expectations and quality of APNs. It is necessary to ensure APN's employment in the health care system by laws and policies to perform advanced nursing roles.

Research Trend of Complementary and Alternative Medicine / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: This study was done to describe the research trend of Complementary and Alternative Medicine(CAM) in Korea and internationally. METHOD: A Systematic review of CAM related literature published from 2000 to 2005 was done. A comprehensive search by using 34 CAM modalities as search terms to identify all articles dealing with CAM was undertaken from 4 databases: PubMed, RICHIS, KoreaMed, and Riss4U. A Total of 588 abstracts and 223 original articles were reviewed by two independent reviewers using systematic analysis guidelines. Data regarding the types of study design, characteristics of subjects and researchers, and classification of CAM modalities was recorded. The outcome measures of CAM were identified. RESULTS: CAM research has been rapidly increasing worldwide in the last decade. In Korea, nursing(53.5%) followed by medicine(42.7%) occupied the majority of CAM research in comparison to medicine(42.9%) and disciplines in CAM(25.0%), like homeopathy, internationally. Prevailing research designs in Korea were experimental and quasi-experimental, however, randomized clinical trials were found. Internationally, survey research was dominant, with the exception of randomized clinical trials that were mostly an experimental design. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that a robust research design in CAM research is needed to accumulate strong scientific evidence and to adopt nursing interventions from CAM modalities.

Self-image and Social Support of Adolescents among the Korean-Chinese / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: This study was designed to identify the degree of self-image and social support among Korean-Chinese adolescents and investigate the relationship between these variables. METHOD: A total of 621 Korean-Chinese adolescents in five middle schools in YanBian, China were recruited from March 1st to the 9th, 2005. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test, and ANOVA with the SPSS 11.5 program. RESULT: In Korean-Chinese adolescents, the total self-image score was statistically different for age, parents' education status, parents' job and living with parents. In the 12 subscales, scoresof emotional tone, impulse control, sexuality, social functioning, vocational attitudes and self-reliance had significant differences between groups regarding gender. The total self-image was in the average range. However, areas of mental health and family function were lower than average and the scale of idealism washigher than average. The adolescents perceived parent's support was higher then friend's support. There was a positive correlation between self-image and social support. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest there is a need to examine self-image and social support of Korean- Chinese adolescents according to their parents' marital status and a need to develop a program to help these broken family's adolescents.