Caring for childbearing Korean women.

This article examines the traditional and modern cultural elements that may influence the health behaviors of the childbearing Korean woman and suggests ways to provide culturally sensitive care. The first author, born and raised in Korea, shares her reflections of culture and examples of clinical situations in Korea. Implications for nursing care are addressed through specific cultural prescriptions. Do's and don'ts are presented to foster culturally appropriate care for Korean childbearing women.

PIP: The social and familial environment of the Korean childbearing woman is influenced by considerable tradition. Over the years, however, modernization, urbanization, and Westernization have reduced that influence, meaning that some traditional practices are not always observed in modern Korea. When certain traditional cultural practices are observed, the degree of observation is conditioned by a person's age, education, religion, level of acculturation, and individual preferences. The authors examine the cultural practices which may influence the health beliefs and behaviors of childbearing Korean women. They suggest ways in which to provide culturally sensitive care to such clients with the goal of improving health care providers' understanding. An overview of Korean society is presented with discussion of the country and its people, family, religion and spirituality, education, food, health, and childbearing.

An honors program: directing our future leaders.

Development of future leaders is a priority of nurse educators. In this article an honors program, which was initiated to prepare students who would contribute to nursing science and become effective leaders, is described. The process used to gain faculty and administrative support is highlighted. The discussion also includes specifics regarding recruitment and selection of students and sequencing of courses. Evaluation of the program suggests that graduates assume leadership positions within the profession. Honors programs such as this one help to prepare leaders and scholars for tomorrow.

Determining the adequacy of a health promotion self-care interview guide with healthy, middle-aged, Mexican American women: a pilot study.

The Hispanic/Latino population is the second largest and fastest growing minority in the United States, with Mexican Americans comprising 60.4% of the total. Existing research instruments and procedures must be made culturally specific, both theoretically and empirically, for use with this population. Our purpose in the present study was to determine whether one part of the Health Promotion Self-Care Interview Guide (HPSCIG), developed to identify self-care actions that promote well-being in healthy, middle-aged Anglo American and African American women (Hartweg, 1991, 1993), was culturally sensitive for use with Mexican American women. This was a necessary step before the full HPSCIG was translated into Spanish for a larger bilingual study. Twenty Mexican American women identified 232 self-care actions they took to promote well-being as they defined it. More than 81% of the self-care actions were performed to meet the universal self-care requisites, 11% were performed to meet the developmental requisites of middle-age, and 2% were performed to meet health deviation self-care requisites. Six percent of the actions could not be classified using the theoretical coding scheme. Inherent in the study were questions about the congruence and relevance of self-care as a concept in this population. The findings support the use of the HPSCIG with healthy, middle-aged Mexican American women.

A head-injured patient: caloric needs, clinical progress and nursing care priorities.

This case study explored literature on nursing care of the head-injured patient and identified outcomes of a head-injured patient in regard to nutritional status, skin breakdown and infection. Literature review revealed head-injured patients experience a hypermetabolism requiring increased nutritional support. Patient outcomes included mild skin breakdown, infection and a 12% loss in body weight. Inadequate nutrition was the patient's most significant outcome. The patient maintained an average daily intake of 915 calories and averaged a total energy expenditure of 2337 calories, thus, demonstrating an average daily deficit of 1422 calories. Top nursing care priorities noted in the patient's chart were: alteration in cerebral tissue perfusion, potential for injury and alteration in skin integrity. Results indicated more accurate assessment of the patient's needs and inclusion of more applicable nursing diagnoses were required to ensure greater continuity in care.

A case study: perspectives on a self-care deficit nursing theory-based curriculum.

This case study provides a descriptive analysis of administrative, faculty and student perspectives on use of and satisfaction with Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory (SCDNT) in one baccalaureate nursing programme's curriculum elements of (a) goals and objectives, (b) materials, (c) content, (d) nursing foci, and (e) evaluation. The need for such an analysis is indicated by the wide acceptance and use of the SCDNT in education and the absence of any similar study. Curriculum is conceptualized in the context of the Curriculum Model for the Study of Schooling, USA. Administrative representatives included the dean of nursing, the director of the nursing programme, the two curriculum chairpersons and the programme co-ordinator. The faculty and students from two specific courses provided the instructional and experiential perspectives. Data collection included structured personal interviews and document review. The investigator developed from the ideal perspective of the literature (Orem and related scholars) criteria for judging if the SCDNT indeed was implemented in the curriculum elements and the satisfaction with the theory. The faculty perspective was the most similar to the ideal, and the administration's was the least similar. Student and faculty perceptions were extremely similar. All three perspectives were in near agreement with the ideal on the use of the SCDNT in: goals and objectives, content and evaluation. A major inconsistency was found. Each perspective expressed varying interpretations of the nursing process. Pronounced patterns were examined, and implications for nursing education were stated.