Influence of group resilience on job satisfaction among Korean nurses: A cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: This study examined whether the individual and organisational factors of ecological systems theory are associated with job satisfaction among nurses in South Korea. BACKGROUND: Nursing shortages and high turnover rates are a global issue in healthcare settings, and job satisfaction is significantly associated with the turnover intention of nurses. Therefore, efforts to promote job satisfaction are needed to decrease the high turnover rates among nurses and promote care quality and patient safety. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was performed. This paper adhered to the STROBE guidelines. METHODS: A sample of 438 nurses working in five secondary or tertiary hospitals was surveyed. The study instruments included work-life balance, resilience, insomnia and job satisfaction. RESULTS: Using multilevel analysis, both individual and organisational factors were associated significantly with job satisfaction, and variance at the group level accounted for 19.98% of the total variance of job satisfaction. Among the individual factors, marital status and work-life balance were significantly associated with job satisfaction. At the organisational level, the group mean resilience score was significantly associated with job satisfaction (p < .05). CONCLUSION: The psychosocial characteristics of individual nurses and their affiliated groups (nursing units) were significant in explaining the job satisfaction of nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Both individual-focused and group-focused interventions are needed to improve job satisfaction and decrease the turnover intention.

Causal Relationships Between Modifiable Risk Factors of Cognitive Impairment, Cognitive Function, Self-Management, and Quality of Life in Patients With Rheumatic Diseases.

BACKGROUND: Rheumatic diseases are one of the most common types of chronic conditions that affect cognitive functions. PURPOSE: To develop and verify a hypothetical model of causal relationships between modifiable risk factors for cognitive impairment, cognitive function, self-management, and quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases. METHODS: A hypothetical model was developed on the basis of empirical evidence. The fitness of the model was verified on 210 patients with rheumatic diseases. RESULTS: The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 49.0%. Smoking, underlying diseases, pain, and fatigue had a significant direct effect on cognitive impairment. Only cognitive impairment had a significant direct effect on self-management. Fatigue, anxiety, depression, and cognitive function had a significant direct effect on quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The importance of proper management of symptoms and health habits should be emphasized to prevent and delay the progression of cognitive impairment and improve adherence to self-management regimens and quality of life.

The Influence of Social Structure on Cancer Pain and Quality of Life.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether social structure is associated with cancer pain and quality of life using the Social Structure and Personality Research Framework. This study was a secondary analysis of data from 480 cancer patients. The measurements included socioeconomic variables, self-reported cancer pain using the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form (MPQ-SF), and quality of life measured using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale (FACT-G). The data were analyzed using moderated multiple regression. Cancer pain and quality of life differed significantly with income. The associations between income and pain and quality of life were significant only for the high education group (≥ partial college), and these associations were greater for Caucasians than for their counterparts ( p < .05). When developing interventions, nurses should consider the influence of socioeconomic variables on pain and quality of life while considering possible moderating factors such as education.

Psychometric Properties of the Korean Version of the "Patient Activation Measure 13" (PAM13-K) in Patients With Osteoarthritis.

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Patient Activation Measure 13 (PAM13) using Rasch analysis. The sample consisted of 270 Korean patients with osteoarthritis. The PAM13 was translated into Korean using a standardized forward-backward translation approach. In this study, the Cronbach's α coefficient was .88, the average interitem correlation was .34, and the average item-rest correlation was .55. The difficulty ranking of the item in this study differed from that in the original version. We did not need to collapse response categories. A total of 57.5% of the variance was explained by the residuals, indicating unidimensionality. The results suggest that the PAM13-K is a reliable and valid measure of activation. Further research is needed to validate item responsiveness and intervention effects.

Consistency and Accuracy of Multiple Pain Scales Measured in Cancer Patients From Multiple Ethnic Groups.

BACKGROUND: Standardized pain-intensity measurement across different tools would enable practitioners to have confidence in clinical decision making for pain management. OBJECTIVES: The purpose was to examine the degree of agreement among unidimensional pain scales and to determine the accuracy of the multidimensional pain scales in the diagnosis of severe pain. METHODS: A secondary analysis was performed. The sample included a convenience sample of 480 cancer patients recruited from both the Internet and community settings. Cancer pain was measured using the Verbal Descriptor Scale (VDS), the visual analog scale (VAS), the Faces Pain Scale (FPS), the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form (MPQ-SF), and the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF). Data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance and a receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: The agreement between the VDS and VAS was 77.25%, whereas the agreement was 71.88% and 71.60% between the VDS and FPS, and VAS and FPS, respectively. The MPQ-SF and BPI-SF yielded high accuracy in the diagnosis of severe pain. Cutoff points for severe pain were more than 8 for the MPQ-SF and more than 14 for the BPI-SF, which exhibited high sensitivity and relatively low specificity. CONCLUSION: The study found substantial agreement between the unidimensional pain scales and high accuracy of the MPQ-SF and the BPI-SF in the diagnosis of severe pain. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Use of 1 or more pain screening tools that have validated diagnostic accuracy and consistency will help classify pain effectively and subsequently promote optimal pain control in multiethnic groups of cancer patients.

Susceptibility and factors of pertussis vaccination adherence in Korean health care workers.

OBJECTIVE: To examine pertussis susceptibility and identify factors that might influence commitment to pertussis vaccination plan among Korean health care workers. METHODS: The susceptibilities were examined using Bordetella pertussis IgG ELISA. The individual and related behaviors and cognition and affect factors were measured. RESULTS: Approximately 20% of subjects were susceptible to pertussis. Only perceived sensitivity and social support system were found to have significant direct effects on commitment to vaccination plan. CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination with pertussis among health care workers is certainly needed in Korea. In practice, when developing educational programs, perceived sensitivity and support systems need to be specifically considered.

Health problems and health behaviors of Korean preschoolers living with parents and under guardianship.

PURPOSE: A comparative analysis was conducted to identify and compare the health status and behaviors of preschoolers attending daycare centers in South Korea between children living with parents and those under guardianship. DESIGN: The study design was descriptive and correlational. SAMPLE: Data were collected from 152 parents and 85 guardians of preschool children using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Of 237 children, 23.9-32.5% were overweight or obese, while 13.8-30.0% were underweight. Boys under guardianship were more likely to be obese. Hand-foot-mouth disease and atopic dermatitis were more prevalent among children living with parents, while those under guardianship were less likely to have dentistry visits, more likely to be absent from childcare due to pneumonia, and had significantly fewer health-related conversations with their guardians. In relation to health behaviors, the frequency of tooth-brushing and high-calcium food consumption was significantly lower among children under guardianship than among those living with parents. CONCLUSION: Compared with children living with parents, those under guardianship were exposed to unfavorable circumstances in terms of health management practices and health behaviors, which implies that the guardians were less interested in health care and dealt inappropriately with the health problems of their foster children.

Dependence of reaction center-type energy-dependent quenching on photosystem II antenna size.

The effects of photosystem II antenna size on reaction center-type energy-dependent quenching (qE) were examined in rice plants grown under two different light intensities using both wild type and qE-less (OsPsbS knockout) mutant plants. Reaction center-type qE was detected by measuring non-photochemical quenching at 50 micromol photons m(-2) s(-1) white light intensity. We observed that in low light-grown rice plants, reaction center-type qE was higher than in high light-grown plants, and the amount of reaction center-type qE did not depend on zeaxanthin accumulation. This was confirmed in Arabidopsis npq1-2 mutant plants that lack zeaxanthin due to a mutation in the violaxanthin de-epoxidase enzyme. Although the electron transport rate measured at a light intensity of 50 micromol photons m(-2) s(-1) was the same in high light- and low light-grown wild type and mutant plants lacking PsbS protein, the generation of energy-dependent quenching was completely impaired only in mutant plants. Analyses of the pigment content, Lhcb proteins and D1 protein of PSII showed that the antenna size was larger in low light-grown plants, and this correlated with the amount of reaction center-type qE. Our results mark the first time that the reaction center-type qE has been shown to depend on photosystem II antenna size and, although it depends on the existence of PsbS protein, the extent of reaction center-type qE does not correlate with the transcript levels of PsbS protein. The presence of reaction center-type energy-dependent quenching, in addition to antenna-type quenching, in higher plants for dissipation of excess light energy demonstrates the complexity and flexibility of the photosynthetic apparatus of higher plants to respond to different environmental conditions.

[Health behaviors between a health promotion demonstration health center and a general health center].

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to compare community residents' perceptions, participation, satisfaction, and behavioral changes between a health promotion demonstration health center and general health center. METHOD: The design of the study was ex-post facto that compared community residents in demonstration health centers and general health centers. The sample included 2,261 community residents who were conveniently selected from demonstration (792 participants) and general health centers (1,496 participants). RESULT: The results of the study were as follows: 1) Perception and participation rates of exercise, nutrition, and hypertension management programs were significantly higher in the participants of demonstration health centers than those of general health centers.; 2) Satisfaction rates of all programs except the smoking cessation program were significantly higher in the participants of demonstration health centers than those of general health centers. However, only the exercise rate among risk behaviors of participants was significantly higher in demonstration health centers than general health centers. CONCLUSION: Systematic efforts for health promotion were effective not only in improving the community's awareness, participation, and satisfaction of the program, but also in changing health behaviors. This evidence should be used to foster and disseminate health promotion programs to other health centers to improve community residents' health status and quality of life.

[Health problems and health behaviors of preschoolers].

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to understand the health status and health behaviors of preschoolers to provide baseline data for developing health promotion programs. METHOD: Parents of children attending day-care centers were recruited for the study. Participating day-care centers were selected using a stratified sampling method. Data was collected from June to August 2002 using a questionnaire. RESULT: Among 754 preschoolers, 17.3% were overweight, while 18.2% were underweight. The most frequent infectious diseases that children have had previously were hand-foot-mouth disease (20.2%) and chicken pox (18.7%). Current health conditions that children have frequently are respiratory disease (28%) and atopic dermatitis (23.8%). Only 61% brush their teeth everyday at bedtime, 54.3% wash their hands every time after returning home, 8.8% wear bicycle helmets, 9.3% use a child car seat, and 8.1% eat fruits and vegetables five times a day. Children residing in the metropolitan area were more likely to have positive health behaviors, and children of parents with an advanced college level education were more likely to have positive health behaviors than those with only a high school level education. CONCLUSION: Based on the study results, health professionals could plan and develop health promotion programs to change unhealthy behaviors of preschoolers targeting high-risk groups.