Analysis of Spiritual Care Experiences of Acute-Care Hospital Nurses.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the experiences of acute care hospital nurses' on spiritual care with focus group interviews. Methods: Data were collected from 24 nurses recruited from one acute-care hospital in a southern province of Korea. Six focus groups were assembled considering age and religion. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Five categories with 14 sub-categories emerged: 1) ambiguous concept: confusing terms, an additional job; 2) assessment of spiritual care needs: looking for spiritual care needs, not recognizing spiritual care needs; 3) spiritual care practices: active spiritual care, passive spiritual care ; 4) outcomes of spiritual care: comfort of the recipient, comfort of the provider; and 5) barriers to spiritual care: fear of criticism from others, lack of education, lack of time, space constraints, and absence of a recording system. Conclusion: Participants perceived spiritual care as an uncertain concept. Some participants recognized it as a form of nursing care, and others did not. They practiced spiritual care in acute-care settings according to their personal perceptions of spiritual care. Therefore, in order to perform spiritual nursing in acute-care hospitals, it is a priority for nurses to recognize the concept of spiritual nursing accurately. It is also necessary to prepare a hospital environment suitable for the provision of spiritual care.

Nursing home adjustment scale: a psychometric study of an English version.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to translate the nursing home adjustment scale (NHAS) from Korean into English and assess its psychometric properties on a sample of nursing home residents in the USA. METHODS: A total of 193 older adults in six nursing homes in the Midwest were included in this study. Reliability of the NHAS in English was tested using Cronbach's alpha values for internal consistency. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the factor structure, and correlation analysis was utilized for convergent validity. RESULTS: The NHAS English showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.77). The NHAS English demonstrated excellent convergent validity with life satisfaction (r = 0.431), and the known group comparison showed a significant difference in means of the NHAS between the short length of stay group (≤6 months) and long length of stay group (>6 months). The NHAS in English included five factors: emotional distress, relationship development, acceptance of new residence, difficulty fitting in, and depressed mood, which were loaded on the main concept "nursing home adjustment." CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that the English version of the NHAS is a valid and reliable tool to measure the level of nursing home adjustment for older adults who speak English.

Predictors of adjustment to nursing home life of elderly residents: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Adjustment to a nursing home by elderly residents is an issue in transitional care in nursing homes. Although research on relocation adjustment has been conducted in many countries, adjustment has generally been measured with life satisfaction scales, assuming equivalence between life satisfaction and successful adjustment. Research has not been reported on adjustment to relocation using an adjustment scale. OBJECTIVES: To identify predictors of nursing home life adjustment. DESIGN: Descriptive study with cross-sectional surveys. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: One hundred fifty-six residents from seven nursing homes completely subsidized by the South Korea government. METHODS: A structured questionnaire about resident characteristics, relocation characteristics, social support and general facility satisfaction was administered. The facility characteristics were obtained from the facility records. A scale of nursing home adjustment was also used during one-on-one interviews. Multiple regression was used to identify predictors of adjustment to the nursing home life for elderly residents. RESULTS: The predictors of nursing home adjustment were self-efficacy, self-reported health, preconception about nursing homes, emotional support from staff and other residents, family satisfaction and general satisfaction with the facility. The total explained variance for this model was 60.6%. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing home staff should consider the following four factors in assisting the elderly achieve successful adjustment to a nursing home: residents, relocation, social support and facilities. Social support inside the facility should be fostered to improve nursing home adjustment. Further studies are needed to explore adjustment using a nursing home adjustment scale.

[Scale development of free nursing home-adjustment for the elderly].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a scale of free nursing home adjustment for the elderly in Korea. METHOD: The developmental processes were construction of a conceptual framework, development of preliminary items, verification of content validity, twice data gathering, verification of construct validity, and reliability of final items. The first 53 preliminary items were obtained through review of literatures about nursing home adjustment and in depth interviews with 5 staffs of nursing home. These items were reviewed by five specialists for content validity and 39 items were chosen. The first data was collected from 107 elderly residing in 3 nursing homes and the second survey was from 147 residents who were living in five nursing homes. Finally this data was analyzed for construct validity and reliability. RESULT: There were 23 final items which were sorted into 5 factors. The factors were identified as 'Relocation distress symptom'(8 items), 'Making friends'(4 items), 'Acceptance of new residence' (6 items), 'Difficulty in group life'(3 items), and 'Having self-worth'(2 items). The cumulative percent of variance was 53.466%. The reliability of the scale, Cronbach's alpha was .837. CONCLUSION: The result of this study could be used for measuring nursing home adjustment of the elderly. However, for further validity and reliability, repeated researches are needed.

[Development of a critical thinking disposition scale for nursing students].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a critical thinking disposition scale for nursing students. METHOD: The developmental process was construction of a conceptual framework, development of preliminary items, verification of content validity, development of secondary items, verification of construct validity and extraction of final items. The conceptual framework and first preliminary 60 items were obtained through a review of relevant literature and the development of critical disposition scales by 10 researchers who had been studying critical thinking for one year. These items were reviewed by five specialists for content validity and finally 55 items were chosen. The data was collected from October 1 to 15, 2004 and was analyzed using factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha with the SPSS program. The subjects were composed of 560 Bachelor of Science nursing students from 8 nursing schools. RESULT: There were 35 final items which were sorted into 8 factors. The factors were identified as 'intellectual integrity(6 items)', 'creativity(4 items)', 'challenge(6 items)', 'open-mindedness(3 items)', 'prudence(4 items)', 'objectivity(4 items)', 'truth seeking(3 items)' and 'inquisitiveness(5 items)'. The cumulative percent of variance was 55.107%. The reliability of the scale, Cronbach's alpha was .892 and the factors' ranged from .562-.836. CONCLUSION: The result of this study could be used for measuring critical thinking dispositions of nursing students. However, for further validity and reliability, repeated research is necessary.

[Effects of pain control education on pain control barrier, postoperative pain and pain control satisfaction in gynecological patients].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of preoperative pain control education on the pain control barrier, postoperative pain and pain control satisfaction in gynecological patients. METHOD: The study was a quasi-experimental research design. There were 58 subjects who were admitted for gynecological surgery to D University Hospital in B city. Pain control education was provided individually to the experimental group one day before their operation day for 20 minutes with the 'Pain Control Guide Book' in the patient's admission room. The education book was made by researchers based on pain management references and patient interviews. For assessing the pain control barrier, a simplified version of Barriers Questionnaire was used, postoperative pain was assessed on a numeric scale(0-10) and satisfaction of pain control was assessed by one question. RESULTS: The pain control barrier(F=15.828, p<.001) and the post pain score of the experimental group was lower than that of the control group. In addition, pain control satisfaction of the experimental group(t=3.612, p<.001) was higher than the control group's. CONCLUSION: With the above results, preoperative pain control education could be an effective nursing intervention for pain control of surgical patients.

[Scale development of job stress for home care nurses].

The purpose of this study was to develop a job stress scale for hospital-based home care nurses in Korea. The process was construction of the conceptual framework, development of the preliminary items, verification of the content validity, item analysis and test of the reliability. The preliminary items were based on literature review and in-depth interviews with home care nurses. As a result, eight categories and sixty items were selected. These were reviewed by seven specialists for content validity and finally fifty one items were chosen. Data was collected from 180 home care nurses who were engaged in 87 hospitals from August to September 2003. The result of item analysis one was excepted. The final item count was 50. Categories were as follows: overload work (8 items), lack of specialized knowledge and technique (5 items), ethical dilemma (4 items), role conflict (5 items), interpersonal relationships (6 items), visiting home environment (9 items), driving conditions (4 items) and lack of administrative support (9 items), The reliability of the scale by Cronbach's alpha was .948 and the domain's reliability ranged from .649 to .841. The result of this study could be used to measure the job stress of home care nurses. However, for further validity and reliability, repeated studies will be necessary.