PURPOSE
This cross-sectional survey research was undertaken to identify the factors influencing time from onset to hospital arrival of stroke patients and to provide basic information for the development of intervention programs for stroke patients.
METHODS
The data were collected using a convenient sampling method from three hospitals in Inchon. The subjects were 78 patients who were diagnosed as stroke by doctor and they voluntarily participated in the study.
RESULTS
On the average, subjects arrived at the hospitals by 16.72 hours after the onset of stroke events with the range from 0.17 hours to 72 hours. Thirty-four(43.6%) subjects arrived within 3 hours which can maximize treatment effects. There was significant difference in hospital presentation time according to the level of knowledge(chi-square=18.629, p=.0003). A negative correlation was found between the hospital presentation time and self-efficacy (r= -.320, p=.004). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the most powerful predictor was self-efficacy. Self-efficacy, the level of knowledge and physical symptoms were significant factors and accounted for 21.7% of the variance of hospital presentation time in stroke patients.
CONCLUSION
According to the results, self-efficacy is a useful concept for reducing the hospital presentation time from onset of attack in stroke patients. Therefore, nurses should consider educational programs which include not only a knowledge of stroke and recurrence prevention but also the concept of self-efficacy.

PURPOSE
This study aimed to explore the constituents and structure of adaptation experiences in their everyday life among senior patients of a nursing home in order to provide nursing intervention data for the satisfaction and the improvement of life of senior patients by appreciating the nature of their adaptational experience.
METHODS
The participants were five female and one male senior patients who were 65-years old or older and admitted at a nursing home in a metropolitan city. The interview data were analyzed by the Giorgi's phenomenological analysis method.
RESULTS
As the results of analysis, the following three constituents have been found out: retrospective focus based on the meaning of admission, expanding a view and facing up to the reality, reconstructing views about the meaning of life and the world.
CONCLUSION
With the increasing number of senior in facilities, nurses not only play a key role in caring for seniors but also in managing their maladaptation. Thus, it is considered that the results obtained from the this study provide valuable information for both the senior patients and their families as well as for the nurses, by presenting the data about senior patients' adaptational experiences of nursing home admission.

PURPOSE
This qualitative study aimed to understand the experiences of reorganization of everyday lives among the women with chronic health problem.
METHODS
In this study, the approach and its process of sociology of everyday lives were adopted. Data for the study came from 6 informants and 9 family members of the informants by interview and participant-observation from January, 2004 to May, 2006. Qualitative content analyzing methods were adopted.
RESULTS
Informants' everyday lives were reorganized as follows. During the experiences of shock from unpleasant and unclear symptoms of their body, their sight fixed on the body part. Their time also fixed on a point of present. They started to wander from medical care to folk and lay care. After they were informed that the health problem could not be treated completely, they reduced the world of everyday life and protected themselves from the chaotic unfamiliar world by setting -a- side duties as a family member and severing unessential social relationship. As they achieved a skill for managing their health problem, they gained their former pattern of everyday lives as a woman, a family member, and a social member. Finally, they created a new life world.
CONCLUSION
We need more study on the development of an adaptive strategy by the informants, to intervene in the crisis of everyday life.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the effects of preoperative information on postoperative state anxiety, plasma cortisol, and pain for patients under total knee arthroplasty, and to provide generic data with nursing intervention for total knee arthroplasty.
METHODS
Data were collected from 34 patients who had total knee arthroplasty from January 3, 2003 to January 15, 2004. An experiment group of 17 patients was provided with pre-operative information prepared by the researchers; a control group of another 17 patients was provided with general information. Data were analyzed through Chi-squared test, t-test, paired t-test and ANCOVA using SPSS WIN 11.0.
RESULTS
There was no significant differences between the experiment group and the control group in post operative state anxiety(p=.612). However, there was statistically a significant difference between the above two groups in post operative plasma cortisol(p=.012). There was a statistically significant difference between the above two groups in post operative pain(p=.041).
CONCLUSION
According to the results of the study, the authors concluded that the preoperative information for patients under total knee arthroplasty had the effect on the decrease of postoperative plasma cortisol and pain.

PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships among gender, information-seeking styles, and high risk behavior in Korean adults.
METHODS
A survey utilizing a structured questionnaire was used to examine the relationships of the study variables. Eight hundred fifty six adults were recruited and this group consisted of 403 females and 453 males. Information seeking style and high risk behavior were measured by Miller Behavioral Style Scale revised by Zurren and Wolfs, and High Risk Behaviors checklist developed by Lee, respectively.
RESULTS
Differences between gender were significant in information-seeking styles and high risk behavior. Monitoring and blunting scores were both higher in female than male, and high risk behavior was higher in males than females. The blunting style was positively related to high-risk behavior and the monitoring style was negatively related to high risk behavior.
CONCLUSION
To intervene with high risk behavior effectively, individual differences such as gender and information seeking style should be considered. In addition, the research about well-designed health information support is needed in the future.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to describe perception and performance of health assessment among clinical nurses.
METHODS
The sample of this study consisted of 177 staff nurses working at university affiliated hospitals and a self-report questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed with SPSS WIN 12.0 program.
RESULTS
The overall mean scores of perception and performance of health assessment were 3.67 and 1.71 respectively. There were no significant differences according to educational level, working department, and type of health assessment courses taken for perception of health assessment. The variable significantly affecting health assessment performance was the working department. There was a statistically significant correlation between perception and performance of health assessment.
CONCLUSION
These findings suggest the need to develop a nursing education strategy to increase the performance of health assessment.

PURPOSE
This study was a randomized single-blind trial of whole versus split-dose PEG solutions for colonoscopy preparation to compare the patient compliance, quality of bowel cleansing, and endoscopist's satisfaction.
METHODS
The participants were recruited from outpatients who planned to receive colonoscopy of C hospital in Busan. Sixty participants were randomly assigned to receive either a spit-dose group(n=30) consuming 2 liter of PEG solution twice, or a whole-dose group(n=30), consuming 4 liter of PEG solution once. These participants completed the questionnaire to assess their compliance before colonoscopy. The quality of bowel cleansing was assessed using the Ottawa Scale with the endoscopist who was blinded to the type of preparation, and their satisfaction by using VAS.
RESULTS
The participants who did not completely consume 4 liter of PEG solution were less in split-dose than in whole-dose group (0% vs 13.3%). The split-dose group complained less about abdominal pain(t=2.644, p=0.009) and abdominal bloating(t=2.802, p=0.013) with a statistical significance. For the quality of bowel preparation, there were no significant differences in the bowel cleansing scores and the endoscopist's satisfaction between two groups.
CONCLUSION
Colonic preparation with split-dose of PEG solution could be a more useful method for better patient compliance, with no significant impact on bowel cleansing quality.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of young adults with hypertension, using phenomenology in order to describe the essence of such experiences and to understand them from the patients' point of view.
METHODS
Participants in this study were 4 hypertension patients with ages ranging from 20 to 35 years old, living in Seoul city. Data were collected from in-depth interviews done from October to November in 2005. Colazzi method(1978) was used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
The 12 themes were extracted in this study ; 'Discovery by accident', 'Denial of the diagnosis', 'A disease unworthy of the young men', 'Guilty feeling toward their parents', 'Fear of death', 'Unconvinced reason', 'Worry about the future', 'Attribute all symptoms to the disease', 'Will of not life-long medication', 'Concern for fertility problem', 'Not convinced with current treatment method', 'Becoming unimportant'.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study show that the young adult with hypertension will be in a high risk group of non compliance, so helpful program for them should be developed and the nurses need to pay more attention to the psychosocial aspect of nursing.

PURPOSE
This study was performed to understand the perceived importance and performance frequencies of nursing interventions and identify the core and major interventions in oncology units.
METHODS
Questionnaires using 151 nursing interventions were given to 45 nurses. The performance frequency was measured through the database of the nursing process recording system for 1 year.
RESULTS
The perceived importance of the nursing interventions averaged out to be 3.5 among 4 and on average 36.5 times of nursing interventions were performed on each patient. Fifteen core nursing interventions including 'pain management' were identified and they made up 82.7% of the entire performance frequency rate. And 26 interventions including 'drug administration: Amphotericin-B' were identified as major nursing interventions and occupied 10.6% of the entire performance frequency rate.
CONCLUSION
Since the core and the major nursing interventions were identified and these occupied 93.3% of the all nursing interventions, these results can be utilized as baseline data for establishing the guidelines and standards of nursing interventions and providing systematic education for oncology nurses in Korea.

PURPOSE
This study was designed to identify the self concept and clinical competency of nurses in hospitals and to examine the relationship between two concepts.
METHODS
A questionnaire was used for data collection which was done from July 1 to July 30 in 2005. The respondents were 267 staff nurses in a university hospital and general hospitals in two cities. The instruments were Son's(2002) self concept scale and Lee's(2002) clinical competency scale. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression using SPSS-WIN.
RESULTS
The results of this study were summarized as follows: First, the total mean score of self concept was 2.56, and clinical competency was 2.59 on a 4 point scale. Second, the self concept and clinical competency were significantly correlated. Third, the results of multiple regression showed that self concept explained 45.2% of clinical competency.
CONCLUSION
Self concept has a strong influence on clinical competency. Therefore, individualized nursing management strategies and education programs must be developed in order to increase a nurses self concept.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of cardiovascular risk factors of type 2 diabetic patients.
METHODS
Diabetic patients (N=160) were interviewed from November, 2003 to June, 2004. The 24 hour dietary recall, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Scale for patient with Type 2 diabetes, the Revised Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Measure Scale and Parma Cardiovascular Risk Index were used to measure the predictors. Data were analyzed by descriptive analyses, Pearson correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression using the SPSS WIN 10.0.
RESULTS
Mean dietary intakes of the participants were protein(P) of 64.5g, carbohydrate(C) of 280.74g, fat(F) of 30g, and calcium of 511.45mg. The ratio of CPF was 75:17:8. About 45% of the participants didn't exercise on a regular basis. The levels of self-efficacy, self-care, and cardiovascular risk factors of the participants were moderate. Self-efficacy was the most important predictor of cardiovascular risk factors along with self-care, exercising for more than 6 months, carbohydrate intakes and levels of physical activities.
CONCLUSION
The findings of the study suggest that intervention programs increasing self-efficacy on diabetic management would be more beneficial than the fractional approach focusing only on diet or physical activities.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study were to investigate the level of family support, alcohol consumption and drinking motives in patients with liver cirrhosis and to examine the relationships among those variables.
METHODS
The subjects consisted of 60 patients with liver cirrhosis. Family support scale, Q-F methods and Drinking Motives Questionnaire were used to measure the level of family support, alcohol consumption and drinking motives.
RESULTS
The level of family support was 43.62. Prevalence of drinking was 90% and 43.3% were currently heavy drinkers. Alcohol consumption was related to sex and education. There were positive low relationships between the level of enhancement motive, coping motive, social motive, and Q-F Index.
CONCLUSION
Alcohol drinking is a serious health problem in patients with liver cirrhosis. It is necessary to have an educational approach for controlling drinking and family support.

PURPOSE
The research aims to identify the roles of nurses at dementia clinics or geriatric hospitals to set their tasks.
METHODS
This research has been conducted through literature review and focus group methodology. The field survey has been done for 195 nurses at 36 hospitals for the aged and dementia clinics from Oct. 9 to Oct. 28, 2006.
RESULTS
The nurses were identified to play eight roles as clinical specialists, educators, researchers, counselors, consultants, collaborators, leaders, managers, and advocators. They were also known to implement 27 nursing tasks and 104 nursing activities.
CONCLUSION
The findings of this research could provide a foundation for the nursing care work as well as become a practice guideline for the nurses, at these hospitals, to implement versatile roles and tasks.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of self-care, symptom experience and disease state among the patients with liver cirrhosis and to identify its correlation.
METHODS
The subjects were 220 patients with liver cirrhosis who were treated in D-university hospital in Busan. The instruments used for study were the self-care inventory, the symptom experience inventory and modified childpugh classification scale.
RESULTS
The average points of the patient's self-care performance, symptom experience, and disease status were 3.67, 29.10 and 6.12 respectively. Their self care was negatively correlated to symptom experience, and symptom experience was positively correlated to disease state.
CONCLUSION
This research findings suggested that active self-care by patients with liver cirrhosis might contribute to reduce various symptoms they can undergo and to prevent aggravation of disease state. Therefore, patients with liver cirrhosis have to carry out self care actively in daily life and discreet nursing intervention should be offered to facilitate their self-care.

PURPOSE
Increasing numbers of Koreans have immigrated to the United States since the late 1960s. The first generation of Korean immigrants or their parents become old and institutionalized in American nursing home setting. Although the Korean elders would experience many cultural differences in the nursing home, no study to date has investigated their everyday lives on how they live through their later lives within a different cultural environment from their own.
METHODS
Using ethnographic methodology, the purpose of this paper was to illustrate Korean residents' experiences and daily lives in a nursing home located in an east coastal city in the U.S. Participant observation, filed notes, semi-structured interviews were utilized by means of data collection. Eighteen Korean residents were observed, and five of them and two nurses participated in informal qualitative interviews.
RESULTS
The overriding theme from the findings is "thrown in a different world." Three sub-themes include "constant struggles in making themselves understood", "dealing with culturally inappropriate nursing care," and "maintaining their own ways of life".
CONCLUSIONS
The discovered themes reflect culturally isolated lives of the participants and open a venue for designing a culturally congruent nursing care for Korean elders living in the U.S. nursing homes.