PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing the barriers faced by Korean nurses in addressing the patients' sexual health.
METHODS
The subjects in this study were nurses working at hospitals in Seoul and Jeonju. The data for this study were collected between November 2008 and December 2008. The subjects were assured of anonymity and confidentiality.
RESULTS
The barriers to addressing the patients' sexual health were moderate in the subjects. The nurses had moderate sexual knowledge and communication skills. In a stepwise regression analysis, the areas of work, communication skills, participation in sexual health training, and experience in Obstetrics and Gynecology accounted for 18.3% of the variance of the barrier for addressing the patients' sexual health.
CONCLUSION
These findings emphasize the need for the development of a patient-centered sexual health-related curriculum for nurses, which has been briefly discussed in Korea. An educational program that improves the nurses' communication skills will be effective in reducing the barriers to addressing the patients' sexual health and will help the nurses become sexual health specialists.

PURPOSE
In numerous studies, MBSR programs have been shown to reduce stress and improve health-related QOL. Although MBSR programs have been shown to be beneficial, its effects have not been well-determined among Korean populations in clinical nursing practice. The purpose of this review was to describe the effects of MBSR on stress and health-related QOL so that the potential benefits of this intervention may be evaluated for wider application in Korea.
METHODS
Articles published in peer-reviewed journals in the English or Korean language up to 2009 were reviewed; 14 articles met the inclusion criteria for this review and there were no Korean papers.
RESULTS
MBSR groups were found to have significantly reduced stress outcomes relative to non-MBSR groups in 6 of 11 studies. In regards to health-related QOL, participants of the MBSR programs had increased scores after MBSR intervention relative to control groups in 5 of 7 studies.
CONCLUSION
MBSR programs was effective in decreasing stress and increased the health-related QOL in the majority of studies reviewed. MBSR merits study in Korean patients to determine whether similar salutary patient outcomes may be obtained.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to analyze attitude toward dignified dying of Korean students majoring in human service area.
METHODS
The Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. The 34 selected Q-statements from each of 38 subjects were classified into a shape of normal distribution using a 9 point scale. The collected data was analyzed using a QUANL PC program.
RESULTS
Four types of attitude toward dignified dying from the subjects were identified. Type I is an expression type for happy emotion, Type II is a dislike type for life prolongation, Type III is a pursuit type for relationship improvement, and Type IV is a perception type for family presence.
CONCLUSION
The results of the study indicate that integrating multi-disciplinary curriculum development related to dignified dying and death education for students majoring in human service area are needed.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of acculturative stress among Chinese students in Korea.
METHODS
Between October and December 2009, two hundred one Chinese students from three universities located in Cungnam province, were included in the current study using a questionnaire survey. Data analysis was done using SPSS/WIN 17.0 program.
RESULTS
The average score of acculturative stress was 38.50+/-6.97. There were significant differences in acculturative stress according to educational level, economic status, type of residence, speaking skill in Korean, listening skill in Korean, grade point average, satisfaction for studying abroad, and perceived health status. The acculturative stress was significantly correlated with depression, resilience and social support. The strongest predictor of acculturative stress among Chinese students was depression.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that developing programs to improve psychological health may provide a buffer against acculturative stress experienced by migrating Chinese students. Furthermore, more studies are needed to explore variables that influence on the international students' acculturation in Korea.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aromatherapy on stress, fatigue, mood, and vital signs of the nurses in the operating rooms.
METHODS
The data were collected from September 2007 to February 2008 in the operating room at K hospital located in Seoul, Korea. A total of 48 nurses were recruited. Among them, 25 nurses were randomly assigned to an experimental group and 23 were assigned to a control group. Experimental group was provided with aroma inhalation by necklace which had essential oil mixture of 0.2 cc. For aroma inhalation, Lavender, Zeranium and Mazoram were mixed in ratio of 5:3:2. In order to test the effectiveness of aroma inhalation, the pretest and posttest results for stress, fatigue, mood, and vital signs were compared between the experimental group and the control group. The data were analyzed by unpaired t-test and ANCOVA using the SPSS/WIN 15.0 program.
RESULTS
There were statistically significant decreases in the stress and fatigue scores, and increase in the mood scores and showed significant relaxation in the vital signs after the aroma inhalation.
CONCLUSION
The aromatherapy had the positive effects on stress, fatigue, mood, and vital signs.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to develop a Cardiovascular Disease Resilience (CDR) scale to evaluate disease specific resilience for recovery.
METHODS
The study was conducted as follows: items generation, and test of validity and reliability. Items were developed via literature review, review of instruments, and data acquired from the interviews. In order to test validity and reliability, seven panels of experts reviewed the preliminary questionnaire and then data were collected from 550 cardiovascular disease patients. Factor analysis, Pearson correlation, ANOVA, and Cronbach's alpha were used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
In the preliminary stage, forty-four items were generated. A reduction to 40 items was accomplished through content validity analysis. Factor analysis extracted 7 factors with a total of 25 items. The CDR items were moderately correlated with the subscales of the CD-RISC (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale) and the mean score of CDR was associated with quality of life measured with CD-QOL (Cardiovascular Disease Quality of Life). Cronbach's alpha=.84.
CONCLUSION
Content validity, construct validity, criterion validity, and reliability of the CDR were established. The CDR is a reliable and valid instrument which the resilience of cardiovascular disease specific recovery state can be evaluated.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the meridian massage on the hand edema, activities of daily living (ADL), and depression in hemiplegic stroke patients.
METHODS
The research was a quasi-experimental design using a non-equivalent control group pre-post test. The subjects were 40 stroke patients who admitted to rehabilitation department in a hospital. The data was collected from January to March, 2009 used the millimeter measurement for checking hand edema and the structured questionnaires. The meridian massage on affected hand was carried out for 10 minutes per day during 2 weeks to the experimental group. Descriptive statistics, -test, Fisher's exact test, and t-test with SPSS/WIN 12.0 program were used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
After the intervention, there were statistically significant differences in the changes of hand edema, ADL, and depression in the experimental group compared with the control group.
CONCLUSION
The meridian massage was effective in improving hand edema, the level of ADL, and depression for the hemiplegic stroke patients. Therefore the meridian massage can be utilized as an effective adjuvant therapy for stroke patients suffering from hand edema in clinical practice.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify predictors on drinking problems of university students.
METHODS
The participants were 359 students by convenience sampling in P city. Data were collected from October 15 to December 20, 2007 using drinking problems questionnaire, Global assessment of recent stress scale, CES-D and self-esteem scale. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression.
RESULTS
There were positive correlations between stress and drinking problems, between depression and drinking problems. Also, there were negative correlations between stress and self-esteem, between depression and self-esteem. In stepwise multiple regression analysis, the most powerful predictor of drinking problems was depression.
CONCLUSION
The results suggest that effective management of depression and stress can be considered when developing a prevention program of drinking problems for university students.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the level of disease related knowledge, compliance of health behavior, and educational needs in relation to time (at discharge and 6 months after discharge) among patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
METHODS
Data were collected from January 1, 2006 to September 30, 2006 and a total of 60 patients participated in the study. The survey was conducted in patients underwent PCI at the time of discharge right after discharge education was provided and at a follow up visit which was 6 months after discharge.
RESULTS
The level of disease related knowledge (p<.001), the compliance of health behavior (p<.001), educational need (p=.496), the sub-item of sexual life (p<.001), follow up (p<.001), diet (p=.021), stress (p<.001) in compliance of health behavior, and the sub-item of specific character of disease in educational needs (p=.015) were significantly different between discharge and 6 months after discharge.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study suggested that further education should be provided to the patients underwent PCI regarding medication, smoking cessation, daily life and exercise at a time of 6 months after discharge in order to increase patient compliance of health behavior.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to examine the training effectiveness and behavior towards the elderly of 180 caregiver trainees.
METHODS
Data were collected from five caregiver training institutions located in G city. All subjects were surveyed about the training effectiveness and behavior towards the elderly by using the Training Effectiveness Scale and the Behavior towards the Elderly Scale. Data were analyzed by SPSS/WIN 12.0 program.
RESULTS
The study subjects gained a training effectiveness score of 3.84 out of 5 points and a behavior towards the elderly score 3.40 out of 4 points. The training effectiveness differed significantly depending on subject's characteristics, intention to work as a caregiver, and hours of training. There were significant differences in behavior towards the elderly depending on their age and hours of training. The training effectiveness was significantly correlated with the level of behavior towards the elderly.
CONCLUSION
These findings demonstrated the necessity of developing a level of educational training that will help improve caregiver trainees' care by positively changing their behavior towards the elderly.

PURPOSE
This study was done to identify the relationship of trait anger, health state, physical symptoms. and general characteristics to physical symptoms and to identify factors affecting physical symptoms of elderly in urban areas.
METHODS
The research design for this study was a descriptive survey design using a convenience sampling. Elders (n=276), who agreed to participate in this study completed a self-reporting questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple regression.
RESULTS
Study participants reported low trait anger (M=18.61), physical symptoms (M=7.15), and moderate health state (M=3.30). The 45.4% of variance in physical symptoms was significantly explained by emotional function health state (beta=-.284, p=.013), which is one of the sub-domain of the elderly health state, and trait anger (beta=3.841, p<.001).
CONCLUSION
Findings of this study provide that the most important factors in explaining physical symptoms for the elders in Korea were emotional function health state and trait anger. Based on the findings of this study, further nursing practice and nursing research for the elders with physical symptoms should be focused on emotional support.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship among clinical competence of diabetic diet education on standardized patients, self-efficacy, communication skill, learning satisfaction, and professional values of nursing students.
METHODS
The present study was a descriptive research. The participants were 144 junior nursing students in a university. The clinical competence on diabetic diet education was assessed by trained evaluators when nursing students performed diabetic diet education using the standardized patients. The students' self-efficacy, communication skill, professional values, and learning satisfaction were measured by themselves using the questionnaires.
RESULTS
The clinical competence on diabetic diet education showed positive correlations with communication skill and learning satisfaction, while the competence was not correlated to self-efficacy and professional values.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study suggest that clinical competence on diabetic diet education may be more related to communication skills and learning satisfaction than self-efficacy and professional values. Promoting communication skills and learning satisfaction using a standardized patient may increase nursing students' competence on diabetic diet education.