• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.18-22
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• 2017

Inevitable immobilization after surgery on lower extremities can induce chronic constipation. Elderly diabetic women usually express ambiguous gastrointestinal symptoms and signs. We present here a case of panperitonitis developed from severe fecal impaction in an elderly diabetic woman after hand reconstruction using material harvested from the lower extremities. A 68-year-old diabetic female underwent anterolateral thigh free flap and wound revision twice on the left thumb. Three weeks after surgery, she complained about mild abdominal pain though she had daily defecation. Despite encouraging ambulation, her compliance was low. Resection of the sigmoid colon and colostomy were performed after diagnosis with bowel perforation. However, the patient went into septic shock and died with multiorgan failure after the guardians issued a DNR (do not resuscitate) order. For preventing bowel perforation, increased uptake of dietary fiber and early ambulation postoperatively should be encouraged, after even hand surgeries.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.1074-1082
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• 2014

This study as a descriptive survey attempts to establish the objective foundation for DNR as investigating Emergency Medical Technology students' recognition and ethical attitudes on DNR. The structured questionnaires were given to 257 students who are studying in Jeollanam-Do and Jeollabuk-Do between the period of September 1 and September 30, 2012. The data were analyzed in frequency, percentage, $x^2$-test, and crosstabs by using SPSS 18.0 program. The results indicated that ethical attitudes on DNR were statistically significant by individual's general factors such as sex, age, religion, and education. According to the result, it is necessary to have an objective guideline of ethical attitudes and offer professional education continuously about DNR in order to have sufficient information to establish the objective foundation for DNR.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.51-57
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• 2018

Purpose: End-of-life (EoL) decisions are challenging and multifaceted for patients and physicians. This study was aimed to explore how EoL care is practiced for patients with a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed medical records of patients who died after agreeing to a DNR order in 2016 at a university hospital. Characteristics including cause of death, intensity of EoL care, and other factors were reviewed and statistically analyzed. Results: Of total 375 patients, 170 patients (45.3%) died with malignancies, and 205 patients (54.6%) with other causes involving the central nervous system (19.2%), pulmonary (14.7%), cardiologic (6.7%) and infectious (6.4%) conditions. Both the cancer and non-cancer patient groups showed a short duration from DNR to death (median 3 days vs 2 days, P=0.629). An intensive care group comprising patients who received one or more intensive treatments such as ventilator (n=205) showed a higher number of non-cancer patients and a shorter duration from DNR to death than a group that withheld treatment before DNR (P<0.05). Conclusion: EoL decisions were made very late by both cancer and non-cancer patients. About half of the patients did not have cancer, and two-thirds of them decided DNR during intensive treatment. To make a good EoL decision, a shared decision making with patients should be done at an earlier stage.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.115-123
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify how nursing students' awareness of biomedical ethics and ethical values affect their attitudes towards a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order. Methods: This cross-sectional correlation study was conducted with 275 nursing students enrolled at two universities in North Chungcheong Province and North Gyeongsang Province of South Korea. Data were collected in April 2017 using a self-reported questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression with the SPSS/WIN 23.0 program. Results: The students' attitudes towards DNR were positively correlated with attitudes that seek ethical values but negatively correlated with their biomedical ethics awareness. The explained variance for attitudes towards DNR was 20%, which was significant (F=13.01, P<0.001). Conclusion: These findings suggest that nursing students' biomedical ethics awareness and ethical values were associated with their attitudes towards DNR. Curriculum organization and various educational programs should be developed and applied to help nursing students develop ethical values and awareness of biomedical ethics.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2016

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify clinical characteristics of oncologic patients at a point when they signed their do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders. Methods: From January through December 2014, we retrospectively analyzed the records of 197 patients who passed away after agreeing to a DNR order in the hemato-oncology department of a tertiary hospital. Results: Of all, 121 patients (61.4%) were male and 76 (38.6%) were female, and their average age was 58.7 years. Ninety-four patients (47.7%) had gastrointestinal cancer. The ECOG performance status at admission was grade 3 in 76 patients (36.5%) and grade 4 in 11 (5.6%). The patients' mean hospital stay was 20 days. The mean duration from the admission to DNR decision was 13 days, and the mean duration from DNR decision to death was seven days. Conclusion: Study results indicate that a decision on signing or refusing a DNR order was made by medical staff mostly based on the opinions of patients' guardians rather than the patients themselves. This suggests that patients' own wishes are not well respected. Thus, it is urgent to establish institutional devices to enhance cancer patients' autonomy regarding DNR and to define an adequate timing for withdrawal of treatments.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.255-264
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• 2005

This study is a descriptive research in investigating the perception of doctors and nurses with regard to DNR, and data were collected through survey questionnaires. The period of collecting data was between July 15 and October 30, 2004, distributing 128 questionnaires to 128 participants, and a total of 110 questionnaires from 55 doctors and 55 nurses were collected (86%)among 70 different hospitals. The collected data were analyzed using SAS program to get real number and percentage, and were also analyzed with $X^2$-test. The Study Results are as follows: 1. Respondents who agreed with the necessity of DNR was 97.27%, the reasons of DNR necessity were 59.20% of 'impossibility of recovery in spite of lots of efforts,' and 35.20% of 'for the purpose of choosing a comfortable and dignified death,' and 97.2% of respondents answered that it was necessary to give explanation of DNR to serious case patients, terminal patients and their family. 2. Problems derived from DNR decisions were 44.44% of 'lack of treatment and nursing,' 21.11% of 'guilty conscience about failing to do best efforts,' and 71.57% of CPR implementation right after DNR decision. 3. Reasons of implementing CRP for patients with DNR decision were 50.94% of 'for the presence of family and relatives at the point of patient's death,' 20.76% of 'guardian's change of DNR decision,' and 16.98% of 'no communication for the consent after DNR decision.' 4. With regard to who was to make DNR decision? there was a difference in the opinion between doctors' and nurses' group while the group of doctors chose 'by the consent of the family and the doctor in charge,' and the group of nurses chose 'patient's intension,' and with regard to Have you received DNR related education? and Will people who want DNR increase if there is explanation given? there was a difference between the two groups. 5. In the catholic institutions, respondents of 71.7% said that it was necessary to take DNR depending upon the situation, and 73% said that they had performed DNR before. 6. In the institutions with over 500 beds, 91.92% of respondents said that there should be an establishment of guideline book as a written format to implement DNR. From the results of this study, it was found that DNR was implemented and executed broadly in clinical fields in the absence of necessary instructions and/or guideline, and that DNR order was placed to the group of doctors who got less opportunity for proper education than did that of nurses.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.403-414
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• 2001

The study was intended to identify the nurses' experiences, understanding, and attitudes on DNR. Also, the study was to provide the data base for a standard of DNR decision-making and practice. The sample consisted of 347 nurses in eight general hospitals. The data were collected between August 1 and August 31, 2000. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and $x^2-test$. The results of the study were as follows : 1. Regarding DNR-related experience, 74.6 percent of the participants experienced DNR situations. Eleven percent of the participants received DNR education. DNR was most frequently (81.5%) requested by family members and relatives of patients. The decision-making on DNR was most frequently (76.8%) made by agreement between family members and medical staff. The DNR order was recorded at 81.9 percent on charts. Problems after DNR order were negligence in treatment and nursing care (30.6%) and guilty feelings due to doing the best (22.1%). CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) was performed about 49.8 percent of DNR cases. 2. Regarding understanding and attitude on DNR, most of the participants (93.1%) thought DNR was necessary. The major reasons for the necessity of DNR were impossible recovery (44.4%) and death with dignity (41.1%). The decision-making on DNR was most frequently made by patient and family members (47.8%) and followed by agreement between family members and medical staff (25.6%), and patients themselves (16.4%). Most of the participants thought that medical staff must explain DNR to critical and end-of-life patients and their family members. Forty four percent of the participants thought that the most appropriate time for DNR explanation was when patients with critical disease were admitted to hospitals. Most of the participants (90.2%) thought a guide book for DNR is necessary to be made in hospitals. 3. There were significant differences in the participants' understanding and attitudes on DNR according to religion career education and experience of DNR. Of the participants those who have religions and education experience on DNR thought that there would be more DNR requests after DNR is explained to patients and family members (p<.05). In addition, there was higher understanding on the necessity of DNR in those who have more career and DNR experience(p<.01). The findings of the study suggest that a guide book for DNR need to be made with inclusion of legal, ethical, and cultural aspects. Also, there needs to be more education on DNR in medical ethics to health care professional and to provide more information on DNR to the general public.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.84-91
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aims to investigate treatment of cancer patients at a secondary hospital. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed with electronic medical records of cancer patients admitted to a secondary hospital from January 1, 2009 through September 31, 2017. Results: A total of 223 patients were studied. Sixty-nine patients were hospitalized for supportive care after receiving a surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy at a tertiary hospital, 58 patients for other supportive care, 53 patients for symptom control, 16 patients with a decision not to take active cancer treatment, and 27 patients for treatment of cancer that was diagnosed during their hospital stay. Among 75 patients who were discharged to other institutions, 50 were transferred to tertiary hospitals, 10 to long-term care hospitals, eight to hospice hospitals, four to nursing homes and two to secondary hospitals. Comorbidities were found in 120 patients (53.8%). For patients who consulted with more than one department, more consultations were for non-cancer diseases than cancer. Seventy-three patients had a do-not-resuscitate order. Conclusion: For treatment of cancer patients, it is needed to establish a cooperation system among medical institutions and provide comprehensive management including treatment of comorbidities.

• 한국과학기술학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.12a
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• pp.247-278
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• 2015

Recently, as DNR prevails more and more in Korea, discussions regarding meaningless medical life-sustaining-treatment (LST) intensified. Some of the Supreme Court decisions are even discussed in mass media, causing public debates. These cases tell us that, as life-sustaining medical technologies are highly developed, more sociological and policy-related analyses are needed on them. Firstly, this study will review 40 previous studies that analyze recent discussions in Korea about LST. Secondly, this study also shows that in bioethical and policy-related perspectives, governance about LST calls for a new implications regarding thanatoethics and thanatopolitics. In this new theoretical framework, death with dignity (DwD) can be understood as a process of giving back the thanatopower to the subject who chooses his way of ending based on his sound and free will. Thirdly, some of the new LST or resuscitation technologies such as automated external defibrillators (AED) are developed in RRI framework. However, if subjects themselves choose not to apply those technologies on them, as in the case of DNR (do not resuscitate) vows, meaning of developing such technologies are to be questioned. But currently such questions regarding the limitations of RRI are seldom asked. I argue that in order to properly apply RRI framework on existing technology, we also need to consider these points.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.46-57
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the changes to nursing activities of nurses on patients with DNR (Do-Not-Resuscitate) order and factors associated to the changes. Methods: Data were collected using a structured questionnaire for 173 nurses at general hospitals. Logistic regression analysis was performed on the data using SAS 9.4. Results: With 39 nursing activities, an average of 60.4 (34.9%) nurses reported an increase in the activities, 102.4 (59.2%) no change and 10.1 (5.9%) a drop. The activity increase was the greatest in the social area, and the physical area was where the activities decreased the most. The activity increase was associated knowledge competency (9 items), attitudes (2 items), practical competency (4 items) and work load (14 items were). Conclusion: To offer systematical care for DNR patients, it is necessary to expand nurses' knowledge through end-of-life education and adjust their workload and provide a support system at the department level.