• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.628-639
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the optimal end-of-life care and well-dying perceived by nurses to provide the optimal end-of-life care for patients and their families. This subjects of the study were 121 nurses working in the ward or intensive care unit of a general hospital in Seoul, and the data collected from April 28 to May 12, 2021 were analyzed. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficients with the SPSS/WIN 27.0 program. The total average of the subjects' perceptions of the optimal end-of-life care was 4.04±0.82 on a five-point scale, indicating the overall level of 'agree' with the optimal end-of-life care. The total average of well dying perceived by the subjects was 3.63±1.14 on a five-point scale, and the most important recognized questions was to die peacefully. Of general characteristics, there was a significant differences on optimal end-of-life care according to age (t=-.97, p=.013). The nurse group in their 30s showed higher consent for end-of-life care than those in their 20s. An analysis of the correlation between the optimal end-of-life care and well-dying showed that there was no significant correlation. This study suggest that education should be provided to raise awareness of end-of-life care for young nurses with low experience.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.199-211
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the essence and the meaning of nurses' experiences of end-of-life care (EOLC) for elderly patients in the long-term care hospitals (LTCHs). Methods: Data were gathered from 12 nurses who had been working at LTCHs in Korea through one-on-one interviews and the data were analyzed by Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Results: The emergent 5 themes were 'Doing the best for protecting patients' life', 'Providing a comfortable dying process for patients', 'Supporting a family's keeping on patient's death', 'Reflecting on life' and 'Desiring for the establishment of a humanity end-of-life care environment'. Conclusion: The end-of-life care for the elderly patients includes supporting elderly patients' comfortable dying process and helping the family keep the death of the elderly. The results indicated that physical facilities and end-of-life nursing capacity should be established in LTCHs for improving the quality of EOLC.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 2022

As population aging increases the burden of cancer, the quality of death of patients with cancer is emerging as an important issue alongside their quality of life. To improve the quality of death, it is necessary to prepare for death, allowing patients to die comfortably and with dignity at the end. Considering these issues, I aim to discuss the practical aspects of notifying the patient of the terminal phase of cancer and planning for end-of-life care (i.e., advance care planning). When cancer treatment that can extend the patent's lifespan becomes difficult, the patient enters a treatment transition period. Treatment is shifted from life-prolonging care to life-enhancing care, and end-of-life care must be well planned. Medical providers often worry too much about whether the patient will be disappointed or psychologically traumatized when notified of the terminal phase of their cancer, thus delaying plans for end-of-life care. In fact, patients can accept their condition and prepare for end-of-life care better than we expect. During the treatment transition period, notification of terminal status should be given, and a well-prepared advance care plan should be established early when the patient has decision-making ability. In addition to conveying information, it is always necessary to be sensitive to whether the patient and caregiver understand the information and respond to their emotions.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.301-310
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• 2019

This study aims to examine eligibilities, services and delivery of services for the current end-of-life care and analyze the quality control of services for end-of-life care. We analyzed the literature and laws on end-of-life systems in Korean and the United States. Current end-of-life care, hospice and palliative care in Korea is being provided mainly in hospital setting. Quality control for the services focuses on setting the criteria for structures in hospitals (i.e. staffing, facilities and equipment). Whereas American end-of-life care system has much broader eligibility for service beneficiaries and provides care mostly at home. Also quality control for services includes process (delivering service) and outcomes, such as monitoring performance indicators and consumer's satisfaction. This is linked to annual payment. The comparative analysis findings contributed to give the next direction of current Korean end-of-life care system. It is nessary to establish the better and extensive end-of-life care system in Korea in considering other countries' end-of-life care systems based on more future research.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.454-463
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a hospice and palliative care education program including meaning in life on attitudes to end-of-life care and meaning in life for nursing students. Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental and non- synchronized with a non-equivalent control group design. The experimental group (n=28) participated in a hospice and palliative care education program including meaning in life. The control group (n=28) participated only in a hospice and palliative care education program. The 30-hour course examined hospice and palliative nursing care and logotherapy. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of general characteristics, attitudes to end-of-life care, and meaning in life. Collected data were analyzed for frequency, percentage, ${\chi}^2$-test, and t-test using SPSS 19.0 WIN Program. Results: Scores for the attitude towards end-of-life care in the experimental group were significantly higher than in the control group. The meaning in life scores in the experimental group were significantly higher than in the control group. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the hospice and palliative care education program, including meaning in life, was effective in enhancing the attitude to end-of-life care and meaning in life among nursing students.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.56 no.8
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• pp.323-326
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• 2013

Quality of life in addition to various medical problems in children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) should be objectively assessed to accomplish normal growth and development during childhood. However, unfortunately, studies of quality of life (QoL) in children with ESRD have been not popular yet and there are only fewer suitable assessment tools compared with adults. Recently, disease-specific modules to evaluate QoL in children with chronic disease such as ESRD have been developed. This review was made to introduce these QoL instruments for children and help the clinical application of them.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.1-5
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• 2007

This paper presents the new detection method for the end of life on fluorescent lamps. At the end of lamp life, the lamp voltage and current asymmetrically increase and decrease more than normal state. If the ballast system does not have the protection function especially for T4 and T5 lamps, we may see the melting socket which is connected to the end of the lamp. To protect from this kind of abnormal status is the most important thing in the ballast system that has very old lamps.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2021

Purpose : Based on Quint's theory and the relevant literature, this study constructed a structural equation model for explaining and predicting end-of-life care performance in clinical nurses. Methods : A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 265 nurses between September 1 and September 30, 2016. The data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 21 and AMOS ver. 21. Results : The goodness of fit of the modified model was found to be relatively satisfactory (χ2=114.82, Nomed χ2(χ2/df)=2.44, SRMR=.06, GFI=.94, AGFI=.89, CFI=.95, TLI=.91, RMSEA=.07). End-of-life care performance was affected by the attitudes toward nursing care of the dying, working unit, and death anxiety. The attitudes toward such care had the highest effect on end-of-life care performance. Conclusion : The results suggest that end-of-life care performance is directly and indirectly affected by attitudes toward nursing care of the dying, participation in end-of-life care education, working unit, death perception, and death anxiety. To improve clinical nurses' end-of-life care performance, effective programs to promote death anxiety and attitudes toward nursing care of the dying need to be developed. In addition, hospital nursing organizations should attempt to produce concrete measures for death anxiety and terminal care attitudes in clinical nurses.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.93-102
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• 2020

Purpose: The Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End of Life came into force in February 2018 in Korea. This study reviews the practices of end-of-life care for patients who withdrew or withheld life-sustaining treatment at a tertiary care hospital, addresses the limitations of the law, and discusses necessary steps to promote patient-centered self-determination. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients who died after agreeing to withhold life-sustaining treatment in 2018 at our university hospital. The cause of death, the intensity of end-of-life care, and other characteristics were reviewed and statistically analyzed. Results: Of a total of 334 patients, 231 (69%) died from cancer. The decision to stop life-sustaining treatment was made by family members for 178 patients overall (53.3%) and for 101 (43.7%) cancer patients, regardless of the patient's wishes. When the patient decided to stop life-sustaining treatment, the time from the authorization to withhold life-sustaining treatment to death was longer than when the decision was made by family members (28.7±41.3 vs 10.5±23.2 days, P<0.001). Conclusion: In many cases, the decision to discontinue life-sustaining treatment was made by the family, not by the patient. In order to protect human dignity based on the patients' self-determination, it is necessary for patients to understand their disease based on careful explanations from physicians. Ongoing survey-based research will be necessary in the future.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.239-243
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• 2016

This article investigates ethical challenges cancer patients face in the end stages of life including doctors' responsibilities, patients' rights, unexpected desires of patients and their relatives, futile treatments, and communication with patients in end stages of life. These patients are taken care of through palliative rather than curative measures. In many cases, patients in the last days of life ask their physician to terminate their illness via euthanasia which has many ethical considerations. Proponents of such mercy killing (euthanasia) believe that if the patient desires, the physician must end the life, while opponents of this issue, consider it as an act of murder incompatible with the spirit of medical sciences. The related arguments presented in this paper and other ethical issues these patients face and possible solutions for dealing with them have been proposed. It should be mentioned that this paper is more human rational and empirical and the views of the legislator are not included, though in many cases human intellectual and empirical comments are compatible with those of the legislator.