• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.174-183
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• 2002

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of nurses' pain experience on the inference of their patients' suffering. Method: Study subjects were sampled from 184 nurses who worked in general wards in one S university hospital located at Seoul. Nurses' pain experience consists of personal pain experience and professional pain experience. The Standard Measure of Inference of Suffering (Davitz & Davitz, 1981) was used for suffering inference measure, and patients' suffering which consists of physical pain and psychological distress. Result: Suffering inference scores of nurses without personal pain experience revealed a higher value than that of nurses with personal pain experience. But these differences were not statistically significant. The higher intense pain was experienced, the higher were suffering inference scores. This physical pain inference score was statistically significant(p=.044). Of the nurses who had personal pain experience, suffering inference scores of nurses with unrelieved pain experience revealed a higher value than that of nurses with relieved pain experience. Physical pain and psychological distress inference scores were statistically significant(p=.010, p=.006). Suffering inference scores of nurses without professional pain experience(internal medicine, general surgery, orthopedic surgery) revealed a higher value than that of nurses with professional pain experience. Professional pain experience of internal medical illness was statistically significant in psychological distress of internal medical illness(p=.044), and professional pain experience of orthopedic surgical illness was statistically significant in physical pain of orthopedic surgical illness(p=.027). Conclusion: Nurses who have experienced low pain intensity or good pain relief are inclined n to underestimate patient' pain. Although nurses who care for the same patient over a long time deal skillfully with that patient, nurses are inclined to underestimate that patients' pain. Nurses need to be aware of possible biases related to pain assessment as a result of pain experience.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.378-387
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• 2004

Purpose: The study was undertaken to examine the degree of nurse's suffering experience and to identify the influencing factors on nurses' suffering experience in Korea. Method: Data were collected using a questionnaire for 271 nurses working at 5 general hospitals in Daegu and Kyung-book province from Sep. 1, to Sep. 30, 2003. The questionnaire consists of 54 items, general characteristics(10) and nurse's suffering experience(44). All surveys were sorted and studied by frequency analysis, mean score, standard deviation, range, independent t-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient and Multiple regression. Result: The findings of this survey indicate 1) The degree of suffering experienced by nurses caring for terminal cancer patients was 2.96; 2) Demographic variables affecting the degree of nurses' suffering experience were age(F=5.62, p=.000), marital status(F=20.53, p=.000), religion(F=5.44, p=.020), career of clinical experience(F=6.96, p=.000), and feelings of end-life care(F=3.11, p=.016); 3) There were slight correlation between the subitem of nurse's suffering experience and general characteristics of subjects. For 'expanding self consciousness', age, career duration, and position; for 'forming empathy with family', age and career duration ; for 'spiritual sublimation', age, and career duration were affected variables. 4) As a result of the multiple regression analysis for predictable variables affecting nurses' suffering, it was found that 'career of clinical experience' was most significant(F=23.100, p=.000). The explanatory power of this regression formula was 17.6%. Conclusion: This study can provide the basic data useful towards improvement of nursing services for terminal cancer patients and the health of the nurse.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.45-59
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• 1998

Suffering is a human burden that may not be truly avoidable. In order to put that view in perspective we must examine suffering in a form as isolated from self-inflicted behavior as possible. The suffering of a child is one such example. The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of suffering in the teenager and is to analyze difference of suffering in children and adult. The subjects of this study were 6 childrens (12year-17year) including in-patients and out-patients of a general hospital who were diagnosed as having cancer. The data was collected from October 10, 1996 to April 15, 1997. Qualitative research methods of in-depth interview and participant observation were used for data collection. Data analysis progressed according to the fieldwork phases suggested by the Hybrid Model. According to the results of the study, the meaning of suffering in the teenager can be described as follows : Suffering is an inevitable experience of all human beings. When each child experiences pain and destroying child-adult relationship, suffering in which threaten one's personal integrity is perceived differently among each child depending on their personal inner factors, one's significant others, exterior circumstances and stimuli. Suffering brings severe and unendurable distress which accompany anguish, depression, anxiety and fear. This findings provide data for new insights of suffering. When caring for teenager who experience suffering, nurses need to consider the influence of suffering. Moreover, appropriate nursing interventions aimed at relieving suffering need to be developed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.243-253
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to develop Nurse's Suffering Experience Scale and to test the reliability and validity of the instrument. Method: The subjects used to verify the scale's reliability and validity were 220 nurses who were taking care of the end stage cancer patients, while working at university and general hospitals in Daegu and Kyungbuk province from April 20. to July 10, 2001. The data was analyzed by the SPSS/WIN 8.0 program. Results: A factor analysis was conducted, and items that had a factor loading more than .40, and an eigen value more than 1.0. were selected. The factor analysis classified a total of seven factors statistically, and it's communality was 44%. The explanation of factors based on the conceptual framework and item content are as follows: The first factor was expanding self consciousness, the second factor was forming empathy with family, the third factor was professional challenge, the fourth factor was change of values, the fifth factor was spiritual sublimation, the sixth factor was helplessness, and finally the seventh factor was rejection to death. Cronbach's coefficient to test reliability of the scale was .8665 for total of 44 items. The Scale for Nurse's Suffering Experience developed in the study was identified as a tool with a high degree of reliability and validity. Therefore this scale can be effectively utilized for the evaluation of the degree of nurse's suffering experience in clinical settings.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1055-1066
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• 2001

The Purpose of this study is to understand the meaning and the essence of suffering as viewpoint and to find the meaning and structure of the experience from encounters with patients in their terminal stages of illness. Method: A descriptive design based on the phenomenological approach model developed by Collaizzi was used. The period of data collection was from August to November of 2000. Data collection was conducted by open-ended and audio-taped interviews. The participants were nine female nurses who were willing to take part in this study. Results: Results of this study were classified into five main categories. The main category clusters were "difficulty in experiencing suffering," "professional challenges to expert nurses," "formation of empathic relationships," "expanding consciousness through suffering," and "alleviation of the patient's suffering." Conclusion: In conclusion, the implications for providing nursing care to end-stage patients in the throes of suffering is both rewarding and stressful. However, sharing these research results may help other nurses discover and experience deeper meanings in their own practice and careers.deeper meanings in their own practice and careers.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.290-303
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• 1996

There is a need to define the concept of suffering more appropriate in the context of Korean culture. This research is an attempt to analyze and develop the concept of suffering by applying the Hybrid Model suggested by Schwartz-Barcott and Kim. The data were collected from March 20, 1995 to September 17,1995. The subjects of the study were eight persons including in-patients and out-patients of a general hospital who were diagnosed as having cancer and those resting in sanatoria for natural treatment of cancer. Qualitative research methods of in-depth interview and participant observation were used for data collection. The contents of the interviews were recorded on tape. Data-analysis progressed according to the 3 phases suggested by the Hybrid Model. For each case, in-depth interview data and participant observation data were included and the attributes of suffering revealed in these data were analyzed. Finally, by summarizing the results from each case, the attributes of suffering, its dimensions, definition, and processes observed in the field were suggested. According to the results of the study, the followlng new definition of suffering is suggested : Suffering is a fundamental and inevitable experience of all human beings. When each individual experiences loss, damage, and pain which threaten one's personal integrity, suffering is perceived differently among each individual depending on their personal inner factors, one's significant others, exterior circumstances and stimuli, and the ultimate meaning of life. Suffering brings severe and unendurable distress which accompany despair, powerlessness, anxiety, bitterness, fear, anguish, guilt, depression, withdrawal and anger. The results of this study suggest that the more responsibility and burden a cancer patient felt, the more suffering she/he experienced and it tended to be more relevant to one's significant others and exterior circumstances and stimuli : the less responsibility and burden a cancer patient had, the less suffering she/he experienced and it tended to be related to one's inner factors. These findings have implications for nursing profession. When caring for patients who experience suffering, nurses need to consider the influence of responsibility, burden, and each dimension of suffering. Moreover, appropriate nursing interventions aimed at relieving pain and satisfying the spiritual need of patients experiencing loss need to be developed and implemented more widely.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.353-359
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of suffering experience, self-forgiveness and emotional expression of loss on nurses' attitude toward dignified death. Methods: The subjects in this study were 140 nurses, had been working over 6 months in a general hospital. Data were collected from July 1 to August 31 2016, by using self-reported questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS 19.0 programs. Results: The significant predictors that affected nurses' attitude toward dignified death were experience of suffering, emotional expression of loss, religion and educational level. The explained variance for nurses' attitude toward dignified death was 63.9% and the most significant factor was emotional expression of loss. Conclusion: These results suggest that attitude toward dignified death of nurses can be changed positively by communicating emotional expression of loss and their suffering experience.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.121-130
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• 2001

Although the general concept of suffering care includes palliative care technology for terminally ill person to alleviate his pain, it is much more holistic including emotional, spiritual and other life dimension. This inclusive concept of caring can be possible with the fundamental reflection on the human suffering. Far from the concept of pain understood in the context of materialist medical approach, human suffering has many dimensions including aesthetic, psychological, and religious: its meaning is holistic. With this perspective, the experience of the suffering client must be reconsidered before one starts with an objective side or a subjective side of suffering. Indeed, the actual strategies of suffering care can be different depending on the definition of human suffering accepted by practicians. In this caring perspective, the body, mind and spirit are integrated so the objectivity and subjectivity can merge; the extended awareness with inner resource or energy, and the positive thinking about the God is meaningful especially for dying person, his family members and the caring team. Despite this impending importance of the inclusive understanding of human suffering, the actual nursing practice still does not reflect this growing understanding of human suffering. This approach, which tried to pursuit the more fundamental meaning of human suffering, can contribute to the development of nursing education and practice which pay attention to the more inclusive view of human suffering.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.110-120
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of patients with heart transplantation in Korea. Methods: Individual indepth interviews and a focus group interview were used to collect the data from nine patients who had heart transplantations in 2015. All interviews were audio-taped and verbatim transcripts were made for the analysis. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Results: Among the nine participants, eight were men. Mean age was 57.30 years. Six theme clusters emerged from the analysis. 'Joy of rebirth obtained by good luck' describes the pleasure and expectation of new life after narrow survival. 'Suffering from adverse drug effects' illustrates various psychosocial difficulties, such as low self-esteem, helplessness, alienation, and burnout, arising from the side effects of medications. 'Body and mind of being bewildered' illustrates disintegrated health and haunting fear of death. 'Alienation disconnected with society' describes isolated feeling of existence due to misunderstandings from society. 'Suffering overcome with gratitude and responsibility' includes overcoming experience through various social supports and suitable jobs. Finally, 'acceptance of suffering accompanied with new heart' illustrate changed perspective of life itself. Conclusion: The findings in this study provide deep understanding and insights of the lived experience of heart related illness for these patients and should help in the development of tailored-interventions for patients with heart transplantation.

• The Korean Nurse
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.39-48
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• 1997

There is a need to define the concept of suffering more appropriate in the context of Korean culture. This research is an attempt to reanalyze the concept of suffering by applying Walker & Avant's process of concept analysis. The steps of concept analysis are : 1. Select a concept. 2. Determine the aims or purpose of the analysis. 3. Identify all uses of the concept that you can discover. 4. Determine the defining attributes. 5. Construct model, contrary, borderline, related and invented cases. 6. Identify antecedents and consequences. 7. Define empirical referents. The concept of suffering can be defined as follows: Suffering is a fundamental and inevitable experience of all human beings. When each individual experiences loss, damage and pain which threaten one's personal integrity, suffering is perceived differently among each individual depending on their personal inner factors, one's significant others, exterior circumstances and stimuli, and the ultimate meaning of life. Suffering brings severe and unendurable distress which accompany despair, powerlessness, anxiety, bitterness, fear, anguish, guilt, depression, withdrawal and anger. The attributes of suffering were analyzed. Model case, contrary case, borderline case, related case, and invented case were described. Antecedents, consequences and empirical referents were explored. This concept analysis provides data for new insights of suffering. These findings suggests that appropriate nursing interventions aimed at relieving suffering of patients need to be developed and implemented more widely.