• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.155-165
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• 2013

Koreans' traditional view on death has been much influenced by Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and shamanism since ancient times. Confucianism emphasizes the importance of the real life in this world and highly praises doing good deeds for the family and the community. It also praises people who are enlightened by education and self-discipline. Confucian scholars admit that death cannot be understood by rational thinking although it is unavoidable as a cosmic order. Taoism sees life as the same entity as death; Both are two different aspects of the same cosmos or the wholeness. However, the disciples of Taoism became much interested in a long life and well being that may be achieved by harmonizing with the cosmic order. Buddhism thinks that death and life are an "illusion". It says that people can be enlightened by recognizing the fact that "Nothing is born and nothing is dying in this world. Everything is the product of your mind occupied with false belief." However, secular Buddhists believe in the afterlife and metempsychosis of the soul. This belief is sometimes connected with the view of the traditional shamanism. Shamanism dichotomizes the world between "this world" and "that world". After death, the person's soul travels to "that world", where it may influence life of people who reside in "this world". And shamans who are spiritual beings living in "this world" mediate souls and living people. In conclusion, there are various views and beliefs regarding death, which are influenced by a number of religions and philosophies. They should be seriously considered when making a medical decision regarding the end of patients' life.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.390-397
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• 2012

Background: Few nurses are trained in palliative care for long-term care in Korea. The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)-Geriatric training program improves nurses' ability to promote palliative care for the elderly. Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate nurses' satisfaction and knowledge following the attendance at the ELNEC-Geriatric curriculum on nurses' knowledge of palliative care. Methods: Nine ELNEC-Geriatric modules were presented to 203 interdisciplinary professionals on July 1 and 3, 2010, in Seoul, South Korea. The Palliative care quiz for nursing (PCQN) was used to evaluate nurses' knowledge. Of all the participants, 128 nurses were completed the questionnaire. Of these nurses, 45.2% were staff nurses and 73.4% were hospital nurses. Results: Approximately eight nine percent of the nurses reported previous experience in caring for dying patients and attending various hospice palliative care training programs. Overall program satisfaction of the participants was 4.03 on a 5-point scale, and their mean of the total PCQN score was 12.75 out of 20 after participating in ELNEC-Geriatric course, which was a significant improvement (p=.022) from the pretest. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that ELNEC-Geriatric curriculum was successfully implemented and significantly contributed to increasing the nurses' knowledge for palliative care in long-term care in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.91-100
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• 2005

Purpose: This research used quantitative research to identify differences in death consciousness between pre and post education. The study was also designed to further understanding of the effects of nursing education by using a qualitative analysis to examine hospice education experience. Method: This study a one group pre-post test design. Results: 1 The mean score for the students' death consciousness before the hospice education averaged $2.15{\pm}\;.33$, a medium level for death Consciousness. The Score after education was $2.25{\pm}\;.36$, that is, there was higher score for death consciousness after education. 2. The result of classification, giving their names and categorizing the experience of being in a coffin shown to be self-reflection, regret, recognition to death, death as discontinuation of life, the last closing from everything, death as a sad and cruel event, death as another world, specialist intuition of nursing. Conclusion: This research provided an opportunity for nursing students to consider death earnestly and realistically through hospice nursing education. We also discovered affirmative changes in the students' viewpoint of death, students who in future clinical practice may work with elders. We also found increases in motives to develop ability to present effective aid to dying patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3113-3118
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• 2012

Introduction: Cancer is the second cause of death in Kuwaiti people after cardiovascular diseases. This study is the first in the country to describe epidemiological measures related to cancer in this population. Methods: Data obtained from the Kuwait cancer registry included all Kuwaiti patients between years 2000-2009. Analyses were conducted using age-specific rates, the age-standardization-direct method, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), cumulative risk by the age of 74 years, limited-duration prevalence, mortality and forecasting to year 2029. Results: It was noted that the commonest cancer sites were colorectal with an age standardized incidence rate (ASIR) of 16.1/100,000 in males and breast (49.4/100,000) in the female population. The trend of cancer incidence (1974-2009) showed no statistically significant change. First causes of death due to cancer were female breast 8(6.4-9.6)/100,000 and lung (males) 8.1/100,000 (6.6-10.0). The risk of developing cancer by the age of 74 was 13.4% (1/8) and 14.3% (1/7) in males and females respectively, and the risk of dying from cancer in the same age group was 1/17 and 1/23. By the end of 2009, prevalent cases represented 0.52% of the Kuwaiti population. In the year 2029, the total number of cancer cases is expected to reach 1200 cases compared to 889 cases in 2009. Conclusions and recommendations: The most common cancers in Kuwait (breast, colorectal and lung) are largely preventable. Prompt and effective interventional prevention programs that vigorously involve diet, anti-smoking and physical activity for both sexes are urgently required.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.283-291
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• 2016

Over the past decade, hospice and palliative care in Japan have progressed rapidly under the national policies supported by the Cancer Control Act. The numbers of palliative care units/inpatient hospices, hospital palliative care teams, and clinics with a home hospice function have been steadily increasing. The increasing numbers of physicians, nurses, and pharmacists have been certified as specialists in palliative care by national associations. Collaborative efforts have been made to standardize and disseminate educational programs and training opportunities in undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing medical education. Research activities in Japan have markedly contributed to the growing body of evidence, especially in the fields of terminal delirium, terminal dehydration, palliative sedation, care for dying patients, prognostication, communication, psycho-oncology, and regional palliative care programs. This review focuses on major palliative care settings, specialty, national associations, education, and research in palliative care in Japan.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine how nurses' death anxiety and terminal care stress affect their terminal care performance in the clinical setting. Methods: The study enrolled 180 registered nurses with experience of attending dying patients at a university hospital located in Seoul, Korea. Collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and Pearson's correlation using SPSS 18.0 for Windows. Results: Nurses showed significant differences in the level of death anxiety and terminal care stress as well as terminal care performance by working division, marital status, educational background and hospice training. A significant relationship was found between terminal care stress and terminal care performance. Conclusion: The study results showed that efforts to ease nurses' death anxiety and terminal care stress could improve their terminal care performance. Further study should be conducted to investigate other factors that affect nurses' terminal care performance from various perspectives and develop a terminal care manual which can be used as guidance for nurses in charge of terminal patient care.

• The Korean Nurse
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.98-106
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to investigate what effect providing the hospice care team with hospice education programs had on the death orientation. The subjects of study were 28 volunteers. 14 nurses. 30 clergies who registered on hospice education programs from Aug. 6th. 1996 to May 20th. 1997. The data were analysed by descriptive analysis. ANOVA. Duncan test. paired t-test. The results of the study can be summarized as follows ; 1. The degrees of death orientation were 85.70 in volunteers group. 84.31 in nurses group. and 73.00 in clergies group. So. clergies group has more positive death orientation than others(F=6.33. p=. 000). The degree of death orientation showed significant differences between age groups(F=5.78. p =.002). and religiosity(t=3.92. p=.000). There were no significant differences between the degree of death orientation and the others general characteristics of subjects. 2. The mean of death orientation was 80.04 before hospice education programs. but was 75.56 after hospice education programs(t= 3.92. p= .000). In conclusion. the subjects who received the hospice education programs showed the positive change in the degree of the death orientation. Therefore. it has been judged that education programs has been prerequisite in positive death orientation for hospice care. Furthermore. all of the hospice care members those who complete the hospice education program. will be performed efficient hospice care intervention for dying patients and their families.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.168-177
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitude toward death in Korean nursing students. Method: The sample consisted of 365 baccalaureate nursing students. The questionnaires included questions on sociodemographics and death-related characteristics of the participants, and the Fear of Death and Dying Scale (FODS) to measure the attitude toward death. Result: The mean of the FODS score was 2.63 out of 4, so the participants had a slightly negative attitude toward death. There were statistically significant differences between gender, religion, religion activity, perceived health status, experience of parents' death, experience of friend's death, and overall FODS score. Among the four subscales of overall FODS, the score of the fear of death of self was significantly higher in the participants who experienced clinical practice and who experienced patient's death in the intensive care unit compared to the emergency room. Conclusion: Based on the study results, educational programs to change the attitude toward death are required before clinical practice. Programs need to consider nursing students' gender and religion, and give opportunity to share experiences and feelings about death of family or friend. In addition, using standardized patients and simulators is advised in the need for simulation training.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.243-249
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the respect for life of nursing students and to prepare the basic data for developing educational programs to establish proper awareness of the life of nursing students and nurturing it. This is a descriptive research study. A total of 146 nursing students were included in this study. Data analysis was performed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. The results of this study confirmed the meaning of life, spiritual wellbeing, and attitude toward death as factors influencing respect and will for life. The explanatory power of these three factors was 26.3%. Therefore, nursing students will be able to cultivate respect for life by increasing their understanding of the meaning of life, improving their level of spiritual well-being, and reducing their negative attitudes about death. Also, in order to improve the respect for life of nursing students, it will be possible to develop an intervention program to improve life respect including the factors identified in this study. Ultimately, it is expected to grow into a nurse who can provide real help to patients who are at the end of life or who are dying.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.23
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• pp.7-32
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• 2011

In this article, we tried to introduce a little-known work of M.A. Bulgakov "Snowstorm" and provide some various clues for reading this short story. This study is focused on "snowstorm-plot", grasping the structure and the theme of the present work. To this end, in the Chapter II we tired to seek for the meanings of Bulgakov's "snowstorm" based on intertextuality shown from the works by those writers such as Pushkin, Gogol and Tolstoy. In this short story "snowstorm" is presented not only as a natural phenomenon but as a "participant" which provides young doctor-narrator with short time break and let him go to a dying bride, and at last place him on the crossroads of life and death. Indeed "snowstorm" plays a role of the framed structure of Bulgakov's text. In the Chapter III we observed the creative expression of Bulgakov's work which is comprised of overlappings with dream and reality. In other words, in the short story "Snowstorm" the outside and the inside story of frame are described as a dream of the one same night. We can guess that the Shermetievo story is a kind of dream of young doctor who fell asleep in Tuesday night, asking himself "how many patients will come tomorrow?". By the way the Shermetievo story unfolds as an incident which is happened on Wednesday. In this way in Bulgakov's "Snowstorm" it is hard to draw clear lines of demarcation between dream and reality. Therefore existential themes like these "Life and Death", "Professional calling and personal conscience", "The great nature and the week human being" are resonated with original structure "Dream in Dream".