• Title/Summary/Keyword: nursing ethics

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A Survey on the Ethical Issues and Needs for Ethics Education of Nurses in Long-term Care Hospitals (요양병원 간호사의 윤리적 이슈와 윤리교육 요구조사)

  • Shin, Ja-Hyun;Seo, Myoung-Hee
    • The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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    • v.18 no.6
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    • pp.180-192
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    • 2018
  • Purpose: This study is aimed to identify the ethical issues and needs for ethical education of nurses in long-term care hospitals. Methods: Data were collected in 2015. Participants were 142 nurses working in nine long-term care hospitals. The Ethical Issues in Clinical Practice Tool was used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS WIN 24.0. Results: The degree of experienced ethical issues was 1.23 out of 3, and 'Providing care with a possible risk to your health' was an ethical problem most frequently experienced in nurses. In addition, the ethical problem that the nurse most disturb was identified by 'Determining when death occurs'. The degree of needs for ethical education was 3.11 out of 4, and the highest ethical topic was 'Legal/ethical issues in the use of restraints'. Ethical issues and needs for ethical education were not statistically significant differences according to the characteristic of participants. Conclusion: In this study, we identified the ethical problems and necessity of ethics education experienced by nurses working in long-term care hospitals. The results of this study can be used as basic data for the development of customized ethical education contents for nurses in long-term care hospitals.

Hospice Medicine and Nursing Ethics (호스피스의료와 간호윤리)

  • Moon, Seong-Jea
    • The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.385-411
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    • 2008
  • The goal of medicine is to contribute to promoting national health by preventing diseases and providing treatment. The scope of modern medicine isn't merely confined to disease testing, treatment and prevention in accordance to that, and making experiments by using the human body is widespread. The advance in modern medicine has made a great contribution to valuing human dignity and actualizing a manly life, but there is a problem that has still nagged modern medicine: treatment and healing for terminal patients including cancer patients. In advanced countries, pain care and hospice medicine are already universal. Offering a helping hand for terminal patients to lead a less painful and more manly life from diverse angles instead of merely focusing on treatment is called the very hospice medicine. That is a comprehensive package of medical services to take care of death-facing terminal patients and their families with affection. That is providing physical, mental and social support for the patients to pass away in peace after living a dignified and decent life, and that is comforting their bereaved families. The National Hospice Organization of the United States provides terminal patients and their families with sustained hospital care and home care in a move to lend assistance to them. In our country, however, tertiary medical institutions simply provide medical care for terminal patients to extend their lives, and there are few institutional efforts to help them. Hospice medicine is offered mostly in our country by non- professionals including doctors, nurses, social workers, pastors or physical therapists. Terminal patients' needs cannot be satisfied in the same manner as those of other patients, and it's needed to take a different approach to their treatment as well. Nevertheless, the focus of medical care is still placed on treatment only, which should be taken seriously. Ministry for Health, Welfare & Family Affairs and Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service held a public hearing on May 21, 2008, on the cost of hospice care, quality control and demonstration project to gather extensive opinions from the academic community, experts and consumer groups to draw up plans about manpower supply, facilities and demonstration project, but the institutions are not going to work on hospice education, securement of facilities and relevant legislation. In 2002, Ministry for Health, Welfare & Family Affairs made an official announcement to introduce a hospice nurse system to nurture nurse specialists in this area. That ministry legislated for the qualifications of advanced nurse practitioner and a hospice nurse system(Article 24 and 2 in Enforcement Regulations for the Medical Law), but few specific plans are under way to carry out the regulations. It's well known that the medical law defines a nurse as a professional health care worker, and there is a move to draw a line between the responsibilities of doctors and those of nurses in association with medical errors. Specifically, the roles of professional hospice are increasingly expected to be accentuated in conjunction with treatment for terminal patients, and it seems that delving into possible problems with the job performance of nurses and coming up with workable countermeasures are what scholars of conscience should do in an effort to contribute to the development of medicine and the realization of a dignified and manly life.

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Study on Factors Associated with the Rise in Grade of Nursing Management Fee among Korean Hospitals (병원급 이상 의료기관의 간호등급 상승 요인 분석)

  • Choi, Hyun-Min;Han, Nam-Kyung;Lee, Sang-Kyu;Kim, Han-Sung;Choi, Sungkyoung;Chung, Woojin
    • Health Policy and Management
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.40-52
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    • 2015
  • Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the increase in Grade of Nursing Management Fee of medical institutions and establish a reasonable government policy by examining which factors affect the increase of nurse staffing. Methods: Analyzing data collected from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service resource management department with targets of 1,104 medical institutions. The study period was 5 years from June 30, 2008 to June 30, 2013. SAS ver. 9.2 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA) was used for statistical analysis. The data was analyzed by a chi-square test and also conducted muiltivariate logistic regression analyses for variables of basic characteristics, human resource characteristics, and material resources. Results: Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of the rise in Grade of Nursing Management Fee among other hospitals compared to hospitals owned by government or universities was 0.264. The AOR in hospitals established after November 2006 compared to those before June 1995 was 2.383. The AOR in Gangwon, Chungcheng South, and Jeolla South Provinces compared to Seoul was 0.084, 0.036, and 0.194, respectively. The AOR in hospitals with more than 6.75 specialists per 100 beds compared to those with less than 6.75 specialists per 100 beds was 7.514. The AOR in hospitals with more than 17.48 nurse per 100 beds compared to those with less than 17.48 nurse per 100 beds was 3.300. The AOR in hospitals with 50% to 75% bed utilization, 75% to 90% bed utilization and more than 90% bed utilization compared to those with less than 50% bed utilization was 5.428, 9.884, and 10.699, respectively. The AOR in hospitals with one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and more than two MRI compared to those with no MRI was 2.018 and 2.942, respectively. Conclusion: This result has showed policies to induce the rise in Grade of Nursing Management Fee among old hospitals and the incentive system for local medical institutions are needed. Also we need to develop a governmental policy for medium-small hospitals with low operation rate of beds and insufficient medical personnel and number of equipment in hospitals.

A Study of Moral Judgment and Ethical Decision Making and Ethical Dilemmas Experienced in Practice by Nursing Students (간호대학생의 도덕판단력과 윤리적 의사결정 및 실습에서 경험한 윤리적 딜레마)

  • Noh, Yoon Goo;Jung, Myun Sook
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.14 no.6
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    • pp.2915-2925
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    • 2013
  • This study examined the moral judgments and ethical decision-making and analyzed ethical dilemmas experienced in practice by nursing students. The data were collected using self-reported questionnaires and reports from 189 college students in their 2nd ~ 4th grades. Data collection period was from Nov 6th - 20th in 2012. Each grade's P(%) scores were 47.92, 43.74, and 43.75 respectively.. For stage 4 score, each grade's scores were 22.37, 22.98, and 19.74. This result shows that, compared to juniors, senior student's P(%) scores did not drop and stage 4 scores rather decreased, which is in line with the results of previous studies about the effects of ethics education. This finding could be attributed to the regular and voluntary case presentations and discussions required for the senior participants. Regarding ethical decision-making type, the most favored was type 3(35.45%). Among seven categories of the ethical dilemmas facing the students, the most commonly reported was the patient's rights and dignity, followed by practices based on nursing standards, arranging for dying patients. This study raises the need that the curriculum is revised to encourage student's participation in the analysis of ethical issues they confront in the field.

A Statistical Study on the Key Words in the Titles of Nursing Related Theses (학위논문의 주요어 분석 (간호학 및 간호학관련 학위논문을 중심으로 : 1960-1991. 8))

  • 고옥자;김상혜;김희걸;이금재;이영숙
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.58-69
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    • 1994
  • In order to see the development of Nursing related research activities in Korea over the last three decades, abstracts of almost all of the Master and Ph.D theses that appeared from 1961 up to August 1991 were collected. The number of theses was 2354, from which an index of key words has been constructed. Key words were defined as those terms in each thesis title that convey major objectives of the given thesis study and the important nursing concepts dealt with in the thesis. Although all the key words were picked from the thesis title only, full use was made of the abstracts in deciding the principal objectives and essential contents of the thesis studies and their important concepts as well. In total, 539 kinds of key words were identified from the 2354 titles, and the identified words were all found to be in the International Nursing Index. On an average each title has two key words. Which key words were most frequently used, how they have changed with time, what kind of concept is preferably dealt with by each graduate school, and the concepts to which a given key word is likely to be connected were examined. The results are summerized below : 1) For each decade the theses numbers were as follows : 54(2.3%) from the 60’s, 413(17.5%) from the 70’s, 1523(64.7%) from the 80’s, and 364(15.5%) from the 90’s. Master’s thesis contributed 96% (2252) of the papers and Ph. D’s theses filled the remaining 4%(102). 2) A total of 539 key words were used, averaging about 2 for each thesis. The most frequently used key words were ‘Nurse’, ‘Anxiety’, ‘Knowledge / Attitude /Practice’, ‘Stress /Stressor’, ‘Attitude’, ‘Job-Satisfaction’, ‘Mental Disorder’, ‘Operation’, ‘Elderly’, ‘Nursing Role’. 3) Each decades key words can be classified as : the 60’s : ‘Nursing Education’, ‘Pulmonary Tuberculosis’, ‘Mother-Child Health’, ‘Growth & Development’, ‘Public Facilities’, ‘Mental Disorder’ : the 70’s : ‘Nurse’, ‘Family Planning’, ‘Attitude’ / ‘Knowledge, Attitude / Practice’, ‘Curriculum in Nursing Education’, ‘Clinical Practice in Nursing’, ‘Analysis of the Work of the Nurse’, ‘Health Education of School’, : the 80’s : ‘Nurse’, ‘Anxiety’, ‘Stress /Stressor’, ‘Operation’, ‘Nursing Role’, ‘Job Satisfaction’ : the 90’s : ‘Nurse’, ‘Elderly’, ‘Family-Support’, ‘Stress /Stressor’, ‘Home Care’. Key word ‘Nurse’ appears continuously and most frequently through the years, which indicates that there has been active study of the characteristics of nurses and related fields. The concept ‘Anxiety’ has been studied steadly from the 80’s and it shows that interest in health and disease are increasing Which comes as a result of society changing to an industrial and informational community. 4) Looking into each graduate school’s study area key words ‘Anxiety’, ‘Nurse’, ‘Mental Disorder’, ‘Stress /Stressor’, ‘Operation’, ‘Attitude’, ‘Hemo-dialysis’, were studied in the regular graduate school : ‘Family Planning /Contraception’, ‘Knowledge / Attitude /Practice’, ‘Physical Health-State /Physical Health Examination’, ‘Nurse’, ‘Using Clinical Facilities’, ‘Health Education of School’, were studied in the Graduate School of Public Health’ ; ‘Nurse’, ‘Anxiety’, ‘Stress / Stressor’, ‘Job-Satisfaction’, ‘Clinical Practice Education’, ‘Nursing Education’, were studied in the Graduate School of Education : ‘Nurse’, ‘Job Satisfaction’, ‘Nursing Role’, ‘Administration - Employment /Employment Management’, ‘Leadership’, ‘Personnel Profile’, ‘Nursing Manpower / Changing Working Place’, were studied in the Graduate School of Public Administration. 5) The Connection between key words were : ‘Nurse Job Satisfaction’, ‘Stress / Stressor ⇔ Coping / Ajustment’, ‘Nurse ⇔ Nursing Role’, ‘Anxiety ⇔ Giving Information’, ‘Nurse ⇔ Stress / Stressor’, ‘Anxiety ⇔ Operation’, ‘Nurse ⇔ Burnout’, ‘Knowledge, Attitude, Practice ⇔ Family Planning’, ‘Nurse Administration ⇔ Employment’, ‘Anxiety Muscle ⇔ Relaxation Technic’, ‘Anxiety ⇔ Mental Disorder’. From the above it can be noted that many nursing concepts were handled in the thesis titles. But there were more than enough papers on the characteristics of the nurse. It is suggested that in depth research be made on ‘Nursing Accidents’, t-‘Ethics’, ‘Nurse - Patient Interactions’, ‘Spritual Care’, ‘Dying’, ‘Hospice’, ‘Resident Helper’ and that there should be in depth research relating to the physical and mental development of youth and in particular physical concepts like ‘Drug - Abuse’, ‘Child -Abuse and Teaching’.

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A Study of the Ethical Values of EMT students (응급구조과 학생의 윤리적 가치관에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Mi-Seon
    • The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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    • v.5 no.1
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    • pp.37-51
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    • 2001
  • This study is aimed at examining the ethical values of EMT students. The results below are based on the revised questionnaires, which can be applicable to EMT from the original questionnaires developed by Lee(1990), with a sample of 124 students consisting of 63 first and 61 second year students, conducted November 2-8, 2001. Data were analyzed using SPSS in terms of means, standard deviations, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient. The results are as follows: 1. In the area of Human life, all subjects showed utilitarian disposition. All respondents perceived the item "When patients recognizing there is no hope for survival ask for euthanasia, it is ethically right to accommodate their opinions." as the most utilitarian item, whereas they perceived the item "When an hopeless patient is on cardiac arrest, it is ethically right to do CPR as the most deontoogical item. 2. In the area of patient relationship, all students of two groups took on deontoogical characteristics, but there were no statistically significant differences between two groups. All students perceived an item "EMT have to keep it secret if patients disclose their suicide intentions and ask for absolute secrecy" the most utilitarian item, whereas they perceived an item "Even though patients act and speak in a very rude manner, EMT people should do their best to provide care for patients." as the most deontoogical item. 3. In the area of task relationship, first year students perceived an item "Given time limitations, it is ethically right to give priority to the patients who can be rehabilitated over the patients who can't be fully recovered." as the most utilitarian item, whereas second year students perceived an item "Under no circumstances should any placebo be administered to patients." as the most utilitarian item. All students perceived an item "When EMT students see an unconscious person lying in the street, they have to give him/her emergency treatment." as the most deontoogical item. 4. In the area of coworker relationship, all students of two groups took on deontoogical disposition, but there were no significant differences between two groups. All students of two groups perceived an item "Suppose you are regarded as the person who would be promoted. However, you think that your coworker is more competent than you. In that case you should tell your supervisor about your coworker." as the most utilitarian item. First year students perceived an item, whereas second year students perceived an item "When you observe coworkers' misconduct at work, it is ethically right to ignore their misdeeds." as the most deontoogical item. 5. This study demonstrated that for the first year students, there is a correlational relationship between areas of human life and task relationship, and between areas of task relationship and coworker relationship, whereas for the second year students, there is a correlational relationship between areas of human life and task relationship. 6. In areas of human life and task relationship, there are significant differences according to attitudes toward EMT and attendance at ethics training sessions. In the area of coworker relationship, there are significant differences according to religion, attendance at ethics training sessions, and a code of ethics. Recommendations for future research, 1. Sample items to measure ethical values and the instrument tailored to the needs of EMT should be developed. 2. A longitudinal study to track ethical value changes according to the amount of work experience is needed. 3. A code of ethics and/or ethics training, which could apply in actual situations, should be implemented.

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Woman College Students' Perception of Their Parent's Child-rearing Attitudes (여대생이 지각한 부모의 양육태도)

  • Kim Young-Hee;Kim Shin-Jeong
    • Child Health Nursing Research
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.309-322
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    • 2003
  • Purpose: This study was carried out to show the parental child-rearing attitudes perceived by daughters(woman college students), who were in the process of pursuit of resonable values, ethics and preparing for marriage and settling down, and another purposes were to help them to have positive attitudes toward their child-rearing in the future and set up preliminary parenting education program. Method: The subjects were 120 woman college students who were freshmen to junior in one university in Seoul. Using the self-report questionnaire, data were collected from December in 1999 to March in 2000. The contents which subjects wrote down were categorized by content analysis method. Result: 1) The age range of subjects were 19-25 years old and main rearer was mother(85.84%). 2) The perception of parent's child-rearing by subjects were revealed 555 statements and then tied together 50 themes: 'emphasizing on studying hard'(8.3%), 'doing by oneself'(5.6%), 'sternness'(5.2%), 'respect of personality'(4.5%), 'eagerness'(4.0%), 'humanity education'(4.0%), 'moderating in daily living'(4.0%), 'propriety education'(3.8%), 'sacrificing for children'(3.6%), 'expectation'(3.2%), 'concerning'(3.1%), 'parent-centered'(3.1%), 'giving a free hand'(2.9%), 'sharing with'(2.9%), 'consideration'(2.7%), 'over-protectiveness'(2.3%), 'hostile attitude' (2.2%), 'corporal punishment'(2.2%), 'expression of parental love'(2.0%), 'encouragement'(1.8%), 'family-centered' (1.8%), 'treating fairly'(1.6%), 'offering live experiences'(1.6%), 'exacting obedience'(1.62%), 'exemplary parental role' (1.6%), 'sexual discrimination'(1.6%), 'cooperation'(1.4%), 'giving favors'(1.4%), 'indifference'(1.4%), 'understanding' (1.3%), 'confidence'(1.3%), 'intimacy'(1.3%), 'pursuit of health'(1.3%), 'warm-hearted'(1.1%), 'stinginess'(1.1%),'broad-mindedness'(0.7%), 'granting'(0.7%), 'interfering'(0.7%), 'reproach'(0.7%), 'distinction of sex in household affairs'(0.7%), 'help'(0.5%), 'preparing for the future'(0.5%), 'disregarding'(0.5%), 'making environment'(0.4%), 'bringing up a child personally' (0.4%), 'comparing'(0.4%), 'religious life'(0.4%), 'good deed'(0.4%), invasion of privacy' (0.2%), 'controlling desire'(0.2%). 3) 50 themes were categorized by 18 categories once more: 'control' (13.2%), 'crazy for education'(12.3%), 'endeavoring'(8.6%), 'autonomy'(8.5%), 'home education'(7.7%), 'esteem' (6.67%), 'support'(6.67%), 'pursuit of healthy daily life'(5.6%), 'earnestness'(5.4%), 'disregarding personality'(5.4%), 'emotional bonding'(3.2%), 'imposing a burden'(3.2%). 'inhospitality'(3.1%), 'acceptance'(5%), 'discrimination'(2.3%), 'mature parenthood'(1.8%), 'strengthening family tie'(1.8%), 'psychological intimacy'(1.1%). 4) On the basis of this study, 3/5 of subjects(61.2%) perceived their parents had mature and autonomous child-rearing attitudes, and on the other hand 2/5(39.5%) of them perceived controlling, just forcing to work harder and personally disregarding attitudes. Conclusion: So we need to offer them nursing implementation such as preliminary parenting education program and parenting consulting like to strengthen positive perception and help improving in realistic, developmental child-rearing attitudes.

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Characteristics Related to Elderly Persons' Willingness to Live in a Nursing Home with Mobility Problems (우리나라 노인의 거동 불편 시 노인요양시설 거주의향 관련 특성: 전기 노인과 후기 노인의 비교)

  • Dahye Hong;Sohee Park;Heejin Kimm;Leeseul Kwon;Woojin Chung
    • Health Policy and Management
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.141-156
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    • 2023
  • Background: As the population rapidly ages, older adults are increasingly likely to experience mobility problems. This study aims to explore the characteristics related to an elderly person's willingness to live in a nursing home if they have mobility problems Methods: This study analyzed data from 9,917 older adults (5,976 young-old and 3,941 old-old) obtained from the 2020 National Survey of Older Koreans. The dependent variable was the intended place of residence for older adults with mobility problems. Independent variables included various characteristics: (1) sociodemographic and social support, (2) health and functional status, and (3) residential environment. Rao-Scott chi-square tests and survey logistic regression analyses were performed for the young-old and old-old, respectively. Results: The intention to live in a nursing home was significantly different between the young-old (30.4%) and the old-old (34.7%) (p=0.009). According to fully adjusted multivariable analyses, for the young-old, the odds ratio of intending to live in a nursing home was significantly higher in social security benefit recipients (1.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-1.97) compared to other individuals. The odds ratio was higher in unmarried (divorced, separated, widowed, or never-married) individuals for both young-old (1.41; 95% CI, 1.22-1.63) and old-old (1.34; 95% CI, 1.09-1.65) age groups, compared to their respective married counterparts. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that in an aging society, health and social policies should be designed considering the different characteristics of the elderly to improve their health, function, and quality of life.

Ethnosientific Approach of Health Practice in Korea (한국인의 건강관행에 대한 민속과학적 접근)

  • 김귀분;최연희
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.396-417
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    • 1991
  • In order that nursing care an essential quality of nursing practice be acceptable and satisfying, it is necessary that client's culture be respected and that nursing practice be appropriate to that culture. Since cultural elements are an important influence on health practices and life patterns related to medical treatment, recovery from and prevention of disease, nurses need to have an understanding and knowledge of social and cultural phenomena to aid in the planning of nursing interventions. To understand the health practices surrounding health and illness, the health beliefs and practices of both folk and professional healing systems should be ascertained. Cultural data are required to provide care of high quality to clients and to reduce possible conflict between the client and the nurse. It is nursing's goal to provide clients from various cultures with quality nursing care which is satisfying and valuable. The problem addressed by this study was to identify Korean health practices which would contribute to the planning of professional caring practice with the culture : ultimately this study was intended to make a contribution to the development of the science of nursing. The concrete objectives of this study were ; 1) to identify Korean health practices, 2) to interpret the identitial health practices through traditional cultural thought, and 3) to compare the Korean health practices with those of other cultures. The investigator used the ethnosceintific approach outlined by spradly in a qualitative study. To discover ancestral wisdom and knowledge related to traditional health practeces, the subjects of this study were selected from residents of a small rural mountain village in south west Korea, a place considered to be maintaining and transmitting the traditional culture in a relatively well -preserved state because of being isolated from the modern world. The number of subjects was 18, aged 71 to 89. Research data were collected from January 8 to March 31, 1990. Five categories of health practices were identified : “Manage one's own mind”, “Moderation in all thing”, “Live in accord with nature”, “Live in mutuality with others”, and “Live to the best of one's ability”. Values derived from these ways of thinking from Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism help fashion a traditional way of life, examplified by the saying “Benifience to all”. Korean thought and philosophy is influenced primerily by Confucianism, Confucian principles of ethics, embedded deeply in the peoples' minds, form the idea that “heaven and human being are intimately united” based on concept that “heaven is, so to speak, reason”. Twoe Gae's theory of existential subjectivity develops the concept of self which is the basis of the spirit of reverence in modern Confucian philosophy. The human md is granted from heaven out of the idea of matter, and what control the mind is the spirit of reverence. Hence the idea of “The primacy of the mind" and provided that one should control one's own mind. The precepts of duty to parents, respect for elders and worship of ancestors, and moderation in all behavior put a restraint on life which directed that one live earnestly according to Nature's laws with their neighbors. Not only Confucianism, but also Buddism and Taoism have had an important effect upon these patterns of ideas. When compared with western culture, Korean health practices tend to be more inclusive, abstract and intuitive while westerner health practices found to be mere concrete, practical and personal. Values and beliefs based and pragmatism and existentialism infuence western civilization, Ethical values may be founded on utilitarianism, which considers what is good for the persons in their circumstances as the basis of conduct and takes a serious view of their practical lives including human aspirations rather than an absolute truth. These philosophical and ethical ideas are foundations for health practices related to active, practical and progressive attitudes. This study should be enable nursing not only to understand clients as reflections of the traditional culture when planning nursing practice, but to dovelop health education corresponding to cultural requiments for the purpose of protection against disease and improvement of health, and thus promote sound health practice. Eventually it is hoped that through these processes quality nursing care as the central idea of the science of nursing will be achieved.

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A study of the current ethical situation in organ transplantations in Korea (한국의 장기이식과 관련된 윤리적 고려사항의 분석)

  • 한성숙;황경식;맹광호;이동익;엄영란
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.28 no.1
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    • pp.26-36
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    • 1998
  • This primary study was done to develop an ethical guideline for organ transplantation, a life-saving treatment which helps improve the quality of life. This study tried to identify the current situation in Korea, in terms of ethical considerations in organ transplantations. This study collected basic data in organ transplantations, in the hope that procedure of organ transplantations could be developed that would be fair to both organ donors and recipients. The immediate goals of this study were : 1)to identify staff in charge of organ transplantations and their jobs in the hospital, 2)to survey whether there exists a Hospital Ethics Committee(HEC), 3)to research what consideration are formally taken in selecting recipients, and 4)to accumulate data on how consent from donors are currently obtained. The study used a survey questionnaire and received responses from 31 hospitals out of 45 hospitals where organ transplantation are being done. Organ transplantation coordinators were found in 16 hospitals, but the job description varied among hospitals. The survey showed that all 16 hospitals with an HEC that health care personnel unnecessarily dominate the committee. The study notes that HECs should be vitalized by recruiting, as members, ethicists, theologians, patients, guardians, as well as the general public outside of the hospital. The study revealed that in selecting recipients the hospital take into account ABO blood type, histocompatibility, age, waiting time. and level of patient compliance. Finally, it was shown that in the cases of living donors the transplanting hospitals seek a formal consent, whereas there are no common consenting practice established for cadaveric donors. The study concludes with three proposals. First, a nationwide institution responsible exclusively for procurement and distribution of cadaveric organs for transplantation should be established. Second. we should rebuild the national health insurance system so that have costly organ transplantation expenses are substantially covered. Last, but certainly not least. there is a need to emphasize the HEC's committment to prepare a proper ethical guideline for organ transplantation in general.

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