The purpose of this study was to construct and test a hypothetical model of clinical decision-making ability of nurses based on the Decision Making Process model and the Cognitive Continuum theory.

The data were collected from nurses working at 11 hospitals in Busan, Daejeon, and South Gyeongsang Province from June 30 to August 1, 2017. Finally, the data from 323 nurses were analyzed.

The goodness-of-fit of the final model was at a good level (χ ²/df=2.46, GFI=.87, AGFI=.84, IFI=.90, CFI=.90, SRMR=.07, RMSEA=.07) and 6 out of 10 paths of the model were supported. The clinical decision-making ability was both directly and indirectly affected by task complexity and indirectly affected by experiences, autonomy, and work environment. Specifically, it was strongly directly affected by analytical competency but was insignificantly affected by intuitive competency. These variables accounted for 66.0% of clinical decision-making ability.

The nurses’ clinical decision-making ability can be improved by improving their analytical competency. Therefore, it is necessary to organize nursing work, create a supportive work environment, and develop and implement various education programs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate RN-BSN students' clinical nursing competency in order to establish baseline data for developing nursing competency based clinical education for RN-BSN students.

A survey of 1,453 RN-BSN students from 21 nursing schools was conducted using a self administered questionnaire.

The mean score of the clinical nursing competency was 2.93. The scores for competency were shown as 2.91 for nursing management, 2.94 for developing professionalism & legal implementation, 2.95 for critical thinking, 2.96 for teaching & leadership, and data collection, basic nursing care, and communication were above 3.00. The items perceived as insufficient competency were physical examination and observation & monitoring in data collection, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, psycho-social care, spiritual care, hospice in basic nursing care, application of knowledge and theory, formulating nursing diagnosis, nursing care planning in critical thinking, education material development, leadership, delegation in teaching and leadership, analysis of organization, planning, infection control, role & job description, evaluation of nursing activities in nursing management, quality improvement, and research in developing professionalism and legal implementation.

This study will contribute to developing a nursing competency based on clinical education for RN-BSN students who have various education needs and clinical backgrounds.

The purpose of this study was to set up a Nursing Core Competencies required for staff nurses and to set up Objectives for Nursing Clinical Education based on the Nursing Core Competencies. The objectives in this study are to be achieved ultimately through clinical practice because it is a common avenue of work and the basic objective regardless of the education system and curriculum.

A nursing Core Competencies were established by literature review and verified by 15 experts. Nursing Clinical Education Objectives were established by literature review and analysis, and a survey for validity using a five point Likert scale was given to 257 nursing professors, 503 head-nurses, 509 staff nurses who had less than 3 years clinical experience in 34 general hospitals and 738 senior student nurses from 81 nursing colleges.

Nine nursing core competencies were set up. In addition 39 Objectives for each of the nursing clinical core competencies were set up.

In conclusion, this study will contribute to professional nursing education to provide comprehensive nursing care by applying knowledge to nursing practice to achieve the Nursing Core Competency as a professional nurse.

Nursing has evolved as a unique and independent field over the last decades. Unfortunately, many nurses in Korea express concern that they lack appropriate background knowledge in bioscience necessary to practice nursing competently. To determine the reasons of their concerns, we examined the perceptions of RNs regarding bioscience courses in their undergraduate (Baccalaureate and 3 year diploma program) and their perceived relations to the practice of nursing.

The structured questionnaires were sent to 3 university-affiliated tertiary hospitals in Seoul, Korea.

The responses given by the nurses in the two groups were similar. The nurses in this study reported that the bioscience courses they took as undergraduates had little relation to their professional tasks. This lack of link between bioscientific knowledge and nursing practice may be partly due to the fact that the courses are taught by non-nursing faculties who are not familiar with nursing tices. It also appears that bioscience knowledge deficit was most prominent during nursing assessment regardless of the program they attended or the unit they are currently working.

Bioscience courses should be integrated into the nursing curriculum properly and taught by nursing faculty who have a strong background in biological sciences.

This study was done to provide fundamental data for the development of competency reinforcement programs to prevent addictive behavior in adolescents through the construction and examination of an addiction prevention core competency model.

In this study core competencies for preventing addictive behavior in adolescents through competency modeling were identified, and the addiction prevention core competency model was developed. It was validated methodologically.

Competencies for preventing addictive behavior in adolescents as defined by the addiction prevention core competency model are as follows: positive self-worth, self-control skill, time management skill, reality perception skill, risk coping skill, and positive communication with parents and with peers or social group. After construction, concurrent cross validation of the addiction prevention core competency model showed that this model was appropriate.

The study results indicate that the addiction prevention core competency model for the prevention of addictive behavior in adolescents through competency modeling can be used as a foundation for an integral approach to enhance adolescent is used as an adjective and prevent addictive behavior. This approach can be a school-centered, cost-efficient strategy which not only reduces addictive behavior in adolescents, but also improves the quality of their resources.

This study was done to investigate the level of transcultural self-efficacy (TSE) and related factors and educational needs for cultural competence in nursing (CCN) of Korean hospital nurses.

A self-assessment instrument was used to measure TSE and educational needs for CCN. Questionnaires were completed by 285 nurses working in four Korean hospitals. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression were used to analyze the data.

Mean TSE score for all items was 4.54 and score for mean CCN educational needs, 5.77. Nurses with master's degrees or higher had significantly higher levels of TSE than nurses with bachelor's degrees. TSE positively correlated with English language proficiency, degrees of interest in multi-culture, degree of experience in caring for multi-cultural clients, and educational needs for CCN. The regression model explained 28% of TSE. Factors affecting TSE were degree of interest in multi-culture, degree of experience in caring for multi-cultural clients, and educational needs for CCN.

The results of the study indicate a need for nurse educators to support nurses to strengthen TSE and provide educational program for TSE to provide nurses with strategies for raising interests in cultural diversity and successful experiences of cultural congruent care.

A curriculum development model is presented to examine the processes necessary to develop new programs or evaluate existing programs within the philosophy of outcomes-based education in nursing, especially in the context of accreditation. The philosophy of outcomes-based education is to produce individuals who can demonstrate the evidence of competencies in designated areas of education. For nursing education, this means competencies in performing the role of professional nursing as defined by the profession and social needs at the beginning level upon completing a nursing program.

A curriculum development model has been developed analytically based on the literature and experiences.

A 10-step process framework incorporating the tenets of outcomes-based nursing education is illustrated.

This curriculum development framework can be applied in developing new educational programs in nursing or to evaluate and revise existing programs in anticipation of the accreditation process that is moving with a full force in such countries as Korea.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of simulation-based education regarding care in a cardio-pulmonary emergency care as related to knowledge, clinical performance ability, and problem solving process in new nurses.

An equivalent control group pre-post test experimental design was used. Fifty new nurses were recruited, 26 nurses for the experimental group and 24 nurses for the control group. The simulation-based cardio-pulmonary emergency care education included lecture, skill training, team-based practice, and debriefing, and it was implemented with the experimental group for a week in May, 2009. Data were analyzed using frequency, ratio, chi-square, Fisher's exact probability and t-test with the SPSS program.

The experimental group who had the simulation-based education showed significantly higher know-ledge (t=5.76, p<.001) and clinical performance ability (t=5.86, p<.001) for cardio-pulmonary emergency care compared with the control group who had traditional education but problem solving process was not included (t=1.11, p=.138).

The results indicate that a simulation-based education is an effective teaching method to improve knowledge and clinical performance ability in new nurses learning cardio-pulmonary emergency care. Further study is needed to identify the effect of a simulation-based team discussion on cognitive outcome of clinical nurses such as problem solving skills.

This study was done to identify fundamental data on competency reinforcement programs to prevent adolescent risk behavior by developing and examining a competency model.

In this study, competences on prevention of adolescent risk behavior were identified through competency modeling, and a competency model was developed and tested for validity.

Competences for prevention of adolescent risk behavior defined by the competency model included the following: self-control, positive mutual understanding between parents and adolescents, and positive connectedness with peer group. Validation of the competency model showed the model to be appropriate.

The competency model for prevention of adolescent risk behavior through competency modeling is expected to be the foundation of an integral approach to enhance competency in adolescents and prevent adolescent risk behavior. This kind of approach can be a school-centered, cost-efficient strategy, which not only reduces adolescent risk behavior but also improves quality of adolescent resources.

This study was done to identify participation by home healthcare nurses in clinical decision making and factors influencing clinical decision making.

A descriptive survey was used to collect data from 68 home healthcare nurses in 22 hospital-based home healthcare services in Korea. To investigate participation, the researcher developed 3 scenarios through interviews with 5 home healthcare nurses. A self-report questionnaire composed of tools for characteristics, factors of clinical decision making, and participation was used.

Participation was relatively high, but significantly lower in the design phase (F=3.51, p=.032). Competency in clinical decision making (r=.45, p<.001), perception of the decision maker role (r=.47, p<.001), and perception of the utility of clinical practice guidelines (r=.25, p=.043) were significantly correlated with participation. Competency in clinical decision making (Odds ratio [OR]=41.79, p=.007) and perception of the decision maker role (OR=15.09, p=.007) were significant factors predicting participation in clinical decision making by home healthcare nurses.

In order to encourage participation in clinical decision making, education programs should be provided to home healthcare nurses. Official clinical practice guidelines should be used to support home healthcare nurses' participation in clinical decision making in cases where they can identify and solve the patient health problems.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a core competency support program on depression and suicidal ideation in adolescents.

A quasi-experimental design was employed in this study. Participants for the study were high school students, 27 in the experimental group and 29 in the control group. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN. 14.0 program with χ² test, t-test, and ANCOVA.

Participants in the core competency support program reported decreased depression scores significantly different from those in the control group. Participants in the core competency support program reported decreased suicidal ideation scores, also significantly different from those in the control group.

The core competency support program was effective in decreasing depression and suicidal ideation for adolescents. Therefore, this approach is recommended as a suicide prevention strategy for adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to develop a multimedia learning program for patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) diet education using standardized patients and to examine the effects of the program on educational skills, communication skills, DM diet knowledge and learning satisfaction.

The study employed a randomized control posttest non-synchronized design. The participants were 108 third year nursing students (52 experimental group, 56 control group) at K university in Seoul, Korea. The experimental group had regular lectures and the multimedia learning program for DM diet education using standardized patients while the control group had regular lectures only. The DM educational skills were measured by trained research assistants.

The students who received the multimedia learning program scored higher for DM diet educational skills, communication skills and DM diet knowledge compared to the control group. Learning satisfaction of the experimental group was higher than the control group, but statistically insignificant.

Clinical competency was improved for students receiving the multimedia learning program for DM diet education using standardized patients, but there was no statistically significant effect on learning satisfaction. In the nursing education system there is a need to develop and apply more multimedia materials for education and to use standardized patients effectively.