The purposes of this study were to identify the relationships among perceived parental bonding, illness perception, and anxiety and to determine the influences of perceived parental bonding and illness perception on anxiety in adult patients with congenital heart diseases.

In this study a descriptive correlational design with survey method was utilized. The participants were 143 adult patients with congenital heart disease being cared for in the cardiology out-patient clinic of A medical center. Data were collected using the Parental Bonding Instrument, Illness Perception Questionnaire Revised Scale, and Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, and hierarchial regression analyses.

There showed significant positive relationships of anxiety with maternal overprotection, consequences, and personal control respectively. Among predictors, maternal overprotection (b=.45), consequence (b=.26), and personal control (b=-.03) had statistically significant influence on anxiety.

Nursing interventions to decrease maternal overprotection and negative consequence, and to enhance personal control are essential to decrease the anxiety of adult patients with congenital heart diseases.

Common conditions, such as dehydration or respiratory infection can aggravate hypoxia and are associated with interstage mortality in infants who have undergone palliative surgery for congenital heart diseases. This study was done to evaluate the efficacy of a home monitoring program (HMP) in decreasing infant mortality.

Since its inception in May 2010, all infants who have undergone palliative surgery have been enrolled in HMP. This study was a prospective observational study and infant outcomes during HMP were compared with those of previous comparison groups. Parents were trained to measure oxygen saturation, body weight and feeding volume and to contact the hospital through the hotline for emergency situations. Telephone counseling was conducted by clinical nurse specialists every week post discharge.

Forty-one infants were enrolled in HMP. Nine hundred telephone counseling sessions were conducted. Seventy-three infants required telephone triage with the most common conditions being gastrointestinal (50.7%) and respiratory symptoms (32.9%). With HMP intervention, interstage mortality decreased from 18.6% (8/43) to 9.8% (4/41) (χ²=1.15, p=.283).

Results indicate that active measures and treatments using the HMP decrease mortality rates, however further investigation is required to identify various factors that contribute to hemodynamic complications during the interstage period.

In the present study, an analysis of the life of adolescents with complex congenital heart disease (CHD) was done using grounded theory. Consideration was given to the socio-cultural context of Korea.

After approval from the institutional review board of Y hospital, 12 patients ranging in age from 14 to 35 were recruited. Data were gathered using in-depth interviews. Theoretical sampling was performed until the concepts were saturated.

The results confirmed the life of adolescents with complex CHD as a 'journey to finding uniqueness of oneself as a person with CHD'. The life consisted of 3 stages. In the crisis stage, participants had a feeling of threat to self-existence, and made an effort to be the same as others. In the self-recognition stage, participants who had sufficient role-performance built self-esteem while those who did not fell into self-accusation. In the self-establishment stage, participants who reached sufficiency in independence and knowledge planned the future, whereas those who did not conformed to the realities of life.

The results of present study provide help in understanding the experiences of adolescents with CHD and provide a basis for developing nursing intervention strategies for these patients.