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 purposes of this study were to identify the prevalence of postprandial hypotension (PPH) and risk factors for PPH in Korean elderly people.

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with community dwelling and nursing home residents. The blood pressure of 162 adults aged 65 yr or older was measured before meal as a baseline and then at 15 min intervals from immediately after the meal through 90 min after the meal. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression with the SPSS WIN 14.0 program were used to analyze the data.

The prevalence of PPH was 29% and the PPH occurred immediately after the meal continuously through 90 min after the meal. The biggest drop in systolic blood pressure occurred at 45 min after the meal. Risk factors for PPH were age, base line systolic blood pressure, and presence of cardiovascular disease.

To prevent side effects of PPH such as falls and syncope, nurses should provide careful management of PPH and prohibit activities until at least 90 min after a meal. We also recommend that risk of PPH should be included in fall prevention guidelines for elderly people.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music therapy on state anxiety and pain among patients undergoing burn dressing changes.

A convenience sample of 32 adult burn patients who were eligible and provided consent were included in the study which was a quasi-experimental study of a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Fifteen patients in the control group received the routine burn dressing changes but 17 patients in the experimental group listened to self-selected music through headphones connected to a CD player during burn dressing changes for three days. All subjects of the music group chose the type of music that would relax them. Before and after burn dressing changes, subjects completed the State Anxiety Inventory and self-report of pain scores.

There was a significant reduction in state anxiety before and after burn dressing changes in those who received music therapy in contrast to those who did not receive music therapy. The music group reported lower pain scores before and after burn dressing changes than did the non-music group.

These findings indicate that music therapy composed of self-selected music is a valuable intervention for the treatment of pain and anxiety in patients undergoing burn dressing changes.