This study was to identify the effects of oropharyngeal sensory stimulation on a functional oral intake scale, oro-pharyngeal swallowing functions, and aspiration pneumonia symptoms with nasogastric tube insertion in stroke patients.

This study was a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design. The subjects of the study were 32 patients who were hospitalized in Kosin Gaspel hospital. The experimental subjects were stimulated for 10~20 minutes, 1 time per day. The intervention was implemented for 2 weeks.

Participants in the experimental group significantly received a higher score in oro-pharyngeal swallowing function than those in the control group. However the participants in the experimental group only got a high score in the function oralintake scale which doesn't imply a statistical significance. In addition, they didn't geta remarkably higher score in aspiration pneumonia symptoms than those in the control group.

This study demonstrates that oropharyngeal sensory stimulation is effective in promoting recovery oro-pharyngeal swallowing function of nasogastric tube insertions in stroke patients.

This study was to explore the experiences of perioperative patients with cancer. The purpose of this inquiry was to describe the essence of such experiences, and to understand them from the patients'point of view.

Participants in this study were 9 cancer patients with ages ranging from 31 to 70 years old, living in B city, who experienced cancer operations. Data collection consisted of in-depth interviews and an observation method done from October to December in 2003. In analysing data, Colaizzi's(1978) phenomenological research method was adopted.

Five categories emerged from ten theme clusters. The five categories were: ‘ shock’, ‘ expectations & wishes’, ‘ despair’, ‘ feelings of burden’, ‘ continual pain’.

The results of this study showthat oncology nurses need to pay more attention to the psychosocial aspect of nursing to empathize and support the cancer patients who suffer and its treatment, and operations.

The purpose of the study was to assess the level of nurses' genetic knowledge and the perception of nurses' role in genetics. The ultimate goal of this paper is to educate practicing nurses so that they can counsel individuals and families with genetic problems, on the basis of better understanding of genetic diseases.

A total of 969 clinical nurses in 11 general hospitals completed a self-administered questionnaire including basic genetic knowledge and perception of their role. The instruments were made by the author with the help of some experts on genetics. T-test, ANOVA, and Pearson Correlation were used to analyze the data.

The results of this study indicated that nurses revealed a vast knowledge deficit in genetics and the need for genetic content in nursing curriculum. The results also showed that nurses' sources of information about genetics largely came from the mass media. The nurses also expressed great interest in educating and counseling patients. Overall, the survey found a positive correlation between the nurses' level of knowledge and their degree of interest in genetics.

In conclusion, education and training of clinical nurses in genetics is critical in integrating genetics with nursing science. Therefore, the development of educational programs for nursing knowledge and counseling as well as basic curriculums in genetic nursing at universities are essential in the near future.

This study was done to develop a internalized stigma reducing program based on cognitive-behavioral therapy and appropriate for patients with schizophrenia and to evaluate its effectiveness.

The study design was a mixed method research. Qualitative study, 13 patients with schizophrenia who had experience in overcoming stigma were purposively chosen for interviews and data were analyzed using Giorgi method. Quantitative study, 64 patients with schizophrenia (experimental group=32, control group=32) were recruited. The cognitive-behavioral therapy-based program for reducing internalized stigma in patients with schizophrenia was provided for 8 weeks (12 sessions). Data were collected from June. 20, 2013 to Feb. 14, 2014. Quantitative data were analyzed using χ²-test, t-test, repeated measures ANOVA with the SPSS program.

Qualitative results, from the experience of coping with stigma in patients with schizophrenia seventeen themes and five themes-clusters were drawn up. Quantitative results showed that internalized stigma, self-esteem, mental health recovery and quality of life were significantly better in the experimental group compared to the control group.

Study findings indicate that this program for reducing internalized stigma in patients with schizophrenia is effective and can be recommended as a rehabilitation program intervention to help patients with schizophrenia to cope with internalized stigma.

The purpose of this study was to identify the level of distress and posttraumatic growth in fathers of chronically ill children and also, to identify the relation between characteristics of the fathers and children and their posttraumatic growth and to investigate factors that influence posttraumatic growth.

In this study, 48 fathers who visited a university hospital in Seoul, Korea and who gave written consent completed the questionnaire between September 23 and November 19, 2013. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression.

The level of distress in fathers of chronically ill children was relatively high and the majority of them were experiencing posttraumatic growth. Models including the variable (deliberate rumination, religiousness, optimism) explained 64.3% (F=26.38, p< .001) of the variance for posttraumatic growth. Deliberate rumination (β=.59, p< .001) was the most influential factor.

The findings demonstrate that it is essential for nurses to intervene and facilitate continuously so as to promote posttraumatic growth and relieve distress in fathers of chronically ill children. Furthermore, it is also necessary for nurses to find ways to develop ideal interventions to activate deliberate rumination and offer spiritual care and help maintain optimism in these individuals.