The purpose of this study was to investigate variables and construct paths that affect complicated grief.

Participants in this cross-sectional, descriptive study were 164 bereaved spouses of cancer patients at least 12 months before the death. Data were collected from October 2016 to February 2017 using self-report structured questionnaires and were analyzed using IBM SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 20.0.

The variables affecting complicated grief of bereaved spouses of cancer patients were the quality of end-of-life care (g=.15, p<.001), preparedness for death (b=-.06, p=.005), and coping with bereavement (b=-.24, p<.001), whereas the quality of death and dying did not show any effects. Preparedness for death had multiple mediating effects in the relationship between the quality of end-of-life care and complicated grief (z=-2.20, p=.028), and in the relationship between the quality of end-of-life care and coping with bereavement (z=2.11, p=.035). Coping with bereavement had a mediating effect on the relationship between preparedness for death and complicated grief (z=-2.39, p=.017).

This study revealed that preparedness for death and coping with bereavement play a prominent role in complicated grief. Therefore, it is important to help in preparing for death and enhancing coping with bereavement of spouses providing end-of-life care to cancer patients. In addition, investigating cultural differences in the relationship between the quality of end-of-life care and complicated grief is recommended.

This study aimed to identify and compare hospice care research topics between Korean and international nursing studies using text network analysis.

The study was conducted in four steps: 1) collecting abstracts of relevant journal articles, 2) extracting and cleaning keywords (semantic morphemes) from the abstracts, 3) developing co-occurrence matrices and text-networks of keywords, and 4) analyzing network-related measures including degree centrality, closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, and clustering using the NetMiner program. Abstracts from 347 Korean and 1,926 international studies for the period of 1998–2016 were analyzed.

Between Korean and international studies, six of the most important core keywords-“hospice,” “patient,” “death,” “RNs,” “care,” and “family”-were common, whereas “cancer” from Korean studies and “palliative care” from international studies ranked more highly. Keywords such as “attitude,” “spirituality,” “life,” “effect,” and “meaning” for Korean studies and “communication,” “treatment,” “USA,” and “doctor” for international studies uniquely emerged as core keywords in recent studies (2011~2016). Five subtopic groups each were identified from Korean and international studies. Two common subtopics were “hospice palliative care and volunteers” and “cancer patients.”

For a better quality of hospice care in Korea, it is recommended that nursing researchers focus on study topics of patients with non-cancer disease, children and family, communication, and pain and symptom management.

This study aimed to develop a “Palliative Care Professional” education program and evaluate its effects on the recognition of good death, palliative care, and the meaning of life for nurses.

It was developed based on the hospice care program for volunteers being used in the Hospice Palliative Care Research Center of S University in Seoul. It was also based on the studies which investigated the educational needs of nurses in palliative care. This program consisted of 5 sessions and 16 content items for 2 weeks. A nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design was utilized and participants were assigned to the experimental group (n= 42) or the control group (n= 44).

The recognition of a good death (F= 11.44, p= .001), palliative care (F= 4.15, p= .045), and the meaning of life (F= 5.12, p= .026) increased more significantly for participants in the experimental group than in the control group. Participants felt that they gained further knowledge in palliative patient management and refined their clinical practice.

The results of the study indicate that this program could serve as a practical program for palliative care nursing in the nursing field and suggests that more attention should be directed to the diverse educational needs of nurses.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a hospice·palliative care performance measure which would cover more than just physical symptoms or quality of life.

Through an intensive literature review, the author chose questions that measured aspects of physical, emotional, spiritual, social, or practical domains pertinent to hospice·palliative care for inclusion in the scale. Content validation of the questions was established by 15 hospice·palliative care professionals. A preliminary Hospice Palliative Care Performance Scale (HPCPS) of 20 questions was administered to 134 pairs of terminal cancer patients from 5 hospice palliative care units and their main family caregiver. A validation study was conducted to evaluate construct validity and internal consistency.

Factor analysis showed 14 significant questions in five subscales; Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, Social, and Patient' rights. There were no significant differences between the ratings by patients and family members except for three out of the 14 questions. The measure demonstrated construct validity, and Cronbach's α of the subscales ranged from .73 to .79.

The HPCOS demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability. It can be used to assess effectiveness of hospice·palliative care for terminal cancer patients in practice and research.

To evaluate the effects of a logotherapy program entitled 'Finding meaning in my life' for adolescents with terminal cancer.

A nonequivalent control group, non-synchronized design was conducted with a convenience sample of 44 late adolescents with terminal cancer. The experimental group (n=22) participated in the 'Finding meaning in my life' program which consisted of five-day sessions for one week. The control group (n=22) received the usual nursing care. The effects were measured using adolescent meaning in life (AMIL), and quality of life (QOL) scales. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and t-test using SPSS/PC 17.0 program.

There were significant differences in AMIL (t=3.36, p<.05) and QOL (t=2.67, p<.05) between the experimental and control groups.

Logotherapy is effective in improving the meaning in life and quality of life of late adolescents with terminal cancer, and can be used to prevent existential distress.

This study was done to develop and test a palliative care program based on home care nursing.

A quasi-experimental design was employed. Changes in the variables were evaluated to test effects of the developed program. Participants were patients with terminal cancer and their families receiving home care nursing from six hospitals (experimental group: 24 and control group: 22). Data collection was conducted from February to October, 2006. Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyse the data.

Hypothesis 1, the experimental group receiving this program will experience less pain (severe, average, weak pain) than the control group, was supported. Hypothesis 2, the experimental group will have less symptom experience than the control group, was supported. Hypothesis 3, the experimental group will have higher QOL than the control group, was supported and the last hypothesis 4, family burden in the experimental group will be less than the control group, was supported.

The home care nursing based palliative program developed in this study was found to be an effective program to reduce patient pain and symptom experience, to improve patient QOL and to decrease family burden.