This study aimed to investigate the nutritional status of liver transplantation (LT) recipients and explore certain factors that influence nutritional status, including dietary patterns and physical activities.

This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The subjects included 211 LT recipients at a medical center outpatient clinic located in Seoul, Korea. The nutritional status, dietary patterns, and physical activities of each subject were measured using the body mass index (BMI), Mini Dietary Assessment (MDA), and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data.

The percentages of living and deceased donor LTs were 81.0% and 19.0%, respectively. The mean BMIs pre- and post-LT were 23.88 and 23.16 kg/m², respectively, and the average MDA score was 36.55. More than 60.0% of the subjects had a moderate or high level of physical activity. In multivariate analysis, a higher BMI before LT (β=.72, p<.001), a lower Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (β=-.18, p<.001), and being male (β=-.10, p=.024) contributed to better nutritional status post-LT. Patients within six months of LT were less engaged in muscle exercises than those post six months of LT (p=.020).

LT recipients in Korea have good nutritional status and a good level of physical activity. To improve recipients’ post-LT nutritional status, the pre-LT nutritional status should be considered, particularly in those with a higher MELD score. In addition, physical activity including muscle-strengthening exercises should be encouraged from an earlier stage.

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesis explaining direct and indirect relationships among the factors affecting self-care behaviors of kidney transplant patients, based on self-determination theory.

Data were collected from 222 outpatients with kidney transplantation. The endogenous and exogenous variables of the hypothetical model consisted of healthcare provider's autonomy support, duration after kidney transplantation, basic psychological need satisfaction, autonomous and controlled motivation, depression, and self-care behaviors. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 24.0 and AMOS 24.0.

The hypothetical model demonstrated a good fit: RMSEA=.06, SRMR=.04, TLI=.94, CFI=.97. Statistically significant explanatory variables for the self-care behaviors of kidney transplant patients were duration after transplantation and basic psychological need satisfaction. Healthcare provider's autonomy support was indirectly significant, while autonomous motivation, controlled motivation and depression were not statistically significant for self-care behaviors. The variables accounted for 59.5% of the self-care behaviors of kidney transplant patients.

It is necessary to develop an autonomy support program for healthcare providers to enhance the self-care behaviors of kidney transplant patients. Preventing the deterioration of self-care behaviors will be possible by conducting this program at one year and six years post-transplantation. In addition, the results suggest the need to developing personalized autonomy support programs for healthcare providers that can meet the basic psychological need satisfaction of kidney transplant patients.

This study was conducted to develop an Empowerment Education Program (EEP) for kidney transplant patients and to test the program's effects on uncertainty, self-care ability, and compliance.

The research was conducted using a nonequivalent control group with a pretest-posttest design. The participants were 53 outpatients (experimental group: 25, control group: 28) who were receiving hospital treatment after kidney transplants. After the pre-test, patients in the experimental group underwent a weekly EEP for six weeks. The post-test was conducted immediately after, and four weeks after the program's completion in the same manner as the pre-test. For the control group, we conducted a post-test six and ten weeks after the pre-test, without and program intervention. A repeated measure ANOVA was performed to compare the change scores on main outcomes.

Uncertainty was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group, both immediately after (t=-3.84, p=<.001) and 4 weeks after (t=-4.51 p=<.001) the program, whereas self-care ability (t=5.81, p=<.001), (t=5.84, p=<.001) and compliance (t=5.07, p=<.001), (t=5.45, p=<.001) were significantly higher.

Kidney transplant patients who underwent an EEP showed a decrease in uncertainty and an improvement in self-care ability and compliance. Thus, our findings confirmed that an EEP can be an independent intervention method for improving and maintaining the health of kidney transplant patients.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experiences in the transplantation coordinators' practice.

Data was collected through a tape-recorded in-depth interview from nine participants who were transplantation coordinators of their hospitals. It was analyzed using the phenomenological method proposed by Colaizzi(1978).

From significant statements, six categories of themes were integrated into the essential structure of the experiences of transplantation coordinators. Six categories of themes were ‘ continue to be professional during dash this way and rush that’, ‘ burden due to persistent heavy work’, ‘ the uniqueness in family care of the brain-dead patients’, ‘ support of family and a professional group’, ‘ worthiness and achievement of the patients' recovery’, and ‘ establishment of self-confidence as a coordinator’.

Although the transplantation coordinators played various roles, they had a conflict in role identity due to poor working environments. The results of this study suggested that development of an educational program, an increase in understanding for the coordinators' role, and institutional support for better working conditions are needed to get professional acknowledgement for transplantation coordinators.

This study was aimed to investigate the health related quality of life and related factors of organ transplant recipients.

The participants were 188 people who had liver(86), kidney(81), or heart(24) transplanted. Data on the demographic characteristics, transplantation-related characteristics, symptom frequency or discomfort measured by Transplant Symptom Frequency and Symptom Distress Scale by Lough et al(1987), and health related quality of life measured by SF-36(version 2) were collected.

Overall health related quality of life score was 492.1 for 100scoring and, 344.9 for norm based. Physical functioning showed the highest quality of life score (77.5) and vitality showed the lowest(51.1). The kidney transplanted showed the highest quality of life (504.4) and the heart transplanted showed the lowest(426.7) Quality of life was related with occupation(p=.016) and symtom discomfort(p<.0001).

The health related quality of life of transplated patients was lower than the norm of American. Further studies need to be done to identify the norm of Korean and to investigate the effect of releving symptom discomfort on the increasing the health related quality of life.

This study was designed to create the job description of Korean transplantation nurse practitioner and examine performance frequencies, criticality, and difficulties of task elements.

The sample consisted of 63 nurses and coordinators who performed duties related to transplantation at medical center in Korea. A survey method was used, and the questionnaire included frequencies, criticality, and difficulties of task elements in job description by the DACUM method. Using SPSS WIN 10.0, descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, means, and standard deviations were conducted to examine the subject's general characteristics, the frequencies, criticality, and difficulties of task performance.

The job description of transplantation nurse practitioners revealed 5 duties, 22 tasks, and 85 task elements. On the all five duties, the averages of the performance frequency, criticality, and difficulty were 2.41, 3.38, and 2.78, meaning that the respondents rarely perform the 5 duties, but consider them critical and easy to perform.

The job description of the transplantation nurse practitioner included duty, task, and task element and definition of job completed. Thus we recommended a data based trial to confirm and validate the information gathered.

The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of patients with heart transplantation in Korea.

Individual indepth interviews and a focus group interview were used to collect the data from nine patients who had heart transplantations in 2015. All interviews were audio-taped and verbatim transcripts were made for the analysis. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method.

Among the nine participants, eight were men. Mean age was 57.30 years. Six theme clusters emerged from the analysis. ‘Joy of rebirth obtained by good luck’ describes the pleasure and expectation of new life after narrow survival. ‘Suffering from adverse drug effects’ illustrates various psychosocial difficulties, such as low self-esteem, helplessness, alienation, and burnout, arising from the side effects of medications. ‘Body and mind of being bewildered’ illustrates disintegrated health and haunting fear of death. ‘Alienation disconnected with society’ describes isolated feeling of existence due to misunderstandings from society. ‘Suffering overcome with gratitude and responsibility’ includes overcoming experience through various social supports and suitable jobs. Finally, ‘acceptance of suffering accompanied with new heart’ illustrate changed perspective of life itself.

The findings in this study provide deep understanding and insights of the lived experience of heart related illness for these patients and should help in the development of tailored-interventions for patients with heart transplantation.

The purpose of this study was to construct and test a structural equation model of self-management of liver transplant recipients based on self-determination theory.

Participants were 275 outpatients who received liver transplantation. A structured self-report questionnaire was used to assess health care providers’ autonomy support, transplant-related characteristics, illness consequence perception, autonomy, competence, family relatedness, depression and self-management. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 24.0 and AMOS 24.0 program.

The modified model showed a good fitness with the data: GFI=.96, RMSEA=.06, CFI=.96, NFI=.93, TLI=.93, PGFI=.43, PNFI=.49. The health care providers’ autonomy support, competence, family relatedness and depression were factors with a direct influence on the self-management of liver transplant recipients. The health care providers’ autonomy support and illness consequence perception had an indirect influence through competence, family relatedness and depression. However, the transplant-related characteristics and autonomy did not have a significant effect on self-management. This model explained 59.4% of the variance in self-management.

The result suggests that continuous education must be done to promote the competence of liver transplant recipients and to encourage the patient to positively perceive their current health condition with a view that enhances one's self-management. Additionally, the liver transplant recipients should be screened for depression, which would affect self-management. Most of all, health care providers, who have the most influence on self-management, should improve therapeutic communication and try to form a therapeutic relationship with the liver transplant recipients.

This study was done to explore adaptation experience of living kidney donors after donation. Specific aims were to identify challenges donors face in the process of adaptation following surgery and how they interact with recipients and other people.

Grounded theory methodology was utilized. Participants were 13 living kidney donors at six months or more after donation. Data were collected by in-depth interviews with individual participants. Data were analyzed using constants comparative method with theoretical saturation.

A core category emerged as 'keeping the fences of my family in spite of vulnerability'. The adaptation process after donation was manifested in four phases: exploration, balance, maintenance, and acclimatization. Phenomenon was perception of vulnerability. Strategies to manage the vulnerability were assessing changes of body awareness, tailoring regimen to one's own body condition, coping with health problems, keeping restoration of health, and ruminating on the meaning of one's kidney donation. Consequences were reestablishing family well-being, realizing the values of one's kidney donation, and living with uncertainty.

Findings of the study indicate that there is a need for health professionals to understand the vulnerability of living kidney donors and help their family system maintain a healthy and productive life. The results of this study can be used to develop phase-specific, patient-centered, and tailored interventions for living kidney donors.

This study was a prospective longitudinal study to identify changes in quality of life in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). It was based on Roy's adaptation model.

The questionnaires were administered before HSCT, 30 and 100 days after HSCT. Of the 48 potentially eligible patients, 44 (91.7%) participated in the study and 40 (90.9%) completed the questionnaires at 100 days after HSCT. Multilevel analysis was applied to analyze changes in quality of life.

Overall, quality of life showed a decreasing tendency from pre-HSCT to 100 days after HSCT. The adaptation level of participants was compensatory. Type of conditioning was the significant factor influencing quality of life before HSCT (β₀₀=79.92, p <.001; β₀₁= - 12.64, p <.001) and the change rate of quality of life (β₁₀= - 1.66, p =.020; β₁₁=2.88, p =.014). Symptom severity (β₂₀= - 1.81, p =.004), depression (β₃₀= - 0.58, p =.001), social dependency (β₄₀= - 0.35, p =.165), and loneliness (β₅₀= - 0.23, p =.065) had a negative effect on changes in quality of life. Symptom severity and depression were statistically significant factors influencing changes in quality of life.

According to the results of this study, the development of nursing intervention is needed to improve quality of life in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the early immune reconstruction period. The interventions should include programs to enhance coping capacity and programs to help control symptom severity and depression. Also these interventions need to be started from the beginning of HSCT and a multidisciplinary approach would be helpful.

This study was done to examine the incidence of oral mucositis in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients and to identify factors influencing oral mucositis and patient outcomes according to severity.

In this retrospective study, data were collected from electronic medical records of 222 patients who had received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Oral mucositis was evaluated using WHO's assessment scale. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test, Fisher exact test, Spearman's correlation, Ordinal logistic regression, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test.

A total of 69.8% of the patients evaluated developed oral mucositis (grade II and over). As a results of ordinal regression, factors influencing oral mucositis severity were found to be diagnosis, type of transplantation, oxygen inhalation and the number of antiemetics administration before transplantation. The severity of oral mucositis was found to increase the days of hospitalization, days of TPN administration, days of using antibiotics and the number and dosage of analgesics.

The results would help predict severity of oral mucositis in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients and suggest that provision of appropriate nursing assessment and oral care would improve patient outcomes.

The main purpose of this study was to develop a substantive theory on the life of patients with heart transplantation in the context of Korean society and culture. The question for the study was “What is the life of patients like with a heart transplant?”.

A grounded theory method guided the data collection and analysis. Participants for this study were 12 adults who regularly visited a Cardiovascular ambulatorium in a medical center. The data was collected through an in-depth interview and analyses were performed simultaneously.

‘Developing a new life to live on borrowed time’ was the core category in this study. It revealed two types of life, one is living in peace and another is thinking positive.

This study provides a framework for the development of individualized nursing interventions to care for patients with Heart Transplantation. The findings may provide pointers for health professionals about ways to improve support for heart transplant recipients.