The purpose of this qualitative research was to investigate chronically ill patients' perception of hospital nurses.

Individual in-depth interviews and qualitative content analysis were used for data collection and analysis respectively. Participants were 13 chronically ill hospitalized patients or outpatients in three universities hospitals. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis suggested by Graneheim and Lundman (2004).

Three themes emerged from the 10 sub-themes, which were categorized from the 21 condensed meaning units by interpreting the underlying meanings. The three themes were “person giving comfort and support by caring”, “person facilitating the process of healing”, and “person taking the initiative in power relations”. Two themes involved positive experiences of patients and the other included negative ones.

The results showed that the participants perceived the hospital nurses as devoted to caring for patients and facilitating treatments, but authoritative in performing their duty. Based on these results, it is recommended that hospital nurses improve their nursing knowledge, skills and humanistic attitude.

This study was performed to develop the Job Satisfaction Scale for Clinical Nurses (JSS-CN) and verify its validity and reliability.

A preliminary 42-item version of the JSS-CN was developed through literature reviews and in-depth interviews. The draft scale was developed using thirty-seven items selected following content validity evaluation. Finally, thirty-three items with response options on a 5-point Likert scale were selected based on internal consistency reliability and construct validity. Subsequently, the test-retest reliability and convergent validity of the JSS-CN were verified.

Six factors, namely, recognition from the organization and professional achievement, personal maturation through the nursing profession, interpersonal interaction with respect and recognition, accomplishment of accountability as a nurse, display of professional competency, and stability and job worth, were identified, which explained 59.7% of the total variance. The JSS-CN's Cronbach's a for the total scale was .95, and the intra-class correlation coefficient was .90. The correlation coefficient between the scores of the JSS-CN and Slavitt's scale was .75, and that between the JSS-CN and job performance was .53.

Results showed that the JSS-CN has good reliability and validity. Therefore, it is concluded that the JSS-CN could be a useful tool for the measurement of the job satisfaction of clinical nurses in Korea.

The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the leadership experience of clinical nurses.

During 2014, data were collected using focus group interviews. Three focus group interviews were held with a total of 20 clinical nurses participating. All interviews were recorded as they were spoken and transcribed and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Fifteen categories emerged from the five main themes. 1) Thoughts on the leadership category: to lead others, to cope with problem situations adequately and to serve as a shield against difficulties. 2) Situations requiring leadership: situation that requires correct judgement, coping and situations that need coordination and cooperation. 3-1) Leadership behaviors: other-oriented approach and self-oriented approach. 3-2) Leadership behavior consequences: relevant compensation and unfair termination. 4-1) Facilitators of leadership: confidence and passion for nursing and external support and resources. 4-2) Barriers to leadership: non-supportive organization culture and deficiency in own leadership competencies. 5) Strategies of leadership development: strengthen leadership through self-development and organizational leadership development.

In conclusion, the results indicate that it is necessary to enhance clinical nurses' leadership role in healthcare. Enhancement can be achieved through leadership programs focused on enlarging leadership experience, constant self-development, leadership training, and development of leadership competencies suited to the nursing environment.