Circadian rhythm is entrained in the 24-hour time interval by periodic factors in the environment, known as zeitgeber. But most rotating work schedules are outside the range of the entertainment of the pacemaker timing the human circadian sleep-wake cycle. It has been postulated that physiological and emotional disturbances occur in most human functions when the circadian rhythm is disturbed. So application of circadian principles to the design of shift schedules can aid in maintaining the temporal integrity of the circadian system and thereby minimize for the shift worker any detrimental consequences of circadian disruption. The study was quasi-experimental study to test the effect of shift intervals for the clinical nurse on the circadian rhythm. Twenty nurses newly employed in general units of two hospitals were selected as an experimental group and twelve college nursing students as a control group. Both groups were selected according to an established criteria using a purposive sampling technique. Ten subjects were assigned to weekly shift group and another ten to a biweekly shift group engaged in a semi-continuous shift schedule(sunday off) with a backward direction, that is, morning-evening-night shift. The control group worked a morning shift for 42 days. Oral temperature rhythm, waking time, sleep-wake cycle, fatigue, and mental performance were measured during the experimental period. The data collection period was from April 30, 1990 to June 10, 1990. MANOVA, paired t-test, ANOVA, and Student Newman Keuls method were used for statistical analysis. The results are summarized as follows. 1. Phase delay in the acrophase of temperature rhythm was shown according to the backward rotating shift. A complete adaptation to work on the night shift was achieved between the sixth and ninth day of the night shift. 2. There was no difference in either waking time or sleep-wake cycle according to the duration of the working day for every shift group. Significant difference was found in the waking time and the sleep-wake cycle for subjects on the morning, evening, and night shift in both of the shift groups(weekly shift group : lambda=0.121, p<0.01, lambda=0.112, p<0.01, biweekly shift group : lambda=0.116, p<0.01, lambda=0.084, p<0.01). 3. There was no difference in fatigue between the first working day and the last working day for the control group and for the biweekly shift group. In the weekly shift group, physical fatigue was significantly different for the first day and the sixth day of the night shift(t=-2.28, p<0.05). Physical fatigue and total fatigue on the first day of the night shift showed a significant difference among the control group, the weekly shift group, and the biweekly shift group(F=5.79, p<0.01, F=4.56, p<0.05). There was a significant difference between the shift groups and the control group(p<0.05). Physical fatigue, neuro-sensory fatigue and total fatigue on the last day of the night shift showed a significant difference among the control group, the weekly shift group, and the biweekly shift group(F=12.65, p<0.01, F=7.77, p<0.01, F=9.68, p<0.01). There was a significant difference between the shift groups and the control group(p<0.05). 4. No difference in mental performance was seen between the first day and the last day of work in each case. An arithmetic test on the first day of the night shift revealed a significant difference among the control group, the weekly shift group, and the biweekly shift group(F=3.79, p<0.05). There was a significant difference between the shift groups and the control group(p<0.05). The digital symbol substitution test and the arithmetic test on the last day of the night shift showed a significant difference among the control group, the weekly shift group, and the biweekly shift group(F=3.68, p<0.05, F=5.55, p<0.01), and both showed a significant difference between the shift groups and the control group(p<0.05). Accordingly, this study showed that during night duty, the waking time, sleep-wake cycle, and fatigue increased and mental performance decreased compared with morning and evening duty. It was also found that the weekly shift group had a higher fatigue score on the sixth day of night duty as compared to the first day, but the waking time, sleep-wake cycle, and mental performance revealed no difference for the duration of the night duty or between shift groups, and complete adaptation of temperature rhythm was achieved between the sixth and ninth day of night duty. It is possible to conclude from these results that for intermediate circadian type in a healthy young woman, a biweekly shift system is more compatible with the circadian timing system than weekly shift system.

A central issue in the development of nursing practice is to describe the phenomenon with which nursing is concerned. To identify the health problems which can be diagnosed and managed by the nurse is the first step to organize and managed by the nurse is the first step to organize and ensure the development of nursing science. Therefore the academic world has been discussing the application of the nursing diagnosis in nursing practice as a means of improving quality of care. The objectives of this study were to develop a standardized nursing care plan for ten selected nursing diagnoses to from a database for computerized nursing service. The research approach used in the study was (1) the selection of the ten nursing diagnoses which occur most frequently on medical-surgical wards, (2) the development of standardized nursing care plan for the ten selected nursing diagnoses, (3) application of the plan to hospitalized patients and evaluation of the content validity by the nurses, and (4) evaluation of the clinical effects after the use of the standardized nursing care plans. The subjects were 56 nurses and 395 hospitalized patients on two medical and two surgical unit. The results of this study were as follows ; 1) The ten selected nursing diagnoses for the development of the standardized nursing care plans were "PAIN, SLEEP DISTURBANCE, ALTERED HEALTH MAINTENANCE, ALTERATION IN NUTRITION, ANXIETY, CONSTIPATION, ALTERED PATTERNS OF URINARY ELIMINATION, DISTURBANCE IN BODY IMAGE, POTENTIAL FOR ACTIVITY INTOLERANCE AND ACTIVITY INTOLERANCE". 2) The developed standardized nursing care plans included the nursing diagnosis, definition, defining characteristics, etiologic or related factors that contribute to be condition, recording pattern desired out-comes and nursing orders(nursing interventions). 3. The plan was used with hospitalized patients on medical-surgical wards to test for content validity. The patient's satisfaction with the nursing care and nurses' job satisfaction were investigated to evaluate the clinical effects after the use of the standardized nursing care plans. A comparison of patient satisfaction with nursing care before and after the introduction of the standardized nursing care plans showed a statistically significant higher level of satisfaction with the standardized care plans. There was no difference in the level of job satisfaction expressed by the nursing staff before and after the standardized nursing care plans were introduced. However, when opinions about the use of the standardized nursing care plans were examined it was found that there was a positive effect on clarity in defining the nursing problems, determining nursing cost, more feasible goal setting, effective and systematic nursing records and indications for nursing research. The results of this study suggest that in order to increase the use of nursing diagnoses in the clinical area, it would be effective to select some wards as a pilot project, give the nurses training in the use of nursing diagnosis and develop and use the standardized nursing care plans. In addition to the ten diagnosis used in this study it sis recommended that continual development of nursing diagnoses be done using diagnoses that are appropriate to Korea and testing them for validity through standardized care plans.