Gyeong Ju An

Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Symptoms Among Korean Hospital Nurses

We investigated the epidemiology of musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS) among a complete cross-section of 330 nurses from a large Korean hospital, by means of a questionnaire survey (response rate: 97.9%). The prevalence of MSS at any body site was 93.6%, with symptoms most commonly reported at the shoulder (74.5%), lower back (72.4%), neck (62.7%), lower legs (52.1%) and hand/wrist (46.7%). Logistic regression indicated that nurses who undertook manual handling of patients were 7.2 times as likely to report MSS ( OR 7.2, 95%CI 1.2—42.3, P = .0275), while nurses suffering from periodic depression experienced a 3.3-fold MSS risk ( OR 3.3, 95%CI 1.3-8.3, P = .0104). Overall, our study suggests that Korean nurses incur a very high MSS burden when compared internationally. A greater commitment is needed to improve physical conditions, occupational tasks and psychosocial work issues among nurses in this country.s

Critical thinking and learning styles of nursing students at the Baccalaureate nursing program in Korea.

The purpose of this study is to examine the critical thinking dispositions and learning styles, as well as the relationships between critical thinking and learning styles of nursing students enrolled in Baccalaureate nursing programs in Korea. The convenient sample consisted of 724 students from five cities. The learning style inventory of Kolb (1976) and critical thinking disposition inventory of Rudd et al (2000) were used for collecting data. Learning styles of the subjects were Diverging 315 (43.5%), Accommodating 223 (30.4%), Assimilating 78 (10.8%), and Converging 65 (9.0%). There were no significant differences in learning styles among grades (p=.197). The level of critical thinking significantly differed among learning styles (p=.000), and grades (p=.043). Critical thinking positively related to learning styles (r=.219) and grades (r=.097). This study suggested that adopting Abstract Conceptualization and Active Experimentation modes of pedagogy may promote critical thinking.

Effect of inactivity and undernutrition after acute ischemic stroke in a rat hindlimb muscle model

BACKGROUND Stroke patients experience functional changes resulting from muscle atrophy related to disuse, lack or limited neuronal stimulation, and undernutrition. Acute ischemic stroke is assumed to induce muscle atrophy. However, there is little information regarding muscle changes after acute stroke. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of inactivity and undernutrition after acute stroke on mass, myofibrillar protein content, and Types I and II fiber cross-sectional areas of rat hindlimb muscles. METHODS Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (body weight, 240-270 g) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a stroke group (n = 7) that had occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery, a control group (n = 7) that underwent a sham right middle cerebral artery procedure, and an undernourished group (n = 9) that was pair-fed to match the intake of stroke rats. Food and water intake as well as body weight were measured daily. The rats were anesthetized 7 days after occlusion or sham occlusion, after which the soleus (Type I), plantaris (Type II), and gastrocnemius (Type II) muscles were dissected from both the affected and unaffected sides. The brain was sectioned to identify cerebral infarction in the stroke group. Body weight, food intake, muscle weight, fiber type distribution, cross-sectional area, and myofibrillar protein content of the dissected muscles were determined. RESULTS The stroke group at 7 days after ischemic stroke showed significant decreases (p <.05), as compared with the control rats, in diet intake and body weight, muscle weight of affected gastrocnemius, Type I fiber cross-sectional area of the affected soleus muscle, Types I and II fiber cross-sectional areas and Type II fiber distribution of the unaffected soleus muscle, and myofibrillar protein content of both the affected and unaffected soleus muscles. As compared with the control group, the undernourished group showed significant decreases (p <.05) in diet intake and body weight, Type I fiber cross-sectional area of the affected soleus muscle, Types I and II fiber cross-sectional areas and Type II fiber distribution of the unaffected soleus muscle, Type I fiber distribution of the affected gastrocnemius muscle, and myofibrillar protein content of both the affected and unaffected soleus muscles. As compared with the undernourished group, the stroke group showed significant decreases (p <.05) in muscle weight and Type II fiber distribution of the affected gastrocnemius muscle. There were no differences in muscle characteristics between the affected and unaffected hindlimb muscles at 7 days after ischemic stroke. CONCLUSIONS Hindlimb muscle atrophy occurs in both affected and unaffected sides after acute stroke, with Type I muscle changes more apparent than Type II changes.

Effect of an end-of-life care education program among Korean nurses

The purpose of this study was to identify the educational effects of an end-of-life care education program for Korean RN-BSN students. The research design used a nonequivalent control group pre-post nonsynchronized design. A convenience sample of 47 students (experimental, n = 23; control, n = 24) participated. The data were analyzed with &khgr;2 and t tests using SPSS. There were significant increases in positive attitudes toward death and end-of-life care performance in the experimental group compared with the control group. The results of this study suggest that the implementation of this end-of-life care education program may contribute to improved end-of-life care performance among nurses.

Effect of Early Low-Intensity Exercise on Rat Hind-Limb Muscles Following Acute Ischemic Stroke

This study examined the effects of daily low-intensity exercise following acute stroke on mass, Type I and II fiber cross-sectional area, and myofibrillar protein content of hind-limb muscles in a rat model. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups (n = 7-9 per group): stroke (occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery [RMCA]), control (sham RMCA procedure), exercise, and stroke-exercise. Beginning 48 hours post-stroke induction/sham operation, rats in the exercise group had 6 sessions of exercise in which they ran on a treadmill at grade 10 for 20 min/day at 10 m/min. At 8 days poststroke, all rats were anesthetized and soleus, plantaris, and gastrocnemius muscles were dissected from both the affected and unaffected sides. After 6 sessions of exercise following acute ischemic stroke, the stroke-exercise group showed the following significant (p < .05) increases compared to the stroke-only group: body weight and dietary intake, muscle weight of affected soleus and both affected and unaffected gastrocnemius muscle, Type I fiber cross-sectional area of affected soleus and both affected and unaffected gastrocnemius muscle, Type II fiber cross-sectional area of the unaffected soleus, both affected and unaffected plantaris and gastrocnemius muscle, Type II fiber distribution of affected gastrocnemius muscle, and myofibrillar protein content of both affected and unaffected soleus muscle. Daily low-intensity exercise following acute stroke attenuates hind-limb muscle atrophy in both affected and unaffected sides. The effects of exercise are more pronounced in the soleus and gastrocnemius as compared to the plantaris muscle.