Kwisoon Choe

Primary Caregivers’ Support for Female Family Members With Breast or Gynecologic Cancer:

Background: Female patients with cancer depend on loved ones; thus, family support is pivotal to assist patients in successfully adjusting to life with treatment routines. Objective: Our study explored the experiences of primary caregivers who provide care and support for female family members with cancer. Methods: This study used a qualitative phenomenological research approach. Interviews and journaling about the caregiving experience were conducted with the family members of female cancer patients—6 spouses, 11 daughters, 1 son, and 1 younger sister. Data analysis involved Giorgi’s 3-step phenomenological analysis method. Results: The central theme of the primary caregivers’ supportive care for their female family member with cancer was “being with” her. This was composed of the following themes: “being there for her via efforts,” “living through feelings of guilt and anxiety,” and “lessons learned from cancer in the family.” Conclusions: This study reveals an integrated picture of family caregivers’ supportive caring experiences. By providing both positive and negative aspects of the caregiving experience, the findings in this study will provide a theoretical foundation to develop more successful support programs for family caregivers of female patients with cancer. Implications for Practice: Family-oriented education programs need to be developed to include both the family and the patient in the long journey of cancer. The family caregivers’ feelings of guilt regarding the cause of the illness and feelings of anxiety about the uncertainty of the illness should be assessed and managed during the course of the patients’ treatment and care.

Barriers to ethical nursing practice for older adults in long‐term care facilities

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To explore barriers to ethical nursing practice for older adults in long-term care facilities from the perspectives of nurses in South Korea. BACKGROUND The number of older adults admitted to long-term care facilities is increasing rapidly in South Korea. To provide this population with quality care, a solid moral foundation should be emphasised to ensure the provision of ethical nursing practices. Barriers to implementing an ethical nursing practice for older adults in long-term care facilities have not been fully explored in previous literature. DESIGN A qualitative, descriptive design was used to explore barriers to ethical nursing practice as perceived by registered nurses in long-term care facilities in South Korea. METHODS Individual interviews were conducted with 17 registered nurses recruited using purposive (snowball) sampling who care for older adults in long-term care facilities in South Korea. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS Five main themes emerged from the data analysis concerning barriers to the ethical nursing practice of long-term care facilities: emotional distress, treatments restricting freedom of physical activities, difficulty coping with emergencies, difficulty communicating with the older adult patients and friction between nurses and nursing assistants. CONCLUSIONS This study has identified methods that could be used to improve ethical nursing practices for older adults in long-term care facilities. Because it is difficult to improve the quality of care through education and staffing alone, other factors may also require attention. RELEVANCE FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE Support programmes and educational opportunities are needed for nurses who experience emotional distress and lack of competency to strengthen their resilience towards some of the negative aspects of care and being a nurse that were identified in this study.

Effects of Mandala Art Therapy on Subjective Well-being, Resilience, and Hope in Psychiatric Inpatients

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of Mandala art therapy on subjective well‐being, resilience, and hope among psychiatric inpatients. Methods: Recruited 36 people who had been treated as inpatients in a psychiatric ward at a university hospital in Seoul, South Korea, and divided them evenly into experimental and control groups. The experimental group was required to attend a total of 8 sessions of Mandala art therapy, twice per week, between August 11 and October 30, 2015; measures of the three main variables were administered at pre‐test and post‐test in both groups. Results: Hope significantly increased in both groups, but the overall increase was greater in the experimental group (mean score of 9.5 and 15.3 at pre‐ and post‐test, respectively) than in the control group (10.9 and 11.9). Conclusion: These results suggest that Mandala art therapy can have a positive effect on the hope of psychiatric inpatients. However, further research concerning its effects on subjective well‐being and resilience, as well as other psychological constructs, is warranted to better understand the effects of Mandala art therapy on psychiatric inpatients.