Mi-Ae You

Self‐efficacy associated with self‐management behaviours and health status of South Koreans with chronic diseases

Although prior research in Western societies has revealed an association between self-efficacy and both self-management behaviours and better health status, little is known about the applicability of this association in Korean populations. We examined the differences in self-management behaviours and health status among three groups according to the level of self-efficacy (high, moderate and low). We used a descriptive and correlational design, and administrated a questionnaire to 322 Korean patients with diabetes mellitus, hypertension or arthritis at three ambulatory clinics in a university medical centre. We performed the Pearson chi-square test to test for differences in proportions, and the Kruskall-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U-tests for non-parametric measures. The level of self-efficacy was associated with self-management behaviours (P < 0.05) and with better health status indices (P < 0.001) except fatigue (P < 0.277). The mean age (Mean ± standard deviation, 53.71 ± 12.60), the percentage of high level of education (62.4%) and the level of employment (51.4%) were significantly higher in high self-efficacy group than in low self-efficacy group or moderate self-efficacy group. Further study of the potential factors affecting any relationship between self-efficacy and fatigue is recommended. Self-efficacy-enhancing interventions can be beneficial for Korean chronic patients to improve their self-management behaviours and health status.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and associated risk factors among Korean adolescents: analysis from the Korean national survey.

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and to identify the associated risk factors of MS among Korean adolescents. A total of 606 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years from the third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES) in 2005 participated in a community-based and cross-sectional survey through face-to-face interviews. The authors defined pediatric MS using the modified National Cholesterol Educational Program–Adult Treatment Panel III. The overall weighted prevalence of MS in Korean adolescents was 13.0% (15.4% boys, 10.0% girls). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, boys, adolescents with body mass index (BMI) greater than the 85th percentile, and adolescents who watched TV for more than 2 hours per day were significantly more likely to have MS. These findings suggest that lifestyle modification focusing on weight control by increasing physical activity is important for the prevention of MS in adolescents.

Perceptions regarding medication administration errors among hospital staff nurses of South Korea

OBJECTIVE To identify reasons for medication administration errors (MAEs) and why they are unreported, and estimate the percentage of MAEs actually reported among hospital nurses. DESIGN A cross-sectional survey design. SETTING Three university hospitals in three South Korean provinces. PARTICIPANTS A total of 312 hospital staff nurses were included in this study. MAIN OUTCOME Medication administration errors. RESULTS Actual MAEs were experienced by 217 nurses (69.6%) during their clinical career, whereas 149 nurses (47.8%) perceived that MAEs only occur less than 20% rate. MAEs occurred mostly during intravenous (IV) administrations. Nurses perceived that the most common reasons for MAEs were inadequate number of nurses in each working shift (4.88 ± 1.05) and administering drugs with similar names or labels (4.49 ± 0.94). The most prevalent reasons for unreported MAEs included fears of being blamed (4.36 ± 1.10) and having too much emphasis on MAEs as a measure of nursing care quality (4.32 ± 1.02). The three most frequent errors perceived by nurses for non-IV related MAEs included administering medications to the incorrect patients and incorrect medication doses and drug choices. The three most frequent IV related MAEs included incorrect infusion rates, patients and medication doses. CONCLUSIONS Nurse-staffing adequacy could be helpful to prevent MAEs among nurses as well ongoing education, and training regarding safe medication administration using the problem-based simulation education. In addition, encouraging nurses to identify and report work related errors in a non-punitive milieu will increase error reporting.

Parental Experiences of Medication Administration to Children at Home and Understanding of Adverse Drug Events

Background:Medication administration errors are the most common type of error in pediatric medicine. Preventing medication errors is an important part of ensuring safe and quality patient care for pediatric patients. Few studies have described this issue from the perspective of the parents of pediatric patients. Purpose:This study describes parents’ administration of medication to their children at home and the understanding of these parents of adverse drug events (ADEs). Methods:A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather data from 179 parents of pediatric patients at two pediatric units at a hospital and three children’s daycare centers in Korea. Data were collected from July to August 2012 using a self-reported questionnaire. Results:Participants reported administering antipyretics (94.4%), decongestants (89.4%), and antibiotics (77.7%) to their children at home. The major source of medication information was instruction sheets. Parents more commonly used dosing cups (43.6%) and droppers (32.9%) when administering liquid medication to children. Furthermore, 12.3% of the children experienced ADEs. Only 48% of the participants were provided information on ADEs, 15.1% were unsure about the recommended dosage, and 11.2% were unsure of the recommended method for administering the medication. Analysis of variance and post hoc tests showed that level of parental education and monthly income each had a significant impact on participant understanding of ADEs. Conclusions/Implications for Practice:This study suggests that parents should be educated about ways to avoid common medication errors in children. In addition, in the case of low-income families, home visits should be carried out to understand how to reduce home medication errors and provide drug-related information to parents. Strategies are needed to reduce pediatric home medication errors and minimize ADEs and to provide medication information to parents.

Factors Influencing on Burden of Family Members of Intensive Care Patients : Planned Transfer to General Ward after Intensive Care

The aim of this study was to identify the levels of family members` burden and to describe factors influencing on famiCX*//8ly caregiver`s burden when they are planned to transfer to general ward from the intensive care units (ICU). A descriptive survey was used with a convenience sampling of 101 family members of ICU patients at S university hospital in C city, Korea from August to November, 2010. The data were analyzed with SPSS 18.0 program. The level of object burden in family members had statistically significant differences with level of consciousness, number of patients` monitoring devices, and tracheostomy tube. The level of subject burden had statistically significant differences according to patients` gender, patients` education level, and relationship with patients. Transfer anxiety was showed statistically positive correlation with objective and subjective burden. We found transfer anxiety was statistically significant predictor of family caregiver`s objective burden with explanatory power 12.7%. Family members` subjective burden were statistically influenced by patients` gender and transfer anxiety. These factors explained 23.8% out of total variance of family members` objective burden. The structured individualized method of transfer is recommended with further research of ICU families to further examine the dimension of transfer anxiety and how it affects family members` burden and patient outcomes.