Myun Sook Jung

Effects of an Elder Health Promotion Program using the Strategy of Elder Health Leader Training in Senior Citizen Halls

PURPOSE This study was conducted to develop and test the effects of an elder health promotion program and apply strategies for elder health leader training sessions with elders at senior citizen halls. METHODS A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. Participants were 49 elders at a senior citizen hall (intervention: 27, control: 22). The elder health promotion program consisted of health education and exercise. A professional leader led the program for 4 weeks, and then an elder health leader and research assistant led for 8 weeks (total 12 weeks). Scales for elder health promoting behaviors, perceived health status, life satisfaction and senior citizen hall capability were used and physical fitness levels were measured. Data were collected between April 21 and July 28, 2010 and analyzed using Chi-square, Fishers exact test, t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA with SPSS/WIN 12.0. RESULTS Health promoting behaviors, physical fitness, perceived health status, and senior citizen hall capacity were significantly better in the experimental group after the intervention compared to the control group. CONCLUSION Study findings indicate that elder health promotion programs applying strategies of elder health leader training are effective and can be recommended as nursing interventions for health promotion of these elders.

A Study of Moral Judgment and Ethical Decision Making and Ethical Dilemmas Experienced in Practice by Nursing Students

Abstract This study examined the moral judgments and ethical decision-making and analyzed ethical dilemmas experienced in practice by nursing students. The data were collected using self-reported questionnaires and reports from 189 college students in their 2nd ~ 4th grades. Data collection period was from Nov 6th - 20th in 2012. Each grade’s P(%) scores were 47.92, 43.74, and 43.75 respectively.. For stage 4 score, each grade’s scores were 22.37, 22.98, and 19.74. This result shows that, compared to juniors, senior student’s P(%) scores did not drop and stage 4 scores rather decreased, which is in line with the results of previous studies about the effects of ethics education. This finding could be attributed to the regular and voluntary case presentations and discussions required for the senior participants. Regarding ethical decision-making type, the most favored was type 3(35.45%). Among seven categories of the ethical dilemmas facing the students, the most commonly reported was the patient’s rights and dignity, followed by practices based on nursing standards, arranging for dying patients. This study raises the need that the curriculum is revised to encourage student’s participation in the analysis of ethical issues they confront in the field.