Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of virtual reality used in maternal-child nursing clinical practicums on nursing students' competencies through a systematic review.
Methods: The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed papers in English or Korean presenting analytic studies of maternal-child nursing practicums using virtual reality. An electronic literature search of the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EMBASE, ERIC, PubMed, and Research Information Sharing System databases was performed using combinations of the keywords "nursing student," "virtual reality," "augmented reality," "mixed reality," and "virtual simulation" from February 4 to 15, 2022. Quality appraisal was performed using the RoB 2 and ROBINS-I tools for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs, respectively.
Results: Of the seven articles identified, the RCT study (n=1) was deemed to have a high risk of bias, with some items indeterminable due to a lack of reported details. Most of the non-RCT studies (n=6) had a moderate or serious risk of bias related to selection and measurement issues. Clinical education using virtual reality had positive effects on knowledge, skills, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and needs improvement; however, it did not affect critical thinking or self-directed learning.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated that using virtual reality for maternal-child nursing clinical practicums had educational effects on a variety of students' competencies. Considering the challenges of providing direct care in clinical practicums, virtual reality can be a viable tool that supplements maternal-child nursing experience. Greater rigor and fuller reporting of study details are required for future research.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a webtoon education program on preventive self-management related to premature labor (PSM-PL) for women of childbearing age, to evaluate its effects, and to assess the usability of webtoon education for women of childbearing age.
Methods: The study design was a stratified randomized trial with repeated measures. The participants were Korean women of childbearing age (between the ages of 19 and 49 years), with 49 participants each. The preventive health management self-efficacy related to premature labor (PHMSE-PL) scale, the preventive self-management knowledge related to premature labor (PSMK-PL) scale, and usability of webtoon education were assessed. The intervention group read six episodes of the PSM-PL webtoon within 2 days after clicking an online link. The control group did not receive anything but was given the webtoon after the last measurement. To test the effect of the repeatedly measured variables, a generalized estimating equation model was used.
Results: The experimental group had statistically significantly greater increases in PHMSE-PL and PSMK-PL scores from baseline to immediately after and 2 weeks later than the control group. The average score for usability of webtoon education was high (4.52; standard deviation, 0.62) on a scale of 1-5.
Conclusion: This webtoon education program on PSM-PL was a feasible and acceptable program that increased self-efficacy and knowledge of preventive health management of premature labor in women of childbearing age. Future studies that adopt a webtoon format can be beneficial for childbearing women with other risk factors.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to construct a hypothetical model based on Meleis and colleagues' Transition Theory and a literature review to explain women's menopausal transition, constructing a modified model considering previous studies and model fit and testing the effects between variables.
Methods: With a correlational survey design, middle-aged Korean women aged 40 to 64 years who had experienced menopausal symptoms were recruited and filled out a self-administered study questionnaire. Measures included menopausal symptoms, resilience, social support, menopause management, menopause adaptation, and quality of life. The data were analyzed using SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 24.0.
Results: The model fit indices were considered acceptable: χ2 /degree of freedom=2.93, standardized root mean residual=.07, comparative fit index=.90, and parsimonious normed fit index=.73. All eight direct-effect paths-from menopausal symptoms to support and adaptation, from support to adaptation and resilience, from resilience to adaptation and management, from management to quality of life, and from adaptation to quality of life-were significant. The explanatory power of the menopause transition model was 63.6%.
Conclusion: Women who experience menopausal symptoms may be able to maintain and improve their quality of life if menopause management and menopause adaptation are successful through resilience and social support. Future research is needed to confirm whether strengthening facilitation as a nursing intervention strategy may promote healthy response patterns.
Purpose: This study explored the degree to which pregnant women in Korea made informed choices regarding noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and investigated factors influencing whether they made informed choices.
Methods: In total, 129 pregnant women in Korea participated in a web-based survey. Multidimensional measures of informed choice regarding NIPT and decisional conflict were used to measure participants' levels of knowledge, attitudes, deliberation, uptake, and decisional conflict related to NIPT. Additional questions were asked about participants' NIPT experiences and opinions.
Results: All 129 pregnant women were recruited from an online community. Excluding those who expressed neutral attitudes toward NIPT, according to the definition of informed choice used in this study, only 91 made an informed choice (n=63, 69.2%) or an uninformed choice (n=28, 30.8%). Of the latter, 75.0% had insufficient knowledge, 39.3% made a value-inconsistent decision, and 14.3% did not deliberate sufficiently. No difference in decisional conflict was found between the two groups. A significant difference was found between the two groups in the reasons why NIPT was introduced or recommended (p=.021). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that pregnant women who were knowledgeable (odds ratio [OR], 4.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.17- 10.47) and deliberated (OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.57-0.98) were significantly more likely to make an informed choice.
Conclusion: The results of this study help healthcare providers, including nurses in maternity units, understand pregnant women's experiences of NIPT. Counseling strategies are needed to improve pregnant women's knowledge of NIPT and create an environment that promotes deliberation regarding this decision.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to the levels of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in elderly women based on Wilson and Cleary's HRQoL model.
Methods: This study analyzed data from the eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2019 on 868 women over the age of 65 years. Based on the HRQoL model, parameters were categorized as personal, environmental, and physiological characteristics; symptom status; functional status; and perception of health status. The data were analyzed by quantile regression.
Results: The overall level of HRQoL was 0.87. Factors related to HRQoL in the 10% quantile were higher education level, higher economic status, economic activity, more walking days, fewer diseases, lower stress, less activity limitation, and higher perceived health status. Factors related to the 25% quantile of HRQoL were more walking days, fewer diseases, less activity limitation, and higher perceived health status. Factors related to the 50% quantile were age, economic activity, more walking days, fewer disease, lower stress, less activity limitation, and higher perceived health status. Factors related to the 75% quantile of HRQoL were smoking, more walking days, fewer diseases, lower stress, less activity limitation, and higher perceived health status.
Conclusion: While differing parameters were identified according to the level of HRQoL of elderly women in Korea, there were five common factors. Interventions that focus on increasing walking, mitigating diseases, stress, and activity limitations, and improving perceived health status can improve HRQoL.
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate family functioning among spouses of gynecologic cancer patients in Korea. McCubbin and McCubbin's Family Resilience Model (1993) guided the study focus on burden of care, family resilience, coping, and family functioning.
Methods: An online survey collected data from 123 spouses of gynecologic cancer patients through convenience sampling from online communities for gynecologic cancer patients in Korea. Burden of care, family resilience (social support, family hardiness, and family problem-solving communication), coping, and family functioning were measured by self-report.
Results: The patients (44.7%) and their spouses (47.2%) were mostly in the 41 to 50-year age group. Stage 1 cancer was 44.7%, and cervical cancer was the most common (37.4%) followed by ovarian cancer (30.9%) and uterine cancer (27.6%) regarding the cancer characteristics of the wife. Family function, burden of care, family resilience, and coping were all at greater than midpoint levels. Family functioning was positively related with social support (r=.44, p<.001), family hardiness (r=.49, p<.001), problem-solving communication (r=.73, p<.001), and coping (r=.56, p<.001). Multiple regression identified significant factors for family functioning (F=25.58, p<.001), with an overall explanatory power of 61.7%. Problem-solving communication (β=.56, p<.001) had the greatest influence on family function of gynecologic cancer families, followed by coping (β=.24, p<. 001) and total treatment period of the wife (β=.17, p=.006).
Conclusion: Nurses need to assess levels of family communication and spousal coping to help improve gynecologic cancer patients' family function, especially for patients in longer treatment.