PurposeThe aims of this study were to explore how oncologists and resident physicians practice end-of-life (EOL) discussions and to solicit their opinions on EOL discussions as a means to improve the quality of EOL care.Materials and MethodsA survey questionnaire was developed to explore the experiences and opinions about EOL discussions among oncologists and residents. Descriptive statistics, the t test, and the chisquare test were performed for the analyses.ResultsA total of 147 oncologists and 229 residents participated in this study. The study respondents reported diverse definitions of “terminal state,” and mostrespondents tried to disclose the patient’s condition to the patient and/or family members. Both groups were involved in EOL care discussions, with a rather low satisfaction level (57.82/100). The best timing to initiate discussionwas consideredwhen metastasis or disease recurrence occurred orwhen withdrawal of chemotherapy was anticipated. Furthermore, the study respondents suggested that patients and their family members should be included in the EOL discussion. Medical, legal, and ethical knowledge and communication difficulties along with practical issues were revealed as barriers and facilitators for EOL discussion.ConclusionThis study explored various perspectives of oncologists and resident physicians for EOL discussion. Since the Life-Sustaining-Treatment Decision-Making Act will be implemented shortly in Korea, now is the time for oncologists and residents to prepare themselves by acquiring legal knowledge and communication skills. To achieve this, education, training, and clinical tools for healthcare professionals are required.

Nodular pleural thickening is observed in 8.9% of the patients with PTB on chest CT. Comparing PTB and MPD, nodular pleural thickening was the only finding significantly associated with MPD, particularly with nodules >10 mm.

Background and ObjectivesThis study examined the association of cognitive function with self-care and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) among heart failure (HF) patients.Subjects and MethodsIn this prospective study, 86 outpatients with HF completed face-to-face interviews including neuropsychological testing to evaluate cognitive function and the use of the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index to measure self-care. Functional status was assessed with the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Follow-up data on MACE were obtained at 24 months after enrollment.ResultsCompared with the Korean norm values, more than half of the HF patients had cognitive deficits in global function (33.0%), immediate recall (65.1%), delayed recall memory (65.1%), and executive function (60.5%). Patients with symptomatic HF (≥NYHA class II) had the higher risk for substantially poor cognitive function in all areas of cognitive function than asymptomatic HF patients (NYHA class I, p<0.05). Most patients demonstrated poor self-care adequacy in maintenance (84.9%), management of symptoms (100%), and confidence (86.0%). After adjustment for age and gender, memory function was significantly associated with self-care confidence (odds ratio 1.41, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.92, p=0.033). No relationship was found between cognition and self-care maintenance. There were 19 MACE's during the 24-month follow-up. Patients without MACE had a significantly higher global cognitive function (p=0.024), while no cognitive domains were significant predictors of MACE when adjusted for age and gender.ConclusionHF patients with memory loss have poorer self-care confidence. Studies are warranted to examine the functional implication of cognitive deficits and adverse outcomes in a larger sample.

Despite the high prevalence of nurses’ turnover and the turnover intention of new nurses, there are insufficient studies examining turnover intention at the time when job orientation is completed and independent nursing commences. Thus, this study examined turnover intention levels and identified the factors affecting turnover intention of new Generation Z nurses, focusing on job stress and sleep disturbance, at the eighth week after completing job orientation. This was a cross-sectional descriptive correlational study. Using a convenient sampling method, 133 new nurses were recruited. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of demographic and occupational characteristics, job stress, sleep disturbance, and turnover intention. Descriptive statistics were computed to describe the sample and interest variables. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association of job stress and sleep disturbance with turnover intention. Most nurses were women (91.7%) and approximately two-thirds worked in the surgical ward (n = 61, 45.9%). Turnover intention was 12.8%, average job stress was 40.11 ± 90.7, and average sleep disturbance was 42.39 ± 15.27. New graduate nurses’ turnover intention was associated with job stress (OR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.02–1.12) and sleep disturbance (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.05–1.35), and this model explained 47.7% of the variance. Study findings determine that job stress and sleep disturbance were significant predictors of turnover intention in new nurses at the eighth week after joining the hospital. Therefore, nursing administrators should focus on new nurses’ job stress and sleep disturbance, and provide them with timely assessment and management to reduce turnover intention.

Background: Cognitive decline, which often occurs in heart failure, is likely to decrease health-related quality of life and increase morbidity and mortality (major events), but it has been scantly addressed. Aims: To examine whether baseline cognitive domains of global cognition, memory and executive function predict baseline health-related quality of life and 15-month major events among patients with heart failure. Methods: This prospective study included 117 patients (mean age 65.5 ± 9.42 years; men 58.1%; New York Heart Association class III/IV 25.6%), who completed questionnaires, including neuropsychological testing for cognitive evaluation, depressive symptoms, self-care and health-related quality of life measures. Their 15-month major events were extracted from medical record reviews. Results: Approximately one-third of the sample had cognitive impairment. Forty-one patients (35.0%) experienced major events. Patients with major events had significantly worse memory (immediate recall memory 13.9 vs. 11.5, P=0.030; delayed recall memory 4.3 vs. 3.1, P=0.014) and reduced executive function (trail-making test A 28.1 vs. 38.0 seconds, P=0.031). After controlling for age, sex, heart failure severity and comorbidity, memory loss with depressive symptoms was associated with worse health-related quality of life, and odds ratios of experiencing major events increased only with reduced cognitive function in global cognition and executive function. Conclusion: Cognitive function is an important factor for health-related quality of life and major events, and memory loss-worsened health-related quality of life and poor executive function was more likely to increase the risk of major events. Future studies should consider both cognitive function and depressive symptoms when designing heart failure interventions to improve patient outcomes.