Purpose:To investigate the effectiveness of aromatherapy on blood pressure, heart rate variability, aortic pulse wave velocity and the aortic augmentation index of essential hypertensive patients. Methods: Using a coin toss, 22 participants were assigned to the experimental group and 20 to the control. The experimental group was given a blend of oils of lemon (Citrus limonum), lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), and ylang ylang (Cananga odorata) which were prepared in the ratio of 2:2:1, respectively. The control group was given an artificial lemon fragrance of Limonene (35 cc) and Citral (15 cc) mixture. The experiment, inhalation, was conducted for 3 weeks (2 min per inhalation, 2 times per day) to both groups. Results: There was a noticeable difference in systolic blood pressure between the groups (p=.001), however the difference in diastolic blood pressure between the two groups was not significant. There was a notable difference in sympathetic nerve system activity of heart rate variability (p=.047). However, the differences in aortic pulse wave velocity or the aortic augmentation index were not significant. Conclusion: Aromatherapy is effective in lowering systolic blood pressure and sympathetic nerve system activity.

Purpose:The purpose of the study was to identify reports of workplace violence, stress and turnover intention among perioperative nurses. Methods: The data were collected using questionnaire from 162 perioperative. Results: All of the nurses in the study reported incidents of violence within six months of the study. Doctors and specifically operating surgeons were cited as perpetrating workplace violence. The stated source of the violence was failure or shortage of surgical equipment or instrument and fall out of surgeon's preference. Subjects reported (87.7%) workplace abuse from nurses and most often from senior nurses. Nurse abuse was in the form of verbal abuse. Fatigue and stress stemming from heavy workload were cited as the source of the workplace violence. The subjects reported stress levels of 7.39 out of a possible ten points from workplace violence. A little more than thirty five percent of the subjects reported having intentions to leave because of workplace violence. These nurses reported higher level of stress and experienced more workplace violence from nurses and doctors as compared to those nurses who reported no turnover intention. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that a third of the employed nurses reported wanting to leave their positions due to workplace violence. Workplace violence is a serious problem for nurses whether it is from physicians or from other nurses.

Development of the Standard Hospice & Palliative Care Education Program was successful, and its preliminary effectiveness was shown by the demonstration program. Comments on our experience in Korea would be helpful to efforts in other countries, particularly those with limited resources for hospice and palliative care.

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The purpose of this study was to develop a transition nursing program for patients and family caregivers in neurological intensive care units (ICUs) and to evaluate the effects of the program. A literature review, focus group interviews, analysis of medical records, confirmation of validity, and clinical applicability were used to develop the program, which was tested using a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design. Participants were recruited in 2011. The experimental group (46 patients and their family caregivers) received the developed program before transferring from the neurological ICU to a ward, whereas the control group (48 patients and their family caregivers) received routine care. The results showed that patients and family caregivers in the experimental group had significantly higher transition readiness and satisfaction with transition nursing and lower transition anxiety and transition stress, and family caregivers in the experimental group had a significantly lower burden of caregiving.