Experiences of Mental Health Nurses in Providing Care to Patients Receiving Electroconvulsive Therapy in South Korea.

In recent years, the demand for electroconvulsive therapy has been increasing in South Korea. However, there are problems due to mental health nurses' lack of understanding about electroconvulsive therapy and the absence of systematic education. This study aimed to explore mental health nurses' experiences of providing care to patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy in South Korea. We used content analysis to analyse the data collected from focus group interviews with 22 mental health nurses working in mental health hospitals. The results revealed four themes and 10 subthemes. More specifically, the results showed that mental health nurses consider themselves helpers in recovery. They pursue the physical and emotional well-being of patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy and strive to ensure that patients receive electroconvulsive therapy comfortably and safely. However, contentious issues such as concerns about patient dignity and autonomy lead to differing perceptions and attitudes towards electroconvulsive therapy and cause internal conflict during therapeutic interactions. Furthermore, insufficient education on electroconvulsive therapy leads to a lack of knowledge and difficulties in fulfilling the role of an information provider. The shortage of coping measures and support systems for issues such as extensive adverse effects and restricted medication increases the work burden immensely. These findings can serve as foundational data for the development of standardised nursing practices and systematic education for electroconvulsive therapy.

A model for the involvement of service users as instructors into the psychiatric nursing curriculum in Korea: A qualitative study on participation experience.

For many years, attempts have been made to incorporate service users into psychiatric nursing education, particularly in European countries and Australia. In Asian countries, however, concrete examples of this are notably scarce, and the limited instances of implementation lack the necessary systematic organisation and long-term sustainability. This study systematically planned and implemented a psychiatric nursing curriculum that integrated service users in Korea. It explored the experiences of 14 nursing students and four service users (who participated as instructors) who participated in these classes. Content analysis was performed on the results of focus group interviews with the participants. Owing to the participation of service users in the programme, students focused more on the patients as human beings, with the contexts of their individual lives, rather than on their diseases. The process facilitated a deeper grasp of person-centred psychiatric nursing and heightened student engagement in the learning process. The service users' experiences as instructors breathed new meaning into their psychiatric distress as an opportunity for new possibilities and helped them view themselves in a positive light, as members of society with self-esteem. They made great efforts to perform well in their role as instructors. These findings provide substantial evidence to support the expanded and sustained implementation of service user participation in future psychiatric nursing education. Establishing a national consortium to foster and support service user instructors could greatly improve psychiatric nursing education and related outcomes.

Parents' lived experiences of losing adolescent children in the Korean Ferry Sewol disaster: Lessons through a qualitative meta-synthesis.

This study meta-synthesized qualitative studies on the parents' experiences of losing their adolescent children due to the human-made disaster, Ferry Sewol disaster in Korea, 2014. Five Korean and five international electronic databases were searched. Twenty-one studies were selected and critically appraised. Thematic analysis was employed. Four themes (with 10 subthemes) were derived: screaming in excruciating pain at the unbelievable deaths of children, family love evolving amidst pain and deepening into higher value, relationships collapsed and reformed while experiencing various social perspectives, and transitioning from a life of holding on to a life of progress. Bereaved parents experience psychological, physical, social pain for a long time, but gradually tried not to waste their children's death, forming new values and life goals. There is pressing need to devise sustained recovery strategies that account for distinct characteristics and needs of affected population groups.

'I felt alive': A qualitative study of inpatients' perspectives on good mental health nursing in South Korea.

Although mental health nurses continuously strive for patients' well-being, patients still experience inpatient care negatively. To identify an individual's actual, mental health nursing care needs and offers them optimal benefits during their hospital stay, determining what patients perceive as good nursing should be prioritized. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to understand good mental health nursing from the inpatients' perspective. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 13 patients admitted to a psychiatric ward in South Korea, and analysed using thematic analysis. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) guidelines were used to ensure transparency and rigour. The results revealed that patients experienced good mental health nursing when nurses respected their humanity, adopted a practical approach to solve problems pragmatically, and facilitated their recovery. These practices stem from mental health nurses' attitudes towards humanity based on individualized respect, professional ability to handle patients' individual needs, and offering patients hope and confidence for recovery and the future. Therefore, mental health nurses need to focus their efforts on these aspects of nursing attitudes and competencies to ensure that inpatients experience good mental health nursing.

Experience of adolescents in mental health inpatient units: A metasynthesis of qualitative evidence.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Inpatient treatment is often necessary due to the vulnerability of adolescents' mental health, and hospitalization rates are increasing. There are both positive and negative experiences related to adolescent inpatient treatment. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Inpatient ward environment and interactions with staff and peers are critical in adolescents' nursing care while undergoing inpatient treatment. Adolescents want their voice to be reflected in the treatment process, including within the discharge plan. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Mental health nurses should establish a therapeutic milieu for adolescents to feel stable and safe so that inpatient treatment can become a positive experience. Mental health nurses should apply a person-centred approach to adolescents so that adolescents can participate in decision-making during the inpatient treatment process. ABSTRACT: Introduction Mental health inpatient treatment is necessary and increasing in adolescents due to their mental health vulnerability. Few studies have comprehensively reviewed adolescents' hospitalization experience. Aim To gain an in-depth understanding of the mental health inpatient experience from adolescents' perspectives. Method Six electronic databases, manual searches and citation searches were completed for studies published within the last 10 years. Eight articles were included, and thematic analysis was used. The Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) checklist was applied to assess data quality. Results Three main themes were identified: Experiences of hospitalization, perceived outcomes and preparing for discharge. These themes included both positive and negative experiences. Discussion The environment and interactions within the ward were critical to adolescents' nursing care. Positive relationship experiences were important for adolescents to adapt well and consequently achieve beneficial inpatient treatment results. Additionally, adolescents wanted to participate in the decision-making process related to their treatment during hospitalization. Implications for Practice Mental health nurses have a responsibility to be sensitive to adolescents' mental health status during hospitalization and to understand the significance of providers' support in leading them to recovery. Nurses need to establish a more stable ward environment and form positive relationships through respect for adolescents' intentions.

Factors influencing mental health nurses in providing person-centered care.

BACKGROUND: Mental health nurses advocate for patients through a person-centered approach because they care for people experiencing mental distress who tend to be limited to exercising their human rights and autonomy through interpersonal relationships. Therefore, it is necessary to provide high-quality person-centered care for these patients by identifying the influencing factors. AIM: This study aims to identify the factors affecting mental health nurses in performing person-centered care for patients. RESEARCH DESIGN: This study had a cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational survey design. PARTICIPANTS AND METHOD: Nurses (N = 166) working at psychiatric wards in Korea completed an online questionnaire on moral sensitivity, attitudes toward people with mental illness, and person-centered care. The t-test and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the relevant ethics committee. FINDINGS: Moral sensitivity was a significant factor correlating with the provision and perception of person-centered care. Attitudes toward patients had no effect on person-centered care. The predictor variables for the provision of person-centered care (R2 = 0.247) were moral sensitivity (ß = 0.33), having a professional qualification (ß = 0.19), marital status (ß = 0.18), and closed ward (ß = -0.15). The predictor variables for the perception of person-centered (R2 = 0.150) care were closed ward (ß = -0.25), moral sensitivity (ß = 0.23), and marital status (ß = 0.18). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Mental health nurses can strengthen person-centered care by improving moral sensitivity related to the ethical aspect of nursing and professional competence to address the complex needs of patients. Person-centered care needs to be applied more carefully in closed wards where human rights issues may arise. Through these efforts, the dignity of patients can be protected.

Development of an analytical method for simultaneous detection of psychotropic phenylalkylamines in hair by LC-MS/MS with a multi-mode reversed-phase column using pH gradient elution.

Phenylalkylamine derivatives, such as methamphetamine (MA), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), phentermine, fenfluramine, phendimetrazine, amfepramone, and ketamine, are widely abused recreational or anorectic drugs in Korea, and their abuse has become a serious social problem. Hair is a useful specimen to prove chronic use and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has recently become a more popular tool for hair analysis due to sensitivity and simplicity in sample preparation. In order to overcome limitations of standard reversed-phase column to separate low molecular weight amines, we adopted a multi-mode reversed-phase column, Scherzo SS-C18, which was composed of strong ionic ligands and C18 ligands, and used pH gradient elution to separate seven psychotropic phenylalkylamines and their metabolites. The essential validation parameters including selectivity, LOD, LLOQ, linearity, intra- and inter-assay precision and accuracy, recovery, and the matrix effect were satisfactory. The LODs ranged from 0.1ng/5mg hair (diethylnorephedrine, fenfluramine, ketamine, and MA) to 0.5ng/5mg hair (amfepramone, MDA, phendimetrazine, and phentermine). The LLOQs were 1ng/5mg hair for all analytes. The developed method was successfully applied to determination of phenylalkylamines in authentic hair samples analyzed previously by a routine gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. A good correlation was observed between the two methods, with a slope near one.

Quantitative analysis of sildenafil and tadalafil in various fake drugs recently distributed in Korea.

Illicit distribution of various illicit or counterfeit drugs containing sildenafil and tadalafil has increased and caused noticeable problems in Korea. This study has been performed to determine the content range of sildenafil and tadalafil in various fake drugs. Among the illicit or counterfeit drugs seized by Korean authorities, 105 exhibits were used for the quantification. HPLC-UV analysis of methanol extractions was used for separation and quantitation of the two target compounds. The most abundant type of fake drug was counterfeit Viagra(®) tablets. Sildenafil was found in 73 exhibits, and tadalafil was found in seven exhibits. Twenty-five exhibits out of the 105 contained both sildenafil and tadalafil. The contents of sildenafil ranged from 4.3 to 453.2 mg; for tadalafil, the range was 2.2-40.4 mg. The proportion of cases of having more than 100 mg of sildenafil was 50% and 78% had more than 20 mg of tadalafil.

Determination of eperisone in human plasma by liquid chromatography-ESI-tandem mass spectrometry.

A sensitive and selective method for the determination of 4'-ethyl-3-methyl-3-piperidinopropiophenone hydrochloride (eperisone hydrochloride) in human plasma was developed and validated. The procedure employed an internal standard and a solvent extraction step followed by chromatography on a Xterra C18 minibore column. Detection was by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry with multiple reaction monitoring. The mass transitions of eperisone and tolperisone (IS) were m/z 260 --> 98 and m/z 246 --> 98, respectively. The method has a limit of detection of 0.1 pg/mL for eperisone based on the three times signal-to-noise value with a linear range from 0.01 to 10.0 ng/mL for the analyte. Extraction recovery was on average 98.6 +/- 7.2% (SD) for eperisone. The Intra- and inter-day assay accuracy ranged from 93 to 114% and precision (RSD) was better than 8.5%. The method was successfully employed to analyze plasma samples and evaluate pharmacokinetics of eperisone in healthy male volunteers.