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Purpose@# : Assertiveness is a crucial factor in patient safety, workplace violence, and work stress, and is associated with better interpersonal relationships in clinical settings. Despite its significance, a standardized assertiveness scale reflecting Korean healthcare culture is currently lacking. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the assertiveness scale for nurses (K-ASN). @*Methods@# : The survey was conducted with 250 nurses working in secondary and tertiary hospitals in Korea. The study examined content, criterion, and construct validity using exploratory factor analysis and also assessed internal consistency reliability. @*Results@# : The K-ASN consists of 22 items and 6 factors, namely self-denial, confrontation, dealing with criticism, positive assertion, spontaneity, and active assertion. The K-ASN demonstrated good content validity and a high criterion validity with the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) at .75. The internal consistency reliability was also satisfactory, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .80, and subscale reliability ranging from .52 to .87. @*Conclusion@# : The K-ASN is a reliable and valid assertiveness scale for nurses in Korea. The K-ASN can be a valuable tool to be used to assess the assertiveness of healthcare professionals which is associated with improvements in interpersonal relationships, patient safety, and health-related outcomes.
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Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to assess insomnia and the quality of sleep, investigate the concordance between objective and self-report sleep patterns, and identify physiological, psychological, and situational factors influencing insomnia and sleep quality among firefighters. @*Methods@#A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with 103 firefighters in Korea. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0. Descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, and hierarchical logistic regression analysis were performed. @*Results@#Insomnia was found in 66 (64.1 %) of the total subjects, and the average quality of sleep (PSQI) was 5.65 (SD=2.57). Total sleep time (401.00 minutes) and sleep latency (21.60 minutes) measured using self-reported scales were longer than the ones measured using objective measurements by approximately 48.70 and 17.10 minutes, respectively. Factors related to insomnia included the role as a paramedic (OR=4.28, 95% CI: 1.02~17.92), anxiety (OR=1.12, 95% CI: 1.01~1.24), and sedentary lifestyle (OR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.78~0.94), and factors related to sleep quality were physical illness status (OR=5.17, 95% CI: 1.53~17.51) and social support (OR=0.86, 95% CI: 0.78~0.95). @*Conclusion@#The results show a high prevalence of insomnia, poor quality of sleep and the discrepancy between objective and subjective sleep patterns among firefighters. To promote sleep quality and health, early screening and treatment of anxiety and physical illness are required. It is necessary to conduct further studies examining the relationship between physical activity level and sleep.
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Cutaneous lymphoma is rare in cats. An 11-year-old spayed female Persian cat presented with crust, ulceration, and multiple nodules on the shoulder and forelimb for 2 months. Computed tomography revealed a diffuse, irregularly margined lesion in the dorsal cutis extending from cervical to thoracic vertebrae. Cytological evaluation predominantly revealed large round cells with multilobulated nuclei and basophilic cytoplasm. Histopathological examination confirmed round CD3+/PAX5- cells packed in the dermis. Thus, the diagnosis of non-epitheliotropic cutaneous lymphoma with a diffuse large T-cell type was made. The disease progressed rapidly for the next 2 weeks, and the owner elected humane euthanasia.
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Feline hemotropic mycoplasmosis (hemoplasmosis) is an infection of the red blood cells caused by the Mycoplasma haemofelis (Mhf), Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum (CMhm), and Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis (CMt). The existence of Mhf, CMhm, and CMt has been demonstrated in feral cats in Korea using molecular methods, but no clinical cases have yet been reported. This study reports 2 clinical cases of hemotropic mycoplasmosis caused by CMhm and CMt in 2 anemic cats. The first case was a client-owned intact female domestic shorthair cat that presented with fever, pale mucous membranes, and normocytic normochromic non-regenerative anemia. Prior to referral, an immunosuppressive prednisolone dose was administered at the local veterinary clinic for 1 month. The cat was diagnosed with high-grade alimentary lymphoma. Organisms were found on the surface of the red blood cells on blood smear examination. The second case was of a rescued cat that presented with dehydration and fever. The cat had normocytic normochromic non-regenerative anemia. Necropsy revealed concurrent feline infectious peritonitis. Polymerase chain reaction assay targeting 16S rRNA revealed CMhm infection in case 1 and dual infection of CMhm and CMt in case 2. Normocytic normochromic non-regenerative anemia was observed in both cats before and during the management of the systemic inflammation. This is the first clinical case report in Korea to demonstrate CMhm and CMt infections in symptomatic cats.