2023, Vol.26, No.3

Korean Journal of Medical Ethics 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.21

pISSN : 2005-8284 / eISSN : 2234-3598
https://journal.kci.go.kr/medethics

This scoping review examines the “System for Decisions to Forgo Life-Sustaining Treatment” in Korea from 2018 to 2022 and is based on an analysis of 285 research studies, published in either domestic or international journals. Of the articles examined, 164 (57.5%) focused on issues related to health science, while 121 (42.5%) addressed ethical and legal aspects of the system. Articles in the former category of health science focused on advance care plans, contemplation on death, decision-making, end-of-life care, biomedical ethics, and psychosocial factors. Articles in the latter category of the ethical and legal aspects of the system focused on legal challenges, the right to self-determination, death with dignity, surrogate decision-making, contemplation of death, biomedical ethics, and legal frameworks. To ensure the system’s stable integration into society during this transitional period, it is crucial to continuously assess its operation in clinical settings. Efforts to establish a societal consensus on dignified end-of-life experiences and to conduct future multidisciplinary research should persist.

This article reports on a scoping review that was designed to identify research trends and contents related to End-Of- Life care guidelines in education programs for nurses working in intensive care units. Following the methodology of Arksey and O’Malley, we conducted a scoping review of articles published (in either English or Korean) within the last 10 years that focus on educational interventions for critical care nurses concerning End-Of-Life care. The following domains were abstracted from the collected data: study design, program details, program evaluation, and results. A total 15 studies were extracted and reviewed. The predominant educational approach in these studies was competency enhancement education. The teaching methods employed included lectures, demonstrations, simulations, role-play, workshops, discussions, mentoring, and online training. Most of the educational program evaluations measured changes in knowledge, attitude, or confidence levels related to various aspects of End-Of- Life care, including communication with patients, legal considerations, ethical decision-making, and symptoms management. This study suggests that educational interventions can improve the End-Of-Life care provided by critical care nurses, and future research should target programs aimed at enhancing the relevant skills and competencies of these nurses.

Professionalism, which encompasses competencies, ethics, and societal expectations, is an essential feature of modern medical practice. For nurses, practical education in clinical settings, including the operating room, can foster professionalism by demonstrating the importance of patient safety, ethics, and collaboration. This article reports on a study that investigated nursing students’ learning journey and perceptions of professionalism during an operating room practicum. This qualitative descriptive study, which used Bengtsson (content analysis, analyzed 202 selfreflective reports written by junior students at a nursing college in one city in South Korea between 2021 and 2022. The analysis yielded 50 key meanings and 10 sub-categories and identified the following three categories: “Perceptions of a collaborative operating room care environment,” “Observations on nurses as advocates for surgical patients,” and “Challenges to professionalism and growth as future perioperative nurses.” The results of the study indicate that the operating room practicum offered more than clinical exposure; it also fostered professional growth and shaped ethical values. On the basis of these findings we suggest that practical education in the operating should be integrated with ethics education to enhance skills, cultivate professional awareness, and promote professionalism in nursing.