Emotional Intelligence and Work Perceptions Among Nurse Managers

[Background] Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to a person’s ability to acknowledge the feelings of oneself and others, and to control those feelings so as to behave in a socially acceptable manner. We investigated the relationships between the characteristics of EI among nurse managers, and their perceptions of how much their position’s roles and responsibilities can be delegated to other staff members. [Methods] We surveyed 150 nurse managers working at 30 hospitals by using an anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of basic attributes, EI and work perception. The emotional intelligence scale (EQS) domain scores were analyzed by means of one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance. EQS scores were compared with corresponding averages for working adults in the instructions. The perceived importance of duties of nurse managers was compared between the resulting EQS scores ‘High’ and ‘Low’ groups. [Results] The analysis population consisted of 105 nurse managers. Their EQS scored higher in all three domains, and with the exception of Altruism for all factor scores than the average for working adults. The perceived importance of the typical duties of nurse managers were compared between the High and Low groups for each EQS domain. Significant differences were observed between nurse managers with High and Low Intrapersonal emotional quotient (EQ) on four tasks. No significant differences were found for any of the responsibilities when nurse managers with High and Low Interpersonal EQ or Situational EQ were compared. [Conclusion] The nurse managers’ average EQS scores were higher in all areas. The high scores that were exhibited by could be considered desirable qualities for nurse managers. It seemed nurse managers with high scores in intrapersonal EQ struck a good balance between placing importance on EI considerations like managing relationships and creating a comfortable workplace, and management and leadership behaviors like department management and operations and data management

看護学生の情動知能特性と心の健康との関連

本研究は、看護学生の情動知能特性と主観的幸福感（「心の健康度」「心の疲労度」）を測定した。その結果、対象者の情動知能特性は、社会人平均値と比較して対人対応得点が高かった。また、概ね心の健康度が高く、心身ともにあまり疲労していない者が多かった。さらに、主観的幸福感と情動知能の関連について調べたところ、「心の健康度」は「自己対応」、「対人対応」、「状況対応」に関連し、「心の疲労度」は「自己対応」、「状況対応」に関連しているが、「対人対応」には関連していなかった。対象学生は、対人関係を適切に維持する能力に恵まれている。一方で、青年期に直面しやすい葛藤や、人間関係の不安を抱えていることが示唆された

看護学科における男女学生の情動知能特性の検討

本研究は、情動知能尺度EQS（エクス）を用いて、看護学生の情動知能特性を調べた。その結果、対象者全体の情動知能特性として、対人対応得点が高いという結果が得られた。また、ほぼ全ての項目で社会人平均値よりも高い結果が得られた。特に、「共感性」、「愛他心」、「対人コントロール」、「喜びの共感」、「悩みの共感」、「配慮」、「人づきあい」、「協力」、「気配り」の項目が高い傾向にあった。一方、「リーダーシップ」は社会人平均値とほぼ同じくらいであった。性差の検討をしたところ、「人づきあい」、「適応性」について男性の方が女性よりも得点が高いことが明らかになった

専攻別比較からみた看護学生の情動知能特性

本研究では、看護学生の情動知能の特性を明らかにするため、文系学生、理系学生と比較した。その結果、看護学生が文系学生、理系学生よりも「対人対応」、「共感性」、「愛他心」の得点が高かった。「自己洞察」、「状況洞察」では文系学生の方が理系学生よりも有意に得点が高かった。「対人コントロール」では、看護学生は理系学生よりも有意に得点が高かった。これらの結果から、EQS得点の差は性差の影響というよりむしろ、専攻による影響と考えられる。また、性差が認められた因子は「対人コントロール」であり、男性の方が女性よりも有意に得点が高かった

Molecular typing of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolated in Okayama Prefecture using pulsed field gel electrophoresis and random amplification of polymorphic DNA.

Three outbreaks and many isolated cases of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 occurred in 1996 and 1997 in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. In an attempt to investigate the route of these infections, the strains isolated from the 3 outbreaks (total 33 strains) and 15 isolated cases (total 15 strains) were investigated using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). In addition, 10 strains from an outbreak in Tojo Cho, Hiroshima Prefecture (June 1996), 2 strains from the particular types of meat in Kochi Prefecture, and 42 strains isolated from bovine feces in a farm in Okayama Prefecture were also investigated in the same manner. PFGE was much more useful than RAPD for molecular typing of the clinical isolates, in that it allowed us to classify them into 10 PFGE groups. We noted that the strains differed according to the time and place of the outbreaks (or isolated cases). This indicates that O157:H7 infections in Okayama Prefecture were caused by different strains (although some cases were aggravated by the same strains as were found in other areas). The isolates from bovine feces were classified into 5 groups by PFGE profiles, but none of them were identical to those of the clinical isolates.</p

Role of Sphingomyelinase in Infectious Diseases Caused by Bacillus cereus

Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) is a pathogen in opportunistic infections. Here we show that Bacillus cereus sphingomyelinase (Bc-SMase) is a virulence factor for septicemia. Clinical isolates produced large amounts of Bc-SMase, grew in vivo, and caused death among mice, but ATCC strains isolated from soil did not. A transformant of the ATCC strain carrying a recombinant plasmid containing the Bc-SMase gene grew in vivo, but that with the gene for E53A, which has little enzymatic activity, did not. Administration of an anti-Bc-SMase antibody and immunization against Bc-SMase prevented death caused by the clinical isolates, showing that Bc-SMase plays an important role in the diseases caused by B. cereus. Treatment of mouse macrophages with Bc-SMase resulted in a reduction in the generation of H2O2 and phagocytosis of macrophages induced by peptidoglycan (PGN), but no effect on the release of TNF-α and little release of LDH under our experimental conditions. Confocal laser microscopy showed that the treatment of mouse macrophages with Bc-SMase resulted in the formation of ceramide-rich domains. A photobleaching analysis suggested that the cells treated with Bc-SMase exhibited a reduction in membrane fluidity. The results suggest that Bc-SMase is essential for the hydrolysis of SM in membranes, leading to a reduction in phagocytosis

韓国における看護師の教育制度の変遷と現状

本研究では、わが国の社会保障制度を参考にし、社会保障制度が成立しているため医療制度に類似点が多く、北東アジアの国として社会的背景が近い韓国に着目し、わが国の看護教育や看護職の資質向上への取り組みを考える一助とするため、文献研究により、韓国の概要・衛生指標、健康保険制度、医療システム、看護教育、看護職種、韓国における看護師の教育制度の変遷と現状などを調査した。その結果、韓国は、戦後、米国の医療制度や看護教育体制を取り入れ、4年制看護大学や修士課程、博士課程を設置し、積極的に米国に教育研究者を派遣するなど先駆的な教育制度を導入していることが明らかになった