Purpose: The aim of this study investigated the transition experience of novice nurses working in a tertiary hospital, focusing on the difference between nursing school education and clinical nursing practice. Methods: The data were collected through an unstructured, in-depth interview with 14 recently employed nurses from October 2020 to January 2021. The data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. Results: The main theme of the transition experience perceived by new graduate nurses was confirmed as ‘reality shock’. In the process of identifying the main themes, five categories, sixteen sub- categories, and sixty-two concepts were derived. The five categories were, ‘Clinical field different from school education setting’, ‘Nursing school education in need of change’, ‘Strengths and limitations of clinical training in schools and hospitals’, ‘Difficulty in establishing relationships and communicating’, and ‘struggling to stand alone’. Conclusion: To minimize the reality shock experienced by novice nurses, nursing schools should innovate their traditional teaching methods based on the changing characteristics of the novice nurses and the clinical environment. In nursing practice, hospitals should grant more time to the nurses for adaptation and diversify mentoring programs comparable to internships for novice nurses.

Purpose: This study aimed to understand nurses' experiences of team effectiveness in nursing units. Methods: Data were collected from May 2 to June 8, 2018 through in-depth interviews with ten nurses who worked at a university hospital and subsequently analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis method. Results: Four themes - ‘the leadership of the head nurse that determines the success or failure of the nursing unit’, ‘a special work environment in which shift work is predominant,’ ‘the competency of individual nurses is essential for team effectiveness’, and 'creating a desirable nursing organizational culture’. - emerged, along with 15 sub-themes. Conclusion: The findings provide valuable information on hospital nurses' experiences with team effectiveness in nursing units in both universal and unique Korean hospital environments. Nursing and hospital managers should be aware of team effectiveness in nursing units to achieve organizational goals.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify and understand the experience of entering graduate school in an advanced practice nursing program in the COVID-19 situation. Methods: This qualitative study used content analysis. The data collection using the focus group and in-depth interviews was conducted from February 11 to September 2, 2022. Results: Six themes and 27 subthemes emerged through the qualitative content analysis. The themes included: “Graduate school: The next step”. “Concerns prior to attending grauate school”, “Learning in the COVID-19 era: Differences between expectations and reality”, “Overcoming the challenges of graduate school”, “Education: A stepping stone to becoming a specialist”, “Changes in self and others’ perceptions”. Conclusion: This study confirmed the growth and change of nurses through the experience of entering an advanced practice nursing program in the COVID-19 era.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore university students’ experiences of participating in online classes during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: A survey was conducted with 169 third- and fourth-year students at five universities in W City from May 5 to 22, 2021 through an online survey platform. Qualitative data were collected from 13 third- and fourth-year students at five universities in the same area through three focus group interviews between May 22 and 25 and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Results: The experience of online classes was rated in the following order: live lectures (92.9%) and recorded lectures (73.4%). Satisfaction with online classes was rated for recorded lectures, which were scored 3.54±1.05 (out of five), and live lectures, which were scored 3.32±1.02. Lack of interaction with faculty (37.9%) and lack of participating practicum (30.8%) were cited as dissatisfaction factors in online classes. From the qualitative data, five sub-themes were identified: “not being respected in one’s learning”, “increased burden of learning in a situation of poor communication,” “it's not that I hate online classes”, “efforts to improve the loose will and attitude toward classes”, “reduced quality of experience and uncertain future”. These sub-themes were abstracted under the theme of “everyday life of learning alone toward an uncertain future”. Conclusion: To ensure more effective online learning, it is necessary to strengthen the interaction between faculty and students, apply online teaching strategies suitable for class objectives, and support various programs to motivate students for self-directed learning.

Purpose: This qualitative study aimed to understand and describe teachers' experiences of early childhood sex education. Methods: For data collection, in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 early childhood teachers working at daycare centers until the data were saturated. Recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim. The data were analyzed using the qualitative thematic analysis method suggested by Braun and Clarke. Results: Although early childhood teachers recognized the necessity of sex education for children, they experienced difficulties in imparting sex education in daycare centers. Teachers lacked confidence because they themselves had not received proper education related to teaching sex education. It was confirmed that sex education methods and materials were lacking and outdated, and the support of educational institutions was insufficient. Teachers emphasized the importance of communication and cooperation with parents when sexual behavior problems occur in children. Conclusion: Systematic education for teachers and parents is required to raise awareness of sex education and to communicate smoothly among them.

Purpose: This study aimed to understand the essential meanings of suicidal ideation experienced by college student clients. Methods: Data were collected using interviews and observations from six college student clients who had experienced suicidal ideation for approximately six months from January 2021 to June 2021. This study adopted van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological method of qualitative research. Results: The results derived 24 sub-themes and seven essential themes, the latter being: ‘feeling like a person with serious defects’, ‘wounds of the past haunting the mind’, ‘indulging in the marsh of depression’, ‘two minds that want to be close and distanced’, ‘wanting to live, but feeling like there's nothing else but death’, ‘living everyday life with a slender will’, and ‘realization of myself being a good person’. I understood that college student clients’ suicidal ideation was a natural phenomenon, not pathological. Conclusion: The essence of college student clients’ suicidal ideation is the confession of painful minds and because they think that they are flawed.

Purpose: This study aimed to understand the core concept of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) psychotherapy through the experience of psychotherapists by presenting an in-depth analysis of the formation and change process of their irrational beliefs. Methods: Data were collected through in-depth interviews with four REBT counselors selected through an intentional sampling process, and then analyzed and interpreted through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: After an in-depth analysis of the meaningful statements of the study participants, six themes and fifteen sub-themes were extracted. The six themes were ‘self-hindering thoughts’, ‘environments that amplify irrational beliefs’, ‘war and struggle for the self’, ‘realization of life strategies’, ‘my big self (I) that consists of countless smaller selves (i)’, and ‘life is a continuous self-therapy’. Conclusion: The results showed that REBT psychotherapists form their irrational beliefs through the overall evaluations of justification, exaggeration, and people that arise from important interactions with others, including their parents, and further reinforce these beliefs through internal and external compensation. These irrational beliefs led to evaluative judgment and self-discrepancy and negatively influenced the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects as well as their presence. These irrational beliefs internalized and transformed the rational beliefs that were confirmed through a debate on the separation between problems and people and, distancing, repeated self-talks, expanded from self-acceptance to others, and persisted through self-treatment methods