Purpose: This study explored the lived experiences of young adults with schizophrenia through narrative inquiry. It focused on how developmental tasks intersect with illness experiences and their implications for recoveryoriented nursing practice. Methods: Three young adults aged 19-34 years diagnosed with schizophrenia were recruited from a community mental health center. Data were collected through seven to nine in-depth interviews and participant observations conducted between January and November 2018. The field texts comprised interview transcripts, research notes, recovery writings, symptom diaries, and creative works. Data were analyzed using Connelly and Clandinin’s narrative inquiry procedures. Results: Four themes were identified: (1) deprivation of warmth and trust, highlighting the need for trauma-informed care; (2) frustrated desires and the strength to endure, indicating the meaning embedded in symptoms; (3) youth disrupted by illness, reflecting thwarted developmental tasks; and (4) courage to live together, underscoring the power of relationships and support. Symptoms were treated as meaningful efforts to endure adversity, rather than purely pathological phenomena. Conclusion: A composite picture of the lives of young adults with schizophrenia emerged: as journeys of hopeful variations amid adversity. The findings underscore the need for trauma-informed and developmentally attuned care, multi-layered support systems, and narrative-based interventions to strengthen recovery-oriented nursing practice.

Purpose: This study examined the ensemble performance experiences of visually impaired musicians using narrative inquiry, focusing on their development of collaborative strategies, formation of musical identities, and construction of social meanings through ensemble activities. Methods: Using Clandinin and Connelly's three-dimensional framework of narrative inquiry (temporality, place, and sociality), nine in-depth interviews were conducted. Three visually impaired musicians, all members of a professional arts ensemble, each participated in three interviews. The interview data were transcribed and analyzed resulting in four analytical units, ten categories, and 23 subcategories. Results: The findings showed that visually impaired musicians’ ensemble experiences followed a cyclical narrative structure: constraint ⟶ adjustment ⟶ recognition ⟶ expansion. During the constraint phase, participants encountered structural and psychological barriers, such as self-perception of disability, limited stage accessibility, and challenges with Braille score learning. In the adjustment phase, they redefined ensemble norms using auditory cues, tactile embodiment, and mutual care, developing collaborative strategies. that did not rely on vision. In the recognition phase, participants reaffirmed their identities as musicians through validation from stages, audiences, colleagues, and family. In the expansion phase, they became leaders and mentors, extending their artistic practice to social influence. Collaborative strategies-including reliance on breath sounds, footsteps, verbal cues, and tactile sensing of body curves-showed that ensemble performance is achievable through various sensory channels beyond visual input. Conclusion: These results showed that the ensemble performance experiences of visually impaired musicians extend beyond musical activity, serving as a process of identity, reconstruction, social recognition, and engagement in public practice. By linking Small's musicking theory with McRuer's crip theory, this study found that the collaborative methods developed by visually impaired musicians through auditory and tactile senses are not simply compensations for vision, but a redefinition of ensemble music practice that generates new social relationships and meanings. These findings indicated a paradigm shift in viewing disability-related difference as a source of creativity and innovation, rather than as a deficit. The study presented specific policy recommendations for improving accessibility, such as modifying steep staircases in performance venues, expanding waiting rooms, permitting wireless receiver use, and providing waiting areas for guide personnel. Academically, it expanded ensemble research beyond a visual-centric perspective and offered methodological insights for narrative inquiry with disabled populations. Practically, the collaborative strategies identified can inform the design of ensemble education programs for visually impaired learners. Socially, by documenting the experiences of disabled musicians, through narrative, the study contributed to changing perceptions of disability and promoting genuinely inclusive cultural and artistic environments.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the experiences of nurses who worked with substitute nurses and to identify the essence and structure of these experiences. Methods: Fourteen nurses from three tertiary hospitals in Seoul, each operating an independent a substitute nurse system, participated. Data were collected through individual interviews conducted from January 10 to February 22, 2025. Data analysis was performed using Colaizzi’s phenomenological method. Results: The study's results were organized into 35 themes, 13 theme clusters, and 5 categories: ‘‘The inescapable nature of shift work without a substitute’’, ‘‘Various perspectives on the introduction of substitute nurses’’, ‘‘Positive changes brought by substitute nurses’’, ‘‘Limitations of substitute workforce operation and the gap with actual practice’’, and ‘‘The supplementation and expansion of staff nurse system are essential’’. Conclusion: The substitute nurse system effectively reduced care gaps and staff nurse burden, however, it also exposed significant challenges, including staffing shortages and insufficient preparation for substitute nurses. Participants emphasized the need for system improvements, such as increasing substitute nurses numbers, strengthening pre-deployment training, and adopting more flexible staffing models. Despite these challenges, participants expressed optimism about the system's potential to improve nurse well-being, enhance patient care quality, and support organizational development. This study provides essential data on nurses’ experiences with substitute nurses in tertiary hospitals, which can inform strategies for effective implementation and sustainability of the substitute nurse system in clinical practice, supporting its successful integration and long-term benefits for both nurses and patients.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to gain insight into the experiences of nurses who provided care for patients with COVID-19 in residential treatment centers (RTCs) during the pandemic. Methods: This study adopted qualitative methodology and conducted in-depth interviews with seven nurses from three residential treatment centers between July 11 and August 27, 2022. Inductive content analysis was employed, which consisted of data understanding, open coding, grouping, categorization, and abstraction. Results: Three themes and eleven subthemes were extracted from the data. The themes identified were "A struggle from beginning to end," "Unexpected challenges," and "Insecure system like a house built on sand." Nurses encountered difficulties in all aspects of the center's operations. Frequently, they were required to perform tasks outside of their responsibilities. During this process, nurses encountered difficulties due to unexpected challenges. Conclusion: Nurses encountered significant challenges in providing care to patients in an under-resourced and disorganized environment. They were compelled to assume diverse responsibilities for managing the center owing to the lack of clear protocols and guidelines and frequent changes. Unlike nurses in hospitals, nurses in RTCs spend a greater proportion of their time on non-medical issues, which can lead to emotional exhaustion. Based on these findings, it is imperative to establish clear guidelines and protocols to effectively run residential treatment centers in the future.

Purpose: This study interprets how infection control nurses (ICNs) experienced and understood administrative support during infection-prevention activities, and to clarify how this support influenced their practice, well-being, and professional identity in post-pandemic clinical settings. Methods: This qualitative study used interpretative phenomenological analysis. Through purposive and snowball sampling, six ICNs from tertiary and general hospitals in Korea, each with at least 3 years of ICN experience and direct involvement in the COVID-19 response, participated in two semi-structured, in-depth interviews between August 20 and September 3, 2025. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed first idiographically, then across cases, following Smith’s procedures. Reflexive notes and an audit trail ensured analytic rigor. Results: Analysis identified six interrelated themes, expressed in participants’ terms and specific work contexts. First, the realities and challenges of infection-prevention practice reflected ongoing workload pressure, delayed outcome visibility, and crisis-driven surges that caused moral strain. Second, meanings and experiences of managerial support indicated that support was genuine when leaders listened, made prompt decisions, and backed ICN judgments; its absence led to isolation and role fatigue. Third, the operation of resources and institutional arrangements showed that staffing, budgets, equipment, and clear decision pathways either enabled or limited timely, consistent action. Fourth, organizational culture and interprofessional barriers revealed that hierarchical norms, siloed routines, and skepticism hindered cooperation, while open, learning-oriented environments supported the adoption of precautions. Fifth, emotional turbulence and professional identity highlighted tensions between enforcement and caregiving roles, which undermined self-efficacy; recognition and small practice successes restored pride in the specialized role. Finally, conditions for recovery and change emphasized that practical support and formal acknowledgment-along with after-action reviews, protocol updates, cross-disciplinary drills, and aligned incentives-helped transform individual learning into resilient, sustainable organizational capability. Conclusion: For ICNs, administrative support extends beyond resources by providing authority, psychological safety, and feasibility for infection-prevention efforts. To maintain prevention measures beyond crises, hospitals should ensure governance structures, rapid decision-making channels, stable staffing and budgets, and regular debriefings with protocol updates. Connecting infection-control performance to recognition and professional development may reduce burnout, strengthen professional identity, and enhance patient safety.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the status of medication errors by nurses using patient safety incident reports and to gain a detailed understanding of nurses' experiences with medication errors. Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used, combining a retrospective analysis of 204 patient safety incident reports on nurses’ medication errors with a qualitative study that explored the experiences of eight nurses through thematic analysis. Results: Most of the medication errors occurred during day shifts in intensive and trauma intensive care units. Injectable drugs accounted for 37.7% of errors, with dosage errors being most frequent. Although 67.6% of incidents resulted in no adverse effects, 65.7% were classified as adverse events, and 89.2% of predicted outcomes indicated potential physical harm to patients. Qualitative analysis of interviews yielded 36 meaningful statements, organized into 11 sub-themes and 3 main themes: (1) the whirlwind of negative emotions caused by medication errors, (2) obstacles in the clinical environment hindering adherence to medication principles, and (3) insights and reflections gained from medication error experiences. Conclusion: Organizations can prevent medication errors by improving workload distribution, ensuring safe environments, addressing staffing shortages, promoting a patient safety culture, and providing psychological support for affected nurses to improve their mental health and productivity.

Purpose: This study aimed to provide a detailed understanding of nurses’ experiences with fall management in wards equipped with a video-based fall detection system. Methods: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 nurses from an integrated nursing care ward at K Hospital in City C, where the system had been implemented. The interviews focused on nurses’ actual experiences and reflections regarding fall management. Data were systematically analyzed using Hsieh and Shannon’s conventional content analysis, which identified meaningful categories and themes. Results: The analysis identified six themes and 15 subthemes. The main themes were: Context of falls and limitations in management falls occurred through interactions between patient behaviors and environmental factors, while current assessment and management systems did not adequately address these complexities. Need for structured response processes after introducing video-based fall detection although video-based systems were implemented, fall recognition and responses remained experience-based and situation-dependent, highlighting the need for standardized, systematic procedures. Perceived limitations of video-based fall detection systems the system presented challenges such as delayed and false alarms, which reduced real-time responsiveness and affected clinical reliability. Practical benefits of video-based fall management and changes in nursing practice video verification improved the objectivity and accuracy of fall reporting, enhancing the consistency and systematization of nursing practice. Strategies for system use according to ward environment tailored use of the system based on ward characteristics and patient composition was suggested to optimize monitoring efficiency and fall prevention. Future directions for improved fall management strategies to enhance patient and caregiver awareness through video-based education and to improve ward environments were proposed as approaches for developing a preventive, smart-care model. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate future directions and challenges for technology-based nursing practice in fall management, highlighting the need to develop new assessment frameworks, as well as educational and research strategies that reflect nurses’ experiences in diverse contexts, given the practical changes introduced by the video-based fall detection system and the limitations of current assessment tools.

Purpose: Following to the government's announcement of the "Essential healthcare policy package" and its plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 beginning in 2025 to address workforce shortages, a healthcare policy conflict occurred, causing significant disruptions in medical services. This study aimed to identify the nurses’ care experiences in the changed healthcare environment, particularly one year after the healthcare policy conflict. Methods: This study used a qualitative approach with content analysis. Data were collected through focus group interviews with 19 nurses from tertiary general hospitals who could provide detailed accounts of their patient care experiences in the changed healthcare environment following the healthcare policy conflict. The main question was, "What changes have occurred in the nursing field since the healthcare policy conflict?" The specific objective was to examine the challenges nurses faced in providing patient care during the healthcare policy conflict and to identify their effects on nursing practice. Results: Five main themes and 17 subthemes were identified. The themes were: (1) changing in the nursing practice environment due to healthcare policy conflict, (2) challenges in the healthcare setting caused by the absence of medical residents, (3) adaptation of the healthcare environment to change, (4) changes resulting from the expansion of tasks and deployment of medical support nursing workforce, and (5) the present and future of the healthcare setting one year after the healthcare policy conflict. Conclusion: This study found that the absence of residents during healthcare policy conflict increased inurses’ medical support tasks and challenges, including communication issues. Over time, the healthcare setting adapted, with faster prescription processes, higher patient satisfaction, and improved quality of care due to the involvement of the medical support nursing workforce. Nursing duties expanded beyond their traditional scope to address care gaps resulting from healthcare policy conflict. Additionally, medical support tasks such as prescriptions and procedures, previously performed in legal gray areas, were shown to be feasible within a formal legal framework. Defining the roles of newly assigned medical support nursing workforce and providing support is necessary. Based on these findings, future research should examine nursing workforce management, task allocation after residents’ return, and nurses’ experiences in both general and specialized units.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore, in depth, the changes in nurses’ perceptions and organizational culture following repeated experiences with healthcare accreditation. Methods: A qualitative content analysis design was employed to explore nurses’ perceptions of healthcare accreditation. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 nurses from a spine and joint specialty hospital in Seoul who had experienced both the third and fourth accreditation cycles. Data were collected from July 9 to July 30, 2025. To enhance analytical depth, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework was adopted as an interpretive lens, encompassing four perspectives: financial, customer, internal process, and learning and growth. Results: Twenty themes were identified and organized into four thematic clusters aligned with the BSC framework (1) ‘The Hospital’s Reputation built on Nurses Burnout’, (2) ‘The Gap between Accreditation Standards and Clinical Realities’, (3) ‘The Need for Process Improvement and Link between Accreditation and Practice’, (4) ‘Fostering a Collaborative Culture and Strengthening Leadership Competence’ Conclusion: From the BSC perspective, healthcare accreditation positively influenced clinical standardization (internal process), hospital reputation (customer), and professional development (learning and growth), but imposed significant resource imbalances (financial) on frontline nurses. To enhance future accreditation effectiveness, policies should establish fair compensation and support systems, apply flexible evaluation criteria reflecting hospital size and resources, and integrate patient and staff satisfaction indicators into the evaluation framework.

Purpose: This study was intended to explore in depth the life experiences of divorced single mothers through a narrative inquiry. Methods: Data were collected through in-depth interviews with three divorced single mothers between October 2017 and May 2018. The data were reconstructed into research texts according to the narrative inquiry procedure suggested by Clandinin and Connelly (2000). Results: The meanings divorced single mothers attached to their life experiences were classified into five themes: “Standing in the mire of chaos: Becoming a single parent,” “Like a roly-poly doll! Rising as a mother and breadwinner,” “Consoling myself alone: Casting spells to survive,” “Passing through the tunnel: Interpreting the meaning of divorce for myself and my children,” and “You are me, I am you: Expanding consciousness through narrative inquiry.” Conclusion: This study can be used in nursing practice to broaden understanding of divorced single mothers, foster sensitivity to their stories, and develop nursing intervention strategies to empower and support them.

Purpose: This study examines the evolution of the wording and values of the Nightingale Pledge across different eras and contexts, clarifies its current relevance for nursing ethics and education, and analyzes changes in core principles-nonmaleficence, beneficence, respect for autonomy, dignity, justice, and social responsibility-in the United States, United Kingdom, and Korea. Methods: We conducted a scoping review-based narrative integrative review of primary Pledge texts (original versions, official revisions, and authorized translations) and secondary scholarship in English and Korean. We retrieved sources from PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, RISS, KISS, DBpia, and official repositories of professional associations and archives. The review covered the period from 1893 to March 31, 2025, with active retrieval from January 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025. Predefined criteria guided both title/abstract and full-text screening. We used standardized extraction to record text structure, key clauses, adoption and revision contexts, educational and ceremonial uses, and principle-level mappings. We interpreted value diffusion qualitatively using a logistic-curve framework (formative → professionalization → transformation). Results: The review identified 108 records, reduced to 96 after deduplication, with 55 full-text assessments and 37 included studies. These comprised core primary sources including the 1893 original and a major 1935 revision, as well as comparative and ethical analyses. Language trends indicated a shift from obedience and character norms to explicit professional responsibility, confidentiality, patient rights, equity, accountability, and public trust. Although cross-national expressions varied, they converged on shared principles such as dignity, nonmaleficence, justice, and professionalism. In the current “transformation” phase, Pledge language interacts with codes, curricula, and institutional policy, and now extends to digital and AI ethics, including privacy, explainability, fairness, and responsibility. Conclusion: The Pledge serves not as a rigid rule but as a dynamic means of translating broad ethical principles into a practical, public commitment consistent with professional practice and education. A historically informed approach supports maintaining stable core principles while periodically updating language and teaching methods to reflect local contexts and new areas, such as AI-mediated care. This approach guides context-sensitive renewal of ethics education and organizational policy linked to the Pledge.