Purpose: In this study, we developed an integrated simulation practicum and investigated the effectiveness of the practicum for senior nursing students. Methods: Sixty-seven senior nursing students from a university were enrolled in this study and assigned into two groups: experimental (n = 31) and control (n = 36). We developed and applied a 60-hour integrated simulation practicum that spans a 3-week period. The control group performed a traditional clinical practicum. The outcome measures were critical thinking disposition, clinical competence, and practicum satisfaction and the data were analyzed using the SPSS 23.0 software. Results: After the intervention, both experimental and control groups showed significant improvement in critical thinking disposition (p = .017) and clinical competence (p < .001) compared to those of the baseline. Regarding practicum satisfaction, the experimental group showed significantly higher satisfaction than the control group (p = .003). Conclusion: The integrated simulation practicum was an effective program that improved critical thinking, clinical competence, and practicum satisfaction in senior nursing students. To effectively improve critical thinking and acquire clinical competence, which are essential for prospective nurses, nursing students should be exposed more to simulation practicum that reflect environments similar to actual clinical settings for various patients with complex health problems.

This study aimed to investigate antioxidant activities from 11 forest plants, and determine their total phenolics, flavonoids and proantocyanidins contents. In addition, the antioxidant activities were correlated with antioxidant compounds. Among the samples, Cornus officinalis, Castanea crenata, Lindera erythrocarpa, Carpinus laxiflora and Pourthiaea villosa showed significantly higher 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (IC50=21.12~28.93 μg/mL) and 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothia zoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) (IC50=28.18~52.55 μg/mL) radical scavenging ability with reducing power (IC50=59.91~93.64 μg/mL) than other plants; and C. crenata, L. erythrocarpa and Rubus coreanus showed strong nitric oxide (NO) inhibition activity (≥60%). In addition, L. erythrocarpa, C. laxiflora and P. villosa showed higher oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values (≥1,100 μM TE/g sample) than other samples. High total phenolic contents were observed in C. crenata (429.11 mg GAE/g), L. erythrocarpa (437.11 mg GAE/g), C. laxiflora (408.67 mg GAE/g) and P. villosa (404.11 mg GAE/g). The DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity with reducing power were significantly correlated with total phenolic contents (R2=0.71~0.79), but total phenolic contents were not correlated with NO inhibition and ORAC (R2=0.35~0.43). Therefore, these results suggested that C. officinalis, C. crenata, L. erythrocarpa, C. laxiflora and P. villosa are potential natural antioxidative candidate ingredients.