This study aimed to determine the effects of virtual reality (VR)-based meditation on the sleep quality, stress, and autonomic nervous system balance of nursing students. Nursing students were categorized into experimental groups I (VR-based meditation) and II (concentration meditation) and a control group. Before the study’s initiation, we measured the participants’ general characteristics, and a sleep measurement device was used to measure sleep quality. Stress levels and heart rate variability were measured before and after study completion. On the first day, all three groups slept without any intervention. On days 2–6, only experimental groups I and II implemented the intervention before sleeping. We found that the subjective sleep quality, wakefulness after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, deep sleep quality, subjective stress, objective stress, and autonomic nervous system balance of the VR meditation group were significantly better than those of the other groups. Our results reveal that the participants who underwent VR-based meditation experienced better sleep quality, lower stress levels, and improved autonomic nervous system balance compared with those in the concentration meditation and control groups. Thus, VR-based meditation effectively enhances sleep quality, lowers stress levels, and improves autonomic nervous system balance in nursing students.

Semiconducting piezoelectric materials have attracted considerable interest due to their central role in the emerging field of piezotronics, where the development of a piezo-potential in response to stress or strain can be used to tune the band structure of the semiconductor, and hence its electronic properties. This coupling between piezoelectricity and semiconducting properties can be readily exploited for force or pressure sensing using nanowires, where the geometry and unclamped nature of nanowires render them particularly sensitive to small forces. At the same time, piezoelectricity is known to manifest more strongly in nanowires of certain semiconductors. Here, we report the design and fabrication of highly sensitive piezotronic pressure sensors based on GaAs nanowire ensemble sandwiched between two electrodes in a back-to-back diode configuration. We analyse the current–voltage characteristics of these nanowire-based devices in response to mechanical loading in light of the corresponding changes to the device band structure. We observe a high piezotronic sensitivity to pressure, of ~7800 meV MPa⁻¹. We attribute this high sensitivity to the nanowires being fully depleted due to the lack of doping, as well as due to geometrical pressure focusing and current funnelling through polar interfaces.

Nurses in South Korea experience high work intensity and poor working environments, which worsened during the COVID‐19 pandemic. This study aimed to evaluate the work changes and grievances of nurses who provided direct care for patients at tertiary hospitals during the pandemic. The nurses’ perceptions of their organizational culture and its impact on nurses’ health were also explored. A three‐round Delphi study was conducted with 36 expert group participants from six South Korean tertiary hospitals. Overall, 36, 35, and 33 participants responded in the first, second, and third rounds, respectively. Nursing work was divided into three categories: “work related to COVID‐19‐positive and close contacts,” “work related to COVID‐19 negative patients,” and “work related to common nursing tasks.” Organizational culture had the highest average for “increased compliance,” followed by “increased conflict,” “decreased collegiality,” and “growing sense of community.” The identified health problems of nurses during the pandemic were the highest for physical health, followed by mental and social health. These results showed that the workload and work intensity of hospital nurses increased significantly, and their physical, mental, and social health deteriorated during the pandemic. To overcome the crisis, the nursing organizational culture had a strong inclination to comply with the COVID‐19‐related guidelines with an increased sense of community. As conflicts between employees and departments grew, these were able to be overcome through trust and communication between departments, in which the nursing leadership played an important role. To protect the health and lives of people, it is important to secure skilled nurses in preparation for future disasters. In addition, support is needed to protect the safety and health of nurses and to cultivate effective nursing leadership.

Purpose: It is important to reduce stress and improve quality of life for shift nurses, who experience high levels of occupational stress. Identifying evidence-based interventions to enhance their well-being is crucial for both individual and healthcare system outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of music therapy and aromatherapy on stress, quality of life, and happiness among shift nurses.Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned using computer-generated random numbers. A total of 78 shift nurses who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. The experimental treatment involved providing music therapy for one week to the music group and aromatherapy for one week to the aroma group, whereas the control group followed their usual daily routines for one week.Results: No significant differences were observed among the three groups concerning general characteristics and baseline dependent variables, thereby confirming the homogeneity of the groups. Nevertheless, post-intervention analyses demonstrated significant improvements in perceived stress (F = 5.55, p = .006), stress index (F = 3.38, p = .039), quality of life (F = 11.79, p < .001), and happiness (F = 9.29, p < .001) in the experimental groups.Conclusion: Both music therapy and aromatherapy were found to be effective in mitigating stress and improving quality of life and happiness among shift nurses. Therefore, these interventions can be regarded as valuable strategies for improving overall well-being within this population.

This study is a randomized pre- and post-controlled trial to determine the effects of the Healing Beats program on anxiety, autonomic nervous balance, Bispectral (BIS) index, and heart rate among university students after exposure to a source of mental stress. Data were collected from candidates who volunteered from November 2018 to May 2019 in response to recruitment announcements. The analysis was performed using data of 99 participants in three groups: 32 in an experimental group, 35 in a placebo group, and 32 in a control group. The experimental group who received treatment via the Healing Beats program exhibited a significant effect on calming anxiety, autonomic nervous balance, BIS index, and heart rate, compared with the placebo group and the control group. The group interaction also showed a significant difference. The Healing Beats program can be used as an effective intervention for sedation in clinical situations or calmness in stressful situations in everyday life. Specifically, the Healing Beats program could serve as basic data for nursing interventions, according to the stability effect in stressful situations; it can also be applied to effective nursing practice as an initial study to confirm theoretical and practical indicators.