Abstract
While the internationalization of medical practice in Japan is accelerating, it is important to train nurses with multicultural competence. This research clarifies the current state and challenges of the education of language and other subjects in the internationalization in nurse training institutions.
The survey was conducted at 3-year vocational schools where it is difficult to grasp the actual conditions of education, compared to universities. An anonymous questionnaire was posted to 487 full-time 3-year vocational nursing schools nationwide. The main evaluation items were the number and content of subjects, their future view, and the ideal model they aim to create.
One-hundred seventy questionnaires were returned (collection rate 34.9%). The average of the total English teaching hours over three academic years was 52.35.
Whereas internationalization education has already been introduced by 74% of the responding schools, 53% sought further improvement. Many of them answered that they require professionals who experienced medical care abroad, or provided medical care for foreigners, as their lecturers. A nurse who can cope with multicultural settings in Japan was the ideal model for many schools. However, it was noted that there was a shortage of human resources and teaching hours.
The demand for producing a nurse with multicultural competence was 4.7 times higher than that for one who can work internationally, which reflects that the key role of international nursing has moved from overseas to within the country. It is worthwhile to actively consider multidisciplinary cooperation in training, such as utilizing domestic multicultural medical experts, like healthcare interpreters, as external lecturers.
