Pilot study to examine service-learning in disaster nursing education in Japan

抄録

Aim: There is a growing trend globally to incorporate service-learning (SL) into disaster health education. Schools of nursing and other health professions have increasingly used SL to improve nursing students’ knowledge of disaster health while simultaneously bolstering community capacity for disasters. To date, little is known about this topic in Japan, a disaster-prone country. This paper reports on current practices of SL in disaster nursing education in Japan.

Methods: An exploratory qualitative pilot study was conducted using key informant interviews. Participants were recruited from a purposive sample of nurse educators in Japan. Five nurse educators were included in the study. Qualitative data collected from informant interviews were analyzed for themes using qualitative thematic analysis techniques.

Results: Themes extracted from the data included: specific SL activities performed; faculty involvement; perceived benefits for nursing students and recipient communities; and challenges encountered. Participants described an increase in nursing students’ disaster nursing knowledge; skills and abilities; a heightened interest in learning about disaster nursing; and increased awareness of their personal preparedness status and that of their community. Community members also benefitted from students’ efforts.

Conclusions: Results from this pilot study provide baseline knowledge regarding current practices and potential effect of SL disaster nursing education in Japan. Findings from this study may be used to serve as a foundation for further research on this topic. Information from this study may also be used to plan SL activities related to disaster nursing education.