2024 Volume 13 Issue 2 Pages 86-95
Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the public health nursing art (hereinafter referred to as “the skills” that compose the art) to support foreign women living in Japan from pregnancy to childbirth.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with public health nurses of local government who had experience supporting foreign women living in Japan in the area of maternal and child health, and qualitative descriptive analysis was conducted.
Results: The study participants were 17 public health nurses, and 12 categories of skills were extracted from their narratives according to the situations and needs of foreign women in Japan, namely language barriers, cultural barriers, relationship barriers, legal and institutional barriers, and vulnerabilities in the support systems. Specifically, “multiple use of face-to-face meetings to reduce language barriers,” “search for clues to overcome cultural barriers,” “side-by-side coordination to reduce relationship barriers with supporters,” “devising responses to protect the health of cases residing illegally,” and “accumulation of knowledge and experience that contributes to support for foreign residents.”
Discussion: The systematic arrangement of the skills to support foreign women in Japan from pregnancy to childbirth is expected to result in the development of skill acquisition strategies that will help future system development and contribute to seamless support.
