Abstract
This paper describes the introduction of an "Integrated Nursing Study" course in Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences. This course aims at integrating organically basic education and technical education of nursing. It is also intended that the skills required for nursing practice will be improved. The goal of this subject is to master the nursing skills necessary to provide appropriate assessment and proper nursing care, according to more theoretical, technical and practical knowledge, in the ordinary situations of medical and public health services, which nurses are likely to encounter. The course is set in the second semester of the senior-year curriculum. This period seems the most effective for fourth year students to take the course because they can make integrated judgments about nursing care after studying for over three years at the university. It is also expected that the nursing students can concentrate on the subject autonomously before the busy period of obtaining employment and of preparation for the national examination for a nursing license. The course is conducted in group work. Practices and roll-playing activities are made based on case studies of medical/nursing services. It is assumed that the course takers have had pseudo-clinical experiences by performing the highly specialized tasks which are close to real situations in medical/nursing places. It is also believed that the students have not only acquired knowledge of practical cases of medical/nursing services, but also realized the importance of the nursing attitudes required to pursue things profoundly on the basis of clinical evidence.
