Abstract
This study reviews recent trends in Japanese female nursing staff. In particular, employment status, work environment and work consciousness are examined using anonymous, individual data from the “Employment Status Survey” by the Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Similar to other occupations, non-regular employment has been on the rise for female nurses. At first, the current growth in numbers of nurses and rate of nurse employment gives the appearance of an overall increase in nursing staff availability.
However, while workload and wages remain basically the same for non-regular staff, work environment and compensation have worsened for regular staff. Likewise, while the ratio of persons with a negative attitude toward work, such as a desire to switch jobs or leave their current job, remains unchanged for non-regular staff, it has increased for regular staff. This suggests a connection between work environment and work consciousness.
If this situation continues, the number of regular staffed nurses who play a central role may decrease and lead to another nursing shortage. Within this trend of increasing non-regular employment, the improvement of work environments must start by focusing on regular staff.
