Abstract
The purpose of this study was to compare the practice of nursing techniques by foreign nurses in Japan, the practice of nursing techniques by these same nurses in their home countries, and the practice of nursing techniques by Japanese new nursing graduates. The subjects were 65 nurses who came to Japan under an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) program and who passed the Japanese national nursing examination in 2010, 2011, or 2012 (99th to 101st annual examinations). They were working at 48 institutions nationwide in Japan. The survey was done using anonymous, self-administered questionnaires sent by mail. The questionnaires contained 39 items on basic nursing techniques, comprising daily living assistance and medical support techniques. The valid response rate was 75.6%. The nationality of the respondents was Filipino for 9 respondents (29.0%) and Indonesian for 22 respondents (71.0%). The nursing techniques more than half of the foreign nurses performed by themselves were 25 of the 39 items that were focused on daily living assistance. In their home countries the foreign nurses performed nearly all techniques by themselves, including both daily living assistance and medical support techniques. In Japan the foreign nurses performed these techniques at a lower rate than Japanese new nursing graduates ; it was found that while the foreign nurses performed daily living assistance by themselves they performed medical support techniques at a lower rate.
