〔Purpose〕The present study aimed to create a nursing competency scale to evaluate nursing competencies required on completion of basic nursing education in Japan, and to verify its reliability and validity.

〔Methods〕Questionnaires were mailed to 1,566 students scheduled to graduate from 27 basic nursing education institutions （8 universities, 4 colleges, and 15 vocational schools） nationwide. The questionnaire comprised on subject attributes and 59 items on nursing competencies created through a pilot study following a literature review of nursing competencies. These items were assessed using a 5-point Likert-type scale.

　Exploratory factor analysis （EFA） and confirmatory factor analysis （CFA） were conducted to verify the goodness-of-fit model and confirm the structural consistency and content of the hypothetical framework of competencies according to the criteria of International Council of Nurses.

〔Results〕The response rate was 54.4%. Following EFA, a scale composed of 6 subscales （legal and professional care, ethical care, planned care, clinical care, cooperation, and professional development） and 29 items was extracted. Cronbach’s alpha for the overall scale was 0.92 and each subscale was 0.59–0.84. CFA results revealed the GFI, adjusted GFI, CFI, and RMSEA to be 0.892, 0.873, 0.892, and 0.057, respectively. The scale contents well reflected the current state of healthcare and nursing education in Japan.

〔Discussion〕The nursing competency scale revealed high reliability and validity regarding goodness-of-fit in the hypothetical framework and reflected the current state of healthcare and nursing education, confirming that this scale accurately measured competencies required on completion of basic nursing education in Japan.

〔Purpose〕This study was conducted to analyze cases of enhance students learning in nursing practical training by nursing care instructors and to select out of effective and specific teaching method.

〔Method〕The data were collected from 13 nursing care instructors who have more than three years teaching experience at nursing colleges and nursing schools and have had experience of clinical teaching in fundamental nursing training. The data were collected by a semi-structured interview technique.

　Data from 19 cases were analyzed by using content analysis. Codes relevant to “student situation”and “Teacher’s attitude and interaction” were extracted. There were categorized to items of Yasukata’s “experience-type nursing practical training guidance” method.

〔Result and Discussion〕189 codes were extracted about “Teacher’s attitude and interaction”. Throughout the whole process of the nursing practical training, it was found that the codes of [enhancing awareness of commitment and promoting voluntary study] were the most common （36 cases, 19.0%）.

　In cases, the nursing care instructors facilitated students to maintain their intellectual concern in patient care as well as to raise their ‘self-efficacy’ from patient’s response towards students.

〔Objective〕To clarify the process of competence development based on expert nursing educators’ own recounting of their experiences.

〔Methodology〕Utilizing a qualitative and written process, eleven nursing educators with over ten years of experience were selected for semi-structured interviews, and the data were analyzed using M-GTA based on SCQRM.

〔Results〕When they were beginning nursing educators, expert nursing educators utilized their experiences of overcoming adversity and reflecting on those events. Then, when they became competent/proficient, they worked together through sustained learning as a community, developing competencies as nursing educators. As expert educators, they understood their roles and showed themselves as models for other instructors. This process occurred in a cyclical fashion, with actions taken based on reflection on past performance and awareness of responsibilities vis-à-vis each stage. These efforts were reflected in teaching activities that took the form of working in tandem with students, obtaining clinical knowledge, and building new knowledge frameworks. At the basis of their experiences was a process of forming a foundation for competencies based on reconsidering their own pedagogical viewpoints and searching for career anchors.

〔Conclusion〕Results indicated that expert nursing educators engaged in a process of reflection and application as agents pursuing lifelong growth and development. They defined career anchors and developed competencies while gaining experience as educators and undergoing life events.

〔Objective〕The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of the support actually provided by head nurses to develop the career of young nurses who have been nursing 3 years or less.

〔Methods〕The subjects were 14 head nurses supporting young nurses. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews and analyzed using qualitative inductive methods.

〔Results〕The data were classified into 3 major categories associated with the career development of young nurses supported by the head nurses：“support carrier development as a ward staff,” “support carrier development as a nursing profession” and “support young people’s growth.” The data were classified into 19 categories associated with the hopes for young nurses from the head nurses, such as “adapting to the job,” “discovering the attractiveness of nursing,” “developing as a member of society,” and with the actual support provided by head nurses, such as “adjusting the business in the ward,” “training young nurses by all staff in the ward.”

〔Conclusions〕The present results suggested that, in order to develop the career of young nurses, head nurses may support not only their adapting to a job and mastering of knowledge and skills but also growing as a nurse’s professional and help them to achieve developmental tasks.

〔Purpose〕 This study aims to reveal the thinking styles in instructional design of nursing school teachers having skilled experience.

〔Method〕Participants were 14 nursing teachers in charge of Introduction to Nursing courses. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the Constant Comparative Analysis method.

〔Results〕The thinking styles in instructional design of the nursing teachers were categorized as follows : 1） reflections on past classes , 2） representations of nursing beliefs and values, 3） representations of hope for nursing students’ growth, 4） grasp of the current theme in instructional design, 5） the meaning of the teaching strategy, 6） identifying source of learning content, and 7） realization of a lesson for deployment.

〔Discussion〕Nursing teachers tend to think flexibly when they create instructional designs. While reflecting on their personal nursing practice and nursing education experiences, they are to solve several issues. The seven categories in thinking style are useful in making a systematic instructional design for nursing education.

〔Purpose〕To clarify the experiences of clinical instructors （instructors） who participated in nursing skills training using simulated patients （SPs） and to investigate the possibilities of this training serving as a link between school and clinical settings.

〔Methods〕Four instructors who participated in the training were interviewed after training and practicum. The data were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive method.

〔Results〕With regard to training, instructors felt that “it helped us to find the SP’s validity,” “it helped us to find the students’ behavior,” and “it made us think about instructions that lead to practicum.” It was observed that training was being utilized in practicum, as the answers indicated that “I provided instructions based on the students’ behavior during training,” “I provided instructions based on the teacher’s instruction during training,” and “I provided instructions taking the difference between training and actual clinical settings into account.” With regard to future training, instructors felt that “instructional systems should be more involved in student instruction as an instructor,” “practical settings should be made more similar to actual clinical settings,” and “involvement with students should take practical instructions into account.”

〔Discussion〕This training provided an opportunity for the instructors to have a trial experience of clinical instructions, and it could be utilized in practical student instructions. Furthermore, the results suggested that this training serves as a linking point between school and clinical settings for students.