In recent years, some Japanese nursing education facilities have started choosing facilities for children with disabilities as training sites. This provides students with a good opportunity to deepen their understanding of children with disabilities. However, there are cases in which learning nursing care for children with disabilities is difficult. In this study, we examined the literature on understanding children with disabilities in nursing education to practice effective practical training. We used CiNii, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Ichushi-Web (Ver. 5.0). For the analysis, we chose those original primary documents that described the nursing students' understanding of children with disabilities. We classified and named the summaries based on similarity. Seventeen documents on nursing students' understanding of children with disabilities were mostly analyzed through practical training in facilities for children with disabilities, and before the practical training, some students were anxious and confused. However, during the training, the students learned about the characteristics of the children's disabilities, consideration for the environment where children with disabilities live, communication methods, and so much more. The students were able to deepen their view of nursing through these experiences. It is important to reduce the anxiety of students through prior learning; teach the nursing view, in which the children's abilities are recognized and emotional interactions are valued; help students develop their independence and nursing view comfortably; show the importance of proactive nursing; and help them link their experiences to learning.

Hospital-to-home care is important for improving the quality of life (QOL) of patients with heart failure (HF). However, there is little evidence of outcomes regarding hospital-to-home care interventions in Japan. Thus, this integrative review aimed to identify the components and outcomes of hospital-to-home care interventions for patients with HF in Japan. Electronic databases, such as MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Ichushi-Web, were systematically searched, and all forms of hospital-to-home care interventions in Japan were examined. Studies regarding transitional care, discharge planning, home care, and disease management were included. The characteristics and results of the intervention studies were summarized. Furthermore, we analyzed the components of hospital-to-home care interventions and considered the effective interventions for patients with HF, based on statistically significant results. Ten articles including nine interventions were reviewed. The average age of intervention participants ranged from 64 to 77.5 years old, and the sample sizes in the intervention groups ranged from 11 to 192 participants. The intervention components were categorized as follows: "hospital-based components," "home- and outpatient-based components," and "both hospital- and home-based components." The main intervention components comprised structured education, lifetime counseling, and follow-ups via telephone and video calls. The clinical outcomes included readmission, mortality, and QOL, measured up to 24 months after the interventions. There was limited evidence of interventions being continued from the hospital to home, follow-up immediately after discharge, and nurse home visits in Japan. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the outcomes of patients' experiences immediately after discharge and the quality of care transition.

Objective: For both children with disabilities and their families to continue living at home, families should achieve and maintain healthy family functioning. This is achieved by enhancing family empowerment. This pilot study systemizes the program development process and identifies the problems and results to move to the program implementation. Methods: The program was developed through a step-by-step process emphasizing on the previous research findings, theories, and collaboration with families. We identified the factors related to family empowerment from an in-depth interview study of 34 families and the Delphi method questionnaire survey of 158 professionals. Next, we identified a family empowerment model by a national survey of 1,659 families. We further reviewed literature on family intervention programs, set action goals based on the theoretical framework of program formulation, and finally developed a family empowerment program with the families. The problems and effectiveness of "implementation of pretesting" were qualitatively and quantitatively verified. Results: Through the program, the participants created eco-maps and life charts, dealt with issues in their daily lives, set goals for the life they wanted, worked toward those goals, and took actions to make adjustments in their lives and use resources. Due to the small number of participants, the efficacy of the program was not significantly confirmed; however, no adverse events were observed. Conclusions: We developed and pretested a participatory program to enhance family empowerment. As a pilot study, the results support the value of conducting the program on a larger scale. Further verification of the effects of our program is required.

Objective: Dehydration has a risk of reducing cognitive function, which can lead to misjudgment by nurses. Nurses are required to be in optimal physical and mental conditions since their misjudgments affect the lives of patients. Therefore, it is desirable to prevent dehydration in nurses; however, the prevalence and factors of dehydration in nurses have not been clarified. This study aimed to clarify dehydration prevalence in nurses and examine dehydration factors before and after their shift. Methods: Data were collected during the day shift of 115 registered nurses in 19 wards of 2 hospitals in Japan. Urine specific gravity (USG) and body weight were measured before and after the shift to determine dehydration. Questionnaires, including demographic characteristics and fluid intake, were recorded before and after their shift. Multivariate analysis was performed based on the fluid intake, number of steps, and years of experience as dehydration factors. Results: Overall, 59 (51.3%) and 82 (71.3%) nurses were dehydrated before and after their shift, respectively. USG before the shift (odds ratio [OR]: 2.328, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.424-3.807) and years of experience (OR: 0.946, 95% CI: 0.899-0.996) were factors related to dehydration at the end of the shift. USG before the shift (OR: 2.573, 95% CI: 1.347-4.914) was also a factor related to dehydration factors after the shift for beginner nurses. Conclusions: Over 70% of nurses were dehydrated after their shift. USG before the shift and years of experience were related to dehydration after the shift. To prevent dehydration, it is desirable for managers to encourage beginner nurses to drink water.

Objective: Visibility and palpability of peripheral veins may affect peripheral intravenous catheterization (PIVC) failure and complications. A near-infrared (NIR) vein visualizer is recommended to select peripheral veins with low visibility. Chemotherapy reduces the number of peripheral veins suitable for PIVC; however, no study has shown that NIR vein visualizers can prevent PIVC failures during chemotherapy. We investigated the effectiveness of using an NIR vein visualizer by nurses for PIVC during chemotherapy. Technical Report: We investigated the vein characteristics (i.e., visibility, palpability), PIVC difficulty before puncture, and success or failure. The study field was a chemotherapy room at the General Hospital (Shizuoka, Japan). The study participants were nurses who performed PIVC in patients receiving chemotherapy. Six nurses were enrolled, and eighty-four PIVC cases were obtained (with duplicate patients). There were 34 cases in the NIR vein visualizer group and 50 in the standard insertion group; the NIR vein visualizer group had a significantly higher number of difficult PIVC cases (p <.01). Peripheral veins with successful PIVC in the NIR vein visualizer group had significantly higher visibility and palpability than those with PIVC failure (p <.05). Conclusions: During chemotherapy, nurses used an NIR vein visualizer for the peripheral veins deemed difficult to catheterize; PIVC was successfully performed in the peripheral veins with high palpability. The results showed that an NIR vein visualizer facilitates successful PIVC during chemotherapy.