The objective of the present study was to develop a "Human Skills Scale for Nurses", and to test the scale's reliability and validity. After analyzing the questionnaire responses of 31 nurses, 35 relevant items were identified and a draft version of the scale was developed. Subsequently, another questionnaire was completed by 914 nurses and the draft version of the scale was used to analyze their responses. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified three core factors, namely "knowledge-based understanding of organizations", "proactive self-disclosure", and "collaborative problem solving". From these core factors, 15 scale items were identified. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the scale was .930, indicating good internal consistency. The scale's criterion-related validity was confirmed based on the ENDCOREs communication skills scale and the KiSS-18 scale. The scale's reliability and validity were also confirmed. These findings suggest that the "Human Skills Scale for Nurses" can be used as an indicator of nurse career development.

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This article aims to clarify the experience of cooperation between public health nurses and nursery teachers and their mutual role expectations on the support to parents of "children of concern".
Methods: We conducted a semi-structured interview with 11 public health nurses and 12 nursery teachers by using the methodology for conceptualization of nursing.
Results: Public health nurses experienced "the progress of the support to parents by nursery teachers' offer of practical information" and had an "expectations of support that utilized nursery school teachers' daily contacts with mothers and children". They also held "nursery teachers' low level of awareness about the job of public health nurses, and the latter's doubt about their own roles". Nursery teachers had "the difficulty in feeling the significance of cooperation due to the feeling of a one-way attempt". There were also "expectations of support that utilized the professionalism of public health nurses as administrative and nursing posts".
Conclusion: Cooperation between public health nurses and nursery teachers contributed to fulfill the support to parents of "children of concern." It would be necessary to improve the conditions in which they can raise shared awareness of each role.

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The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of a scale developed to measure the degree of nurse's intention to take oral care of inpatients with psychiatric disorder. The proposed nurse' intention to take oral care of inpatients with psychiatric disorder was a Likert scale comprising 42 questionnaire items. [Remark 1] self adminstratioal questionnaire were conducted with 336 participants, and factore analysis was conducted using promax rotation of principal components. A total of 13 questionnaire items were used including the first factor "training to get sociality", the second factor "prevention of oral disease in supportive relationship", the third factor "execution oral care continuously" and the forth factor "ensure the mutual safety". Cronbach's alpha coefficient for reliability was .967, which confirmed internal consistency. This scale enables individuals with psychiatric nurses' intention who take oral care to psychiatric patient who declining self care ability or inaction because of negative symptom or long term hospitalization.

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Purpose: To investigate the difficulty faced by clinical nurses working in acute hospitals in support with returning to work for middle-aged patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 senior clinical nurses working in acute hospitals and analyzed with content analysis (Krippendorff).
Results: The nurses experienced the following themes: [A feeling of resistance to the burden of nursing services and duties], [Hesitation due to lack of expertise], [Mismatch between expectation and achievement], [Issues with the reinstatement support system], and [Need for the system to prioritize other duties].
Conclusion: The nurses experienced both self and external support-based difficulties in terms of how to balance reinstatement with a patient and other types of jobs, risk aversion with regard to patients, and institutional evaluation. There is a need to recognize and prioritize the necessity and expertise of reinstatement support and the value of the return to work support of nurses.

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This study aimed to clarify the usefulness of mixed analysis method in combination with text mining in qualitative data. Data were collected using paper-based open-ended questionnaires from 39 newly graduated nurses, who were asked about turnover factors. The data were analyzed using text mining and qualitative analysis. We examined the similarities and differences between the results of the two methods. The data were classified by text mining into five categories including "Gravity of pressure of responsibility for human life", and by qualitative analysis into six categories including "Trouble and discontent regarding human relations in the workplace". Text mining and qualitative analysis together could identify information about human relations as turnover factors among newly graduated nurses. The present findings demonstrate that both methods could be used together to extract topics of the research question. However, differences between the two methods also led to differences in results. It is suggested that the mixed analysis method can complement the weaknesses and utilize the strengths of text mining and qualitative analysis.

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We examined the association between the cooperation status among nurses and care workers assessed by the care workers, type of health facility, nursing system, and provided nursing care for high-need patients. The average score of the Japanese version of the Relational Coordination Scale (J-RCS), evaluating co-operation between nurses and care staff, was 3.5 ± 0.6. The J-RCS score was positively correlated with those efforts in which nurses and care staff were more engaged with each other. There was a positive correlation between the J-RCS score and the ratio of clients receiving nursing care level 5 to all clients per facility, and between the J-RCS score and the ratio of registered nurses in nursing staff. The nursing homes that provided terminal care had significantly higher J-RCS scores than those that did not provide terminal care. We recommend that nurses increase their co-operation with care staff to improve the work environment of nursing homes for both groups.

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Purpose: This study aimed to identify the process of support by hospital nurses for discharged schizophrenia patients.
Methods: Participants were 17 proficient or expert psychiatric nurses. A semi-structured interview was conducted, through which the researcher investigated the types of support provided by nurses. Data were analyzed using a qualitative approach.
Results: Hospital nurses provided support through the following five steps: [As a sympathizer; understanding the patient's tasks and predicting the post-discharge life of each patient], [Mediating between the patient and the family, with consideration for the happiness of both the patient and his/her family after discharge], [Establishing a relationship of trust with the patient, ensuring the patient's sense of security, and considering his/her impaired ability to establish rapport], [Supporting the patient so that he/she can accept his/her illness], and [Bridging the gap between the community and the hospital, including nursing in the hospital, as part of the process].
Conclusions: Nurses made predictions regarding the patient's life after discharge and provided support. With the nurses' support, the patient acquired a lifestyle that he/she could maintain. Nurses bridging the gap between the community and hospital enabled the patient to accept support after discharge.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the awareness of locomotive syndrome and daily life in elderly individuals living independently in the community.
Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven elderly individuals, and utilized the KJ method to summarize the ideas.
Results: The affinity diagram revealed that subjects became aware of locomotive syndrome which made them feel anxious about their future, and prompted them to become responsible for aging, try preventing falling themselves, and adjust daily life for exercise. Awareness of locomotive syndrome precipitated two different feelings.
Conclusion: Subjects' attitudes after realizing that they had developed locomotive syndrome were categorized into two types: Feeling anxious about their future, but being unable to take action; or becoming responsible for aging, maintaining a good relationship with their families and people in the community, and trying to prevent falling by themselves. These results suggested the need for healthcare professionals to provide support for elderly individuals that includes regular daily exercise, based on their feelings and issues in general.

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This study examined patients with post-acute cerebrovascular disease requiring observation for bed-wheelchair transfer to clarify the details of their experience-based knowledge as a basis for the achievement of independence in such transfer.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 patients with cerebrovascular disease hospitalized in the post-acute rehabilitation ward, and the obtained data were qualitatively and inductively analyzed. Their experience-based knowledge was represented by 7 categories: <regarding the ability to appropriately manipulate wheelchair brakes as indispensable for independent transfer>, <recognizing that the risk of falls cannot be completely eliminated>, <executing movements while considering disability-related physical characteristics>, <clarifying points to be noted during each phase of transfer>, <ensuring sufficient time to accurately perform transfer procedures>, <accepting medical professionals' judgments>, and <coming to terms with different transfer environments than the rehabilitation room>. The patients acquired knowledge of various points through the experience of becoming able to transfer independently. Therefore, it may be important for nurses to understand how these patients perceive their transfer and make efforts, in order to provide appropriate nursing support for them based on such understanding.

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Objective: This study clarified the relationship between medication adherence and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) items including ADL for the somatic domain, psychological aspect of QOL for the psychological domain, and social network for the social domain in home-bound elderly stroke survivors.
Methods: We conducted an interviewer-administered survey with home-bound stroke patients aged 65 years or older undergoing medication treatment. CGA was assessed with FIM (for ADL), SF-8 (for QOL), and LSNS-6 (for social network). Participants were divided into two groups based on the median score of the medication adherence scale, and CGA was compared.
Results: Patients high medication adherence had better memory (for ADL) (p = .035) and a higher LSNS-6 score (p = .038) compared to those with low adherence. However, for the psychological aspect of QOL, no relationship was found with any of the total scores for items of the medication adherence scale.
Conclusion: Home-bound elderly stroke survivors with high medication adherence had better memory and a stronger social network than patients with low medication adherence.

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Purpose: We clarified the relationship between the "degree of match between expectation before re-employment and reality" and "satisfaction with re-employment" in re-employed nurses.
Methods: Anonymous self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 667 re-employed nurses working in general hospitals with 100-499 beds in metropolitan areas (72 facilities).
Results: A total of 367 responses were received (response rate 55.0%), of which 344 were analyzed. The relationships between "negative mismatch between expectation before re-employment and reality" and "satisfaction with re-employment" with regard to "working conditions (3 items)", "human relations (2 items)", "nursing care (3 items)," and "feeling of own usefulness and growth (2 items)" was analyzed with structural equation modeling. Results showed that "negative mismatch" of expectations with reality influenced "satisfaction with re-employment" (R² = .66). The path coefficient from "working conditions", "human relations", "nursing care", and "feeling of own usefulness and growth" to "satisfaction with re-employment" was -.30, -.31, .11, -.41, respectively (all p ‹ .001).
Conclusion: The largest influence on "satisfaction with re-employment" was "feeling of own usefulness and growth".

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The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) and stress coping strategies based on differences in the sense of coherence (SOC) of hemodialysis patients. A questionnaire survey including personal attributes and the SOC-13, SF-8, and TAC-24 was administered to hemodialysis patients. There were 196 subjects to be analyzed. Participants were classified into 2 groups based on the median: the high-SOC group and the low-SOC group. The data were analyzed using the chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Patients with a high SOC tended to have higher scores on the mental component summary score of the SF-8, the subscale "mental health" and "role emotional". It is suggested that high SOC is particularly related to the mental aspects of the subjective view of health. In addition, patients with a high SOC were more likely to use "planning" and "positive interpretation" as coping strategies for stress, and those with low SOC tended to apply "abandonment", "resignation", and "responsibility shifting". It is important to support patients with low SOC for future betterment and finding the good as well as bad sides.

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Objective: To develop an evaluation scale (Discharge Support Scale for Long-term Psychiatric Patients: DSS-LPP) for healthcare and medical professionals to support long-term hospitalized psychiatric patients toward discharge, and confirm its reliability and validity.
Methods: To determine appropriate questions, a questionnaire survey was conducted using a 52-item prototype of the DSS-LPP, created based on the results of qualitative and inductive analysis of the contents of discharge support for long-term hospitalized psychiatric patients, and confirmed to have sufficient content validity in a previous study. The respondents were 485 healthcare and medical professionals who had consented to cooperate with the present study.
Results: Five factors and 33 items were extracted through exploratory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha for the DSS-LPP was .957, confirming its internal consistency. The scale was also shown to have sufficient criterion-related validity, as a significant correlation was observed on evaluation using the Discharge Planning-Process Evaluation Measurement, while its item discrimination was confirmed through comparison between those with and without successful experience related to discharge support.
Conclusion: The DSS-LPP has sufficient reliability and validity, and is usable as an evaluation scale by healthcare and medical professionals to support long-term hospitalized psychiatric patients toward discharge.

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This study was performed to examine differences in the force exerted on the area of contact by the fingers and palms of nurses and nursing students in performing a change in body position. A subjective evaluation was made by a person who played the role of the patient. Sensors were placed on the thumbs to fourth fingers and palms of nurses and students to measure the force on the contact area during a change from a dorsal to a lateral position. The "patient" evaluated their comfort level using a visual analog scale. The results showed a significant difference in force exerted by the fingers and palms while lifting the head, changing the body from a dorsal to lateral position, and ensuring a stable lateral position. Nurses were also evaluated more favorably regarding the comfort level. Students tended to exert a stronger force with their right second and left first and second fingertips on the contact area, compared to nurses. However, they did not use this force at all times, but mainly when handling heavier parts of the body. This force seemed to be due to use of limited parts of the fingertips, as if they were grabbing the patient.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the association between "hobbies" and parenting stress in mothers of three-year-old children by focusing on the mothers' hobbies.
Method: Anonymous, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to mothers during their children's three-year-old child health examination in City B, A Prefecture. The questionnaire collected information on basic attributes, availability of someone to discuss parenting issues, presence or absence of hobbies and details of the hobbies, and parenting stress. Valid responses from 348 mothers were analyzed using binomial logistic regression analysis with parenting stress as the dependent variable.
Results: The results showed that 64.7% of the mothers were experiencing parenting stress and 71.8% had hobbies. The most common hobby was "outings with the family (children)," followed by "networking and going on outings with friends" and "shopping" in that order. Factors associated with reduced parenting stress of mothers with three-year-old children were having hobbies and a greater number of children. Furthermore, parenting stress was evident in married mothers.
Conclusion: Encouraging mothers raising children to take up hobbies could contribute to reducing parenting stress.

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