Objective: This study aimed to examine the psychological states of nurses by exploring the experiences of nurses who engaged in COVID-19 patient care in the inpatient ward. Methods: We conducted focus group interviews with 13 nurses and qualitatively analyzed the data. Results: We found that nurses experienced “conflict over the decision to care for COVID-19 patients,” “difficulty due to a new infectious disease with unknown etiology,” “anxiety over being infected for themselves and their family,” “experiencing dilemma when providing nursing care,” and “complex feelings towards end-of-life care.” Conversely, psychological experiences such as “a sense of security regarding improvements in the hospital system,” “confidence in providing collaborative nursing services,” and “a feeling of responsibility in nursing and personal growth” motivated nurses to continue COVID-19 patient care. Conclusions: This study found that while some nurses experienced situations where they felt difficulty and conflict toward nursing care, they nonetheless had positive feelings toward providing nursing care. These experiences must be deeply understood to improve nursing care.

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the interaction between health guidance practitioners (supporters) and employees receiving health guidance (clients) in the first interview to prevent lifestyle-related diseases. Methods: Participants comprised four pairs of supporters and clients of health guidance. Data were collected through participant observations and semi-structured interviews. Results: Based on the results of qualitative analysis, the interactions were categorized into 7 core categories, including: “The supporter’s communication with interest to the client, resulting in the client’s realization that the supporter has understood his/her needs and has even engaged in self-disclosure;” “The supporter cannot develop the conversation about preventing lifestyle-related diseases if the client’s unexpected reaction catches him/her off guard;” “When the client adjusts to the supporter’s pace, the conversation becomes supporter-centered, and consequently, the client refrains from conveying honest feelings and thoughts.” Conclusions: Two types of interactions occurred between supporters and clients in the context of health guidance. One entailed providing client-centered support, exerting power to behavioral modification, and the other characterized the superficial harmony without fostering an in-depth dialog because of the supporters’ and clients’ reservations and differences.

Objective: This study tested the reliability and validity of a workplace-adaption behavior scale and a workplace-adaption state scale for new nurses during the student-to-nurse transition period. Methods: We administered an anonymous, self-report questionnaire survey to 1,284 new nurses regarding 82 proposed workplace-adaption behavior scale items and 51 proposed workplace-adaption state scale items. The items had been qualitatively and inductively extracted and tested for face validity and content validity in previous research. Results: There were 335 respondents (response rate: 26.1%). The exploratory factor analysis returned five factors and 34 items for the workplace-adaption behavior scale and four factors and 26 items for the workplace-adaption state scale. The study also tested for internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha; criterion-related validity using a job satisfaction measurement scale; and stability using the test–retest method. Conclusions: This study found the new nurse workplace-adaption behavior and state scales to be reliable and valid.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe job satisfaction in clinical practice leaders of homecare nursing practice. Methods: The study used a qualitative-descriptive approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 homecare nursing practice leaders. We analyzed data similarities and differences and assigned symbolic category names. Results: We generated four categories related to clinical practice leadership: “positive feedback from nursing students concerning homecare nursing practice,” “developing leader’s educational philosophy,” “rewarding relationships with nursing teachers,” and “positive attitudes of visiting nursing care staff working together.” Conclusions: These findings indicate the importance of clinical practice leaders obtaining positive feedback from nursing students, developing relationships with nursing teachers, and visiting nursing care staff based on cooperation, to obtain job satisfaction in homecare nursing practice.

Objective: The objective of this study was to verify the effectiveness of a foam cleaner against contamination during blood culture collection. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed at a single facility. Study 1 involved 300 emergency outpatients who were divided into three treatment groups: 80% Ethanol ＋10% Povidone Iodine (PVI group), 80% Ethanol ＋1% Chlorhexidine (CHG group), and foam cleaner ＋80% Ethanol ＋1% Chlorhexidine (Foam cleaning group). Bacterial contamination was compared between the groups. For Study 2, 3,265 patients at the ward/outpatient department were divided into CHG and the Foam cleaning groups and compared in the same manner as in Study 1. Results: In Study 1, the contamination rates for the different groups were as follows: PVI, 12.5%; CHG, 6.5%; and Foam cleaning, 1.5%. In Study 2, the contamination rates for the two groups were as follows: CHG, 7.2%; and Foam cleaning, 1.6%. The Foam cleaning group had significantly lower contamination rates than the others in both studies (p‹.01). The most frequently detected contaminating bacterial species in both studies was coagulase-negative staphylococcus, which is part of resident skin microflora. Conclusions: The use of a foam cleaner prior to disinfection removes organic substances and stains on the skin, and when combined with a disinfectant, it reduces contamination rates during blood collection.

Objective: This study aims to define “awareness of nursing students” through a concept analysis. Methods: Thirty-one articles published from 2000 to 2018 in Japan were analyzed using the Walker & Avant approach. Results: Three attributes, six antecedents, and three consequences were extracted. “Awareness of nursing students” was defined as “to perceive changes in emotions through experience to face the target phenomenon and their own inner aspects, and to note the differences between new and existing information. This enables nursing students to improve their understanding of the objective target and themselves, causing active changes in themselves and their attitudes as nursing students.” Conclusions: The findings suggest that the “awareness of nursing students” develops through an interconnected process that forms a “circular process of developing awareness” in which nursing students, by themselves, acquire a meaningful understanding of the changes, including improving sensitivity and accuracy of the awareness. It is also suggested that the intentional mechanism that promotes this circular process is indispensable for developing an understanding and promoting new aspects of their awareness, making it possible for the students to apply specific skills in different situations.

Objective: To survey the status and awareness of assisted reproductive technology (ART) involving a third party. Methods: An Internet survey was conducted by a Japanese research company with participants aged between 30 and 40 divided into three groups. These were a group of 309 men and a group of 309 women who underwent infertility treatment (experienced male group and experienced female group), and 309 women who did not (non-experienced female group). The questionnaire items included the participants’ characteristics, the type of infertility treatment, and their awareness of each infertility procedure, including the ART involving a third party. Results: A total of 21 men (6.8%) and four women (1.3%) had been abroad to undergo ART procedures. Among the experienced male and female groups, approximately 40% to 50% accepted ART involving a third party; however, few expressed their interest to undergo ART. The number of participants who did not want to undergo ART was significantly lower in the experienced male group than in the non-experienced female group, but more significant in the experienced female group. Conclusions: Few men and women received fertility treatment overseas. Many participants accepted ART involving a third party as a general theory but did not wish to undergo the procedure themselves. Moreover, a gender difference was observed.

Objective: To clarify the effects of tobacco education for nursing students in Japan, adopting different approaches. Methods: Web searches were conducted using the Ichushi and CiNii databases with “tobacco,” “smoking cessation,” and “nursing students” as the main keywords, and relevant research papers were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Fourteen papers were included. In all the included studies, the goal of education was to prevent smoking or promote smoking cessation among nursing students. Smoking cessation support was evaluated as the goal of education in one study. Increased knowledge of tobacco, increased motivation for smoking cessation support, and reduced tolerance to smoking immediately after education were reported as achieved educational effects in many studies. As for the maintenance of these effects, the motivation for smoking cessation support lasted for one month, and knowledge of tobacco was maintained for six months after education, based on active learning. Conclusions: The results did not clarify effective educational approaches; however, focusing on smoking prevention among nursing students, promoting smoking cessation among them, and improving their competencies to provide such support may be crucial when setting the goals of tobacco education in the future.

Objective: In this study, we clarified the actual situations of nurses working in hospitals via a survey inquiring about their awareness of sexual minorities. Methods: A total of 1,017 respondents provided feedback, with 1,009 of these providing valid responses (valid response rate: 99.2%). Results: In the survey subjects’ awareness of terms related to “sexual minorities,” the highest item, LGBT, received less than 50%, and only 20% of respondents indicated they had any interest in the topic. About 60% of nurses obtain information about sexual minorities on TV and from the Internet. Less than 20% of nurses have experience in education and training, whereas less than 10% of hospitals provide training opportunities. In addition, and based on the difficult list of the LGBT Law Association, when asked about the judgments of nurses regarding the five situations that medical personnel may actually face in the medical field, many of them picked choices that are thought to be based on the thoughts of all parties. Conclusions: These findings suggest that nurses recognize that sexual minorities need advocacy of their rights, but that their understanding is not based on deep knowledge and understanding of the concerns involved. There is, thus, a need to promote education and training that deepens knowledge and understanding of these topics among nurses.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate factors that influenced the sense of job happiness of nurses who worked in hospitals and to obtain suggestions for retention management. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 41 nurses, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 nurses to collect data for text mining analysis. Results: The analysis results indicated that nurses who were happy with their jobs were motivated to continue working as they gained psychological happiness from being thanked by patients, gained confidence in what they did, and built social relationships with their families and patients. The results also indicated that the perceptions of nurses who were unhappy with their jobs were related to the attitudes and behaviors of their supervisors toward their subordinates and not primarily related to external variables. Conclusions: There is a need for further reliability and validity testing and empirical research on the components of factors that influence happiness using quantitative methods, with a focus on nurses in Japan.