The labour market of nurses in Japan was opened overseas in 2008 through the Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). However, the research on the human resources management (HRM) of foreign nurses in Japan is limited. Moreover, Japanese evidence regarding the perspectives of the effective HRM of foreign nurses from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Therefore, this study investigates the development policy, education, and support for them in the host hospitals to enable the utilisation of EPA nurses as a valuable human resource. This study applied a qualitative descriptive approach. Seven nurse managers were chosen based on a purposive sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Each interview was recorded and transcribed, after which it was analysed using the qualitative content analysis method. Four themes were extracted as the considerations regarding HRM for EPA nurses: “Clarification of career path”, “Language barrier”, “Career reconstruction support in Japan”, “Comprehensive support and Organizational culture”. Regarding the HRM of EPA nurses, managers should consider individual cultural backgrounds, expectations, and essential needs for their career development as well as their ability. Suggestions for practice are preparation of guidelines with goals considered from the viewpoint of career development of EPA nurses, educational support for improving their Japanese proficiency in clinical setting, and shape organizational culture that accepts diversity.

[Purpose] To clarify factors related to the professional autonomy of short-time nurses working in general wards of national university hospitals.

[Method] A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted among short-time nurses in their 20s to 40s who worked in general wards of national university hospitals throughout Japan. We used the “Professional Autonomy Scale for Nursing” to analyze the relationship between personal attributes and self-esteem.

[Results] A total of 274 short-time nurses were included in the analysis. The individual attributes of “age”, “number of years of nursing experience” and “number of children” were related to the professional autonomy of short-time nurses. The self-esteem facets that affected the professional autonomy of short-time nurses were “job confidence” and “workplace satisfaction”.

[Discussion] In order to enhance the professional autonomy of short-time nurses working limited working hours, it is suggested that nursing managers should focus on factors related to autonomy, and that in addition to full-time equivalent roles and work allocation, human resource management that incorporates diversity and construction of workplace culture is important.

This study aimed to clarify the concept of transitional care (TC) for the elderly using literature analysis in Japan. For literature search, PubMed, the Web version of the Igaku Chuo Zasshi (ICHUSHI), Medical Online, and CiNii Research were used, and hand searching was performed. Two books suitable for the research purpose were added, and 20 documents were analyzed using Rodgers’s concept analysis. As a result, “team care for multidisciplinary collaboration”, “consistent care in various medical treatment settings”, “utilization of the power of the elderly and their families”, “comprehensive and integrated care”, “care for changes in the medical condition of the elderly”, and “support for decision-making of the elderly and their families” were extracted. In addition, three antecedents, “Systems that must change the place of life”, “Functions of the place of life at the destination”, “Category of TC” were extracted. And four consequences “Continuing living in the place of life”, “TC PDCA cycle”, “Reducing the burden of long-term care”, “Realizing the intentions of the elderly and their families” were identified. These findings suggest that the concept of transitional care for the elderly reflects the characteristics of various pathological changes in them and includes elements of comprehensive and integrated care through a multidisciplinary collaboration.

The present study aimed to ascertain the conditions of inpatients in acute care wards, hospitals for community-based care, recovery phase rehabilitation wards, and recuperation wards, as well as the conditions of users of services provided by nursing care hospitals, geriatric health services facilities, senior citizens welfare service facilities and home-visit nursing stations. For acute care wards, patient conditions were collected from the H-file of the Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) data, and for all the other institutions, patient conditions were collected from questionnaires based on items A and B for the Severity of a Patient’s Condition and Extent of a Patient’s Need for Medical/Nursing Care tool. As a result, in item A indicating nursing care related to the medical treatments received by the patient, the proportion of patients with low scores was the highest to lowest in this order: recovery phase rehabilitation wards<nursing homes for the elderly<nursing care hospitals<home-visit nursing stations<recuperation wards<acute care wards. Similarly, in item B indicating the level of patient independence and state of activity, the proportion of patients with low scores was the highest to lowest in the following order: acute care wards<home-visit nursing stations<recovery phase rehabilitation wards<hospitals for community-based care<geriatric health service facilities<nursing homes for the elderly<nursing care hospitals<and recuperation wards, suggesting that patent conditions are involved in clinical specialization. Evaluating patient conditions enable the determination of the amount of medical resources required in each clinical specialization, the development of which can be expected to be reflected in the payment system for medical services.