The aim of this study was to clarify the present situation for the discharge support by hospital nurses at advanced treatment hospital.

Data were collected using semi-structured interviews as qualitative descriptive design with 6 nurses working at an advanced treatment and analyzed following Mayring’s theory of content analysis.

The discharge support was summarized into 6 categories. In the first category, for patients admitted for acute exacerbation of emergent and serious conditions, the nurses first actively assisted with physician-led care and “identified signs of recovery”. Once it was determined that the patient’s condition was such that recovery could be expected, the nurses provided discharge support categorized as follows : “recovery as people” and “environmental adjustments”, “adjustment of perceptions of the patient among medical staff” and “determining the coping skills of the patient and their family”. In addition, in the final category, the nurses addressed obstacles to discharge and “decision making for the patient and family depends on comprehensive management”. The nurses tried for a comprehensive understanding of the patients, who were in an unstable condition, through inter-professional work. Their motivations in providing this support appeared to be principles based on their views of nursing and their ethical standards.

This study aimed to identify the perceptions of work-life balance (WLB) among head nurses so as to gather suggestions for promoting nurses’ WLB. We conducted participant observations and semistructured interviews on 7 primary information providers (head nurses in wards that promoted WLB) and 12 general information providers, and we analyzed the results in accordance with the phases of Leininger’s ethnonursing data analysis enabler. The analysis yielded the following four themes : [head nurses have perception that they must play a managing role, and that WLB therefore differs between themselves and staff], [head nurses have perception that they need to demonstrate their own fulfilling WLB as a role model for their staff], [head nurses have perception that it is important to create a workplace where all staff members can achieve WLB equally before head nurses’ WLB], and [head nurses have perception that there are limits and dilemmas in regard to promoting WLB in the workplace and their own WLB]. The results of this study suggested that not only staff nurses’ WLB but also the head nurses’ own WLB should be considered. It is also necessary for all staff─not just those requiring childcare support─to have equal WLB. In addition, it is necessary for the head nurse to take self-care for stress measures, and it is necessary to establish a system within the organization such as a consultation system.

Our previous study suggested that a high tripolyphosphate diet rather than a high orthophosphate diet is associated with elevated levels of phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca) as well as calcification in the kidney. Various degrees of phosphate polymerization are used as food additives ; however, no studies have been conducted on their effects in rats fed diets containing high P contents. In this study, rats were fed a high-P diet prepared with polyphosphates with various degrees of polymerization, including disodium phosphate, sodium pyrophosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, and sodium tetrapolyphosphate. Further, their effects on mineral balance and kidney function, along with expression of mineral transporters were evaluated. In animal experiment 1, male Wistar rats (4 weeks old) were divided into five groups and fed a normal P diet (0.3wt%) and a high-P diets (1.2wt%) prepared with polyphosphate with various degrees of polymerization for 3 weeks. The results indicated that calcification of kidney tissue was higher in rats fed sodium pyrophosphate than in rats fed sodium tripolyphosphate, whereas tended to be lower compared with in rats fed sodium tetrapolyphosphate (p＝0.09). In animal experiment 2, rats were divided into two groups and fed a high-P diets (1.2wt%) with equal amounts of sodium, prepared with disodium phosphate and sodium pyrophosphate. The results indicated that calcification of kidney tissue in rats fed sodium pyrophosphate was tended to be higher than in rats fed sodium dihydrogen phosphate (p＝0.06). Moreover, there was a decrease in the final body weight of rats fed sodium pyrophosphate in both the experiments. Therefore, calcification of kidney tissue due to excessive sodium pyrophosphate intake may be affected by the growth through reduced food intake in rats. To summarize, when food is provided ad libitum, the excess intake of sodium pyrophosphate results in high calcification of kidney tissue compared with other polyphosphates and orthophosphates.

Purpose : The purpose of this research is to clarify the self-care agency and related factors of patients after elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) surgery.

Methods : This research aimed at patients going to hospital for 4 facilities implementing PCI surgery in A prefecture. Survey was conducted by questionnaire survey. In this questionnaire, the self-care agency was used Self-Care Agency Questionnaire (SCAQ) for developed to measure the self-care agency of chronic illness patients. In the analysis, multiple regression analysis was performed by the stepwise method with the total score of the SCAQ as the dependent variable, and the variable showing the significant difference in the univariate analysis as the independent variable.

Results : Distributed to 725 people, 432 respondents answered (Recovery rate 59.6%). The number of valid responses was 400 (effective answer rate was 92.6%). As a result of multiple regression analysis using 13 variables that showed significant differences in univariate analysis as independent variables, and as a significant factor related to the total SCAQ score, “Ikigai-9”, “Age”, “person who do not have emotional supporters” and “unemployed person” were selected. (Adjusted R²＝0.254, p<0.05).

Considerations : It was suggested that the psychological factors had a great influence on self - care agency of postoperative patients with elective PCI. Therefore, in order to enhance the self-care agency of them, we believe that continued support with individualized consideration is needed for patient’s psychology.

Purpose : This study aimed to clarify the relationship between locomotive syndrome (LS) and awareness of one‘s own degree of health.

Method : The participants were 174 manufacturing workers in ‘A’ prefecture, Japan. Participants performed the LS risk test, which consisted of the stand-up test, the two-step test, and the 25-question risk assessment, and completed a self-administered questionnaire survey. The questionnaire included items on participants’ characteristics and their awareness of degree of health. We analyzed data in two groups, the LS group, and the non-LS group. Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests were used to analyze the relationship between LS and awareness of degree of health.

Results : Of all participants, forty-four (25.3%) were at risk for LS. With respect to awareness of degree of health, youth in their 20s and 30s were found to have a high ratio of people with anxiety about physical strength. Knee pain was higher in middle-aged participants than in those who were under 40 years of age. Results showed that the LS group was more aware of not being healthy, and had pain in the knee, or lower back, hip joint, and shoulder.

Conclusions : Results suggest that it is important to provide guidance focusing on a person’s awareness of their health, particularly for those with mild physical disorders. It is necessary to provide guidance, such as exercise information and lifestyle advice, to improve patient awareness of how to maintain their health. Locomotion-related health advice should be provided to all people once they reach middle age.

The aim of the present study was twofold : to understand and clarify the factors related to dietary behavior among parents of primary school children and to obtain suggestions for programs that support a healthy lifestyle for parents. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of items on lifestyle, health awareness, and subjective health as well as items from the Eating Behavior Scale (EBS) and the Communicative and Critical Health Literacy Scale (CCHL), was administered to fathers and mothers of 378 primary school children. Data collected from 278 families were then analyzed. Results revealed that factors such as health-related awareness in parents, health literacy of the fathers, efforts towards maintenance of proper body weight and the subjective health of the mothers were related to dietary behavior. The findings further seemed to suggest that these factors may be related to good dietary behavior. These results may also have a significant effect on the dietary behavior of children living together in similar environments. Children’s lifestyles are easily influenced by their parents, and hence it is necessary to not only educate children but also their parents in order to assist them in establishing a healthy lifestyle of children. Education focused on raising parents’ health awareness, improving father’s health literacy, improving mother’s subjective health, and the importance of mother’s weight maintenance may improve parents’ dietary behavior.

In this study, we compared the characteristics of cooked rice and their starch pastes properties of Nipponbare (parental cultivar) and mutant rice deficient in starch synthase enzyme I (SSI), starch synthase enzyme IIIa (SSIIIa), and pullulanase (Plu). The cooked Nipponbare and SSI- and PUL-deficient rice had a rounded shape similar to that of japonica rice and they did not show a clear fracture point. Conversely, the cooked SSIIIa-deficient rice had a shape that extended vertically similar to indica rice and they showed a clear breaking point. SSIIIa-deficient rice had an extremely low G’ value, which was lower than that of G”, the dynamic viscoelasticity of starch paste, indicating that was a sol and that it did not form a network in the starch paste. The starch paste of SSIIIa-deficient rice had extremely low viscoelasticity, which was similar to that of water. Hence, SSIIIa-deficient rice can be used as functional rice in kayu (rice porridge) or as a stable low-viscosity liquid food.

Purpose : The goal of this study is to clarify the concept of care management for end-of-life stage elderly requiring in-home care.

Methods : The Rogers method of concept analysis was used. Total of twenty-eight papers, eight overseas and twenty domestic, found using searches on Pub Med and the Japan Medical Abstracts Society website, used for the study. Preceding requirement, attributes, and results were extracted and used for qualitative induction analysis.

Results : Two categories of preceding requirements, six categories of attributes, and two categories of results were identified.

Conclusions : Based on these findings, care management practice for end-of-life stage elderly patients requiring in-home care was “create an environment that supports the end-of-life period, support decision making to clarify the life and the end of life desired by the patient, and work together with the care team to realize the patient’s wishes, without missing the physical aspect of the patient’s life when necessary. It was an activity to enable them to provide spiritual and mental health care.”

To clarify the mechanism of the development of nephrocalcinosis induced by a high-phosphorus (P) diet, we focused on bone-related proteins such as bone morphogenetic protein 2 and osteopontin. This study investigated the effects of a high-P diet on the mRNA expression of Bmp2 and Spp1 in the rat kidney. Wistar rats were divided into two groups and fed a control diet (control group) or a high-P diet (high-P group). Kidney calcium and P concentrations were significantly increased in the high-P group compared to the control group. The mRNA expression of both Bmp2 and Spp1 was significantly increased in the high-P group compared to the control group. These results indicate that a high-P diet induces upregulation of Bmp2 and Spp1 mRNA in the kidney.

Purpose : This study aims to describe the effective support by on-site nursing instructors as perceived by novice nurses, and to develop an educational program to support novice nurses.

Methods : A group interview was conducted with seven novice nurses working in two university hospitals in A Prefecture who had expressed consent to participate in the study. The data obtained were analyzed qualitatively and inductively.

Results : The participants were two male and five female nurses. An analysis of the interview data showed that the effective support by on-site nursing instructors as perceived by these novice nurses is comprised of two categories, [duty support] and [emotional support]. [Duty support] includes the following subcategories : «support for acquiring nursing skills», «support for performing the nursing», and «support in assessing the significance of the nursing they performed». Subcategories of [emotional support] are «support for approval» and «support for acceptance».

Conclusions : Based on the results of this study, it is necessary to improve the workplace environment and develop practical educational programs that enable on-site instructors to support novice nurses.

To extract issues regarding initiation of the provision of multifunctional long-term nursing care in small group homes (multifunctional nursing services), a home-visit nursing facility, which is planning an attempt to provide the service, conducted an interview survey involving people receiving care at home and their families to investigate their views on multifunctional nursing services. The survey involved 6 users of a home-visit nursing facility (not annexed to any existing medical institution in Aichi Prefecture) and their family members. The interview consisted of questions, such as “thoughts and preferences concerning the use of home-visit nursing services” and “preferences regarding daycare services and short-term stays”, and the obtained data were summarized in a table according to the case type. The survey results showed that the subjects had positive attitudes toward home-visit nursing facility services. Although some subjects showed a wish to use multifunctional nursing services when available, 2 people receiving care at home responded that they would not want to use them. Their negative attitude towards the use of multifunctional nursing services might have been caused by their inability to imagine that their current home-visit nursing services may become insufficient in the future because of the deterioration of their illness or a change in the care environment.

We examined the implementation status of an educational program called “Care for Dementia Patients Focusing on the Viewpoint of Elderly Patients” after its introduction for Acute Care Hospital Nurses. A cross-sectional study was conducted. Copies of a DVD containing this educational program were provided in every ward for those participating in the study. We examined the rates of participants’ viewing and their implementation status of this program, using a questionnaire. Responses were received from 25 nurses. Ten of them provided consent, all of whom had viewed the DVD and integrated its contents into their care in practice. We cannot rule out the sample size, however, the implementation rate of care that integrated the contents of program was high even under the situation that affected negative influence on the nursing practice such as busyness. Thus, it would be beneficial to introduce this educational program to the clinical setting.