Communicative Competence in Providing Perinatal Care for Foreign Women as Recognized by Nurses Working in Nagasaki and Sasebo / 国際保健医療

<p><b>Introduction</b></p><p>  This study focused on the many foreign reproductive-age women living in Nagasaki and Sasebo city, and aimed to reveal the elements of “communicative competence in providing perinatal care for foreign women” as thought necessary by nurses and midwives engaged in perinatal care in Nagasaki prefecture. </p><p><b>Methods</b></p><p>  A self-administered questionnaire was posted to 207 nurses and midwives working in 10 out of the 25 medical institutions which provide obstetric services in Nagasaki and Sasebo city of which consent to research cooperation was obtained. The questionnaire consisted of basic demographic information, questions specific to foreigners and 38 questions relating to “communicative competence in providing perinatal care for foreign women”. The questions were to be answered on a scale of 1 to 4: “1-not at all necessary”, “2-not very necessary”, “3-somewhat necessary”, and “4-very necessary”, and were analyzed by factor analysis.</p><p><b>Results</b></p><p>  141 out of 207 nurses and midwives responded to the questionnaire (response rate 68.1%), of which 120 were valid for analysis (valid response rate 58.0%). 111 out of the 120 (92.5%) were experienced in perinatal care for foreign women . Among the 38 questions relating to “communicative competence in providing perinatal care for foreign women”, responses to 36 questions scored an average of 3.0 points or higher. Factor analysis on the responses to these questions revealed the following eight elements: “cross-cultural understanding“, “resource utilization”, “problem solving”, “cross-cultural respect”, “verbal communication”, “non-verbal communication”, “self-cultural understanding”, and “preparation for delivery”.</p><p><b>Conclusions</b></p><p>  Nurses and midwives engaged in perinatal care in Nagasaki and Sasebo city recognize eight elements of “cross-cultural understanding”, “resource utilization”, “problem solving”, “cross-cultural respect”, “verbal communication”, “non-verbal communication”, “self-cultural understanding”, and “preparation for delivery”, as the necessary “communicative competence in providing perinatal care for foreign women”.</p>

Research into the problems faced by and support given to non-Japanese speakers in need of perinatal care: From an analysis of the deliveries in one hospital over a 12-year period / 国際保健医療

This study aims to analyze the perinatal care provided to non-Japanese speakers in one hospital in Tokyo from 1990 to 2001. It attempts to identify critical issues in perinatal care services and to recommend measures which should be taken to improve them.<br>Two major problems were identified: firstly, communication difficulties between health-care providers and the women and, secondly, a severe lack of information available to the women regarding health, medical and welfare services in Japan.<br>In particular, communication difficulties were a big burden for health care providers in that they presented an obstacle to collecting medical histories, to finding out about symptoms, to establishing good rapport with the patients and to providing spiritual support. It also made it difficult to provide health care based on informed consent.<br>Systematic assistance from medical interpreters is urgently needed in order to provide foreign women with the same level of care as that provided to Japanese patients.