Difficulties and Countermeasures in Nursing Practice for Non-English-Speaking Foreign Patients with COVID-19 / 日本農村医学会雑誌

The purpose of this study was to clarify difficulties and countermeasures in nursing practice for foreign patients with COVID-19 who were non-English native speakers. A questionnaire was collected from 16 nurses in a COVID-19 ward. They cared for 13 non-English-speaking foreign patients from admission to discharge in the ward between May 2021 and June 2021. All nurses reported difficulties in communication related to collecting information from patients and explaining hospital care. For example, they could have simple conversations using a two-way translation device (POKETALK®) but could not understand detailed symptoms or complaints without an interpreter. Not much meaning could be inferred from a patient’s response of “OK”. The nurses reported that it was difficult to explain details of treatments, Japanese customs, and hospital rules. With the help of interpreters, they made hospital manuals and question cards in the patients’ native languages. In nursing care for foreign patients with COVID-19, it was helpful to provide explanations of Japanese customs and hospital rules before admission and to prepare hospital manuals and question cards in patients’ native languages.

Questionnaire Survey of Medical Staff and Community Dwellers on End-of-life Care / 日本農村医学会雑誌

We conducted a questionnaire survey of 525 persons regarding end-of-life care (EoLC) between November and December 2017. A total of 495 individuals responded (response rate 94.3%). Respondents were grouped into either a medical staff (MS) group or community persons (CP) group. Significant differences were found between the MS and CP groups in implementing a family conference about EoLC (p＜0.05), but not in preparing documents about personal preferences for EoLC. There were significant differences between the groups in medical treatments in EoLC, for example, total parenteral nutrition, enteral nutrition via percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, and mechanical ventilation with intubation (p＜0.05). It is important that medical treatment in EoLC should meet the requirements of patients and their families. This study revealed differences in some aspects of EoLC between the MS and CP groups. Individuals should be supported in personally making decisions about their own EoLC.