Current status and issues on global health competency education in the basic nursing education programs of Japan / 国際保健医療

ABSTRACT

Introduction  This study aims to reveal the current status and issues on global health competency (GHC) education as well as the perceptions and opinions of nursing academics at universities and vocational colleges about providing GHC education to their students at basic nursing education programs.Methods  A Japanese open-ended questionnaire and qualitative content analyses facilitated the first-ever evaluation of Japanese nursing education by standard GHC items developed by Wilson et al. (2012) in the Americas. Using NVivo 11 Plus software, qualitative descriptions of the respondents obtained were coded and the data with similar content were organized into core categories.Results  A total of 331 Japanese nursing academics, including 66 deans, 135 principals, and other educators at universities and vocational colleges responded to the questionnaire. The academics recognized the importance of GHC education for their students in basic nursing education programs to adapt to globalization in Japan. On the other hand, they noted the difference in education curricula with the Americas and commented that advanced GHC indicators such as assessment and analysis skills were not feasible in current Japanese nursing education. Insufficient time and specialized instructors in GHC education were other reasons for the reluctance to provide GHC education for nursing academics.Conclusions  Incorporating GHC elements into existing courses and promoting nursing educators’ understanding and skills of GHC education through FDs may effectively alleviate their concerns about lack of time and personnel while providing GHC education to their nursing students. Promoting an open, detailed discussion and active conversation among educators is also necessary to reduce the barriers and gradually promote GHC education starting with what can be implemented.