Needs and motivation of hospital nurses regarding training on how to care for foreign patients in Japan / 国際保健医療

ABSTRACT

Objectives  The objective of this study was to investigate the needs and motivation of nurses regarding training on how to take care of foreign patients at hospitals and to explore related demographic factors.Methods  A questionnaire was distributed to all nurses working at two hospitals in Tokyo, one university and one general, using Google form. The needs and contents of training they would like to participate were summarized using descriptive statistics. Fisher’s exact test, t test, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used to analyze related factors. Results  Responses of 138 nurses were analyzed (98 university and 40 general) with a response rate of 11.3%. More nurses in the university hospital held a bachelor’s degree and higher subjective English ability than the general hospital. In both hospitals, 59.7% answered that they “strongly feel” or “feel” stress/anxiety in dealing with foreign patients and 77.5% answered that training is necessary.   “Language training” was felt most necessary, followed by training regarding “different cultures and religions.” In regard to language training, “daily conversation” was most necessary, followed by “technical terms”; English being most necessary, followed by Chinese. Approximately one-fourth of participants (24.6%) answered in the affirmative for attending such training by adjusting their private schedules and 59.4% answered they only wanted to attend if it fits into their schedule.   Nurses who answered, “unable to speak English”, had a higher desire to improve their ability to take care of foreign patients; also, those who had higher stress/anxiety felt it was necessary to attend the training. Participants who had been studying a foreign language showed higher motivation.Conclusion  Daily conversation in English was felt most necessary regarding training to care for foreign patients. Training during work hours rather than on private time was preferred.