Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-11T15:39:12.690Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Issues in Radiation Nursing Education in Japan Before and After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2021

Teruko Horiuchi ,
Chieri Yamada Open the ORCID record for Chieri Yamada [Opens in a new window] ,
Misako Kinoshita ,
Nobuaki Moriyama  and
Seiji Yasumura
Teruko Horiuchi*
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Chieri Yamada
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health Nursing for International Radiation Exposure, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Misako Kinoshita
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Nobuaki Moriyama
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
Seiji Yasumura
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Teruko Horiuchi, Email: t-hori@fmu.ac.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

The response of nurses in Japan to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident was deemed inadequate. This study examined the issues in Japanese radiation nursing education.

Method:

Anonymous, self-administered postal questionnaires were sent to managers and teachers of 1053 basic nursing educational institutions in Japan.

Results:

Among the 342 institutions that completed the questionnaire, 218 (63.7%) had incorporated Radiological Nursing Education into their curriculum while 124 (36.3%) had not. Based on the time of their incorporation, they were divided into the pre-accident incorporation group and the post-accident incorporation groups. For 89 of 111 institutions (85.6%) in the former group, the main reason for the incorporation was radiotherapy care. For 11 of 26 institutions (42.3%) in the latter group, the incorporation was their response to the nuclear disaster.

Conclusion:

Nursing education in Japan has been inadequate, and as such, nurses find it hard to respond to nuclear disasters. Examining the current nursing education system and building a new model based on the nuclear disaster experience are urgent issues.

Keywords

Nuclear disastersradiation nursing educationundergraduate nursing educationfukushima nuclear accidentpublic health
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , August 2022 , pp. 1346 - 1350
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Sato, Y, Hayashida, N, Orita, M, et al. Factors associated with nurses’ intention to leave their jobs after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant accident. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0122389.Google ScholarPubMed
Yoshida, K, Nakashima, K, Hiroshima, Y, et al. Decontamination and other emergency health activities in 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident: Towards the development of the radiological nurse specialist role. J Rad Nurs Soc Jpn. 2013;1(1): 37-42.Google Scholar
Shingu, M, Miyakoshi, Y. The present conditions and the prospects of the nursing radiation education. J Jpn Acad Neonatal Nurs. 2010;16(1):8-10.Google Scholar
Inoue, M, Suzuki, Y. The analysis of educational content about the radiotherapy in baccalaureate nursing curriculum. Arch YPU. 2011;4:9-11.Google Scholar
Nishizawa, Y. Human resources development for radiation emergency medicine: Future prospects. Jpn J Nurs Res. 2013;46(1):77-82.Google Scholar
Nishizawa, Y. On publication of Volume 5 of the Journal of Radiological Nursing Society of Japan: The trace which we walked together for five years. Journal of Radiological Nursing Society of Japan. 2017;5(1):1-2.Google Scholar
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Nurse training center report management system. https://youseijo.mhlw.go.jp/kangoschool/wamkngK0021Action.do?menuCd=01&shikakuCd=03&dispKateiCd=00&areaCd=00. Accessed March 21, 2016.Google Scholar
Horiuchi, T. Issues in the actual situation and the current state of the disaster nursing training after the East Japan Great Earthquake Disaster of 6 Prefecture of Tohoku Region. J Jpn Acady Nurs Educ. 2015;25(2):83-92.Google Scholar
Ota, K. Radiation protection education in basic nursing education. Quality Nursing: The Japanese Journal of Nursing Education & Nursing Research. 2001;7(12):1076-1082.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Final report on the review of training of nursing human resources at nursing universities. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chousa/koutou/40/toushin/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2011/03/11/1302921_1_1.pdf. Accessed April 30, 2017.Google Scholar