Work environment for hospital nurses in Japan: The relationships between nurses' perceptions of their work environment and nursing outcomes.

Aim: To investigate nurses' perceptions of their work environment and to investigate the relationships between variables measuring the work environment (WE) and nursing outcomes (NO ).

Design: A 2-year prospective longitudinal survey (2013-2015).

Method(s): Descriptive statistics of nurse demographics, organizational WE and NOs were calculated by position.

Reliability and validity of the practice environment scale of the nursing work index for Japanese hospital nurses.

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) for hospital nurses in Japan.

Design: A cross-sectional mail survey.

Methods: Participants in this study were 1,219 full-time ward nurses from 27 hospitals in Japan, using 31 items of the Japanese version of the PES-NWI questionnaire, from December 2008-March 2009.

Evaluating cultural competence among Japanese clinical nurses: Analyses of a translated scale.

This paper describes the factor analysis testing and construct validation of the Japanese version of the Caffrey Cultural Competence Health Services (J-CCCHS). The inventory, composed of 28 items, was translated using language and subject matter experts. Psychometric testing (exploratory factor, alpha reliability, and confirmatory factor analyses) was undertaken with nurses (N = 7494, 92% female, mean age 32.

Four factor research awareness scale for nurses in Japanese: instrument development study.

Aim: Research awareness is an important consideration necessary for providing superior nursing care. However, a gap exists between research and clinical practice. A major obstacle to integrating research into clinical practice is the absence of research awareness among nurses.

Physicians' perceptions of physician-nurse collaboration in Japan: effects of collaborative experience.

Studies of physician-nurse relationships have focused mainly on nurses' perceptions. Few studies have explored physicians' perceptions and related factors. This study had two aims: to describe physicians' perceptions of physician-nurse collaboration in Japan by focusing on attitudes toward collaboration and collaborative practice and to examine the effect of physicians' experiences related to collaboration on their perceptions of collaboration.

Effects of mental workload on nurses' visual behaviors during infusion pump operation.

Aim: According to a national report on incident analysis, the mental workload that exists during the i.v. medication administration process might affect nurses' visual behavior and, thus, influence the accuracy of the process.

Nurse risk managers' criteria for dealing with near-miss events.

From the preventive point of view, it is very valuable for Japanese hospital safety managers to select important cases not only from among accident events, but also from near-miss events that involve errors that may result in the occurrence of future serious adverse events. The objective of this study is to investigate factors that determine the type of analysis that applies to hypothetical near-miss events. We sent self-administered questionnaires to 393 nurse risk managers from general hospitals in Japan.

Patient perception of nursing service quality; an applied model of Donabedian's structure-process-outcome approach theory.

Background: Nursing is a labour-intensive field, and an extensive amount of latent information exists to aid in evaluating the quality of nursing service, with patients' experiences, the primary focus of such evaluations. To effect further improvement in nursing as well as medical care, Donabedian's structure-process-outcome approach has been applied.

Aims: To classify and confirm patients' specific experiences with regard to nursing service based on Donabedian's structure-process-outcomes model for improving the quality of nursing care.

Effect of gender and hand laterality on pain processing in human neonates.

Background: Previous studies in adults have reported that handedness and gender can affect pain perception. However, it is currently unclear when these differences emerge in human development. Therefore, we examined prefrontal responses to pain stimulation among newborns during their first acute pain experience after birth.

Influence of repeated painful procedures on prefrontal cortical pain responses in newborns.

Aim: We examined whether previous experience of repeated skin punctures altered the correlation between prefrontal cortical pain responses and Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) scores, compared with infants who had no experience of skin puncture.

Methods: Eighty infants at 37-42 weeks of gestational age were observed during clinically required blood sampling: full-term infants with no experience of painful skin-breaking procedures before data collection (controls; n = 30), full-term infants with the experience of painful skin-breaking procedures (n = 20) and preterm infants with the experience of painful skin-breaking procedures (n = 30).

Results: We found no significant differences in PIPP scores among groups.

Effect of procedure light on the physiological responses of preterm infants.

Aim: Current recommendations for illumination in the NICU state that procedure light should be controlled with a rheostat to protect infants from high illumination. However, overhead fluorescent lights without a dimmer switch are still used in Japan. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of three different procedure lighting conditions (fluorescent with on/off switch rapidly increasing the level of light [FRL], incandescent with on/off switch rapidly increasing the level of light [IRL], and incandescent with dimmer switch slowly increasing the level of light [ISL]) on the respiratory rate (RR) and oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) in preterm infants with or without oxygen therapy.

Expected roles and utilization of specialist nurses in Japan: the nurse administrators' perspective.

Aim: This study explored (1) expected roles for specialist nurses in Japan and (2) nurse administrators' experience-based management strategies for effective implementation of these roles. Background In Japan, specialist nurses have begun to be recognized as valuable human resources. However, managerial issues in utilizing specialist nurses, including unclear roles and lack of reports on effective management strategies, remain.

The relationship between incident reporting by nurses and safety management in hospitals.

Aim: This study examines the relationship between nurses' perceptions of incident reporting, the frequency of incident reporting on wards, and safety management in hospitals.

Methods: A self-administered survey was conducted on 528 nurses in 8 hospitals that provide core medical care in rural areas of Japan. Each of these hospitals is equipped with more than 90 beds.

An investigation of the risk factors for infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among patients in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Background: The aims of this study were to investigate the risk factors of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection among infants to establish effective infection control measures for neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Methods: Data were prospectively collected from 961 infants hospitalized in a teaching hospital in Japan, from July 2002 through December 2005.

Results: Among all infants, 28 (2.

Development of nurses with specialties: the nurse administrators' perspective.

Aim: This study clarified how Japanese nurse administrators consider the current status and future prospects of development and utilization of nurses with specialties.

Background: The demand for specialized nurses is not satisfied throughout the country.

Methods: Nine nurse administrators participated in three focus-group discussions.

Glove selection as personal protective equipment and occupational dermatitis among Japanese midwives.

This study was conducted to 1) evaluate the personal selection and use of protective gloves against bloodborne pathogens and management of glove selection in the workplace, 2) survey the experience with occupational dermatitis and other allergic symptoms, 3) explore the relationships between occupational dermatitis experience and glove use, and 4) determine the impact of glove selection upon occupational dermatitis among midwives. Subjects were 1,150 midwives working in Japan. Participants were selected from the members of Japanese Nursing Association and 835 responded to the survey.

Testing psychometric properties of the standard Chinese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30).

Background: Because cancer is now the first and second leading causes of death in both of urban and suburban area in China, there are increasing demands for measurement tools to assess quality of life in Chinese cancer patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the standard Chinese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30, version 3.0).

Methods developed to elucidate nursing related adverse events in Japan.

Financial resources for quality assurance in Japanese hospitals are limited and few hospitals have quality monitoring systems of nursing service systems. However, recently its necessity has been recognized. This study has cost effectively used adverse event occurrence rates as indicators of the quality of nursing service, and audited methods of collecting data on adverse events to elucidate their approximate true numbers.

How Japanese nurses provide care: a practice based on continuously knowing the patient.

Aim: Criticisms of the nursing process as a problem-solving approach have emerged recently. This study aimed to identify and describe a way of nursing based on the clinical practice of selected nurses in Japan.

Methods: Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and observations at one 300-bed Japanese hospital in 1999.

Evaluation of quality of life in Chinese patients with gynaecological cancer: assessments by patients and nurses.

Quality of life (QOL) has recently become one of the most important focuses in oncology nursing practice and research. The aims of this study were to evaluate the QOL in Chinese cancer patients under chemotherapy and to explore the discrepancy between patients' and nurses' assessments of the patients' conditions. The study participants included gestational trophoblastic disease patients (n = 68), ovarian cancer patients (n = 105), patients with other gynaecological cancer (n = 18), and their attending nurses (n = 25) at hospitals affiliated with universities in Beijing.

Sleep EEG patterns and fatigue of middle-aged and older female family caregivers providing routine nighttime care for elderly persons at home.

The sleep EEGs and fatigue of 9 female family caregivers (age M=65 yr.) and 9 female noncaregivers (age M=67 yr.) were measured during two successive nights at their houses.

Role expectations of nurses in health service facilities for the elderly.

In order to investigate nurses' roles in health service facilities for the elderly in Japan, questionnaires were mailed to institutional managers, nurse managers and care work leaders of all registered facilities. Among 2244 facilities, responses were received from 479. Role expectations of nursing personnel were largely similar among the managers of the three fields.

Determinants of nursing service in urban public hospitals: an economic perspective.

The purpose of the present study was to analyze the determinants of nurse staffing in urban public hospitals in Japan. The study sample included 51 public hospitals in 23 urban cities in 1996. Structural equation modeling was performed using the following: nurse-to-inpatient ratio; medical service and hospitalization fees; approved nurse staffing level; outpatient-to-inpatient ratio; subsidy-to-hospital-revenue ratio; and regional variation index of inpatient service expenditures.

Development and implementation of a critical pathway for abdominal aortic aneurysms in Japan.

Although the critical pathway (CP) has been implemented successfully for simple procedures and recovery processes, yielding improvement in length of stay (LOS) and patient satisfaction, there are few reports about its application to complicated procedures and recovery processes in Japan. A model was developed of the complicated postoperative abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) recovery process from 3-year patient data, including statistics such as days for achieving outcomes, comorbidities, complications, and patient characteristics. Its accuracy has been investigated by comparing patient outcomes.