Purpose: The aim of this research is to organize knowledge of domestic literature on Interprofessional Work (IPW) competencies for nurses working in a hospital in Japan.

Method: A search was done on the literature in various databases including the Japan Medical Abstract Society (JAMAS) Web Edition (Ver. 5), National Institute of Informatics Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator (CiNii), and Google Scholar, using the following keywords: “Interprofessional human relations/Team healthcare/Doctors–Nurses professional relationships/cooperation,” “Clinical abilities/competencies” and “Hospitals.” As a result of having searched it, we finally intended for 22 original papers.

Results: The results of content analysis showed “Clinical abilities of nurses regarding their IPW ability,” “Coordination ability of nursing excellence” “Inter-disciplinary communication,” “Nursing education and IPW ability training” and only one piece of literature dealt with Competency Evaluations.

Discussion: The competency regarding the IPW of nurses in hospitals was necessary for various nursing activities and was an essential factor in the excellence of nursing. Moreover, assertive communication between the different job types was important.

It was suggested that more pragmatic investigations into such issues as conflict resolution and evaluations from the perspective of various disciplines are research problems for competency studies related to the IPW in our nation.