Objective: To analyze the concept of resilience in patients with mental illness and to clarify its structures and examine their usefulness in nursing practice and research.

Method: A total of 43 references were evaluated using the Rodgers concept analysis approach.

Result: Three categories were extracted as attributes: “personal elements supporting the recovery,” “multi-sided empower,” and “invoking the power inherent in individuals.” Two categories were extracted for the antecedents and five categories for the consequences.

Conclusion: Resilience is a concept that expresses the process by which patients with mental illness live like that person by emphasizing resilience and realizing “human growth.” Based on the results, “personal elements supporting the recovery” and “multi-sided empower” evidently enable “invoking the power inherent in individuals” for persons with mental illness. By strengthening these factors, the resilience of a patients with mental illness can be increased, which is useful in considering support for patients with mental illness.

Objective: This study aimed to compare and examine the clinical usefulness of the needs assessment scales for assessing the needs of people with mental disorders based on a literature review.

Method: The bibliographic databases PubMed, CINAHL with Full Text, and Ichushi Ver. 5 were used to find the relevant studies published until November 2018. PubMed and CINAHL were searched with the keywords “mental disorders,” “needs assessment,” and “tool,” while Ichushi Ver. 5 was searched with the keywords “mental disorders” and “needs assessment.”

Results: A total of nine needs assessment scales were obtained from the international literature; the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) for clinical purposes was widely used as reliable measures. Attempts to identify the number of items and evaluation stages for CAN were also made, however, no scales obtained showed any improved effectiveness. In Japanese literature, no scales for needs assessment were found.

Discussion: In the future, it would be necessary to translate CAN to Japanese and examine its improvements to provide a better support for mental health service users.

Objective: To elucidate the experiences of the families of people who have experienced mental health crises, and to obtain suggestions for nursing practice and research through a review of the literature.

Method: Using Ichu-shi web databases, PubMed, and CINAHL, the authors extracted original papers that discuss such family experiences, and compared them with reference to meta-ethnography.

Results: Comparison among seven papers identified the following six family experiences: “Realization that the situation needs to be dealt with,” “Doing everything possible,” “Suffering from being unable to receive the necessary care,” “Finding out the high (low) quality of professionals response,” “Exclusion from care,” and “Suffering after receiving necessary care.”

Conclusion: Early intervention services need to be established in Japan for families who are exposed to shock and physical battering but are unable to receive the necessary support. It is also necessary for nurses to be open to sharing necessary information with families so that they can be confidently involved in the care of the family member with mental illness. There are no studies discussing this theme available in Japan.

Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the concept of “student’s judgment in nursing” in clinical training.

Method: The authors analyzed all available papers and conducted concept analysis of it in reference to the concept analysis method of Walker & Avant.

Results: The prior requirements were categorized into [situation under clinical training], [scene that the student is involved in the subject they are taking charge of], [caring scene that the student practices], [scene that the student was troubled with judgment] and [scene that the student’s thought occurs]. Next, the attributes were categorized into [determination for understanding patient], [determination accompanied with care practice], [determination in each phase of the nursing process], [determination at a certain time point], [determination accompanying process], [student’s basic competence as a foundation of learning], [high thinking ability of the student] and [student’s competence that is immature]. Further, the conclusions were categorized into [fixing of critical thinking and nursing process thinking method], [improvement of assessment], [precise target understanding], [practice of appropriate care] and [judgment in certain situations]

Conclusion: Since there exists judgment in nursing that students feel difficulty in making themselves in “Student’s judgment in nursing in clinical training”, it is essential to support them through education. This suggests that sharing care for patients is important for developing nursing decisions such as [Determination on understanding the subject] and [Determination accompanied with care practice].

Objective: To clarify the concept of values held by the elderly in their end-of-life stage seen from the care providers.

Method: A total of 50 references published in Japan were analyzed by using the Rodgers (2000) method of concept analysis.

Results: From the references we extracted 5 attributes (“awareness that the elderly are respected by others”, “ways of thinking that are formed by various and individualized long life experiences”, “appearance in the elderly’s way of living”, “shaking and changing considering the remaining time”, and “determining factors in choosing their desired last term”), 5 prerequisites, and 4 consequences.

Conclusion: The concept of values of the elderly in their end-of-life stage seen from the care providers was defined as “a ways of thinking formed by various and individualized long life experiences that are respected by others, appearing in the elderly’s way of living, and determining factors in choosing their desired last term, but shaking and changing considering the remaining time”.

Objective: To clarify the concept of advance care planning (ACP) for patients with heart failure.

Method: The concept analysis method described by Rodgers (2000).

Results: The following seven attributes were identified: “hoping for the best but preparing for the worst,” “exploration of personal values,” “life restructuring from the perspective of disease management,” “sharing recognition of the patient’s illness trajectory,” “dialogue toward satisfactory care goals,” “step-by-step and continuous efforts,” and “sharing patient hopes.” In addition, four antecedents and four consequences were identified.

Conclusion: ACP in patients with heart failure was defined as a process to prepare for the worst, share recognition of the illness’s trajectory, conduct dialogues toward satisfactory care goals, and share patient hopes, while exploring personal values and restructuring life from the perspective of disease management together with family and medical staff.

These findings suggested that the concepts of ACP for patients with heart failure reflected the clinical course of the disease, and that self-management of chronic disease was included in the attributes.

Objectives: In this study, we conducted a concept analysis to clarify and define a framework regarding the educational abilities of proficient nurses.

Methods: The Rodgers method was used in this study. Keywords searched on Igakuchuozashi databases were “proficient nurses,” and “education.” We extracted 31 studies based on their titles or abstracts.

Results: We extracted six attributes: nursing practice models, instructional strategies, interpersonal relationships, performance of roles, problem-solving behavior, and self-study. We extracted four antecedents: a core presence in nursing, awareness of career design, character of adult learners, and organizational support system. We extracted and identified four consequences: provision of highly specialized nursing care, facilitation of career design, improvement as an adult learner, and improvement of performance of roles.

Conclusion: The educational abilities of proficient nurses may be defined as follows: “In clinical practice, a nursing practice model should involve instructional strategies that enable nurses to learn through problem-solving while giving them the opportunity to form interpersonal relationships and perform their roles. In addition, developing problem-solving behavior, and self-study with self-reflection may help improve educational abilities.”

Aim: The aim of this study was to clarify the findings of previous studies on food environmental accessibility related to the malnutrition state in older adults living alone to provide them with suitable dietary support in nursing practice.

Methods: Using the PubMed, CINAHL, and Igaku Chuo Zasshi Web version (the Japanese Medical Database) as databases, the literature published between 1999 and 2018 were searched and scrutinized.

Results: The nutritional state in older adults living alone tended to be poorer than that in those living with others. Food environmental accessibility related to the malnutrition state in older adults living alone was consisted of seven factors. They were “Low economic situation”, “Feeling of isolation and eating alone”, “Decreased functional ability”, “Weak social network”, “Low skills and behaviors in diet”, “Low willingness to change eating”, and “Inconvenient living conditions for shopping”.

Conclusion: The food environmental accessibility related to malnutrition state in older adults living alone is composed of diverse and complex factors. These results suggest that it is necessary to examine the difficulties among the factors of food environmental accessibility and provide support to older adults living alone in response to them.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to uncover expert occupational health nurse actions taken to understand purposes important to them in occupational health nursing practice.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 expert occupational health nurses. The results were analyzed using the qualitative synthesis method.

Results: The following seven elements were extracted: “Realize living and working as oneself while restricting within work and health”, “Stay engaged so that one is physically and mentally healthy and approaches retirement positively”, “Offer suggestions for activities at an appropriate time by assessing the state of affairs within the corporate organization and identifying key personnel”, “Develop human resources and accumulate phased activities toward self-sustaining occupational health activities by the corporate organization”, “Coordinate opinions among employees/managers and integrate support activities for employees with those for the employer”, “Build relationships of trust by staying engaged as a professional from an impartial standpoint”, and “Continue learning from experience and gain expert knowledge”.

Conclusion: Activities of occupational health nurses were conducted by building relationships of trust and making preformed study so that workers can live and work for themselves and the corporate organization can be self-sustaining and promoting occupational health activities.

Purpose: This study aims to describe the perceptions of recurrent risk based on the experience of elderly patients with minor ischemic strokes.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 patients with minor ischemic strokes, aged between 65 and 88, and the interview data about their thoughts of recurrent risk, disease, and health management were qualitatively and descriptively analyzed.

Results: Narratives of the elderly patients with minor ischemic strokes showed that they did not seriously perceive risks of recurrence, stating that [I cannot clearly imagine what the recurrence is like], [I do not know what to do to prevent recurrence], and [It is no use worrying excessively about recurrences]. It was also shown that they thought indefinitely about recurrences based on their evaluation of the own paroxysm of disease and their health management, stating that [My stroke was minor and I am recovering], and [Before the stroke occurred, I have been able to manage my health].

Conclusion: Elderly patients with minor ischemic strokes do not perceive the significance of and vulnerability to recurrence, and are insufficiently motivated to prevent the recurrence. These findings suggest that nurses need to understand the subjective patient perceptions of the recurrence risk, and attempt to provide support as appears necessary based on the understanding presented by individual patients.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to explore the experience of relatives of patients with Huntington’s disease and to develop a foundation for discussing nursing professional’s roles in the care of patients with this disease.

Methods: Data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed by a qualitative descriptive approach.

Results: Participants (mean age = 53.6; SD = ±28.5) were 10 first-degree blood relatives of patients with Huntington’s disease. Results of our analysis generated 7 categories and 39 subcategories describing participants’ experience about their families and the disease. Many appeared to have a “sense of alienation toward affected individuals” and only a “vague awareness of their kin’s disease,” given the existence of family members with similar symptoms. They also often reported they felt “constrained by their hereditary status,” and were “hesitant to tell others about their family history.” In addition, participants who spent time with patients often “imagined themselves contracting the disease,” and reported that “changes in their relative’s personality interferred with their lives.” Also participants felt that “patients and their families stood alone from the communities”.

Conclusion: These first-degree relatives of patients with Huntington’s disease appeared to have complicated feelings toward their own hereditary disease status as well as that of other family members and the affected relative.

Purpose: To elucidate the changes in Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life (SEIQoL) and the relationships between SEIQoL and a disease-specific scale as well as health-related QOL in elderly total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients.

Methods: The subjects were 30 patients aged ≥65 years undergoing a first THA. Semi-structured interviews with the SEIQoL-Direct Weighting (DW) and questionnaire surveys with a disease-specific scale (Japanese Orthopaedic Association Hip-Disease Evaluation Questionnaire; JHEQ) and health-related QOL (8-item Short Form Health Survey; SF-8^TM) were conducted at hospital admission, discharge, and 6 months after discharge.

Results: The SEIQoL Index Score rose significantly with time in THA patients. In the relationships between the SEIQoL Index Score and the JHEQ as well as SF-8TM, differences in significantly related content were seen at each point in time.

Conclusion: The results suggest that there were postoperative improvements in the QOL of elderly THA patients. They also suggest that the content of the QOL that is regarded as important differed at each time point, namely, hospital admission, discharge, and 6 months after discharge.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate physicians’ and nurses’ attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration in children’s hospitals and to identify personal factors related to such attitudes.

Methods: A survey was conducted in two children’s hospitals. A quantitative descriptive study was conducted to compare the attitudes between physicians and nurses using the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration (JSAPNC). We adopted several attributes as personal factors related to the attitude toward collaboration: clinical experience, perceived risks and benefits regarding the collaboration, the Measure of Process Care for Service Provide (MPOC-SP), and so on.

Results: A total of 233 questionnaires were gathered and 202 questionnaires from 70 physicians and 132 nurses were used for the analyses. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the risk perception regarding the collaboration and the MPOC-SP score were related to the JSAPNC score for both physicians and nurses. Additionally, in the nurse group, the years of clinical experience were also related to the JSAPNC score.

Conclusion: To develop positive attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration, it may be important to increase awareness of its effects on avoiding patient risks, and to be practiced family-centered care. Nurses need education and training to develop confidence as pediatric nurse professionals from the beginning of employment.

Aim: This study explored factors of advance care planning (ACP) practice among community-dwelling independent older adults.

Method: An anonymous self-administrated questionnaire survey on ACP practice (i.e., discussing and recording on their ACP preference) was conducted with community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years or above who attended senior community activities. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the factors associated with ACP practice.

Results: A total of 131 questionnaires were analyzed (effective response rate: 34.5%). For ACP practice, 83 participants reported having discussed (63.4%) and 31 participants, recorded (23.7%) their preferences. Factors of ACP discussion were caregiving experience (Odds Ratio (OR): 5.2, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.9–13.9), and ACP recording (OR: 7.3, 95%CI: 1.4–37.1). Factors of ACP recording were preference of staying at home at the end of life (OR: 3.6, 95%CI: 1.3–9.7), and ACP discussion (OR: 12.9, 95%CI: 2.7–61.6).

Conclusion: Only two thirds of the participants discussed and one fourth recorded on ACP. Providing occasions discuss ACP with those experienced in family caregiving may be needed to further promote ACP practice.

Aims: To evaluate a basic life support and an anaphylaxis treatment program for reducing the anxiety and acute health deterioration of faculty members at elementary schools as an anxiety alleviation program through the assessment of its implementation process and outcome.

Methods: A quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was used to evaluate the scores of anxiety and knowledge of basic life support and anaphylaxis treatment before and after attending the intervention program. We developed a program comprising resuscitation from cardiac arrest, agonal respiration, and preventing an anaphylactic reaction for faculty members at elementary schools. Analysis was performed using a t-test.

Results: Valid responses were obtained from 239 participants. The participants’ anxiety scores significantly decreased after attending the intervention program from 25.7 ± 4.8 to 18.6 ± 5.6 (p = .000). The knowledge scores significantly increased from 2.7 ± 1.5 to 4.5 ± 1.0 (p = .000). The majority of the participants (72.8%) showed a high satisfaction rate and were in agreement with the expected utilization of the program.

Conclusions: The basic life support and anaphylaxis treatment program for reducing the anxiety had high utilization and satisfaction rates among the faculty members at the elementary schools evaluated, suggesting the feasibility of the program.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between nursing practice ability, cognitive reflectivity, and self-efficacy as factors affecting the sense of difficulty in multitasking.

Method: Using data from 349 nurses, the Mann-Whitney U test and multiple logistic regression were used to analyze fundamental attributes, the sense of difficulty in multitasking, Nursing Excellence Scale in Clinical Practice (NESCP) scores, cognitive reflectivity-impulsivity scale scores, and general self-efficacy scale (GSES) scores.

Results: In the group that did not experience the sense of difficulty in multitasking, NESCP (p < 0.001) and GSES (p < 0.001) scores were higher than those in the group that experienced the sense of difficulty in multitasking, and increased GSES scores (adjusted odds ratio = 0.864, 95% confidence interval: 0.803–0.930) and being male (adjusted odds ratio = 2.975, 95% confidence interval: 1.333–6.639) were factors that reduced the sense of difficulty in multitasking.

Conclusion: Self-efficacy and sex were related to multitasking difficulty. This suggests that conducting educational programs to increase self-efficacy could reduce the sense of difficulty in multitasking.

Purpose: This study aimed to clarify postpartum care provided by midwives for primiparas aged over 40.

Methods: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 9 midwives with over 10 years of experience and analyzed by qualitatively and descriptively analyzed.

Results: Midwives provided care [to help primiparas aged over 40 to continuously understand that the lives they had built for a long time would change], [to help primiparas can continuously care for the child, while adapting to the primiparas’ pace and physical strength], [to help primiparas be convinced regarding childcare methods and be able to ask for help themselves]. On the other hand, since some primiparas aged over 40 depend on others for decision-making, midwives provided care [to help primiparas who depend on others for decision-making to be able to make decisions on their own and care for the child]. Since many primiparas cannot get sufficient support after leaving the hospital, midwives provided care [to create a support system so that primiparas who cannot get support need not persevere alone].

Conclusion: This study clarified that midwives provided care that comprises understanding and respecting the sense of values and life experience of primiparas aged over 40.

Objective: The present study aimed to develop a scale to assess end-of-life nursing care provided by home-visit nurses for cancer patients and examine its reliability and validity.

Methods: A draft of the Scale to Assess End-of-life Nursing Care Provided by Home-visit Nurses for Cancer Patients was created based on data extracted qualitatively and inductively from the results of a field survey and literature review. A self-completed questionnaire survey involving home-visit nurses across Japan was conducted, using a 5-grade Likert method with 23 items, and 669 nurses were selected as analysis subjects.

Results: A factor analysis based on the maximum likelihood promax rotation was conducted. Two factors (15 items) were extracted: [Support provided for cancer patients and their families to live a secure and peaceful life] and [Support provided through interprofessional collaboration to provide reliable home care and respond to sudden changes in conditions]. The reliability and validity of the scale were examined, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the entire scale was .948, and the criterion-related validity was .745. The goodness of fit of the model was as follows: GFI = .882, AGFI = .841, CFI = .925, and RMSEA = .097.

Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that the reliability and validity of the scale were within the permissible ranges, and that it can be used by home-visit nurses and managers of home-visit nursing stations who support cancer patients living at home and their families, as indices of the characteristics and levels of their nursing care support.

Purpose: Characteristics of end-of-life care provided at home by husbands to their wives and support provided by visiting nurses before and after the wives’ death were investigated.

Method: Interviews were conducted with visiting nurses (N = 9) that had experience of supporting such husbands since the time when the wives were alive. The content of the interviews was analyzed using the Grounded Theory Approach.

Results: The results indicated that characteristics of end-of-life care provided by husbands composed of the following categories: “condition of marital life,” “continuing the unusual life,” “thinness of the connection,” and “grief suppressed.” Support provided by visiting nurses to husbands consisted of two categories; “supporting end-of-life care during the unusual life” and “facilitating recovery from grief suppressed.”

Conclusion: Notably, the long-term conditions of marital life were considered important for husbands’ recovery from grief and rebuilding their life. It is suggested that visiting nurses should provide support in the period of end-of-life care so that the couples can realize desirable methods of end-of-life care according to the condition of their marital life.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop a mutual support (MS) scale in emergency settings for use during a disaster relief mission and to establish its reliability and validity.

Methods: The MS scale was developed from preceding studies and the qualitative analysis of data obtained from semi-structured interviews. Data were collected using a questionnaire with a sample of 747 nurses from hub medical institutions, following a disaster.

Results: A 28-item scale composed of three sub-scales was developed. The sub-scales were “promoting good relationship in a team”, “enhancing connectedness in a team”, “calming tension”. Statistical reliability was confirmed with Cronbach’s alpha at .95. The MS scale was significant positively correlated with the communication ability scale, flexibility scale, and supportive humor scale. The Score of the MS scale showed higher score among groups who had experienced disaster relief before.

Conclusions: The MS scale, comprising three sub-scales, was developed and its reliability and validity was verified in this study.

Objective: To propose scale items that can be used for evaluation of practical competence of public health nurses working at child guidance centers and to examine its reliability and validity.

Methods: This study involved 34 public health nurses working at child guidance centers who responded to a questionnaire survey asking about 17 items of practical competence of public health nurses working at child guidance centers. The confirmatory factor analysis and hypothesis testing were conducted to examine the construct validity of the items. The reliability of the items were examined using I-T correlation and Cronbach’s α index.

Results: Excluded one item with high correlation between items, we assumed three factors model using 16 items; “Competence to perform basic duties at child guidance center”, “Competence to provide close support to parents according to their characteristics and abilities” and “Competence to collaborate with local related organizations and networks”. The model fit index was RAMSEA = .065, CFI = .988, SRMR = .084. The hypothesis testing statistically supported 5 out of 8 items. Cronbach’s α was .930, and I-T correlation was .47–.85.

Conclusion: The reliability and validity of these items were confirmed. These items can be used for evaluation of practical competence of public health nurses working at child guidance centers.

Objectives: This study aimed to develop a paper version of the Tuberculosis Implicit Association Test (IAT) and verify its reliability and validity.

Methods: To evaluate explicit awareness of infections, 96 nursing and 27 psychology students were asked to complete a survey that included a paper version of the Tuberculosis IAT and other existing psychometric scales. Test–retest reliability and discriminant, known-groups, and concurrent validities of the Tuberculosis IAT were then assessed.

Results: 41 nursing students and 20 psychology students completed the questionnaire (valid response rate: 42.7% and 74.1%, respectively). The test–retest reliability was confirmed by the intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.679. Regarding discriminant validity, as hypothesized, the IAT scores did not correlate with the social desirability scale score (r = 0.023, p = 0.861). Contrary to our hypothesis concerning known-groups validity, there was no significant difference in IAT scores between nursing and psychology students (t = 0.929, p = 0.357) or among nursing students seeking credit for the course on infectious disease nursing (t = –0.220, p = 0.827). In contrast, as hypothesized, there was no significant correlation between nursing students’ knowledge of tuberculosis and the IAT scores (r = 0.032, p = 0.845). Additionally, regarding concurrent validity, no significant correlation was found between the perceived vulnerability to disease scale and IAT scores (r = 0.190, p = 0.142), contrary to the hypothesis.

Conclusions: Although the paper version of the Tuberculosis IAT was considered to have a sufficient reliability and validity, further investigation into its known-groups validity was deemed necessary.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effect of the overall nursing practice environment in hospitals on nurses’ professional development.

Methods: Registered nurses (n = 1,419) working at three hospitals in eastern Japan were administered anonymous self-evaluation questionnaires comprising the Professional Development Scale for the Public Health Nurse, the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index, and a questionnaire that included items on participants’ demographics. Structural Equation Modeling was used to assess the relationship between these items.

Results: A total of 1,129 registered nurses completed the questionnaires. The results of the analysis revealed that the model was an appropriate fit. The path coefficients of “Nurse Participation in Hospital Affairs” on nurses’ professional development was .25 (p < .01), and that of “Nursing Foundations for Quality of Care” on nurses’ professional development was .23 (p < .01).

Conclusion: These results suggest that the nursing practice environment factors “Nurse Participation in Hospital Affairs” and “Nursing Foundations for Quality of Care” have positive effects on nurses’ professional development.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to clarify the improvement effects of back treatment with aromatic oil on the relaxation and fatigue of early puerperal mothers.

Methods: A 15-minute back treatment was given to 30 mothers who were recuperating at the obstetrics clinic on days 1 to 7 after delivery. This was a quasi-experimental study using a pretest posttest design and involved comparisons of demographic data, degree of relaxation, fatigue level, and feedbacks such as satisfaction with the intervention. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to evaluate changes in the relaxation and fatigue levels before and after the intervention. Content analysis was performed using qualitative data.

Results: The number of valid responses was 30 (96.8%). The degree of relaxation was significantly higher after the intervention than before the intervention (p = .000). The fatigue level was significantly lower after the intervention than before the intervention (p = .001).

Conclusion: The back treatment using aromatic oil significantly increased the degree of relaxation and significantly decreased the fatigue level of early puerperium mothers. Back aroma treatment may therefore be a simple but effective intervention for improving the relaxation and fatigue levels of mothers during the puerperal period.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the breastfeeding self-efficacy (BSE) of mothers with infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beyond one month from starting breastfeeding, and to identify factors associated with BSE.

Method: This was a longitudinal observational study. Using self-reported questionnaires, BSE and potentially relevant factors of mothers with infants in the NICU were measured at two time points: 3–7 days and one month after starting breastfeeding. We analyzed the relevant factors with models: cross-sectional association and prediction of BSE at the second time point; using multivariable regression analysis.

Results: A total of 97 mothers were included in this analysis. The factors that affect BSE beyond one month after starting breastfeeding were the mother’s age (partial regression coefficient: B = –.34, p = .048), primipara (B = –4.56, p = .005), perception of insufficient milk (PIM; B = 1.63, p < .001) and sense of coherence (SOC; B = .33, p = .029). The factors predicting BSE were PIM (B = 1.19, p < .001) and SOC (B = .75, p < .001) at 3–7 days after starting breastfeeding.

Conclusion: This study found that PIM and SOC predicted BSE of mothers with infants in the NICU between 3–7 days and one month after starting breastfeeding.

Objective: Models for preoperative and postoperative self-evaluation of gait were developed to clarify the effects of the self-evaluation of gait and the factors affecting self-evaluation of gait in women who have undergone total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Methods: An anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted twice before and 6 months after the operation in 80 female patients scheduled for THA for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the hip. The pre- and postoperative models were examined through structural equation modeling analysis.

Results: Age, the ability to walk, and thoughts regarding claudication were found to affect preoperative self-evaluation of gait. Preoperative self-evaluation of gait affected thoughts regarding social life, the level of satisfaction with the hip joint, and postoperative public self-consciousness. The ability to walk and thoughts regarding claudication were shown to affect postoperative self-evaluation of gait. Postoperative self-evaluation of gait affected general health perception, self-esteem, thoughts regarding social life, and the level of satisfaction with the hip joint.

Conclusion: As influenced and influencing factors were linked differently in preoperative and postoperative self-evaluation of gait in female patients with THA, preoperative and postoperative self-evaluation of gait should be assessed separately.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of perioperative nursing experience on career development of clinical nurses.

Methods: Data were generated through semi-structured formal interviews with 11 clinical nurses. The nurses were assigned to an operating room as new graduates and had more than 3 years of perioperative nursing experience. Following this, they worked in a department outside an operating room. The contents of interviews were analyzed qualitatively.

Results: Eight categories emerged from the data analysis: considering a different career path by perioperative nursing experience, making use of nursing knowledge and techniques learned in the operating room in a new ward, anticipating situations in advance, acting imperturbably regardless of the situation, experiencing difficulty and lacking the skills needed at the time of job rotation, lacking confidence in other areas of nursing at the time of job rotation, striving to overcome the difficulties of working in a new ward, and experiencing growth as a nurse as a result of job rotation.

Conclusion: Nurses with perioperative nursing experience considered their career path based on their experiences in the operating room. They faced difficulties at the time of job rotation because their experience was limited to the operating room. However, their experience was also a strength that they could use in other areas of nursing and had a positive influence on their subsequent work.

Purpose: To clarify self-care behavior, such as attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and physical/environment factors of employed pregnant women using the planned behavior theory.

Methods: A semi-structured interview was conducted on self-care related to physical activity before and after taking maternity leave targeting seven primiparas who worked full-time and whose pregnancy progressed normally, and data were qualitatively descriptively analyzed based on the planned behavior theory.

Result: The average age was 30.1 years, and each commuted in trains. About self-care of physical activity, attitude toward behavior to take a rest to balance work and pregnancy before maternity leave. As a subjective norm, there was two-way subjective norms which was norms for affirming restraint on activities for the safety of mothers and children and to promote activities was extracted. The physical factors of pregnancy and the environmental factors of employment all served as obstacles to physical activity. After maternity leave, various inhibiting factors were recognized.

Conclusions: While employed pregnant women understand the benefits of physical activity, they consciously take rest to their balance work and pregnancy. Especially after maternity leave, physical and environmental factors that cause hindrance are diverse, and a support system tailored to the individual’s life is necessary.

Objectives: Methods of rebuilding the life of males living with schizophrenia who had experienced long-term hospitalization and were currently using psychiatric daycare services in local communities were investigated from the viewpoint of the people to obtain suggestions for supporting them.

Methods: Qualitative and descriptive research designs were applied by referring to ethnographic methods. Participants were nine males living with schizophrenia who had experienced long-term hospitalization of over three years and were currently using psychiatric daycare services. Rebuilding of their life after discharge were identified from analyzing data obtained through participant observation and interviews.

Results: Participants experienced “loss of connections because of their long-term hospitalization” and felt lonely because of “the difficulty in obtaining membership of in their new community” that was unfamiliar to them. They tried to “maintain life and circumstances created by their illness through using the support” of professionals and relatives and rebuild their life by “acquiring connections with daycare members and a role in the community.”

Conclusions: It is necessary to enhance the relationship between the peer community and the local community, providing employment support from early time and local activity opportunities to achieve social participation in which males living with schizophrenia that had experienced long-term hospitalization can live without being isolated.

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the relationship among dementia care, abilities to tackle their jobs, and intention to continue working in hospitals for community-based care.

Method: A questionnaire survey was administered to nurses at hospitals for community-based care, and 570 valid responses were obtained. These 570 nurses were divided into two groups: those with and without an intention to continue working in hospitals for community-based care. The former group consisted of 250 nurses, and the latter, 320 nurses.

Results: The two groups differed in social support and work engagement. The path diagram of the model indicated that was environment in which nurses communicated with, learned from, and supported one another; this relation enabled nurses to tackle their jobs in dementia care. Consequently, nurses had an intention to continue working in hospitals for community-based care. Then, we verified fidelity of the nursing model. The goodness of fit index (GFI) was .904, the adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) was .882, the comparative fit index was .922, the root mean square error of approximation was .058, and GFI ≥ AGFI. Therefore, the criteria for adopting the model were satisfied.

Conclusion: The dementia care at hospitals for community-based care increased nurses’ satisfaction with and positive thinking about their jobs, resulting in their intention to continue working in hospitals for community-based care.

Purpose: To evaluate a disaster preparedness education program for pregnant women.

Method: A gap exists between disaster knowledge and disaster preparedness. Therefore, an educational program was developed to promote preparedness for pregnant women vulnerable to disasters. The program included participation of pregnant women and their partners, learning about disaster preparedness, exercising useful knowledge, implementation at home, and sharing and exchanging information. Changes in the disaster preparedness behaviors and knowledge of 21 women in the intervention group who participated in the program and 40 women in the control group who received a booklet were quantitatively evaluated using a self-administered questionnaire.

Results: Disaster preparedness behaviors and knowledge increased significantly in both groups, but the increase in the intervention group was more significant compared to the control group and included an increase in more complex items such as communication between families during disasters and confirm evacuation location and priorities.

Conclusion: This program may improve disaster preparedness behavior in pregnant women.

Objective: To classify occupational and organizational commitment profiles among nurses, and clarify the proportion and characteristics of each type.

Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted on 900 nurses working in medium-sized/large hospitals (with 300 or more beds). Cluster analysis of occupational and organizational commitments was performed, and the nurses were grouped into clusters. The relationship between each cluster and work engagement was examined to clarify the characteristics of the former.

Results: Among the 900 nurses, 434 were analyzed (response rate: 42.2%). There were 5 clusters representing commitments. <Organizational commitments> was the largest cluster, accounting for 31.3%. <Calculative commitments> and <low commitments> were more closely associated with a lower level of work engagement more closely than <High commitments>.

Conclusion: The findings of the study exploring commitment profiles for nurses provide useful implications for supporting them to continue their jobs and remain with the organization.

Objective: The present study involved flight nurses who provide emergency medical care while transporting patients to hospitals, and aimed to examine the structure of their practice.

Method: Semi-structured interviews with six flight nurses in the Tokai and Kinki regions were conducted, and the results were analyzed using the KJ method.

Results: The flight nurses’ practice was classified into the following 7 categories: [Cooperation suggested by themselves to work in collaboration with surrounding health care staff], [Accurate clinical inferences extracted through discussions with physicians], [Flexible responses and ideas], [Efforts to achieve the maximum effect in special and severe health care environments], [Reflection to convert the experiences of individuals into knowledge and share it within the team], [Paying attention to the uniqueness of nursing care provided by flight nurses], and [On-the-job-based training for new flight nurses utilizing knowledge acquired through experience].

Conclusion: The nursing practice of flight nurses has a tri-layer structure: It is based on “the accumulation of core experience” and develops into “future visions” through the process of “brushing up skills learned from experience”.

Objective: To clarify home-based family caregivers’ processes for coping up with cancer patients who are at the end of their lives.

Method: Semi-structured interviews regarding the coping processes were conducted on 20 family caregivers who, along with visiting nurses, cared for cancer patients who were at the end of their lives. The trajectory equifinality model (TEM) was used for analysis.

Results: Family caregivers who noticed physical changes in the cancer patients at the end of their lives and coped with the need to be with them day and night reported the following: “I did everything I could”; however, some of them suffered mental and physical disorders during care and after bereavement.” Conversely, family caregivers who prioritized their daily living over physical changes in the cancer patients felt that: “I could not accept the fact of death and the end-of-life situation.”

Conclusion: Home-based family caregivers of cancer patients suggested that it is necessary to help the patients in keeping sufficient distance because it can maintain their physical and mental health and they can cope with physical changes occurring in these patients.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to clarify mothers’ child-rearing stress and coping behaviors from one month to four months after childbirth.

Methods: We interviewed mothers who underwent a four-month checkup of their child at their health and welfare center. The mothers were between the ages of 20–34 years and had given birth to full-term infants. They also belonged to a nuclear family. The study method was based on semi-structured interviews. We analyzed the data using a qualitative descriptive research method.

Results: Eleven mothers participated in this study. Mothers faced child-rearing stress of “distress about breastfeeding,” “the burden of keeping up with my child’s pace,” “overwhelmed by rearing two children,” and “taking on child-rearing by myself and feeling under pressure.” When mothers had these stresses, they coped by “depending on people around” or “dealing and solving the stress alone.”

Conclusion: This study suggests that it is important for healthcare workers to focus on whether the mother takes appropriate coping behavior, recognizing that any mother will have child-rearing stress, and providing specific information on how to receive professional support when needed, along with the content of child-rearing stress.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the difficulties experienced bymothers with infants who survived cancer. In this study, mothers who survived cancer were diagnosed while raising infants and had completed the primary treatment.

Methods: The study was conducted with five mothers who were diagnosed with cancer after childbirth, and survived the disease after completing primary treatment and whilst raising their infants. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analyzed qualitatively.

Results: The following nine categories were determined: (1) loss of hope caused by fear of dying and leaving their children, (2) uncertainty and long-term treatment is painful, (3) difficulty balancing treatment and parenting, (4) loss of a normal life for that person, (5) frustration and inability to accept cancer, (6) difficulty involving children and family due to cancer, (7) lack of reliable resources and information, (8) the inability to share their pain without meeting experienced person, and (9) the economic burden where treatment and life overlap.

Conclusion: Mothers, who survived cancer while raising infants, saw no hope of living to see their child grow up, and experienced difficulties such as coordinating treatment and parenting. Therefore, greater childcare support for these mothers is needed. The study suggested the importance of forming networks between mothers who survived cancer to enable mutual support and manage their situations better.

Aim: This study aims to develop a scal (NDDC: Nurses’ difficulties in dementia care) to measure difficulties nurses experience in providing care for elderly patients with dementia in acute care hospitals in Japan and evaluate the reliability and validity of the scale.

Methods: Based on previous qualitative studies and a literature review, we developed an original scale to measure the kinds of difficulties nurses experience in providing care for elderly patients with dementia in acute care hospitals. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 690 nurses in charge of patients with dementia in 6 national/public acute care hospitals nationwide, and the reliability and validity of the scale were evaluated.

Results: In total 567 responses (82.2%) were determined to be valid and included in the analyses. As a result of item analysis and exploratory factor analysis, 16 items and 3 factors were extracted. With a confirmatory factor analysis, the goodness of fit of the hypothetical model obtained by the exploratory factor analysis was confirmed. For reliability, Cronbach’s α coefficient was .93 for all 16 items and from .82 to .91 for each of the factors. The intra-test correlation coefficient in the retest was .69, and the correlation coefficient with the external standard “Job stressors scale” was .56.

Conclusion: The reliability and validity were considered to be generally good. In the future, it is desirable to conduct empirical research using this scale.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine whether nurses’ knowledge and understanding attitudes towards transgender (TG) are associated with nursing care provided to TG people.

Methods: An anonymous self-administered online survey was conducted among nurses working at 711 hospitals across Japan. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire covering topics such as their knowledge/understanding attitudes towards TG, nursing care provided to TG people, and demographic characteristics. Partial regression coefficients and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using multiple regression analysis with the knowledge and understanding of TG as the independent variables, and ideal nursing care and actual nursing care provided to TG people as the dependent variables.

Results: A total of 528 people responded to the survey. The high scores in knowledge of TG indicated high scores in both ideal and actual nursing care provided to TG people. The scores on understanding attitudes towards TG were also significantly associated with ideal nursing care, but not with actual nursing care provided to TG people.

Conclusion: To have a good understanding as well as the correct knowledge about TG is important for nurses in providing their nursing care, and may lead to better support for TG people.

Objectives: To investigate the draws for continuing to work in nursing profession reported by nurses with other work experience.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 nurses who had other work experience. Recordings of the interviews were transcribed verbatim. Further, the items reported as positive elements in nursing compared with the previous work experience of the respondents were investigated using qualitative descriptive content analysis.

Results: Overall, 2 core categories (represented by the symbols “< >”), 6 categories (represented by the symbols “[ ]”), and 13 sub-categories were extracted. <Strength of the economic infrastructure> was constructed by [Strength of the economic infrastructure], [Ease of job-hunting], and [Variety of work shifts available to suit lifestyle]. <Engaging nature of the work> was constructed by [Variety in the workplace environment and patients each day], [The level of discretion in decision-making in their jobs], and [The profundity of the nursing profession].

Conclusions: The largest draws for continuing to work in nursing profession were the strength of the economic infrastructure and the engaging nature of the work. This study clearly indicates that the profundity of the nursing profession is a draw of the job which is peculiar to the nurse.

Objective: To ascertain the series of processes that nurses have undergone before a child’s condition deteriorates.

Methods: Unstructured interviews were conducted with nine nurses who experienced the deterioration of a child’s condition, and their responses were analyzed using a grounded theory approach.

Results: In an “Uncertain situation” in which a nurse is unsure what happens, nurses undergo a process of “Conveying the child’s thoughts and feelings” to avoid a crisis, but the process of “Having doubts,” i.e. the doctor has not responded to the nurse’s concerns as expected, leads to different consequences. The process that leads to those consequences consists of the following steps: “Put out an antenna,” “A sense that something will happen,” “Overcoming the hurdle of sharing the child’s plight with the doctor,” “Commitment to giving a voice to patients without one [children],” and “Involving others.” The outcome diverges depending on whether or not a nurse was able to share a child’s condition with the doctor.

Conclusion: Results suggested the importance of lowering the hurdle of sharing a child’s condition with the doctor and the importance of making the entire medical team aware of the nurse’s expert perceptions.

Aim: The present study aimed to develop a fall-prevention care evaluation scale for older adults with cognitive impairment in a general ward from the time of admission to avoid physical restraint and to examine the scale’s validity and reliability.

Methods: We asked 1128 nurses in general wards across Japan to take a self-administered anonymous questionnaire survey comprising scale of the 54 items. We received 308 responses, a response rate of 27.3%. We analyzed 303 nurses.

Results: Our exploratory factor analysis (principal factor method: promax rotation) revealed a structure comprised of 5 factors and 22 items; the former were defined as [an approach that aims to convince from the time of hospitalization], [collaborative fall prevention that avoids the use of physical restraint], [care attitude that respects that person], [fall prevention technology to avoid restraint], and [Supporting activities that respect that person]. Model goodness-of-fit indices were as follows: CFI = .949, RMSEA = .061, a criterion-related validity of .792, a Cronbach’s alpha of .947, and a test-retest reliability coefficient of .783.

Conclusions: The above results show the validity and reliability of this scale. It was suggested that this scale could be used by a team of nurses to conduct fall-prevention care for the older adults with cognitive impairment to avoid physical restraints.

Purpose: We aimed to clarify whether nurses’ sense of unintegration of thoughts derived from anger toward adult patients who did not to adhere to guidance and lasted for more than one week was related to support received in the workplace after nurses experience this anger.

Method: A self-administered questionnaire survey was distributed to 2,475 nurses from 40 facilities. Date were collected from July to October 2018. The questionnaire evaluated experiences and timing of anger toward patients, sense of unintegration of thoughts, and support received at the workplace. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to reveal the relationship between the score of the sense of unintegration of thoughts and the support received.

Results: Fifty percent of the nurses experienced anger toward patients who did not adhere to their guidance. A few nurses had a high score on the sense of unintegration of thoughts resulting from anger experienced over a year ago. The nurses’ perception of an empathetic attitude as support from their superiors and colleague’s advice negatively correlated with the sense of unintegration of thoughts. Conversely, reflection with their superiors positively correlated with the sense of unintegration of thoughts.

Conclusion: Nurses may experience anger toward patients who do not adhere to their guidance, and for a few nurses, this could result in extended periods of unintegration of thoughts. However, support in the workplace can help lower nurses’ sense of unintegration of thoughts.

Purpose: This study describes the experiences of nurses in interactions with inpatients with diabetic foot lesions, focusing on daily occurring situations where ward nurses respond in situations involving patients with foot lesions.

Methods: Using a phenomenological approach based on the body-theory of Merleau-Ponty, and data collected through field observations and interviews with individual nurses, we describe situations where nurses provided care for patients with foot lesions.

Results: Participant nurse C perceived an “absent-minded” feeling of a patient during the interaction when checking physical conditions of the patient. It was manifested in a slow and self-paced attitude unique to patients in diabetes treatment from which nurses gain information about the life of the patient before hospitalization. When participant nurse E perceived that the patient felt pain from the way of breathing and distorted facial expression during the foot lesion care, she put her hand on the arm of the patient. Reacting to this attitude of the nurse showing awareness of the pain, the patient developed fears during the daily care.

Conclusion: Nurses perceive important points for the nursing from the symptoms and distress expressed by patients. The perceptions of nurses are not subjective because they arise from the interactions with patients through the physical involvement, but are a key element to develop the relationship with patients.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of a Scale of Proactive Behaviors in Organizational Socialization of New Graduate Nurses.

Method: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 1,377 new graduate nurses using a draft scale. The validity and reliability of the scale was examined through analyses of items, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation with external criteria, Cronbach’s α coefficient, and the test-retest method.

Results: Data obtained from 341 participants were analyzed. An exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors and 20 items. The four factors were “behavior to master nursing skills,” “human relationship forming behavior,” “active learning behavior,” and “behavior exploring feedback from others.” A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the fitness index was GFI = .902, AGFI = .874, CFI = .908, and RMSEA = .062. The Cronbach’s α coefficient for the subscales ranged from .73 to .82. The correlation coefficient of the Scale of Proactive Behaviors in Organizational Socialization of New Graduate Nurses with the Proactive Socialization Tactics was .49, and that with the Occupational Satisfaction of Hospital Nurses scale was .38. In the test-retest method, the correlation coefficient for the subscale ranged from .60 to .67.

Conclusion: The reliability and validity of the Scale of Proactive Behaviors in Organizational Socialization of New Graduate Nurses were verified.

Objective: To identify factors affecting nurses’ attitudes in pointing out inter-professional errors.

Method: A mail-in questionnaire survey was conducted on 1,834 nurses who work for advanced treatment hospitals throughout Japan. The questionnaire consisted of 84 items, including a scale for measuring the nurses’ attitude toward pointing out problems and non-technical skills. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with the score on the scale for attitude toward pointing out problems as the objective variable, and personal attributes such as years of experience and job titles, and personality traits of individuals such as non-technical skills, as separate explanatory variables (simultaneous forced entry).

Result: The number of responses to the questionnaire was 412 (response rate: 22.5%). As a result of the multiple regression analyses, factors that affect nurses’ attitudes toward pointing out problems were affected more strongly by “assertiveness” (β = .34, p < .001) and “leadership” (β = .21, p < .001), which fell under non-technical skills that are personality traits of individuals, than by basic attributes including years of experience and job titles.

Conclusion: Nurses’ non-technical skills, such as “assertiveness” and “leadership” that are personality traits of individuals, had an effect on the attitudes in which they pointed out problems.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a scale to assess “ICU nurses’ difficulties toward patient’s family deciding on Do Not Attempt Resuscitation” (IND-FDNAR).

Methods: A scale was created based on literature review and previous research on DNAR, and a questionnaire survey was conducted with 2,544 ICU nurses.

Results: Seven hundred and sixty-eight responses (valid response rate: 30.1%) were analyzed. An exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 34 item list, and six factors were extracted: (1) Confusion dealing with families, (2) Difficulties coordinating among nurses, (3) Difficulties managing grief care, (4) Difficulties coordinating with physicians, (5) Uncertainty in determining the status of the patient, and (6) Ambiguity in the decision-making process. Cronbach’s α internal consistency reliability coefficient was .93, indicating that the scale was reliable. Construct validity was assessed by confirmatory factor analysis. Criterion-related validity was confirmed by correlating the experimental scale with a scale for difficulties felt by ICU nurses providing end-of-life care.

Conclusion: The results indicated that a valid and reliable scale was developed to assess critical care nurses’ difficulties toward patient’s family deciding on Do Not Attempt Resuscitation.

Objective: The goal of this study was to determine the effect of chemical composition of the body and muscle mass on decreasing handgrip strength among community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, we measured body chemical composition and muscle mass at baseline (n = 209) and 1 year later (n = 155) in 2,671 community-dwelling older adults. Participants were categorized into specific groups: those with low skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), low handgrip strength, high percent body fat, protein deficiency, mineral deficiency, and sarcopenic obesity. This grouping was done using baseline data and according to 2019 criteria of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Baseline data were compared with data collected 1 year later using the paired t-test and repeated measures ANOVA.

Results: The study findings demonstrated that in men (n = 60), repeated measures ANOVA showed decreasing hand grip(η² = .011, p = .014), mineral deficiency(η² = .123, p = .003) and interaction (η² = .011, p = .018).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that mineral deficiency may influence decreasing handgrip strength over 1 year and the need to consider support for increasing mineral abundance in men.

Objective: This study was performed to investigate knowledge of nurses with experience in caring for children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) about treatment regimens, knowledge of pharmacology based on the package insert for prednisolone, and nursing practice.

Methods: Six hundred and ninety-seven nurses working at the children’s ward in public hospitals and regional support hospitals were asked to enroll in this study.

Results: We analyzed the responses of 210 out of 226 nurses who consented to the study by comparing knowledge of pharmacology nursing practice between nurses with and without experience in caring for patients with INS. In the group with experience of providing nursing care for patients with INS, 89 (90.8%) provided nursing care according to the plan, whereas 98 (89.1%) provided nursing care according to the plan in the group with no experience. Some nurses did not know all of the precautions for co-administration of prednisolone (experience: [30] 30.6% vs. no experience [39] 35.5%) There was no significant difference between the two groups.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that nurses with experience in caring for patients with INS understood treatment plans for individual patients, but they may have not been performing nursing based on relevant guidelines. The results also revealed a gap between their treatment plan-related and pharmacological knowledge.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of self-management behavior, quality of life (QOL), biometric data, and medical costs on kidney transplant patients in a 1-year prospective cohort study.

Methods: The participants were 225 patients who underwent kidney transplantation. Self-management behavior was measured using the self-administered Kidney Transplant Self-management scale (Japanese version), and health-related QOL was examined using Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Participant characteristics and biometric data were obtained from the patients’ electronic medical record data, and medical costs were calculated from medical fee billing information (EF files).

Results: Among the 142 participants whose data were analyzed, the interaction of self-management behavior and time was identified as significant in Role/Social component summary QOL score (F(1, 50) = 14.85, p < .001)and Triglyceride (TG) value (F(1, 61) = 9.83, p < .001). Regarding medical expenses, the high self-management group had reduced outpatient medical expenses (F(1, 123) = 4.06, p = .044), but there was no significant difference in the total outpatient and total medical costs.

Conclusion: The results suggested that appropriate self-management behavior of kidney transplant patients had a positive effect on quality of life, biometric data.

Purpose: This study aimed to elucidate nurses’ capacity to provide good dementia care in acute hospitals.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study, along with semi-structured interviews, was conducted with 15 nurses practicing dementia care at acute hospitals.

Results: Nursing practice competencies included “Nurses’ basic attitudes toward dementia patients”, “Implementation of safety and comfort measures for dementia patients during hospital stays”, “Expansion of sustainable dementia care with consideration for patients’ lifestyle before and after hospitalization and environment around patients”, and “Behavior as a team member to provide appropriate care for dementia patients.”

Conclusion: This study revealed not only the nurses’ basic attitudes towards dementia patients, but also their comprehensive competency in providing good dementia care in acute hospitals. Because the number of elderly people with dementia admitted to hospitals is expected to rise rapidly in the future, nurses should effectively improve their competency in providing dementia care from this perspective.