title: An investigation of the basic education of Japanese nurses: comparison of competency with European nurses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A few studies have compared nursing education systems of Japan and Europe, particularly focusing on competency.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated the competency of registered Japanese nurses by comparing it with that of European nurses; the implications of evaluation for the education of nurses are discussed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were 468 European graduate nurses and 100 Japanese nurses. Study used data from the Graduates in Knowledge Society (REFLEX) survey in Europe and the Japanese language version of REFLEX (2006) used in a survey of Japanese nurses.
  
  
  METHODS
  The questionnaire referred to the survey items of REFLEX modified for use in Japan. Items common to the Japanese and European surveys were (1) The importance placed on university course elements while at university (2) Nineteen items of competency: for the abilities acquired in the present job ('Acquired skills') and those considered necessary to perform the job ('Required abilities on the job') (3) Usefulness of subject matter taught at university to the current job
  
  
  RESULTS
  (1) The important course elements in Europe were 'Internship, work placement' and 'Lecture' while those in Japan were 'Theories and paradigms' and 'Lecture'. (2) The mean values for 'Acquired skills' were 5.06 for Europe and 3.73 for Japan and those for 'Required abilities on the job' were 4.86 for Europe and 5.16 for Japan. In Europe, no significant gap was observed between the above two scores, but in Japan, a big gap was found, particularly in relation to 'Ability to assert your authority'. (3) In terms of the usefulness of university-learned nursing education, Japan scored significantly lower on all five items.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The content of basic university education for nursing is directly linked to the workplace in Europe but not in Japan. A comparison of competencies shows that in Japan, self-evaluation scores are low and expectations are high.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Medical Science, Saga University, Saga, Japan. kazko@kyudai.jp
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tateishi
authors.forename: Taro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsubayashi
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshimoto
authors.forename: Takanobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakemi
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D004506:Education, Nursing; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004651:Employment; D005060:Europe; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D015397:Program Evaluation