title: Addressing practical issues related to nursing care for international visitors to Hiroshima.
abstract: When nine million foreigners visited Japan in 2013, the federal government set a goal to attract an additional two and a half million visitors including medical tourists by 2020. This research investigates the attitudes and concerns of Japanese nurses when they are in a situation dealing with foreign patients. The data were collected from March through September 2010, from 114 nurses at three hospitals, in close proximity to popular tourist destinations in Hiroshima. A questionnaire was developed for this research, named Mari Meter, which included a section to write answers to an open question for the nurses to express their opinions. These responses were examined statistically and by word analysis using Text Mining Studio. Japanese nurses expressed greatest concern about payment options, foreign language skills, and issues of informed consent, when dealing with foreigners. The results confirm that, in order to provide a high quality of patient care, extra preparation and a greater knowledge of international workers and visitors are required by nursing professionals in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Hiroshima International University, Hiroshima, Japan, mn378@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Hiroshima International University, Hiroshima, Japan, k-akutag@ns.hirokoku-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kiyoka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Niiya
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Department of Nursing, University of Shimane, Shimane, Japan, m-okayasu@izm.u-shimane.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okayasu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D057193:Medical Tourism; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D009729:Nursing; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult