Abstract
BackgroundNurse migration under bilateral agreements is a recent global trend, although lack of consultation with the health industries has led to challenges in the recruitment of foreign nurses by hospitals. To analyze the prevailing perception of hospitals on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), under which Japan opened the doors to foreign nurses, we surveyed hospitals that are yet to employ foreign nurses.MethodsAn anonymous questionnaire was developed and distributed to eligible hospitals; it assessed managers’ perception of Japan’s policy on the recruitment of foreign nurses and their intentions to hire foreign nurses under the EPA (hereafter called EPA nurses). We randomly selected 1879 hospitals, or 22% of the hospitals in Japan (n = 8540), with more than 20 beds. We used descriptive statistics, a Chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis to identify the predictors and developed a model to predict the likelihood of their intention to recruit EPA nurses in the future.ResultsIn total, 432 hospitals were eligible for further analysis (response rate: 22.9%). Half (50%) of the hospital managers were considerably interested in Japan’s policy on recruiting EPA nurses, although only 20% intended to recruit EPA nurses in the future. Willingness to recruit EPA nurses was associated with the degree of interest in the policy (OR 9.38; 95% CI 4.42–19.90) and managers’ perception of EPA nurses (OR 5.32, 95% CI 2.38–11.89).ConclusionsTo attract more hospitals to recruit foreign nurses, it is essential for the Japanese government and the sending countries to review their EPA systems. Utilizing returning nurses to assist language acquisition by the forthcoming EPA nurses could be a provisional solution. For a more fundamental solution, long-term provision, from prior to their migration until their return migration, is needed to encourage brain circulation, as opposed to brain drain, between sending and receiving countries.
Highlights
Nurse migration under bilateral agreements is a recent global trend, lack of consultation with the health industries has led to challenges in the recruitment of foreign nurses by hospitals
This study aims to investigate the factors associated with the recruitment of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) nurses among managers of hospitals in Japan who have not previously employed these nurses
Instruments We developed an 8-page questionnaire by examining previous similar surveys on hospitals that employed EPA nurses and unpublished interviews conducted by the research team
Summary
Nurse migration under bilateral agreements is a recent global trend, lack of consultation with the health industries has led to challenges in the recruitment of foreign nurses by hospitals. To analyze the prevailing perception of hospitals on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), under which Japan opened the doors to foreign nurses, we surveyed hospitals that are yet to employ foreign nurses. It is important to analyze the provision of bilateral agreements from the perspective of the healthcare industry. We analyzed nurse migration under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), signed between Japan and Indonesia (in 2007), between Japan and the Philippines (in 2006), and between Japan and Vietnam (in 2008). As of January 2019, only 136 foreign registered nurses remained in Japan [12], which is merely 10.5% of the 1300 EPA nurse candidates who had entered Japan since 2008
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
