Objective

The Great East Japan Earthquake caused extensive damage to Japan in March 2011. What kind of action should we as nursing care professionals take in the event of such a crisis? Disasters occur frequently in Japan and around the world, killing many and generating health crises that affect many more. This program considers our mission and responsibilities from a global-scale perspective, and discusses how to be ready for disasters, respond to crises, and continue to protect human health following a disaster.

There are no national boundaries in the world of medical care and disaster nursing. This program will develop the communications skills for constructing international teams, the ability to consider health on a global scale, and scientific problem-solving skills while evaluating the conditions on the ground. The objective is to develop individuals who can promote global health and contribute to the advancement of medicine as citizens of a global society.

Program

• Learning at the Malmo University (Sweden) Faculty of Health and Society
• Nursing care working group meeting
• INU Workshop on Global Health and Nursing

Learning at the Malmo University (Sweden) Faculty of Health and Society

The 2011 academic year course sent 13 Hiroshima University students (from the School of Health Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine) to study at Malmo University in Sweden from March 26 – 29, 2012. The course was highly productive, involving lectures and visits to facilities as shown below, and was an opportunity for interaction with Malmo University instructors and students.

Day 1

• University tour
• Explanation of the learning programs at the Malmo University Faculty of Health and Society
• Visit to the university hospital, learning at the inter-professional student training hospital (KUR)
• Traditional Swedish foods, social event

Day 2

• Social systems and health care in Sweden (lecture)
• Field learning: Visit to nursing home, visit to rehabilitation facility

Day 3

• Reflective thinking in clinical practice (exercise)
• Old-age health care in Sweden (lecture)
• Sightseeing in Malmo, home party at professor’s home

Day 4

• Public health in Sweden (lecture)
• Palliative care in Sweden
• Review of learning

Many enthusiastic comments were received from the participating students. Here is an example.

“It was an opportunity for many truly valuable experiences and I was able to learn a great deal. I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I hope to make sure to use it for more than just completing my course of study. I will make use of what I have learned in my future study and nursing care work, and will be aware of my status as a representative of Hiroshima University during my studies and work to share what I have learned with other students. I hope to help create a better future for Japanese health care and welfare.”

Click here for more student reports.

The 2012 academic year course will send 15 students to Malmo University in Sweden from March 4 – 8, 2013.

Nursing care working group meetings

Faculty from nursing and health care fields at 6 INU member universities (Malmo University, James Madison University, Kyung Hee University, Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Flinders University, Hiroshima University) are coming together to hold meetings in preparation for the “Disaster Nursing” student seminar that is scheduled for a full-scale launch in the summer of 2013. For the 2011 academic year, this working group meeting was held in Tokyo in March, 2012. For the 2013 academic year, it was held in Hiroshima in August, 2012. In addition to these two meetings, frequent online video conferences are also being held as preparation for the student seminar progress steadily.

INU Workshop and Global Health and Nursing

This workshop will be held in Hiroshima City to coincide with the anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing on August 6. Participants will consider the subject of peace through participation in the peace commemoration ceremony, lectures, a visit to the Peace Memorial Museum, and other activities, and will also learn about disaster readiness, crisis management (acute phase), recovery periods, and other measures for each stage of a disaster. Participants will learn through advance book learning, field studies, lectures by professionals in the field of disaster medicine, and discussions as they consider possible future earthquakes and other natural disasters, pandemics, terrorist attacks, and other disasters.

The workshop will be conducted by the faculty and students of the participating schools – 6 INU member universities in 6 countries: the United States, Sweden, Spain, Australia, Korea, and Japan. Further continued learning is also possible through study abroad at the INU member universities.