Management of Nursing/Carework in Multi-Cultural Settings: | Events-Events

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Lecture by Ambassador of Costa Rica to Japan, H.E. Mr. Álvaro Cedeño-Molinari ( 431.28KB)

The workshop panellists

On January 15th and 16th, an international workshop entitled 'Cross-Cultural Care in Globalization: Management of Nursing/Carework in Multi-Cultural Settings' was held in the Nippon Foundation building in Akasaka, Tokyo.

Mr. Hanyu, Chairman of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation

The aim of the workshop was to highlight the many issues and problem areas surrounding the acceptance of candidate nurses and care workers into Japan on the basis of the Economic Partnership Agreement drawn up with Indonesia and the Philippines last year, and to discuss the pertinent issues widely from the viewpoint of both the accepting country and the nurses and care workers. The workshop was held as part of the first year of activities of the three-year 'Global Demographic Change and Labor Migration in Asia' project conducted by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. Plans are also underway at SPF to conduct a country-by-country comparison of migration policy and examine the effect of introduction of foreign labor resources on Japanese society. In his opening remarks to the workshop, Mr. Hanyu, Chairman of SPF, said, “We would like to make both macro and micro policy proposals in two years' time.

The packed lecture hall

The declining birth rate and growing proportion of elderly people is bringing about major changes in social structure principally in developed countries. Hiroyuki Ishi, Professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and chairman of the research committee for the 'Global Demographic Change and Labor Migration in Asia' project, pointed out at the workshop that "The lack of labor resources in the agricultural and fishing industries in developed countries is a grave problem that will cause international labor migration on an unprecedented scale."

Many are of the opinion that the international battle to secure foreign labor resources is going to become more intense.

Ms. Hapsari, nurse from Indonesia and panelist at the workshop

In light of this problem, Japan began taking in nurses and care workers from overseas last year. The two hundred or so individuals who entered the country last summer will begin working and training in hospitals and nursing homes in February upon completion of a six-month Japanese language course. Although limits have been set on the number of workers who will be eligible to enter Japan _ 300 from Indonesia and 1000 from the Philippines _ the interest in the issue, arising from the expectation that this initial acceptance of workers will impact on future decisions regarding acceptance of foreign labor into the country, was enough to ensure that the 200-seat lecture hall was full on both days.

Many themes were covered at the workshop, including trends in labor sending countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and China, and problems in the system for accepting labor into Japan. Reports were given and discussions held by representatives from several countries, including Taiwan, a country that already takes in a large volume of foreign labor, as well as by individuals from Japanese medical facilities currently taking in nurses from overseas.

In the course of the discussions, it was pointed out that as Japan does not make use of a two-way authentication system for nursing qualifications, overseas nurses working in Japan, despite having practical experience, are required to return to their country if they fail to pass the Japanese national nursing exam within three years of coming to Japan. This problem, as well as differences in language, lifestyle and religion, need to be resolved, the speakers said.

Also brought up was the need for common training programs at universities and joint training centers, as well as clinical learning institutions, in labor sending and labor receiving countries.

(Tadashi Miyazaki, the Nippon Foundation)

*This article was reproduced from The Nippon Foundation Blog Magazine with the permission of the Nippon Foundation.

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