Journal des soins infirmiers et des soins

Survey of the Nurse Staffing System Including the Patient Classification System and Issues in Nurse Resource Management in Japan

Abstract

Ayako Mashimo, Tomoya Akiyama, Toshiko Fukui, Miho Ueno and Akiko Tanaka

Introduction: Appropriate deployment of nursing staff to secure quality nursing care has been a challenge for nurse managers. Japan’s nursing staffing system is not as well developed as that in western countries.

Aim: To clarify topics of appropriate nursing staffing and find points of improvement for Japan’s patient classification system.

Methodology: This qualitative cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2009 to February 2010. The authors surveyed three medical institutions in Japan which have adopted nursing staff deployment systems. We conducted semi-structured interviews with nurse administrators regarding nursing staff deployment at each medical facility. Content analysis was used to analyze the interview data.

Results: We identified 4 topics of nursing staffing: (1) “Improving the accuracy of the patient classification scale”, (2) “Developing the staffing system”, (3) “Circumstances causing staffing difficulties”, and (4) “Staffing system for future needs”.

Conclusion: Improvement of the scale of nursing necessity and the audit system is urgent in Japan. Developing the staffing system is also important, and nurse managers need to improve their ability to assimilate data. It is also necessary to visualize business aspects on a computer in real time, and nurse administrators should be willing to anticipate business systems in order to fulfill the needs of appropriate staffing.