The Japan Association of Nursing Program in Universities (JANPU), which began in
1975, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2025. Who would have imagined that
this association, which originated from the voluntary efforts of faculty members
at only six universities, would grow to include member institutions with over
300 courses? Currently, there are 291 nursing universities in Japan, with an
admission capacity of 27,000. For master's programs, there are 213 universities,
with an admission capacity of 3,300; and for doctoral programs, there are 139
universities, with an admission capacity of 800. In October this year, the Japan
Association of Nursing Programs in Universities is scheduled to celebrate its
50th anniversary.
JANPU’s objective is to contribute to the health and welfare of people by
enhancing and developing nursing practice and raising the standard of academic
research and study, through mutual cooperation and collaboration among nursing
higher education institutions. Nursing universities that assent to this purpose
become Association members, and elected or nominated officers form a Board of
Directors to develop the medical business/services.
As set forth in our Articles of Incorporation, JANPU is to carry out the
following activities: (1) conduct surveys and research on nursing education; (2)
ensure and improve nursing education; (3) promote educational programs for
advanced practice nurses; (4) propose policies on nursing education; (5) raise
awareness of nursing science in society; (6) promote alliance and cooperation
between nursing-related organizations and between Japanese and international
organizations; and (7) other projects necessary to achieve the objective of this
legal entity.
The greatest challenge for the bachelor’s degrees in nursing science in 2025 is
a shift from content (educational content)-based education to competency-based
education, which focuses on the qualities and abilities that students will have
acquired by the time they graduate, in accordance with the revision of the Model
Core Curriculum for Nursing Education. The starting point for the revision was
the initial proposal issued in 2022 by the Council for the Creation of Future
Education, a private advisory body to then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Based
on this, an image of the human resources required for nursing education for the
year 2040 was defined as "those who have the qualities and abilities to set
their own agenda in response to the changes of the times, create new values and
visions through logical thinking, global communication, etc., and proactively
improve society. After the coronavirus catastrophe, the nature of Generation Z
and the subsequent Generation Alpha students is changing as well. It is
necessary to develop teaching methods that match the characteristics of students
who are reluctant to fail and vulnerable. At the same time, the age of learning
together with AI has arrived, and we would like to create a new world with the
wisdom and ingenuity inherent to human beings, without overconfidence in AI and
seeing through its lies.
In recent years, the number of graduate students studying at graduate schools of
nursing has leveled off to about 7,000 per year and a large percentage of them
are working people. Many of these students study while working at medical
institutions, public health centers, or universities. Registered nurses, public
health nurses, and midwives are nationally licensed without a license renewal
system, so they must be diligent students who are willing to learn throughout
their lives as needed. Recurrent education or reskilling is necessary for this
purpose. After accumulating clinical practice, there will be times when “the
continuous output becomes exhausting” and “the input is depleted”. This would be
the time they are likely to seek learning in graduate school. In particular,
since nursing is a practical science, it is necessary to have not only a
curriculum to foster researchers, but also a curriculum to foster advanced
practitioners and managers. We believe that it is desirable to create a system,
environment, and thriving educational endeavors that will enable people to
continue to work with vigor and vitality in the 100-year age of life.
In addition, on February 21 of this year, the Central Council for Education
issued a “Future Vision for the Improvement of Japan's Sum of Knowledge -
Restructuring of the Higher Education System (Report),” announcing a shift to a
new accreditation system. This is a major change from the previous institutional
evaluation system for universities to a field-specific evaluation system for
faculties and graduate schools. In response to changes in society, JANPU will
develop projects to meet the needs of nursing science. We have identified three
focused agendas and have presented an annual plan to accomplish them. In 2025
fiscal year, we will work on the following focused agenda plan.
2025 Focused Agenda
for Action
Focused Agenda 1. Envision the future of nursing education and build a
concrete development path
-
(1) Gather information on the new accreditation system and provide
and
share information to member institutions
- (2) Activities to promote and raise awareness of the revised Model
Core Curriculum for Nursing Education (competency-based education)
- (3) Develop practice guidelines reflecting the revision of the Model
Core Curriculum for Nursing Education
- (4) Aiming to develop the Japan Council of Nursing Program
Universities version (tentative name) of the pre-practice CBT
system,
determine evaluation criteria for nursing practice skills, and
develop
and put into practical use a system for creating CBT questions
- (5) Educational programs (undergraduate and graduate/recurrent
education) for the "development of human resources resistant to
infectious diseases
Focused Agenda 2. Envision the ideal way of advanced practical nursing
and build a concrete development path
- (1) Develop an APN Grand Design based on the draft policy in
collaboration with other institutions and promote APN education
system
reform
- (2) Actively work for the realization of the certification system
for
nurse practitioners (tentative name) in collaboration with other
institutions
- (3) Start consideration of producing e-learning teaching materials
for
common subjects in the educational curriculum for advanced practice
nurses (CNS/NP).
Focused Agenda 3. Manage the organization to realize effective
association activities and collaborate with nursing-related
organizations
- (1) While collaborating with Japanese Nursing Association and Japan
Society of Private Colleges and Universities of Nursing, submit a
request letter to Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science
and
Technology and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
- (2) Establish Articles of Incorporation, regulations, etc., and
revise
them as appropriate to contribute to more efficient, effective,
fair,
and transparent organizational management
- (3) Develop the system and functions of JANPU Network in disaster
Shigeko Horiuchi,
Representative Director,
Japan Association of Nursing Programs in Universities
