University Accreditation Results(Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation for University)

Ishikawa Prefectural Nursing University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PublicLocation: Ishikawa, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2019
Accreditation Status: Accredited（Accreditation Period: April 1.2020 – March 31.2027）

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Ishikawa Prefectural Nursing UniversityOverview
The philosophy of Ishikawa Prefectural Nursing University (hereinafter referred to as the“University”) is “to aim for holistic care that looks after both mind and body.” Its
undergraduate school aims “to impart a wealth of knowledge on its students, to educate
them with highly specialized nursing knowledge and skills, and to nurture individuals
who are well-rounded with excellent innate qualities, thereby enhancing people’s healthand contributing to an improvement of well-being.” Its graduate school aims “to teachstudents advanced nursing theory and specialist nursing skills from an academic
perspective that will build on students’ noble personalities and broad horizons, and tonurture individuals with superior research abilities and excellent practical nursing skills
to thereby improve people’s health and well-being and contribute to the creation of fulllives.” In order to achieve its philosophy and the purposes of the undergraduate school
and graduate school, the University sets three agendas, namely “enhancing universityeducation,” “enhancing local cooperation and contributions functions,” and “enhancinggovernance functions,” in the Second Mid-Term plan for Ishikawa Prefecture Public
University Corporations, and is making efforts to improve educational and research
activities and local contribution activities for achieving its mission and purpose.
With regard to internal quality assurance, the Education and Research Council,
a university-wide organization for promoting internal quality assurance, presents overall
action guidelines for policies and improvements/reform related to the internal quality
assurance of education. Based on these guidelines, the Self-Study Committee plans toimplement internal quality assurance measures. In addition to the verification ofachievement of its mid-term goals and plan for evaluation of the corporation, theUniversity has established a rule whereby education-related self-study is performed once
every two years according to an internal evaluation cycle, and once every six years
according to an external evaluation cycle. Although its internal quality assurance system
was only established recently, the Education and Research Council has worked closelywith various departments to make improvements. Therefore, the system is expected tocontinue to function effectively going forward.
Regarding education, both the undergraduate school and graduate school haveorganized their curriculums appropriately in accordance with the degree award policy2

(diploma policy) and curriculum design and implementation policy (curriculum policy).
The undergraduate school enables students to take courses systematically in the properorder by presenting the overall curriculum structure and the relationship between subjects
in a curriculum map and curriculum tree. In order to nurture glocal individuals, theUniversity combines Academic Literacy subjects with Vacation Rental-type Field
Training that is held in the Oku-Noto area, and also offers subjects such as International
Nursing Training that is held in the U.S., Thailand, and South Korea, thereby providing
students with opportunities to learn actively. By participating in the Gakuto Ishikawa
Glocal Human Resources Development Program held by University Consortium
Ishikawa, the University adopts a system that encourages student participation. These
initiatives are highly commendable as initiatives for stimulating student learning,developing students’ awareness about the current situation and health-related challengesof the region, and enabling students to acquire knowledge related to foreign healthcare
systems and nursing systems.
Another remarkable feature is that the graduate school encourages graduate
students to participate in seminars for faculty members and provides extensive support tostudents planning to participate in international conferences, aiming to develop researchand practical skills with a global perspective. Furthermore, the University utilizes the“president’s discretionary expenses” to cover the travel expenses for students
participating in international conferences. These initiatives provide graduate students
with more opportunities to participate in conferences and give research presentations, andare expected to lead to the enhancement of research capabilities and the cultivation ofglobal competence.
There are, however, several issues that need to be resolved. Various surveys, etc.
are carried out in both the undergraduate school and graduate school to measure learning
outcomes, but such surveys do not appropriately measure the learning outcomes indicatedin the degree award policy. This should be improved.
Going forward, we hope the University solves these issues through further
enhancement of its internal quality assurance system, and accelerates its distinctive
initiatives for further development of its program.
Notable Strengths
Educational Program and Outcome
 In order to nurture glocal individuals, the University combines Academic Literacy
3subjects with a “vacation rental-type field training” program which is held in the OkuNoto area and involves hands-on learning activities, and also offers subjects such as
International Nursing Training that involves overseas training in the U.S., Thailand,and South Korea, thereby providing students with opportunities to learn actively. TheUniversity encourages student participation by making Vacation Rental-type Field
Training and International Nursing Training open subjects in the Gakuto Ishikawa
Glocal Human Resources Development Program held by University Consortium
Ishikawa. These initiatives are commendable as initiatives that contribute to thestimulation of learning, development of students’ awareness about the current
situation and health-related challenges of the region, and the acquisition of knowledge
related to foreign healthcare systems and nursing systems.
Student Support
 With the aim of developing research and practical skills with a global perspective, theUniversity encourages graduate students to participate in seminars for faculty
members, such as “Advanced Literature Retrieval” and “How to Write Papers inEnglish,” provides extensive support to students, such as assistance for registering tooverseas conferences and presentation guidance, and utilizes the “president’s
discretionary expenses” to cover conference-related travel expenses. These arecommendable as initiatives that provide graduate students with more opportunities toparticipate in conferences and give research presentations, and are expected to lead tothe enhancement of research capabilities and the cultivation of global competence.
Social Cooperation and Contribution
 The University's Community Health Care Center has made achievements in the areasof local cooperation and contribution, human resource development, and internationalcontribution. In addition, the Career Development Support Center, which wasestablished in AY2013 as a hub to support and promote the career development ofnursing professionals, holds many types of mid- to long-term training programs andshort-term training programs intended for nursing professionals. Certified nurse
curricula are provided in the mid-term training programs in response to local needs,
which contribute to the human resource development efforts of Ishikawa Prefecture
and other prefectures. The questionnaire survey has shown that the mid-term training
programs offer a high level of satisfaction. It is commendable that the University is4

consistently contributing to society through its distinctive educational and research
initiatives in response to local needs.
Suggestions for Improvement
Educational Program and Outcome
 As ways to measure learning outcomes, the undergraduate school carries out
questionnaire surveys to current students and graduates, various surveys by externalorganizations, and interview surveys with the nursing managers of hospitals wherestudents have been employed, while the graduate school carries out thesis
examination and holds a Graduate School Education Meeting. However, these do not
appropriately measure the learning outcomes indicated in the degree award policy.
Improvements should be made so that the learning outcomes indicated in the degree
award policy are grasped and evaluated in an effective manner and the results of theevaluation are used to improve the University’s educational program and methods.

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