JNA News Release2020.September Vol.31

JNA News Release
Japanese Nursing Association
5-8-2 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001, JAPAN

Tel: +81-3-5778-8559

Fax: +81-3-5778-5602

http://www.nurse.or.jp/jna/english/

Leadership of the Japanese Nursing Association (JNA) in response toCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: Collaboration with Government
and impact on media
In response to the first wave of COVID-19, JNA made four approaches as follows: 1.Securing nurses, 2. Supporting
frontline nurses, 3. Making requests to the Government, and 4. Connecting frontline nurses with the public.

1. Securing nurses

nurses to return to profession, at a press conference

In the face of COVID-19, JNA works to secure nurses

after the declaration of a state of emergency.

quickly and sufficiently, due to surge needs for nurses

Place of work for nurses returnto- profession (n=1,520)

at healthcare facilities. On April 8, the day after theGovernment declared a state of emergency, JNA sent

Accommodation
facilities for mildcases

an email to 50,000 nurses who are not currently
working to return to profession. The Nurse Center of374

each prefecture, where provides job placement free-of-COVID-19
consultation service
call centers44

charge support received many inquiries. There were3,383 job applicants, and 2,095 of them were referred

Other facilities

to facilities. As a result, 1,520 nurses returned to320

profession, and played their roles in such as

688"accommodation facilities for mild cases," "hospitals,""COVID-19 consultation service call centers. (as ofSocial welfare
facilities

427

August 25, 2020)
Hospitals

Many healthcare facilities in Japan had tight nursingworkforce before the COVID-19 situation. Due to theoutbreak of COVID-19, more nurses were required toClinics

provide nursing care to patients tested positive andwith onset symptoms, and to prevent in-hospital
infection. Under these circumstances, JNA has worked

The Nurse Center provide careful job matching toclosely with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare,nurses who wish to return to profession, based on their

the Nurse Centers, and the prefectural nursing

work experiences. In order for nurses to return toassociations to secure nurses. The cooperation

profession comfortably, the Nursing Centers support

system was further strengthened by then Primenurses by providing courses on infection control andMinister's positive evaluation of the JNA’s effort forclinical1|

training

programs

beforereturningtoJNA News Release2020.September Vol.31

profession. Toward the second and third waves ofin order to close the gap between job seekers and

COVID-19,

employing facilities.

meticulous

supportiscontinuously

provided, including training before return to profession*More stories about support for return-to-profession by prefecture nursing associations and activities ofreturned nurses can be found on ICN COVID-19 From the Frontlines page on ICN’s website:“Nurses Return to work to support nurses working on the frontline”
https://www.2020yearofthenurse.org/story/nurses-return-to-work-to-support-nurses-working-on-thefrontline/ Nurse Centers
Nurse Centers were established based on the "Act on Assurance of Work Forces of Nurses and Other MedicalExperts (the Act)," which was enacted in 1992. Nurse Centers consist of the "Central Nurse Center" and the"Prefectural Nurse Centers." The "Central Nurse Center" is operated by the JNA, under designation by theMinistry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The "Prefectural Nurse Centers" are operated by Prefectural Nursing
Associations, under designation by the Governors of the Prefectures.
The "Central Nurse Center" manages and operates the free-of-charge job placement website (called e-NurseCenter), and undertakes service focused on providing support for the Prefectural Nurse Centers. In themeantime, the "Prefectural Nurse Centers" utilize information from the Central Nurse Center, and operate freeof-charge job placement service for nurses (called nurse bank service) as measures for recruiting nursing
professionals, leveraging their strength to be located in each of the 47 prefectures. The two types of Nurse
Centers operate their service through detailed two-way cooperation.

2. Support frontline nurses
JNA works to support frontline nurses in the field. Thecontrol

andcertified

nurse

specialists

forpsychiatric mental health nursing.

three key measures were 1) consultation service, 2)

The number of emails requesting consultation wasinformation provision, and 3) distribution of personal781 (as of September 14, 2020). We received

protective equipment (PPE).

many inquiriesincluding

from

small

sized

hospitals and long-term care facilities. This1)

Consultation service for nurses
Since March, JNA provides consultation service
about risks, stress, infection control caused by
COVID-19 by telephone and e-mail. In order tostrengthen support for nurses who are exposed toeveryday stress due to the outbreak of infection, ageneral contact counter deals with four areas; (1)infection control, (2) work, (3) mental health, and2|

identified that small-sized hospitals, clinics, longterm care facilities, and other facilities with nonurses specialized in infection control faced
challenges on infection prevention and control
measure against COVID-19. In order to preventthe spread of infection, JNA considers to facilitate
training of the Certified Nurses in Infection Control
and utilization of those highly specialized nurses.

(4) others since April 20. We also obtained

Through consultation on work style, issues werecooperation to this service from highly specialized

identified including securing substitute staff fornurses, such as certified nurses for infection

pregnant nurses, reduction of physical burden andJNA News Release2020.September Vol.31

risk of infection during commuting, subsidizing

and the payment of risk allowance. We madeaccommodation expenses for commuting fromrequests to the Government incorporating thesehotels without going home in order to minimize theconsultation topics.

risk of infection to family members living together,Table. Main topics of consultation by email
CategoryCases

Infection control

305

Work style169

Mental health68

Opinions/requests

120

Consultation service for infection prevention (April 6 to 20, 2020)

119781(as of April 20 to September 14, 2020)

2)*More stories about COVID-19 response of Certified Nurses in Infection Control in Japan can be foundon ICN COVID-19 From the Frontlines page:“COVID-19 response of Certified Nurses in Infection Control – Japan”
https://www.2020yearofthenurse.org/story/covid19-response-of-certified-nurses-in-infection-controljapan/*Please refer to the following page on JNA’s website for information on Certified Nurse and Certified
Nurse Specialist:“Nursing Education in Japan”
https://www.nurse.or.jp/jna/english/nursing/education.html

Information provision
Since early April, JNA has provided materials and3)

Support for frontline nurses including distributionof PPE through partnership with companies

videos containing how to put on and off PPE andJNA

distributed

PPEinpartnershipwithcare provision for patients with COVID-19 on ourcompanies to healthcare facilities and visiting

website. As of June 24, there are about 82,000

nursing stations. JNA received donations fromviews. In addition, we published materials andcompanies including masks, gowns and face

FAQs that briefly summarize information required

shields as well as monetary donations. We utilize

for the different target groups including nurse

these for frontline nurses to cope with themanagers, nurses engaging in perinatal care, andshortage of PPE, while making the relevant

nurses engaging in home-based care. The

request to the Government. Distribution was madeinformation keeps updated as needed, so thatthrough prefectural nursing associations. We

anyone can easily refer to our website whenevercontinue to utilize the sponsored PPE for securing

necessary.

and supplying necessary equipment based on theactual local situations, and to expand the scope ofuse of monetary donations in support for nursing
schools and infected nurses.

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JNA News Release2020.September Vol.31

3. Making requests to the Government
JNA made requests to the Government in order toensure the safety of nurses by identifying needs andissues in the frontline through the opinions received byour consultation service. We have made 27 requests(as of September 25,2020), including securing supplyof PPE to healthcare facilities, nursing homes andvisiting nursing stations, the payment of risk allowanceto nurses coping with COVID-19, the prevention ofdiscrimination, prejudice and reputational damage tonurses, and securing of substitute staff for pregnant

Government

implemented

necessarymeasuresincluding the payment of reward money for healthcare
workers, dissemination through the "Government
publicity" concerning the prohibition of discriminationand prejudice against healthcare workers, and therevision by notification of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Act in order to restrict work and job
attendance of pregnant workers on condition of advice
from a physician or midwife. Our efforts contributed tothe attainment of these measures.

nurses taking leaves. Based on our requests, the4. Connecting frontline nurses with the public
JNA works to support frontline nurses who are facedwith challenging situations in all settings. JNA held apress conference at an early stage of infection
outbreak and emphasized to the public about the tightcondition at healthcare settings and issues faced bynurses. At the press conference, JNA’s President
Fukui talked about the problems of discrimination andstigma against healthcare workers, and asked thepublic to cooperate in preventing the outbreak ofinfection, to understand healthcare workers, and tocooperate with them.
In Japan, discrimination and prejudice against

JNA’s President Fukui at a press conference at theJapan National Press Club

healthcare workers emerged following the outbreak of
COVID-19, such that the children of nurses were notaccepted at nurseries or that nurses were refused totake taxi due to the fear of infection among the public.
Through our approach, the Government expressed
respect for all healthcare workers who were at thefrontline of coping with COVID-19, and emphasizedthat it would make all efforts to support healthcare
workers who were defending the healthcare settings.

4|On April 22, JNA was invited to the Japan National
Press Club to hold a press conference on the current
situation of nurses supporting COVID-19 patients at
the frontline, and asked cooperation in order to avoid

overwhelming healthcare system. These measures
have deepened the understanding of healthcare
workers among the media and the public.

JNA News Release2020.September Vol.31

Q What is Japan National Press Club?
Japan National Press Club (JNPC/Nippon Kisha Club) is Japan's only truly national press club which counts as
its members all the national and local daily newspapers, broadcasting companies and news agencies. Here in its
well-appointed facilities, journalists can meet important and interesting news sources, Japanese and foreign. Since
its foundation in 1969 JNPC has been consistently operating as an independent organization, of the press, by thepress and for the press, with no financial support from the government.
Approximately 200 professional events are organized annually by JNPC involving Japanese and foreign guest
speakers: politicians, businessmen, academics and other news makers and opinion formers. JNPC's professional
events include press conferences, press luncheons and study sessions.
Source: Japan National Press Club, https://www.jnpc.or.jp/english/jnp

As part of the Nursing Now campaign, JNA also
conducted a hash tag campaign using SNS, "#Nursing
Now _What I Can Do Now," with the aim of raisingpublic awareness for infection prevention and avoiding
overwhelming healthcare facilities by sending out themessages of empathy and encouragement to nurses
working at the frontline. There are 1,042 posts (as ofSeptember 14, 2020), and helping nurses re-recognize
the value of professions and feel rewarded andmotivated by knowing the voice of the public.

*More stories about JNA’s Nursing Now activities
can be found on ICN COVID-19 From the Frontlines
page:“Japanese Nursing Association Nursing Now
activities”
https://www.2020yearofthenurse.org/story/japanese-nursing-association-nursing-now-activities/

JNA’s effort toward the next wave of COVID-19
Experiences in the first wave revealed that nurses working in different settings felt various burdens, anxiety, stressboth in workplace and at home under the outbreak. JNA will take supportive measures in the following four pillars
toward the next wave, so that problems can be resolved at an early stage.
1)

Support for creating risk-resilient workplace
This includes ensuring infection prevention and control management throughout the workplace, securing

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JNA News Release2020.September Vol.31

stable and flexible supply of nurses, and strengthening the mental health support system for nurses, alongwith supporting nursing managers to take these measures.
2)

Maintenance of work-life balance (WLB) for nurses during the COVID-19 outbreak3)

Strengthening social approaches to foster sound understanding of healthcare and nursing among public4)

Policy proposal to promote a healthcare system transformation which ensures more stable provision ofhealth/ long-term care services

ReferenceInformation on COVID-19 in Japan-Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: About Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/newpage_00032.html (Accessible at July 132020)6|