JNA News Release

February 2024 Vol.42

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

Tel: +81-3-5778-8559

Fax: +81-3-5778-5602

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

ICN CEO Howard Catton visits JapanThe Japanese Nursing Association (JNA) is pleased to report that International Council of Nurses (ICN) Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) Howard Catton visited Japan from Geneva, Switzerland from the 19th to the 21st of
September 2023. To strengthen the mutual understanding and cooperation between ICN and JNA, and also toshare current development and issues on nursing, it was a valuable opportunity to hold a Western Pacific Regional
meeting, to come together with JNA’s executive board members (including prefectural nursing association (PNA)presidents) and to hold a public symposium regarding universal health coverage (UHC).

Courtesy visits made to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and Diet members

Photo 1: Mr. Miyazaki, State Minister for MHLW (left) with

Photo 4: Mr. Catton (left) with Mr. Ishida, Member of the House

Mr. Catton (right)of Councillors (right)

Mr. Catton held talks with various
leaders of nursing and healthcare fields
in Japan, including Mr. Masahisa
Miyazaki, State Minister for Health,Labour and Welfare (MHLW), Ms.
Etsuko Miyamoto, Deputy DirectorGeneral for Employment Environment
and Equal Employment Bureau, MHLW,and Ms. Yumiko Shuda, Director ofNursing Division at the Health Policy

Photo 2: Mr. Catton (2nd from left) and Ms.

Bureau, MHLW. (Photos 1, 2, 3) Mr.

Miyamoto, Deputy Director-General, MHLW (2ndPhoto 3: Mr. Catton (left) andMiyazaki talked about the necessity forfrom right)

Ms. Shuda, Director of Nursing

creating positive work environments forDivision, MHLW (right)

nursing professionals who are protecting people’s health on the front line.
He also fully supported the calls for investing in nursing professionals from both health and economic perspectives
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June 2024 Vol.42

and expressed a willingness to share ICN’s message with his colleagues.
On the same day, Mr. Catton also met with Mr. Masahiro Ishida, Member of the House of Councilors and also anurse, to share ideas. (Photo 4)

Western Pacific Regional (WPR) Meeting with ICN member associations
JNA and ICN co-hosted the Western
Pacific Regional (WPR) online meeting toshare information on issues and activities
in the various countries/regions, to discuss
strategies,

andtoenhance

futurenetworking in the region, with a focus on
strengthening nursing leadership in theWPR. Over 50 nursing leaders from theregion

participated,representatives

fromnational

includingnursing

associations (NNAs) and two members of
the ICN Board of Directors (Dr. Lian-Hua
Huang and Professor Megumi Teshima).

Photo5: Participants greeting at the Meeting(Photo5)
The meeting commenced with opening remarks from Dr. Amelia Tuipulotu, Chief Nursing Officer of the World
Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Pamela Cipriano, ICN President, and Ms. Yumiko Shuda, Director of Nursing
Division at the Health Policy Bureau, MHLW. For the keynote speeches, Mr. Catton and WHO WPRO Nursing
Officer Eriko Anzai spoke about the current status and issues of nursing leadership in the world and in the WPR.
JNA’s Executive Director Hamako Katsumata, and the presidents of the Australian College of Nursing Mr. David
Plunkett and Malaysian Nurses Association Ms. Puan Aisyahton binti Suhaimi provided information on the current
status and future vision for nursing leadership within their countries. Ideas were exchanged with messages fromNNAs on the current situation and initiatives relating to country/regional leadership. The Taiwan Nurses Association
shared information on career support for nurses and nursing students as well as initiatives for strengthening
leadership. The Chinese Nursing Association shared information on its cooperative involvement with the Chief
Nursing Officer for nurse training plans and programs related to strengthening leadership. The Mongolian Nurses
Association and Fiji Nursing Association shared the issues on lack of nursing workforce in their countries andemphasized the importance of nursing professionals providing leadership at the policy decision-making level interms of measures to solve this issue.
Lastly, Mr. Catton emphasized the following: to place nurse leadership as a key enabler at the forefront of advocacy
and lobbying when tackling global challenges; not only to have nurses at the policy table, but to make it effective;
to develop a training plan for next generations including nursing students and early-career nurses and succession
planning for ourselves; to support nurses to understand policymaking mechanisms and processes to take part inpolicies; and in order for the voices of nurses to be heard, to collect nursing-related evidence, utilize the media
and promote public understanding. The meeting participants were in agreement with recognition of the urgency
for strengthening nursing leadership at the country/region/organization level. The ICN has been promoting its
activities at the regional level, and this meeting served as a valuable opportunity for information exchange toward
strengthening the future networks of stakeholders in the WPR.
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Prefectural Nursing Association (PNA) Policy Directors’ Meeting and Symposium on“Significance of Nursing in Promoting UHC”
Mr. Catton gave a keynote speech at the Prefectural Nursing Association (PNA) Policy Directors’ Meeting 2023.
(Photo6) This meeting, hosted by JNA every year, aims to strengthen policy capacity building of the policy directorsof 47 PNAs to support the promotion of regional nursing policies. This year, a total 125 people met in person,including 94 PNA presidents and board members in charge of policy as well as JNA executives and staff. Mr.
Catton encouraged understanding of the ICN activities and the importance of nurse involvement in policymaking
in both Japan and the world. His message inspired participants, making them feel that nursing and the expertiseof nurses could contribute to peace, security and economic sustainability.
After that, the symposium on “Significance of Nursing in Promoting UHC” was held, with Professor Megumi
Teshima (Professor at the Graduate School of Nursing, Chiba University, and ICN Board member) serving as
moderator. The presentations were delivered by Mr. Catton from the ICN’s perspective, Dr. Takeshi Kasai(Executive Supervisor and Visiting Professor at the International University of Health and Welfare Group) from theglobal health expert’s perspective, and Ms. Hiroe Takahashi (JNA President) from the perspective of a professional
nursing association.
Mr. Catton’s presentation was titled “Global Nursing
Challenges and Universal Health Coverage.” Hereiterated

that

healthcare

systemsandhealthworkforce were essential to the promotion of UHC, andfurthermore that nursing professionals have a key rolein managing overall patient care in all communities andin all the areas of prevention, promotion, treatment,and rehabilitation, therefore showing that nursing
professionals are a valuable and important part ofUHC.
In a presentation titled “Two Experiences in thePhoto6: Mr. Catton’s presentation at the PNA Policy Directors’Western Pacific Region” Dr. Kasai spoke on twoMeeting

important key words: 'connectedness' and 'backcasting'. He suggested that ‘connectedness’ is one of the keys to improving the quality of healthcare services, andthat the ‘back casting’ approach is important in situations of increased uncertainty, where one should imagine thefuture and work backwards to decide on a course of action. In a presentation titled “Challenges of Nursing: Looking
ahead to 2040 in Japan,” Ms. Takahashi presented the JNA’s policy recommendations for a healthcare system inwhich nursing professionals can fulfill their roles and use their expertise. She also talked about the direction ofmeasures for securing and retaining nursing workforce. In the panel discussion that followed, there was more indepth discussion from the speakers on Japan’s experience and knowledge with UHC and on its contributions toglobal health.
In addition, the panels suggested the importance of discussing a healthcare system in which nursing professionals
can fulfill their roles and use their expertise in their communities, and a structure that supports nursing
professionals, by making use of the links between the JNA and PNAs, by sharing information, and carrying out indepth discussions.
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Throughout the meeting and the symposium, the value and potential of the expertise of nursing/nursing
professionals in society was highlighted. It was an opportunity to think about how nursing professionals could fulfill
their roles in their capacity to contribute even more to the healthcare system and to society, as well as theimportance of solidarity. The symposium is available on the following links.
*1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC1l4_IoPWI(in English)*2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nTsRpgSblk (in Japanese)

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