Strategic Management for Nursing Visibility in a Japanese General Hospital
ICN 2009 conference,June,(Durban, South Africa)
Taking the opportunity of arriving a new nurse executive (NE) of Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, which is highly regarded for high standard healthcare in Japan, NE paraded a slogan “Nursing Visibility” in 2007. “Be Academic, Be International, and Be Entrepreneur” are the three strategies for visibility shared by all.
In the first year, NE carefully analyzed the organizational culture from the perspectives of an ethnographer, as she has been in an academic world with a deep practical concern. After 6 months, not only nurses but also other employees have begun to get new slogan. The slogan also began to spread outside the hospital.
In the second year, three strategies were implemented. A research nurse was hired, and research quality has been refined for a solid academic standard. International visitors started coming from Africa and Asia for information exchange. Nurse specialists started joining up with corporations for developing nursing goods for being entrepreneurial. Such tackling was introduced in the major newspaper as a series. Requested by NE, the articles presented nurses as intellectual professional.
For making nurses visible in Japan, just like Toyota has done in its legendary fiat in their fulfillment of visualization (MIERUKA). ICN conference is the best place to exchange ideas and excellent results to share this initiative on global level.
Nurses’ image has been improved. However, for future enhancement of the nursing power, we have to make a challenge for letting people understand what nurses are actually doing, and what nurses could be doing.