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Abstract: Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the educational improvement outcomes after introducing undergraduate public health nursing electives from the perspective of students, teachers, and public health nurses. Design and Sample: Post‐test design with control group was used. We surveyed three groups of participants on the relevance of achieved skill items. These groups were as follows: fourth‐year students, teaching staff from seven universities, and public health nurses from special districts of Tokyo who had pioneered the introduction of public health nursing electives. Measures: The three participant groups were surveyed in 2013 and 2014 to compare the students’ levels of achievement in the 98 skill items presented by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. Practical training introduced educational reform in 2014. Anonymous self‐administrated questionnaires were used. Results: The mean achievement rates of the 98 items in 2013 and 2014 were 67.9% and 72.6%, respectively, for students; 40.9% and 59.7% for teachers; and 44.4% and 59.4% for PHNs. A significant difference was observed between ratios of 2013 and 2014 in all three groups. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that the introduction of educational reform increased the achievement rates of students through the electives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics and health issues of residents in need of assistance in a town affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, six weeks after the disaster, through an outreach initiative. Design and Sample: A cross‐sectional qualitative design was used. Public health nurses conducted comprehensive semi‐structured interviews during home visits with residents. A total of 5,082 residents from the affected town. Measures: These included demographic information, public records of the extent of the damages, and qualitative interview data to determine the urgency of the necessary interventions. Results: A total of 281 residents needed some kind of assistance and were identified as “requiring early intervention (within two weeks)” or “requiring assistance (within 12 weeks).” The most common health issue requiring early intervention was “interruption of treatment” (25.0%), followed by “need for mental care.” The most frequent health issue requiring assistance within 12 weeks was the “need for mental health care” (39.7%), followed by “interruption of treatment,” and “need for nursing care.” Conclusions: During a disaster, it is imperative to identify cases requiring early intervention. Home‐visit interviews were necessary to identify existing health concerns to prevent the development of more serious health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study aimed to elucidate the actual activities conducted by public health nurses during their dispatch and their health status during and after dispatch to the three prefectures most severely affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Sample A survey request was sent to a total of 2,237 facilities. Of these, 778 facilities returned questionnaires from dispatched public health nurses. Results The participants of this study were 1,570 dispatched health nurses who participated in activities mostly at evacuation centers, followed by evacuees' homes. After dispatch, an earlier postdisaster phase at the start of dispatch was independently associated with poor subjective well-being, low mood, worsened sleep state, and intense fatigue. Work hours per day were associated with poor subjective well-being and intense fatigue after dispatch. Conclusion Results suggest that the factor that most strongly affected the postdispatch health of the nurses was the phase that they began their dispatch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies the relationship between tsunami damage and mortality through a demographic pyramid of a town severely damaged by the tsunami following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011. It uses cross-sectional data collection. Volunteers visited all households, including shelters, and asked residents about the whereabouts of family members and neighbours. The information was collated with lists of evacuees and the dead to confirm the whereabouts of all residents about 50 days after the disaster. Demographic pyramids for the whole population based on pre- and post-disaster data were drawn. In all, 1,412 (8.8 per cent) were dead or missing, 60.2 per cent of whom were aged 65 and over and 37.5 per cent aged 75 and over, suggesting that the very old should be located beyond the reach of tsunamis. The mortality rate of children was lower than that in other studies, which may indicate the efficacy of disaster evacuation drills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]