Annual Report 2024
Department of Nursing
Asuko Sekimoto, Ayako Mori, Hiroko Nakahama, Aya Ohya, Mihoko Asanabe, Tomomi Mochizuki, Yuka Okamura, Atuko Ito, Chiaki Ito, Kikue Okuda, Akemi Komiyama, Yumiko Arai, Sachiko Karube, Kiyomi Suzuki, Yuka Morohashi, Miyuki Kanemitsu, Kyoko Suzuki, Mieko Machida, Yuko Sugiki, Nozomi Asai, Kumi Yoshimura, Yurika Hyuga, Kazumi Ishii, Emi Fujii, Naoko Inamura, Michiko Oki, Chiemi Kojima, Yuko Hirose, Naoko Haji, Naoko Okada
Introduction
The Department of Nursing is in charge of team healthcare at the National Cancer Center Hospital (NCCH), the central institution for national cancer treatment and control in Japan. With the motto, “All Activities for Cancer Patients”, our department's role is to develop and improve the quality of cancer nursing as well as to contribute to the appropriate management of the hospital. Our department is also expected to foster nursing staff to achieve the best cancer nursing possible.
The Team and What We Do
From April 2024, to ensure patient safety and reduce nursing staff workload, we introduced a 12:1 staffing ratio for night shifts. We prioritise care based on accurate information and scientific evidence, working to advance team-based healthcare, enhance palliative care, and strengthen decision-making support for patients and their families. We also place strong emphasis on human resource development, including continuing education for trainees and new nurses, as well as collaborative training with other professions. Furthermore, we are advancing operational reforms and task sharing with other professions to foster an environment where each nurse can confidently exercise their expertise. To ensure that everyone, wherever they are and whenever they need it, can receive reassuring and satisfactory cancer care and support while living with dignity, we are promoting collaboration with local healthcare professionals and the National Cancer Council, alongside a focuse on education.
Research Activities
The number of topics presented at academic conferences in the 2024 academic year was 47. The content covered a wide range of subjects, including telephone follow-up for patients receiving head and neck cancer chemotherapy, the role of nurses in clinical trials, and the distress experienced by AYA generation cancer patients, alongside research on nursing management, medical safety, and infection control.
There were 41 journal submissions and publications authored by members.
Human Resource Development and Education
In fiscal year 2024, we appointed one Specialist Nurse in Geriatric Nursing, one Certified Critical Care Nurse, and one Certified Nursing Administrator. Our hospital now has 18 Specialist Nurses across 6 fields and 45 Certified Nurses across 12 fields. These professionals serve as resources for practical guidance and consultation in their roles as educators (Table 1).
Additionally, career support was provided, including two students in nursing master's programmes, one in a nursing doctoral programme, and eight enrolled in the Certified Nursing Administrator education course (Table 2).
Table 1. Number of registered certified nurse specialists and certified nurses
Table 2. Support status of human resource development
Future Prospects
To fulfil our mission as an acute-phase cancer specialist hospital, we will focus on securing and developing personnel to support the advancement of team-based care and the further enhancement of medical and community partnerships. We will establish systems to accurately address the diverse needs of patients and their families. Through the advancement of prospective research, we will strive to establish evidence for cancer nursing. We will continuously review our educational systems, staffing arrangements, and operational practices to flexibly respond to new challenges, such as caring for the rare fractions of patients drawn from across the nation due to advances in AYA generation care, rare cancers, and genomic medicine. This will build a future-oriented nursing department.