This study aimed to clarify the factors affecting rapid turnover of novice nurses in a prospective manner. We carried out an investigation in 20 university hospitals whose directors of nursing service departments accepted our request to cooperate with our research program. These hospitals were selected from all of the 102 university hospitals listed in The Hospital Catalog of Japan. The subjects were 1,203 novice hospital nurses who gave their informed consent for participation in our study. The questionnaires, which dealt with burnout, assertiveness, stressful life events, reality shock, ward assignment preference, transfer preference, job satisfaction (workplace, salary, workload, and overtime), social support and coping mechanisms were completed by 923 novice nurses in June 2003. Then, their turnover was investigated in December 2003. Thirty-seven novice nurses (4.0%) quit during this period. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the factors affecting rapid turnover were 1) graduation from vocational nursing schools, 2) dissatisfaction with assignment to a ward contrary to their desire, and 3) no peers for support. Assignment of novice nurses to wards they choose as far as possible, avoidance of assigning novice nurses to wards alone, and establishment of a support system for nurses who graduate from vocational nursing schools seem to be important for preventing rapid turnover of novice nurses. (J Occup Health 2006; 48: 49-61)

Aim: Novice nurses' rapid turnover is one of the big factors leading to the shortage of nurses. We identified the factors that affected the turnover of novice nurses in a 2 year study period. Methods:The subjects consisted of 1023 novice nurses at 20 university hospitals that gave consent to participate in the study. We began a cohort study in After conducting variable selection by stepwise analysis, an analysis using the Cox regression model found that the turnover risk was 1.6-fold higher in nurses lacking support from their peers, 2.2-fold higher in those nurses who were slightly dissatisfied with their job, and 3.2-fold higher in those nurses who were very dissatisfied with their job. When examining the characteristics of the nurses lacking support from their peers and of those dissatisfied with their job, both tended to burnout and lacked support from senior nurses or their supervisor. Conclusion: For novice nurses, having no support from their peers and being dissatisfied with their job strongly affect their turnover. As the support from senior nurses and their supervisor are important and there is a high possibility that burnout can affect turnover, the importance of preparing a good job environment for novice nurses has been suggested.

Objectives:Using ovariectomized rats, we examined the influence of combined exercise tolerance and natto intake on the bone loss inhibitory effect.Methods:We divided female Wistar rats into the following groups: Ovariectomy, Ovariectomy + Exercise, Ovariectomy + Natto Intake, Ovariectomy + Exercise + Natto Intake, and Pseudo-operative (Sham group). After conducting experiments on each group, we collected the tissues and performed morphological and molecular biological analyses.Results:In comparison with the Ovariectomy group, only in the Ovariectomy + Exercise group was there a significant bone loss inhibitory effect in the femoral cancellous bone. Although there was a tendency toward this trend seen in the Natto Intake and Exercise + Natto Intake groups, these differences were not significant. The increase in messenger RNA expression levels of alkaline phosphatase (osteoblast marker) in the bone marrow caused by ovariectomy was suppressed by individual factors, and by those in combination. However, messenger RNA expression levels of estrogen receptor alpha in the bone marrow showed a decreasing tendency with each factor, and decreased significantly with the combination, similar to the Sham group.Conclusion:This suggests that natto intake and exercise maintain bone mass by different molecular mechanisms and that these two factors do not simply act synergistically in combination to maintain bone mass.