Cross-cultural information for Japanese nurses at an international hospital: a controlled before-after intervention study

Abstract

BackgroundOverseas visitors to Japan steadily increased for a decade until the pandemic of 2020. In 2019, 31.8 million people visited the country due to an easing of restrictions and an emphasis on tourism. Nurses are the forefront of the healthcare system when they interact with those overseas visitors at a clinic or hospital. The goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of providing health information, through an ordinary travel guidebook or a short digital cartoon by measuring the anxiety level of Japanese nurses who deal with foreign patients.MethodOur approach involves a controlled before-after intervention study from January to March in 2016 at a major international hospital in Japan. We surveyed nurses at three wards of the hospital who understood English and cared for foreign patients as the 1st intervention group. Following which, we collected data from the same 1st intervention group, but now considered as the 2nd intervention group. Nurses in the 1st intervention group read health information in a travel guidebook for Japan. Nurses in the 2nd intervention read health information in the guidebook and watched a four-minute digital cartoon in English on health services in Japan, titled Mari Info. After each intervention, the nurses answered a self-questionnaire, wherein we assessed their level of anxiety to care for foreign patients. We evaluated the results through statistical testing and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y (STAI-Y).ResultsOf 111 nurses, 83 (74.8%) completed both interventions and a questionnaire. Reading the guidebook as well as watching a digital cartoon, as the 2nd intervention was more effective in reducing the level of anxiety to care for foreign patients compared to reading only the guidebook.ConclusionsJapanese nurses can lower their anxieties on dealing with foreign patients by knowing the various forms of healthcare information currently accessible to overseas visitors in both guidebooks and digital content. This helps them learn the ethical concerns and cultural norms of foreign patients they might care for.