21% of quake-hit Japan area hospital's nurses may quit amid crisis

Around 20% of the 133 nurses employed in a major hospital in Wajima, a city that suffered heavy damage in the Jan 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake, have decided to quit or are considering it, the hospital has said.

Workload are increasing, other infrastructure is being destroyed which include spouse working place or even school.

some of its nurses have no choice but to leave after their homes were damaged or they were forced to move away due to their children's schooling or spouses' work situations.

Government solution? Increasing their salary to attract people from outside prefecture? No, just allow them to work double job.

 considering a system to allow medical staff to work at other health care facilities while staying as employees at hospitals in disaster-hit areas.

If it becomes a matter of survival many institution will be forced to create a ‘staff first’ approach to running their operations. Pay will have to increase as well as care and conditions in order to retain the dwindling workforce who have more choices on their hand. Either that or they simply won’t survive.

The other alternative is to of course welcome more nurses from abroad and fast track the process, once again with better pay, conditions and care. Company bosses are gunna have to learn to lead from the front, instead of just wanting to be served by their underlings.

Necessity is the root of all change. No simple solutions to any of this. It is however a problem that has been in the post for many years.

Institution will be forced to create a ‘staff first’ approach to running their operations. Pay will have to increase as well as care and conditions in order to retain the dwindling workforce who have more choices on their hand. Either that or they simply won’t survive.

However this is Japan, staff first approach never cross to their mind. First staffs will have enormous workload with same pay like before even there are condition where they need to do overtime without paid. Thinking that this is challenge that everyone face, therefore everyone should work their until their back is breaking, although we all know some staffs will work over than others, especially ojiisan that need stamp everything. When their staffs are quit, all they can say situation are difficult, taihendesune without trying to find and fix the actual problem.

There’s a problem with an ever increasing elderly population requiring more care yet nurses’ pay is not attractive enough to bolster the shortage of nurses.

To be sure, increasing pay would ensure younger nurses stay on.

As it usual to do, hospitals rely on nurses stepping up to cover for sick staff as numbers are so low.

Any reduction in staff is a burden for all.

When nurses leave then hospitals close.

Maybe the doctors need to adopt more diverse roles to prevent closure?

The potential exodus poses challenges for the hospital

Given Japan is earthquake and natural catastrophe prone, it should be assumed similar problems could occur elsewhere in the archipelago. Though Japan has done a lot to prepare for catastrophic events, it needs to factor in problems like the Noto Peninsula is currently trying to deal with in future planning; instead of taking what appears to be a variation on a just-in-time response.

Find more ways to keep emergency services workers satisfied with their careers, and make careers in emergency response more appealing to Japanese. Plus give more reasons for qualified emergency workers to want to come to Japan and further develop their skills here.

If someone's child has been evacuated to another school and is enjoying it more than their original school, then the logical thing is to move there. Nurses have in-demand skills and can live where they like.

A child may like a city school in Kanazawa etc. more because it has more potential friends, more sports clubs, probably better teachers, etc. People tend to romanticize small rural schools and view them as extended families, but going to one can be a mixed experience.

When times are tough, the tough get going, or the heck out of Dodge!

But seriously, nursing status in Japan is not sufficient relative to Docs, Japan's an outlier.

I imagine the workload will only get heavier for the remaining nurses in a downward spiral.

Recent politics at Japan so dislike to help people who are in tough situation.

LDP regime and Ishikawa prefecture who prioritize tourism than supporting evacuees exclude evacuees from hotels where evacuation places despite shortage of temporary housing. Besides, government intend to spend huge taxes holding air show at suffering area than recoverying water service system, Ishikawa pref seems to levy 1000 yen from volunteers.

health minister Keizo Takemi said in a Feb 20 press conference that the government is considering a system to allow medical staff to work at other health care facilities while staying as employees at hospitals in disaster-hit areas

STOP "considering" and DO IT ALREADY!

C'mon, we are talking about nurses here! People who are VITAL for a disaster prone country like Japan.

And instead of sending millions to other countries just to save face, why not use those millions to sponsor these nurses and scholarships for new nurses??

Bureaucracy is so maddeningly slow.

Losing 28 nurses is a big deal!

You think THAT's bad? Wait until those 20% quit and the remaining 80% get a 25% increase in work. We will see a cascade effect. Either more quitting or becoming overworked, etc.

@kurispisu, it's not all down to the doctor to adapt and evolve, this is a government is and hospital management problem, doctors may come up with an initiative but it probably can't be implemented due to laws etc, these changes need to come from the top, doctors need to focus on the wellbeing of patients, to keep staff in any job is hard, what they need to do is make it attractive for staff to join, get training, give them the right pay, and even bonuses, to reward there hard work. If you don't do this they either won't join, or they leave,

What's all those talks, "AI will replace workers" about? Let me hear how AI and robot could contribute to solutions. If best and brightest are quiet on this now, I will be concluding they are only good at deep fake. Memory of crisis in medical care during pandemic is still fresh, and I hope the government/public sector lead the preparation for future crisis.