Ways of developing educational programs that might open the door to BSN program applicants.

Research Project

Project/Area Number	09557222
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	展開研究
Research Field	Nursing
Research Institution	Health Sciences University of Hokkaido
Principal Investigator	NAKAJIMA Kieko Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Sohool of Nursing and Social Services, Professor, 看護福祉学部, 教授 (90009613)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	MINAMI Hiroko College of Nursing Art and Science, Hyogo, Department of Nursing, Professor, 看護学部, 教授 (70094753) MAEHARA Sumiko Mie Prefectural College of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Professor, 看護学部, 教授 (80009612) NAKANISHI Mutsuko Kobe City College of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Professor, 看護学部, 教授 (00070681) INAOKA Fumiaki Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Professor, 看護学部, 教授 (40151568) HIGUCHI Yasuko Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Professor, 看護学部, 教授 (50198991)
Project Period (FY)	1997 – 1998
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1998)
Budget Amount *help	¥6,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,700,000) Fiscal Year 1998: ¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000) Fiscal Year 1997: ¥5,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,200,000)
Keywords	BSN program / Bachelor degree holders / Opening the door to a BSN program
Research Abstract	The purpose of this study was to investigate ways of developing programs for nurses who do not have a bachelor degree to obtain a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing). Four hundred and eighty one hospitals in 13 ordinance-designed cities and 570 all occupational nursing schools in Japan were participated in this study, and 1290 self-reporting questionnaires were obtained from workers in these facilities. The standard educational path for both hospital and occupational nursing school workers who had earned a bachelor degree was as follows : High school 3 years occupational nursing school College (with a major other than nursing : 86%). A college correspondence course was found to be a particularly popular way of earning a bachelor degree. However, the number of people who have earned a bachelor degree from a regular course has been increasing recently. The ratio of nurses who go to colleges to earn the bachelor has been increasing since 1985, and the number of applicants over 40 years old has increased remarkabiy since 1995. The average number of years to complete a bachelor program was 5.9.Half of the subjects answered that they would have chosen a BSN program because of its educational level if conditions would have allowed it. However, many of them pointed out that conditions such as necessity of continuing a job while studying and geographical situation were problems. A large number of people expected to be able to continue their community life and job when they considered of going to college, but half of them gave up with going to BSN program for this reason. Colleges and universities that offer a BSN program need to develop various credit transferring systems in order to improve current conditions. If programs different from basic nursing education are needed for transferred students, the content of the program, the organization, and the number of faculty members need to be restructured.