The experiences of foreign-educated nurses in Japan: a systematic review

To conduct a systematic review to understand the experiences of foreign-educated nurses in Japan.

The experiences of foreign nurses in host countries, and the challenges they face, have been widely investigated around the world. However, no systematic review has focused on the experience of foreign-educated nurses in Japan.

A systematic literature review was conducted by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Guidelines. Japan Medical Abstract Society, Citation Information by National Institute of Informatics, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and PubMed databases were used for the literature search. Inclusion criteria were research articles published between 2013 and 2020 written in Japanese or English. A quality assessment was performed using Version 2018 of the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Selected articles were read repeatedly, and relevant contents were extracted and summarized thematically.

Twenty-five studies were selected for the review. The themes generated included (1) reasons for nurses to come to Japan, (2) experiences and current situations among the Economic Partnership Agreement nurses/nurse candidates living in Japan, and (3) experiences and current situation of nurses who had returned to their home countries. The second theme was classified into four categories: language and communication barriers, low pass rates for the national qualification exam, adaptation to workplaces and social environments, and psychological distress.

Foreign nurses in Japan face various challenges and difficulties, even after they return to their home countries. Solving these problems may improve the wellbeing of foreign-educated nurses in Japan.

The results from the current review highlight the necessity for immediate intervention by policymakers to improve the current support system for Economic Partnership Agreement nurses/nurse candidates. A thorough pre-arrival orientation should be provided for the nurse candidates to able them to make a well-informed choice.