This program was adopted as part of the Program for Promoting High-Quality College Education in the fiscal year 2008. It was recognized as initiative which focuses on a device and improvement of educational methods. Our program name is “Nursing Education in a Unique Island Environment: A Systematic Practicum Enhancing Community Perspective and Collaboration.” The term of the project is 3 years between the fiscal year 2008 and 2010.
1. Introduction
The project aims to leverage a unique island environment to learning advantage for educational practice of health nursing and develop a systematic on-island practicum that equips students with community perspective and collaboration ability. In concrete terms, it establishes a training system and on-site training environment on islands. For the establishment of training system in islands, college instructors, island nurses and residents collaboratively participate in “development of the on-island practicum model” with a device and improvement of educational methods. The arrangement of on-site training environment includes construction of ICT environment which results in improvement of access between the college and islands as well as mobilization of “learning in islands” for students.
Through education for students – by collaborative efforts among college instructors, island nurses and residents – the project not only enhances students’ development, but also improves educational ability of college instructors, practice skills of nurses and awareness of island residents about their expected roles.
Chart 1: Educational Practice of Health Nursing That Leverages Island Environment to Learning
2. Program Objective
This project aims to strengthen mechanisms of human resource development; the aim is stated in the educational philosophy and objective of the Okinawa Prefectural College of Nursing: “share the concept of health nursing, medical care and welfare, and then develop the skill and ability that enable to play professional nursing roles by cooperation with other related professionals” and “understand geographical and cultural characteristics wherein people reside, and then develop the skill and ability that enable health nursing practices embedded in communities.”
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