The Preventive Home Visit Practicum is a nursing training program where students, grouped in teams of four or five (comprising a freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior), regularly visit a community-dwelling older adult. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the practicum was conducted with various infection control measures, and alternative activities were attempted when home visits were suspended. The experience of responding to the pandemic highlighted the importance of this practicum, which transcends the school year and underscores the necessity of cooperation of the community.

The purpose of this study is to provide the directions for the further development of the home care services in Korea, through comparison of the home care system and visiting nursing activities for the elderly in Japan and with those of Korea. The results of this study were summarised as follows: The major difference between the two countries was that Japan emphasised the development of home services by visiting nurse service stations (VNSS), especially in the community. In contrast, Korea has emphasised providing hospital based home care services and assuring the quality of services through the preparation of home care nurses before beginning services. And many elderly in Korea have used a public health center when they have health problems. According to the result, the establishment of a VNSS system and activation of a public health center in the community must be considered as the direction to advance home care systems for the elderly.
Aged* ; Home Care Services* ; Home Care Services, Hospital-Based ; Humans ; Japan* ; Korea* ; Nurses, Community Health ; Nursing ; Public Health

Objective: Nurse executives (NEs) working at rural medical facilities encounter challenges, including nursing quality and management, due to a shortage of nurses; this requires them to develop their competencies. A previous study reported that managers working in rural medical institutions gather nearby to learn about management. However, no research has focused on NEs working in rural areas or clarified their experiences in developing competency through learning networks. This study focused on the learning networks of NEs working in rural medical facilities and aimed to clarify their experiences with competency development.Patients/Materials and Methods: In this study, we conducted competency development for NEs through the learning networks in Japan. An ethnographic qualitative study design was used. Twenty NEs participated in the study. Data were collected through participant observation and ethnographic interviews, and analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: This study revealed the following three themes: (1) aiming to provide medical care that contributes to the rural community; (2) work efficiency by a small number of staff; and (3) development as NEs. The NEs in this study improved as NEs by promoting efficiency in their work with a small group, while aiming to provide medical care that contributes to the rural community through participation in a learning network.Conclusion: A learning network of NEs develops their competencies by helping them improve their practice through dialogue and reflection on their nursing management. Therefore, even in an environment with limited resources, NEs might be able to improve the services of their organization through the learning network.