Outline of the Support Program for Improving Graduate School Education
［Program's name］ Development of Advanced Nursing Specialists in Islands Nursing
－Blended Education of Island On-site and Distance Teachings －
［Program’s duration］ FY 2008 － FY 2010
［Program’s contents］
(1) Establishment of a new education research field
This course will be established as one educational research course of the Health Nursing Science Graduate Program of our graduate school. The "Islands Health Nursing” area will be included in the frontier of health nursing field available in both the master’s and doctor’s courses of the Doctorate Program for Health Nursing Science Research. In this field, based on nursing rooted in island community culture, research, training and practice will take place to promote community care cooperation where islands collaborate to solve problems as a whole, to take preventive measures against emergencies and infections typical of islands, and to improve lifestyle to lower the lifestyle-related disease occurrence rate.
(2) Admission number and system in the islands health nursing area
We accept two students in the master’s course and one in the doctor’s course. Applicants must be nurses or nursing staff currently working on islands. Students are given three years maximum to complete the course. We also willingly accept undergraduate students from islands, which will lead them to earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing and encouraging them to pursue higher degrees.
(3) Establishment of new subjects in the Islands Health Nursing field
New subjects will be established to produce advanced nursing practitioners (masters’ course: hereinafter referred to as M) and pragmatic educational research leaders (doctor’s course: hereinafter referred to as D) in the islands health nursing field. The following new subjects will be established: Islands Health Nursing Special Lecture I (M) and II (D); Islands Health Nursing Seminar / Practicum (M); Islands Health Nursing Problem Research (M); and Islands Health Nursing Special Research II (D). Community Culture Nursing Theory (M) as a special subject (core subject), and Community Cooperation among Multi-professions Theory (M) and International Islands Nursing Theory (D) will also be established as elective subjects.
(4) Study venues and teaching methods in islands health nursing at home and abroad
Miyako Island will be the base for human resource development. At present, multi-professional collaborative activities are already taking place on Miyako Island. Joint research among professions and between islands and college are also in progress. We will educate students on the island through these activities. On Taiwan and other Pacific Islands, and Kauai Island of Hawaii, we will do research on the problems with community culture health nursing and the current status of cooperation and collaboration among multi-professions. We are planning to set up meetings and workshops to study with nursing staff in these areas.
Lectures and practices will be held on Miyako Island. By using a video conference system and the Distance Education System of our college (FCS), students here at this college will also be able to attend the lectures on the island.
As for Problem Research (M)・Special Research II (D), the principle is that teachers will go to Miyako Island to educate students while involving in joint research activities there. Moreover, masters’ students will have an opportunity to experience educational activities as a TA (Teaching Assistant). Doctoral student will have an opportunity to experience working as both TA and RA (Research Assistant) in order to develop his/her competence to become pragmatic educational research leaders in the future.