As 'Brexodus' gap leaves U.K. short of nurses, Filipino candidates struggle with IELTS English test
Bracing for life after Brexit, U.K. hospitals badly need more nurses like Filipino Jobie Escalona. But she twice flunked the English language test that is required to get there, in which she was asked to write about topics such as the merits of immigration ...
Hokkaido offers nursing scholarships to foreign workers amid labor shortage
Chen Wan-xuan, a student from Taiwan, raises a spoonful of salad to the mouth of an elderly resident at a nursing home in Asahikawa as she speaks quietly to him. "Please eat this slowly," the caregiver says in clear Japanese to the man, who is ...
Nursing skill tests for new visa expected to start in Vietnam and Philippines
The government is considering holding the first skills tests for foreign nationals hoping to work in the Japan's nursing sector under new visa categories in Vietnam and the Philippines, sources with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday. The sector is expected to attract the greatest ...
Nursing care attracts fewer candidates despite growing need in graying Japan
Prospective nursing care workers and specialist care managers has been dwindling in number, even as the country continues to gray and the need for their services grows. The decline is primarily attributed to the longer time it now takes to train as a care worker ...
Living through the golden years has lost its sheen
A man in his 80s suffering mild dementia (the story is courtesy of Shukan Gendai magazine) is cared for by his wife, also in her 80s. She's exhausted. Caregiving drains the prime of life, let alone the end of it. The man is ...
Aichi nursing school teaches students how to feign senility to improve care for dementia patients
The School of Nursing and Health at Aichi Prefectural University has developed a course that trains students how to act like people with dementia. Getting students to simulate the behavior and attitudes of dementia patients will help future nurses better learn how to deal with ...
Municipalities incentivizing nursing care facilities to boost self-reliance of residents
In a bid to lower insurance costs while improving the quality of life for elderly patients, some municipal authorities have introduced incentive programs that reward greater independence for residents of nursing care homes. Keizanso, a nursing care home in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, received ¥120,000 ($1,040) ...
Japan's struggling bathhouses turning to day care, entertainment to stay afloat
The era of the sento (bathhouse) was back when private homes lacked bathtubs. Today, scrabbling for survival, sento operators are branching out into services such as day care for the elderly or using the buildings as venues for public storytelling. In late April, 11 elderly customers, ...
Health ministry panel urges allowing foreign caregivers to engage in elderly home care
A health ministry panel is compiling plans aimed at allowing foreign caregivers to take care of elderly patients in their homes due to expected labor shortages.
Judge in Chiba 'mercy killing' case expresses sympathy for culprit
The case of a Chiba Prefecture man convicted of murdering his grievously sick wife has again shed light on the dilemma families face when one member's suffering convinces them that death is the best option. The Chiba District Court handed down a three-year prison term ...
Born in captivity, beluga whale calf said fighting for its life in Georgia aquarium
A beluga whale calf born at the Georgia Aquarium last month has stopped nursing, is not gaining weight and appears to be fighting for her life, with officials this week calling her condition "extremely guarded." "The next few days will be critical," the aquarium said ...
Foreign nursing care workers to be invited to Japan under intern program
The health ministry has approved a plan to include nursing care under the technical intern training program for foreigners to help increase the number of foreign care workers and solve a labor shortage in Japan's aging society. The plan by a panel of experts calls ...
