Knowledge of the elder abuse prevention law among the nurses working in general hospital wards in Japan

Title: Knowledge of the elder abuse prevention law among the nurses working in general hospital wards in Japan

Abstract:

In Japan's super-aging society, prevention of and countermeasures against elder abuse is an issue that must be addressed on an ongoing basis. In Japan, however, research on elder abuse prevention in home care nursing has been the main focus, and research on nurses working in hospitals remains scarce. Therefore, we conducted a survey of 3277 nurses working in general hospital beds in Japan to investigate their knowledge of elder abuse and prevention methods and to obtain suggestions for the development of future educational programs. The age ± SD was 38.5 ± 10.8 years, and the number of years worked as nurses ± SD was 11.6 ± 10.2 years. 
2181 respondents, or 67.5%, indicated that they were aware of the Elder Abuse Prevention Law, while 1101 respondents, or 34.4%, indicated that they had had the opportunity to learn about the law. 
This indicates that the Elder Abuse Prevention Law, which was enacted in 2005, was likely incorporated into basic nursing education, and that the respondents did not feel that they had to learn about the law on their own, but were made aware of it through their eduation. In addition, a chi-square test using knowledge of the Elder Abuse Prevention Law as the dependent variable revealed significant differences in awareness of the possibility of detecting patients suffering from elder abuse (P<0.001), experience in handling cases (P<0.003), and interest in elder nursing (P<0.001). It is thought that being aware of the possibility of detection first leads to the actual detection of abused elderly persons. In addition, it is necessary to further analyze the obtained data, since interest in elder care nursing may lead to participation in training and acquisition of proactive knowledge about elder abuse.

Audience Take Away:
You can learn about the current state of Japanese nurses knowledge of elder abuse and the Elder Abuse Prevention Law.
In order to improve knowledge about elder abuse, it is necessary not only to learn but also to increase interest in elder nursing itself.

Biography:

Yuki Ohtsuyama, an assistant researcher, has worked with the elderly for many years in clinical environments. Her personal experiences lead to her interest in research on elderly abuse and how it can be better identified by nurses. After graduating with a BSN in 2008, Yuki began clinical work with patients as an RN in a surgical ward specializing in respiratory medicine, and orthopedic and gastrointestinal surgery. She continued work as a nurse both in an emergency room and in a nursing home while working to achieve her MSN. She graduated with a specialization in gerontology in 2014.