Seeking New Research Methodologies

　The theme that was chosen for the5th International Nursing Research Conference of the Japan Academy of Nursing Science is “Nursing Phenomena and Research Design: Search for New Research Methodology.”There are several reasons why I decided to focus on research methodology.

　The reason is that the nursing education system in Japan has undergone many changes. After the Second World War, the “Public Health Nurse, Midwife and Nurse Law”was enacted in 1948, and now we have three kinds of national licenses in nursing: Nurse, Public Health Nurse and Midwife.From the 1960s to the 1980s, three-year diploma nursing programs and junior nursing college programs dominated nursing education in our country. In 1967, the nursing curriculum changed from training based on practice, to education based on theory, and since then Japanese nurses have made efforts to establish a higher education system in Nursing.