外国人看護師 試験の見直しはまだ不十分だ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 8, 2010)
National nursing exam needs more revision
外国人看護師　試験の見直しはまだ不十分だ（9月7日付・読売社説）

Having accepted foreign nurses through agreements with other countries, this nation's government has a responsibility to rectify the current situation in which their inability to understand difficult kanji prevents them from passing Japan's licensing exam for nurses.
　国と国の約束で受け入れを決めた以上、漢字を読めないことが障壁となっている現状は、政府の責任で改めなければならない。

The government should do more to resolve the problem.
引き続き改善策を探るべきだ。

An expert panel of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry last month drew up a guideline to revise the national exam so foreign applicants can better understand its questions, which are written in Japanese.
　厚生労働省の検討会が、外国人の受験者でも試験問題を理解できるようにと、看護師の国家試験を見直す指針をまとめた。

The government decided to review the annual exam because its pass rate was extremely low among the would-be nurses Japan has accepted from Indonesia and the Philippines based on economic partnership agreements with those countries.
　見直しのきっかけは、経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）に基づいてインドネシアとフィリピンから受け入れた看護師希望者の試験合格率が、極端に低かったことだ。

None of the trainees passed the exam in the first year of the program, and only 1 percent were successful in the second year.
１年目は１人も合格せず、２年目の合格率もわずか１％だった。

The extremely low pass rate has led to criticism that it is unfair to reject examinees based on their ability to read kanji. The ministry has taken this under consideration and has been reviewing the exam system since March.
　このため、「漢字の読解能力で不合格というのはおかしい」という批判が高まり、厚労省が３月から見直しを進めていた。

Help needed with jargon

The new guideline calls for disease names to be written in both Japanese and English on the exam, and for some technical terms to be expressed with internationally recognized abbreviations, such as Ca for karushiumu (calcium). The foreign applicants who come to Japan under the EPA program are licensed nurses in their own countries, and it will be a great help to them if terms are also written in English and with abbreviations.
　新たな指針では、病名には英語を併記し、カルシウムは「Ｃａ」などと、国際的に認定されている略語を記載する。ＥＰＡで来日した人たちは、母国で看護師の資格を持っている人たちだ。英語や略語の併記は助けとなるだろう。

The guideline also allows kana to be printed beside or above difficult kanji to aid reading. But it has not applied this measure to medical and nursing jargon, such as jokuso and gyogai, which mean bedsores and lying on one's back, respectively. Those terms cannot be replaced with easier words, either.
　指針は難解な漢字にルビを振ることも容認したが、床ずれの意味の「褥瘡(じょくそう)」や、あおむけの「仰(ぎょう)臥(が)位(い)」など、医療・看護の専門用語は対象外とした。平易な表現への言い換えも見送った。

The Japan Nursing Association has said foreign nurses must be able to understand technical terms written in kanji and communicate accurately with their Japanese counterparts to prevent serious medical errors. The ministry's expert panel apparently compiled the guideline based on this opinion.
　日本看護協会が、重大な医療事故を防ぐには、日本人スタッフとの意思疎通のために専門用語の漢字読解能力が不可欠と主張し、検討会もこれに沿った形だ。

Of course safety in medical treatments must be ensured. But can't kana readings be printed next to difficult kanji that even native Japanese could not immediately read?
　医療上の安全を確保するのは当然だが、日本人でも読めないような漢字にルビを振ることも、許されないのだろうか。

The new guideline will be reflected in the nursing exam beginning with the test scheduled for February. Under the rules of the program, however, nearly 100 foreign nurses will have to return home if they fail it.
　新指針は、来年２月の試験から適用される。問題は、これに不合格なら帰国を余儀なくされる人たちが１００人近くいることだ。

The guideline should have been applied to the actual test only after it had been proven to be sufficiently effective in alleviating the problem. We believe preferential measures for foreign applicants, such as allowing them to take another test the year after next, should be considered.
　本来なら、見直しが十分かどうか検証してから実施すべきところだ。再来年も受験可能とするなど特例措置の検討も必要だろう。

Boost to medical tourism

The shortage of nurses and nursing care workers is still very serious in Japan. We do not think the kanji barrier should block motivated and capable people from these professions.
　医療や介護の人手不足は依然、深刻である。意欲も能力もある人材を、「漢字の壁」を設けて締め出すべきではない。

The government is working hard to attract more foreigners wishing to receive examinations for cancer and other medical conditions at Japanese hospitals. Filipino nurses with good English will be able to help Japanese medical staff communicate more smoothly with such foreign patients.
　政府は、がん検診などの分野で外国人患者を日本の病院に積極的に受け入れていく方針だ。英語を話せるフィリピン人看護師などは外国人患者とコミュニケーションを図る上で役立つに違いない。

Vietnam and Thailand also have been asking Japan to accept nurses and nursing care workers from their countries. These countries will eventually propose revisions of their EPAs with Tokyo over the issue.
　看護師や介護福祉士の受け入れはベトナムやタイも求めており、いずれＥＰＡ改定の議論が出てくる。

We do not want to see this program fail at the outset. The government should try to improve the environment for accepting caregivers from other countries.
最初の受け入れでつまずくことのないよう、政府は受け入れ環境の整備に努めてほしい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 7, 2010)
（2010年9月7日01時20分 読売新聞）