Application of artificial sunlight for the elderly as a possible environmental nursing practice

Aging and aged societies have arrived in many countries where significant development of medicine and the economy has been achieved. Japan is a highly aged society with a shortage of carers both at home and in long-term care settings. In fact, more persons of advanced age who do not need intensive care in hospitals strongly desire health care to be delivered in their own home with their family. Environmental nursing practice, which means that nurses improve the environment of patients or the elderly properly in accordance with healthcare considerations, is currently playing a more important role, not only to prevent the elderly from contracting various diseases, but also to provide a facility for supporting an aged person to live a fulfilling life, preferably one that includes independence. This approach will lead to a reduction in medical expenditure by increasing the number of aged people with healthy longevity without the need for hospitalization or intensive care. This short communication focuses on healthy lighting for the elderly based on our research and experience regarding the beneficial effects of artificial sunlight on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), asthma and food allergy, and ulcerative colitis in experimental animal models and clinical settings. Then, we review other studies and discuss how artificial sunlight would be useful for the elderly as one of the environmental nursing practices

International Understanding among Nursing and Pharmacy Students in Japan

The purpose of this research is to establish a model for assessing interest in international understanding among nursing and pharmacy students in Japan. The study design was a cross-sectional survey of nursing and pharmacy students in their first to fourth years at Josai International University. The International Understanding Scale (IUS2000), consisting of four domains (respect for human rights, understanding international culture, awareness of world solidarity, and understanding foreign languages) with 27 items, was used. A path analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to model international understanding. The model of international understanding of nursing and pharmacy students was established as the second-order four-factor mode. The international understanding of nursing and pharmacy students was mainly composed of respect for human rights and awareness of world solidarity and was less affected by understanding foreign languages. Nursing students in our study had a higher international understanding than pharmacy students. International understanding was considered relevant to students’ learning about the importance of interprofessional collaboration as well as their interests in global learning environments for healthcare professionals. The relationship between international understanding and future progress in healthcare performance needs to be studied to show the importance of international understanding education