Assistant Professor Tamaki Isobe of the Department of Nursing Administration and Advanced Clinical Nursing received the Oral Presentation Award at the 26th Annual Conference of the Japan Academy of Nursing Administration and Policies for her presentation titled “Employability of nurses in inter-organizational transfers: Characteristics of the relative importance of each component by facility type.”
With the dynamic changes in working conditions surrounding nurses and the diversity of the kind of life they want to lead, Dr. Isobe believes that it is essential for nurses to cultivate their employability to realize the career and life they want. In their previous research, Dr. Isobe and co-researchers identified the components of nurses’ employability. These components included but were not limited to the expectation of retention in the organization, the anticipation of practical skills, and the understanding of the nursing role required by the organization. In the current study, the researchers determined how the type of healthcare facilities characterizes the relative importance of these components.
Dr. Isobe and co-researchers conducted an online survey of 220 HR recruiters working in different types of healthcare facilities in Japan to understand which components of employability are relatively more important when hiring nurses and conducted a conjoint analysis. The results showed the commonalities and disparities regarding the relative importance of employability components for nurses across types of facilities. Components emphasized in all kinds of facilities were the nurses’ reasons for their previous career changes and their skills in nursing practice. While the latter was particularly important in long-term care facilities, motivation for nursing was more crucial among home care nursing agencies.
“For nurses to proactively choose their careers, it is important for them to understand the employability skills required by each type of facility and to develop the skills that are important to them at the facilities where they want to work,” said Dr. Isobe.