Message from the Center Manager

In response to the rapidly aging and shrinking population and the corresponding changes in the medical and long-term care delivery system, care delivery is not limited to hospitals but also extends to homes, long-term care facilities, and other local communities, including urban and rural areas, densely populated areas, and depopulated areas. The nursing field, which plays a central role in various care delivery scenarios, needs to be further developed to meet various needs.

In the field of nursing in Japan, the percentage of new university graduates is increasing annually. While the development of nursing as an academic discipline is expected, the number of research papers published in international journals in the nursing field is small compared to that in other countries, and there are challenges in academic activities that can be accepted internationally. In addition, there are few nursing-related policy-oriented studies, studies conducted through industry-government-academia collaboration, or studies that have been registered as intellectual property. For the nursing field to further develop, we believe that both nursing as a practice of care and nursing as an academic discipline need to evolve.

Nursing Innovation Research Center (NIReC) has established two divisions, "Clinical Practice and Nursing Research Collaboration Division" and "Interdisciplinary Nursing Research Division," which will engage in activities to create the future of nursing science. Clinical Practice and Nursing Research Collaboration Division will establish a cooperative research system with the Nursing Department of the University Hospital, and aim to enhance the expertise of nursing as a practice by activating the circulation between nursing practice and research, and to sublimate the questions and conflicts that spread in the field into research. Furthermore, through collaborative research with nurses who are active in the field, we would like to present the option of pursuing nursing as an academic discipline, increasing interest in academia, and actively creating learning opportunities for this purpose.

Interdisciplinary Nursing Research Division aims to develop nursing science through the fusion and convergence of various fields and disciplines beyond the academic field of nursing, including joint research with faculty and students of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, which will be integrated into one university in October 2024, and Tokyo University of the Arts. We have concluded a comprehensive collaboration agreement and industry-university collaboration with companies in a variety of fields, including medical device development, architecture, nursing care, and IT.

In the future, we will continue our efforts to realize academic pursuits based on more flexible, equal, and free ideas that transcend the boundaries between these two divisions and to become an organization that continues to create the future of nursing science.

We will do our utmost to become an organization that as many people as possible know about and support our philosophies and activities. We look forward to your continued support.