ASOURCE Times

Able to work for multiple departments
Develop and utilize nurses

However, simply changing the color of the uniform does not mean that work will be reduced, and it is necessary to prepare for a sudden increase in work, such as a sudden absence of a nurse, a sudden change in a patient's condition, or an emergency hospitalization. Therefore, training and utilization of "Polyvalent Nurses" who can handle multiple tasks, which was just progressing in parallel, was useful. “Polyvalent” means “doing many things” in English. Before the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, I learned about this word from Akira Nishino, the manager of the Japanese men's team. For example, there are ward nurses who can handle outpatient work, operating room nurses who can assist with drain replacement in the fluoroscopy room, ward nurses who can assist with endoscopy, and outpatient nurses who can assist with cardiac catheterization. To that end, we have standardized the storage areas for chemicals and equipment, and reviewed the conventions of each department.

And from a few years ago, a shuffle of nurses' duties began. In each department, it is possible to view the status of patients and the progress of nurses' work on a whiteboard, etc. increase. You can also submit a support request. This type of shuffling of nurses' work had already been implemented at Iizuka Hospital in Fukuoka Prefecture, so I learned about the local approach and modified it to put it into practice.
　
Through these efforts, the work of the nursing department has become more efficient, overtime hours have decreased, and this has led to a lower turnover rate. For each and every nurse, work is no longer a rut, and it has led to motivation and growth.
Our hospital is a small hospital with 15 clinical departments and 287 beds. Therefore, it is easy for new initiatives to permeate. In large hospitals, it may be necessary to devise measures such as introducing it from some organizations.

Now that I have reached retirement age, I am working as a “libero doctor” who employs post-retirement doctors on a regular or part-time basis. "Libero" is Italian for "freedom", and in sports it refers to a player who moves around without a fixed role or a defensive specialty. For example, since surgeons spend most of their time in the operating room, they inevitably delay in giving rehabilitation instructions and prescribing drugs to patients who have returned to the ward. If there is a post-retirement surgeon in the ward who knows the movements and duties of surgeons in the hospital, I think it will be useful to support these duties and nurses' specific behavior training.