Kanmini-Kogaku Column #25 What Answers Can Be Found at the Intersection of Nursing and Engineering?
The national project CHANGE (the COI-NEXT Kawasaki Hub), which aims to build a “Resilient Society for Healthy Longevity through Medical, Engineering, and Nursing Co-Creation,” has entered its second phase with a renewed organizational structure.* Among its key research initiatives is the Nursing Engineering (Nursing × Engineering) team, now led by Dr. Gojiro Nakagami***—Professor at the Global Nursing Research Center, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, and Principal Researcher at iCONM—who has long been a leading figure in this field as a board member of the Japan Society of Nursing Engineering.** Supported strongly by the Kawasaki City Nursing Association, the team will further strengthen collaboration between engineering researchers and frontline nursing professionals.
Dr. Nakagami spoke at the CHANGE Symposium held on March 5, where he served as a panelist in Part 3 of the event. Reflecting on more than a decade of experience in nursing engineering, he identified three major challenges facing manufacturing and product development in the nursing field:
the lack of a widely shared “common language” for addressing real clinical needs,
the tendency for projects to end once a prototype is completed, making true social implementation difficult, and
uncertainty regarding long-term sustainability.
He pointed out that humans are remarkably adaptable: even when people initially experience inconvenience, they quickly grow accustomed to it, and eventually the inconvenience itself fades from awareness. Hidden within this process, he argues, are the genuine unmet needs. For that reason, he emphasized the importance of engineering researchers entering clinical settings directly, observing frontline practices firsthand, and engaging in discussion with healthcare professionals and nursing researchers who bridge both worlds. In clinical environments, problems often become increasingly difficult to recognize over time. Revisiting and deeply exploring these latent clinical needs—and developing solutions for them—will be essential to sustaining a society in which people can continue receiving adequate care even as the number of medical facilities declines.
The symposium also featured Ms. Akie Hotta, President of the Kawasaki City Nursing Association, who discussed the current state of the nursing profession and future challenges. Japan’s Public Health Nurses, Midwives, and Nurses Act defines nursing duties as both “assistance in medical treatment” and “care during recuperation.” In many countries, however, nursing responsibilities are limited largely to the former, making Japan’s approach distinctive. Dr. Nakagami noted that this latter aspect—care during recuperation—has received relatively little attention in care product development, despite the many opportunities it may hold for innovation.
The NHK morning drama “Kaze Kaoru”, which began airing in April, tells the story of Chika Ozeki and Masa Suzuki, pioneers who established Japan’s first visiting nurse association and contributed to the institutionalization of nursing practice through the creation of practical nursing regulations. The series is expected to provide a valuable opportunity for the public to gain a deeper understanding of the nursing profession.
Among all COI-NEXT selected hubs nationwide, the Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion is uniquely positioned as the only municipal organization—not a university—to serve as the lead institution. In addition, the Kawasaki City Nursing Association, the only city-level nursing association of its kind in Japan, provides foundational support for the initiative. There is growing anticipation that new care innovations originating from Nursing Engineering will expand outward from Kawasaki to society at large.
