What is JAPHNEI？

The Japan Association of Public Health Nurse Educational Institutions (JAPHNEI) is
an organization that works to ensure the quality of public health nurse education in Japan.

Founding, mission, and activities

Founding

October 1980

Founded

April 2011

Incorporated as a General Incorporated Association

Mission

To improve public health by enhancing public health nurse educational institutions across Japan and enriching public health nursing education.

Activities

1. Enhance and strengthen public health nurse educational institutions
2. Serve as a liaison council for public health nurse educational institutions
3. Train faculty of public health nurse educational institutions
4. Conduct research on topics such as the system and programs of public health nurse education
5. Evaluate and accredit educational programs for public health nurses
6. Collaborate and coordinate with related groups inside and outside Japan
7. Carry out social impact projects to improve public health and promote healthy living
8. Perform other tasks required to fulfill our mission

Action plan for 2026

I. Basic Policy

The Association aims to promote the development of educational institutions for public health nurses nationwide, enhance public health nursing education, and thereby contribute to the improvement of public health. To achieve these goals, while taking national trends into consideration, we will work to ensure the quality of public health nurse qualifications by reviewing educational curricula and systems, evaluating educational outcomes, improving faculty competencies, and enhancing the quality of national examination questions. We will also promote initiatives to enrich nursing education and advance public health nursing education provided in addition to basic nursing education.

Building on our previous achievements and responding to the need for further improvement in public health nursing education, the Instruction Committee, Curriculum Committee, Education System Committee, and National Examination Committee will collaborate with relevant organizations to advance the development and systematization of public health nursing science.

The Instruction Committee will further enhance systematic training programs to improve faculty competencies. The Curriculum Committee will promote the dissemination of the revised Model Core Curriculum for Public Health Nursing Education (2024), enhance learning strategies aligned with the curriculum, and accumulate examples of educational practice. The Education System Committee will assess the status of additional public health nursing education and make recommendations for improving educational systems.

In response to continuing advances in digitalization and globalization, the Public Relations and International Affairs Committee will provide member schools with timely and useful information more rapidly and effectively. It will also work to establish a research grant program to improve the quality of education and develop a system that enables members to access educational resources and exchange opinions.

The Editorial Committee will publish Public Health Nursing Education, the Association's journal, to promote the dissemination of knowledge and research findings in public health nursing both domestically and internationally. In addition, the Association will establish a research grant program to support member schools in developing educational methods and teaching materials, promote its use, and disseminate the outcomes of supported projects.

The Educational Evaluation Promotion Committee will examine ways to build momentum for educational evaluation in collaboration with organizations and institutions outside the Association, while supporting the Association's executive leadership, to ensure the provision of high-quality public health nursing education.

The Health Crisis Management Committee will examine the development of a network among member schools to prepare for health crises, including increasingly frequent disasters.

Furthermore, the Association will improve its membership system to facilitate access to educational resources and training opportunities. It will begin piloting and gradually developing a platform to support the development and sharing of teaching materials and improve the accessibility and convenience of training programs, thereby further enhancing services for member schools.

To address current health challenges in local communities and society, we will support member schools through comprehensive regional block activities, the collection and dissemination of information on disaster preparedness and response in public health nursing educational institutions, collaboration with practice settings, active participation in commissioned projects, and advocacy to relevant institutions and organizations.

II. Committee policy

1. Instruction Committee

• Establish a system for planning training programs that address regional issues and faculty career development needs, with the participation of representatives from regional blocks and graduates of Level I career ladder training programs (Tsunagu-kai), among others.
• Review the career ladder for faculty members teaching public health nursing, and examine the planning, implementation, and evaluation of training programs based on the career ladder.
• Identify the challenges and training needs of faculty members teaching public health nursing and plan training programs to address these needs.
• Examine the development and dissemination of effective training materials and delivery methods, including e-learning resources.

2. Curriculum Committee

• Promote the dissemination of the revised Model Core Curriculum for Public Health Nursing Education (2024).
• Enhance learning strategies aligned with the revised Model Core Curriculum for Public Health Nursing Education (2024) and accumulate examples of educational practice.
• Examine measures to improve public health nursing education based on its status and challenges.

3. Education System Committee

• Conduct a survey of faculty workloads and responsibilities in public health nursing education at graduate schools, advanced courses, and undergraduate programs.
• Continue monitoring educational systems to promote additional public health nursing education.

4. National Examination Committee

• Conduct a survey of the questions and examination environment of the 113th National Examination for Public Health Nurses and submit recommendations to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
• Analyze trends in national examination pass rates and submit recommendations for the revision of national examination standards.
• Conduct training programs to improve examination question development skills.

5. Public Relations and International Affairs Committee

• Provide information effectively to member schools through the Association's website, including its English-language pages, and evaluate and improve the website.
• Establish a research grant program.
• Promote information sharing through email newsletters and other communication channels.
• Promote the recruitment of new members through public relations activities.
• Examine the development of a platform for public health nursing education.
• Conduct a literature review of domestic and international teaching materials and present examples of educational practices and relevant findings.
• Promote awareness and use of the Association's abbreviation and logo.

6. Editorial Committee

• Publish and release Volume 10 of the electronic journal Public Health Nursing Education.
• Establish and maintain an efficient peer review system.
• Examine strategies to increase manuscript submissions to Public Health Nursing Education.

7. Educational Evaluation Promotion Committee

• Promote the continuous implementation of self-assessment and evaluation in public health nursing education.
• Promote the evaluation of public health nursing education within discipline-specific evaluation frameworks.
• Examine the establishment of an organization or body responsible for quality assurance in public health nursing education.
• Prepare the content of educational evaluation in public health nursing education and examine the feasibility of pilot implementation.

8. Health Crisis Management Committee

• Collect information on member schools' activities related to disaster response and preparedness during normal times, coordinate and support these activities, and disseminate relevant information.
• Establish a network among member schools to facilitate cooperation during health crises.

III. Block activity plan

Based on social conditions and trends in public health nursing education, regional blocks will share information on the current situation and challenges and conduct training programs and information exchanges to improve the quality of public health nursing education. Furthermore, they will promote information sharing and cooperation in activities among individual member schools, regional blocks, and the Association at the national level.

Journal of the Japan Association of Public Health Nurse Educational Institutions