Members of the Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS), on a two week tour in the United States, coordinated with the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region throughout their visit.
Two nursing instructors, four nursing students and one translator came to the West Los Angeles chapter where they were met by Corey Eide, Assistant Director of Support Services, Kiririth Bee Kong, Volunteer Services Coordinator and Randy Carmenaty, Health & Safety, Programs and Marketing with Melissa Crews, Client Casework Supervisor coordinating the visit. The delegation was given a tour of chapter facilities and met with individual program managers where they were able to ask questions and observe the activities of the American Red Cross.
Nursing students with one instructor and translator also made a stop at a Nurses Assistant Training Program (NAT) class being taught by the Red Cross chapter in Canoga Park, CA. Here NAT program students interacted with their Japanese counterparts. Each group was able to demonstrate various nursing exercises and train together. With the help of a translator a question and answer session was conducted following demonstrations. The Nurse Assistant Training Program and CNA Competency Evaluation Program, run by the American Red Cross, have trained, prepared and launched thousands of individuals into a new career in the medical field with confidence.
The four Japanese nursing students were selected for the trip, as the top students in their class, to represent the Japanese Red Cross Society nursing program, an opportunity that is offered only once a year.
The JRCS operates 17 nursing schools and a Midwifery School, and the Japanese Red Cross Academy operates five colleges and a junior colleges. The nursing schools and colleges offer curricula on basic nursing; the Midwifery School on midwife education; and the Akita College of Nursing on home care worker. The colleges offer curricula on both nursing and public health nursing. The Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing (Tokyo), Hokkaido College of Nursing, Hiroshima College of Nursing and Kyushu International College of Nursing have post-graduate courses. In addition, the Training Centre for Graduate Nurses offers advanced training to nurses who are to assume leading positions in their respective hospitals.
Red Cross nurses are expected to conduct relief activities both at home and abroad, in addition to everyday medical care. The Red Cross nursing institutions, therefore, offer training on various subjects to nurses to enable them to undertake relief activities in accordance with the Red Cross Principles. For example, students are required to take subjects such as the Introduction to the Red Cross and Nursing in Disaster Situations. Every year, about 30,000 nurses start their careers in Red Cross medical facilities, about half of whom are graduates of Red Cross nursing institutions.
