3 foreigners overcome language barriers, pass national nurse exam+

TOKYO, March 26 Kyodo -
Three nurses -- two Indonesian and one Filipino -- cleared Japanese-language
barriers and passed Japan's national nursing exam conducted in February, the
Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Friday.

The three are the first successful applicants to pass Japan's nursing
qualification exam among 360 foreign nurses working in the country as of
February under free trade accords.
They were the only successful applicants of 254 foreigners who took the nursing
exam this year, and will be allowed to stay in Japan for a lengthy period. Last
year, none of the 82 foreign applicants passed.
The two Indonesians -- Yared Febrian Fernandes and Ria Agustina, both 26 --
came to Japan from Indonesia in 2008 and are working at a hospital in Sanjo,
Niigata Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast.
The Filipino nurse, Lalin Ever Gammed, 34, has been working at a hospital in
Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, after arriving in Japan in 2009.
''I'm this happy, happier than being given a diamond,'' said Fernandes,
stretching his arms wide during a press conference held at Sannocho Hospital,
where the two Indonesian nurses work.
Separately, Gammed at Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital said, ''I want to thank the
people at the hospital who provided me with a great educational environment.''
Japan, a rapidly aging society, began accepting foreign nurses and caregivers
in 2008 due to domestic labor shortages in medical and nursing service fields.
Foreign nurses are required to return to their home countries if they fail to
pass Japan's nurse qualifying exam within three years. Caregivers also need to
clear Japan's qualifying exam within four years.
None of the foreign nurses passed last year's national exams held in February
as kanji characters and technical terms used in the exam are thought to pose a
high hurdle for foreign nurses.
In talks with Indonesian and Philippine government officials in January,
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada promised to consider addressing the
language barriers for foreign nurses.
The health ministry is currently studying using simpler terms in the exam and
helping foreign nurses study the Japanese language, ministry officials said.
In the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years through March 2010, Japan accepted 570 health
care workers from Indonesia -- 277 nurses and 293 caregivers. In 2009, 280
heath care workers came to Japan from the Philippines.
==Kyodo
2010-03-27 01:35:28


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