Fears are rising that a growing nursing shortage could lead to the collapse of medical care in the quake-shattered northern part of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture.

More than 60, or around 15 percent, of the 400 or so nurses at four public hospitals in the area have quit their jobs or intend to leave.

Many nurses themselves were affected by the Jan. 1 quake, and they need to take care of their own families and prepare for their futures.

The region not only faces the challenge of rebuilding from the disaster, but it has long seen its population age and shrink.

TRYING TO RECOVER

Medical equipment at the Wajima Municipal Hospital was damaged in the earthquake. Although most of the nearly 100 inpatients were transferred to other hospitals, around 20 remain, and about 150 patients visit each day.

The hospital has coped with the situation with the help of nurses from other medical institutions. But more than 10 of the roughly 120 nurses have already resigned, and around 20 have indicated their intention to quit.

“It’s difficult to continue raising my child because I cannot secure a place to live due to ongoing water outages,” one of them said.

Another echoed similar concerns.

“I want to find a job in Kanazawa, which has better conditions for my children to focus on their studies,” the nurse said.

Some nurses are working at Wajima Municipal Hospital while staying in vacant hospital wards because they can’t commute due to blocked roads.

“I’m concerned about how the hospital will continue to operate in the future,” one of the nurses said.

At Suzu General Hospital, 22 of the around 125 nurses are expected to quit.

Kazukimi Ishii, 58, director general of the hospital, said, “Many people have lost their homes, and there are significant invisible burdens.”

Several clerical workers and cooks at the hospital have also expressed their intention to leave.

“Hospitals run on teamwork,” Ishii said. “If the number of patients increases, the nursing system may become strained.”

Private hospitals are also experiencing nursing shortages.

Yanagida Onsen Hospital in Noto town is currently closed because of severe damage. After the earthquake, around 140 inpatients, including those from an attached nursing care facility, were transferred to other facilities.

About 30 percent of the roughly 130 staff members, including some 40 nurses, have decided to leave their positions.

“We’ve struggled to recruit nurses even before the earthquake,” Kiyohito Nomura, 52, clerical chief at the hospital, said. “Those who have left may not come back.”

DEPOPULATION, AGING

Ishikawa Prefecture’s regional medical services promotion office, which oversees public hospitals in the prefecture, is alarmed by the nursing shortages.

Residents over 65 years old account for more than 50 percent of the population in the medical service area comprising four cities and towns in the northern part of the Noto Peninsula. The area also has fewer clinics than other parts of the prefecture.

The local hospitals provide primary medical care, so they are essential in these communities.

If nurses continue to leave, outpatient services could be devastated.

The number of beds available for hospitalized patients is determined by the staffing levels of nurses and doctors. Therefore, some of the public hospitals will see about an 80-percent reduction in available beds.

Mikie Kofuji, 66, president of the Ishikawa prefectural Nurses Association, said the organization wants to support nurses so that they can continue in their jobs.

“Nurses affected by the earthquake are working while worrying about the uncertainty of their future,” she said.

The association has set up a consultation center for nurses and is recruiting nurses who can work in the northern Noto Peninsula for more than a month.

To curb the departure of nurses, the prefectural and central governments have decided to introduce a system that allows nurses to temporarily transfer from hospitals in the northern Noto Peninsula to hospitals in Kanazawa and other southern parts of Ishikawa Prefecture.

Before the Jan. 1 quake, calls had grown to strengthen functions at the four public hospitals to deal with the aging population.

Based on such requests from municipalities, the Ishikawa prefectural government announced at the Feb. 29 assembly meeting that it will establish a panel to consider measures for each hospital in the fiscal year that starts in April.

“We will share our awareness of the issues and consider measures to beef up the medical system, including the potential consolidation of hospitals,” Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase said.

(This article was written by Keitaro Nishizaki, Michitaka Sato, Hayato Kaji and Yoshinori Doi.)