In our increasingly aging society, the role of nursing colleges and universities in health and welfare has become a matter of increasing importance. Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences was established as one of these institutions in 1998 by the government of Oita Prefecture.
Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences's mission is to assume a central role in the advancement of excellence in education, research, and community service in the field of nursing. The university is dedicated to assisting its students in becoming compassionate health care providers capable of understanding the thoughts, feelings, and desires of those under their care who are suffering from pain and mental afflictions.
The faculty is committed to training clinically competent nursing professionals highly skilled in decision making, critical thinking, and patient care management, who will also be future leaders in health care, nursing education, and research.
As a publicly supported institution, the university is also committed to promoting the health and well-being of society through cooperation with the people, the health service agencies, and the community's governments.
Our faculty is now putting all of its strength into education, research, and community service to make our university a center of excellence in nursing. As part of that effort, we established a Master's degree program in Nursing Science in 2002 and a Doctoral degree program in Nursing Science in 2004. In 2008, we established the first graduate school course for educating Nurse Practitioners in Japan to train nurse practitioners in primary care for geriatrics and pediatrics. In 2009, we established a Master's degree program and a Doctoral degree program in Health Sciences to enhance the relationship between nursing and the basic sciences. In 2011, we introduced a four-year Registered Nursing program in our Undergraduate School, the first such curriculum in Japan. We moved our Public Health Nursing program and Midwife program from the Undergraduate School to the Graduate School.
In 2015, we introduced a four-year undergraduate clinical practicum in preventive home visits to the elderly residing in our campus communities. This program's goal, in which all of our undergraduates make home visits in teams to the same older adult several times a year, is to improve the health of the surrounding communities by providing information and guidance on health promotion and prevention to the local elderly. Also, we want to strengthen collaborative research and promote international cooperation in the various fields of nursing. We expect that all of our students will become valuable professionals who can cherish and care for people with varied kinds of needs.
Finally, our university is located on the top of a hill with a good view of the surrounding beautiful mountains. There are also several famous hot springs close to our university. The area's tremendous natural beauty and the hot springs serve to heal our hearts, minds, and bodies.
