The term “quality of nursing care” is commonly used to refer to the merit and value of the content of nursing care. Interest in the quality of nursing care in Japan began to rise in the 1990s. This shift was influenced by the societal transition from a period of rapid economic growth to an era where people started to prioritize qualitative abundance over quantitative sufficiency, and where values became more diverse. Consequently, there emerged a movement to review the quality of nursing care, considering both medical and nursing services.

Assessing the quality of nursing care involves measurement and evaluation. Various perspectives exist on what constitutes high-quality nursing care. One widely used framework is proposed by Avedis Donabedian. He suggests understanding and ensuring the quality of nursing care through three interrelated components: “structure,” “process,” and “outcome.” “Structure” encompasses aspects like the physical hospital infrastructure, equipment, the number of nursing staff, and their arrangement. “Process” involves nursing competencies and various abilities of nurses, including clinical judgment. “Outcome” includes measures such as patient satisfaction and the length of hospital stay. The increased popularity of evaluations by organizations like the Japan Organization for Healthcare Evaluation and the introduction of critical paths can be seen as indications of the heightened demand for improving the overall quality of medical care, including nursing. This reflects a broader societal awareness of the importance of qualitative aspects in healthcare.

• Moorhead, S., Johnson, M., & Maas, M. L. (Eds.). (2010). Nursing outcome classification (NOC): Indicators and measurement scales for evaluating nursing care (4th ed.; Emoto, A., Trans.). Igaku-Shoin.
• Strickland, O. L., & Dilorio, C. (Eds.). (2006). Nursing masterpiece series: Measuring nursing outcomes: Patient satisfaction and care quality indicators (Ibe, T., Supervisor). Elsevier Japan.