Being a nurse researcher, clinician, and educator in family nursing presents many challenges. But family nursing has many rich rewards. This was very evident in a recent opportunity for Petra Brysiewicz, a member of the IFNA Acute Care Cluster, to travel to Japan from South Africa to meet up with acute care family nurse researchers Junko Honda, Makoto Tsukuda, Katsuko Sakamoto, Yoshiyasu Ito, Syota Kakazu, Keisuke Nojima (IFNA Acute Care Cluster Team), and other IFNA members, Kyoko Kobayashi and Mari Ikeda. It was such a privilege to share our experiences, ideas, suggestions!
Dr. Brysiewicz was kindly hosted in Tokyo by St. Luke University and the University of Tokyo. She also was invited to participate in a seminar at the recent JARFN conference in Osaka.
She also met with the clinical staff in hospital for an invited lecture, visiting the ICU and emergency department, even the helipad!
The stark differences between our countries were constantly evident in our discussions, especially in terms of resources, culture, and language.
But also found lots of similarities and common ground. And of course, there is always time to experience the food!
