2006年及2007年,日本先後與菲律賓以及印尼簽署經濟夥伴協議,同意從兩國接受護士與看護。符合一定條件並想在日本就業的外籍護士與看護,能以候補者的身分進入日本,並在考取日本的國家資格前,留駐在日本境內。對於此事,日本國內出現了正反兩面的意見。 據推測,日本的醫護與看護領域在未來將會出現勞動力不足的情況,因此贊成的一派認為接受外籍護士與看護將能成為解決人手不足的對策。另一方面,勞動條件已經低微醫療勞動環境,有可能因為接受外籍護士與看護而更加惡化。因此也有一派意見,要求日本政府慎重考慮。 為了解接受候補者究竟對於日本的醫療環境有無造成影響,筆者透過接受的實際人數與成績,以及實況調查的結果來把握現況。藉此筆者了解到,關於事前受到擔心的醫療勞動條件惡化之情形,有一部份的設施職員因候補者的加入而工作量增加,導致勞動條件惡化。但是另一方面,因為教導候補者而讓日本職員有機會重新檢視自己的醫療技術與知識,得以再度學習。這類好的影響在事前並沒有被議論到。 此外,現行接受的制度有許多問題點, 而筆者針對政府如何對應這些問題以及民間團體提出了怎樣的建議做了調查。接受的制度殘留許多問題,但以異文化照護的觀點來說,實踐與解決問題是必經過程。而筆者也認為,在今後討論醫療照護現場的外籍勞動者問題時,異文化照護是一個必須參考的觀點。 In 2006 and 2007, Japan concluded economic partnership agreements with Philippine and Indonesia, and agree to accept nurses and care workers from the two countries. Under certain qualifications, those who want to work in Japan as nurses and care workers are permitted to stay in Japan before they pass national exams. However, opinion of agree and disagree appeared.Japan’s medical field would be facing laborer insufficiency in the future, so those who agree with acceptance think foreign workers could solve the problems. But, another side of opinion hopes the government to be more prudently with this issue. In order to figure out how exactly the foreign nurses and care workers affect medical site, I verified the performance of the acceptance and try to grasp the current situation by looking at the survey. There are more good influences than bad ones. The EPA scheme has a lot of problems, but from a cross-cultural care point of view, to practice and to solve the problems is a necessary process. And I think Cross-cultural care provides a great point of view.