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Fukushima nurses leaving, to protect their own children from radiation

Nurses evacuate Fukushima to save their children from the potential risk of radiation http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/10/nurses-evacuate-fukushima-to-save-their-children-from-the-potential-risk-of-radiation/ by Mochizuki   October 6th, 2012 Fukushima prefecture is facing a serious shortage of nurses and health workers.

The biggest reason is nurses have evacuated to save their children from the potential radiation risk because of Fukushima accident. On the other hand, the number of patients are increasing as evacuation period is prolonged.

According to Fukushima prefectural government, 14,556 nurses and other workers were at hospitals in the prefecture on 3/1/2011, shortly before 311, but it dropped to 14,089 on 3/1/2012.

Fukushima nursing association comments in 2/2011, there were 216 applications for 366 jobs, the job opening-to-application ratio was 1.69. However, at the end of this August, there were 174 applications for 768 jobs. The job-opening-to-application ratio was 4.41, which made a huge increase since before 311.

The number of young people receiving checkups is expected to increase in line with the Oct. 1 launch of a system providing free medical care to people aged 18 or under, and the association remains concerned about the situation, which could hinder health checks, saying a shortage of people in the medical profession could impede local restoration efforts.

In other disaster areas, Iwate and Miyagi are also having shortages of medical workers, but the situation has been particularly serious in Fukushima Prefecture due to the nuclear disaster, and it is expected to continue for a long time.

Midori Suzuki, a senior director of the Fukushima Nursing Association comments, “The shortage of regular nurses and health nurses was an issue even before the disaster, but since the nuclear disaster, the situation has gotten unusually serious, I want the government to widen its awareness of what is hindering restoration.”

October 8, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2012