Regional Medical Promotion Association Introduces 'Nurse Senka Workplace Diagnosis' to 25 Hospitals to Strengthen Recruitment and Prevent Nurse Turnover

SMS Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Masaki Takahata; Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market, hereinafter referred to as 'the Company') announces the simultaneous introduction of 'Nurse Senka Workplace Diagnosis' (URL: https://nurse-senka.jp/syokubashindan), a service supporting the diagnosis and improvement of nursing work environments, to 25 hospitals operated by the公益社団法人 Regional Medical Promotion Association (hereinafter 'the Association').

Following the implementation, each medical institution has gained data-driven visibility into previously hidden organizational strengths, challenges, and effective recruitment channels. This has led to improved management practices for reducing staff turnover and a shift toward higher-quality recruitment activities.

Background of Implementation

While healthcare demand is increasing due to Japan's aging population, a severe shortage of medical professionals persists. For medical institutions supporting regional and remote-area healthcare, ensuring staff retention and preventing turnover through workplace environment improvements has become as critical as recruitment.

The Regional Medical Promotion Association, which operates 84 facilities including hospitals and clinics across Japan—primarily in remote areas—faced challenges such as 'inability to effectively communicate each hospital’s unique appeal to job seekers' and 'lack of objective understanding of on-site workplace issues.'

Although attempts were made to identify institutional strengths through staff interviews, these efforts stalled due to daily operational pressures. There was an urgent need for objective data to assess current conditions. As a result, the Regional Nursing and Care Department (hereinafter 'Headquarters') evaluated the 'Nurse Senka Workplace Diagnosis' service positively—not only for its ability to compare with peer institutions and reveal objective data, but also for visualizing not just weaknesses but also each hospital’s unique strengths. Consequently, the service was rolled out simultaneously across 25 key hospitals where nurse retention and recruitment are top priorities.

Features of Nurse Senka Workplace Diagnosis

'Nurse Senka Workplace Diagnosis' is an industry-specific workplace assessment service developed using the Company’s deep expertise in the healthcare and nursing sectors. It quantitatively visualizes organizational strengths and challenges.

By comparing results with an annual awareness survey of approximately 10,000 nurses (※1), the service identifies strengths relevant to nurse recruitment and assesses organizational conditions at the department level. Additionally, regular implementation enables visualization and comparison of year-on-year organizational changes and progress in workplace improvements.

The service offers end-to-end support—from survey execution and data analysis to reporting and on-site utilization guidance. A key differentiator is that it goes beyond feedback, providing ongoing support for concrete organizational improvement actions aimed at cultural transformation and improved retention rates (※2).

__Workflow of Nurse Senka Workplace Diagnosis: Comprehensive one-stop support from survey implementation to analysis, reporting, and on-site application.

Outcomes and Organizational Changes Post-Implementation

Since implementing the diagnosis, the following outcomes and changes have been observed across the Association’s hospitals:

・Rediscovery of internal strengths such as 'positive interpersonal relationships,' enabling evidence-based recruitment

Strengths like 'good interpersonal relationships' have been quantitatively visualized across multiple hospitals. With solid evidence, on-site managers have reaffirmed that their institutions are highly valued by staff, enabling them to confidently promote their unique appeal both internally and externally.

・Enhanced recruitment quality through data-driven, multi-faceted recruitment strategies

The actual pathways through which staff joined became clear. In addition to existing efforts like joint information sessions, data-driven strategies such as 'strengthening local word-of-mouth promotion' and 'targeted outreach to nearby nursing schools' are now being developed and implemented according to each hospital’s characteristics, improving overall recruitment quality.

・Strengthened collaboration between headquarters and hospitals through identification of turnover risks

Data revealed specific issues linked to turnover risks, transforming vague concerns into clear, actionable insights. This has enabled precise follow-up and support—from headquarters to individual hospitals, and from nursing directors and deputy directors to department-level teams.

__Sample report output. Based on the Company’s annual survey of approximately 10,000 nurses, this comparison between peer institutions and the hospital’s overall scores allows immediate identification of strengths and challenges.

Workplace Improvement Workshops

Following the diagnosis, workshops were held in late April 2026 for each medical institution under the Association to translate diagnosis results into concrete on-site improvement actions.

Tailored to each institution’s specific challenges, workshops were conducted on themes such as 'Improving Workplace Satisfaction,' 'Preventing Turnover,' and 'Securing Nursing Staff (Public Relations and Presentation Materials Development).' Nursing directors and head nurses led discussions using radar charts from survey results and open-ended staff comments to explore ways to communicate strengths and address challenges. Post-event participant surveys showed all respondents rated the workshops as 'satisfied' or 'somewhat satisfied,' indicating extremely high satisfaction.

▼ Participant Feedback (excerpt)

・'It was highly valuable that results weren’t left as mere scores, but were analyzed for root causes and translated into actionable next steps. The workshop format allowed us to gain improvement insights we might have missed otherwise, and I hope to continue using this approach.'

・'Surveys often highlight weaknesses and feel negative, but the focus on leveraging strengths and clearly defining issues for action made this analysis approach very helpful.'

__Sample workshop materials. The program supports understanding of diverse employee values and encourages proactive thinking about modern leadership and organizational management.

Comment from Regional Medical Promotion Association Representative

Kosako Oumi, Director, Regional Nursing and Care Department, Medical Operations Headquarters, Secretariat, Regional Medical Promotion Association

'Our association recognized challenges in hospitals’ inability to fully understand and communicate their organizational strengths to job seekers, lack of internal sharing of these strengths with staff, and unclear efforts toward improving retention. Introducing the Nurse Senka Workplace Diagnosis to 25 hospitals has objectively visualized strengths like positive interpersonal relationships and specific recruitment pathways. After the April workshop, it was impressive to see nursing directors take the materials back and immediately share with head nurses, saying, “This is what our staff say about us—these are our strengths.” While turnover is often attributed to salary, collecting data reveals the underlying issues and true strengths of each hospital. To sustain regional healthcare, we will continue advancing fact-based workplace improvements and recruitment initiatives.'

__Representatives from the Regional Medical Promotion Association (right) and SMS Company’s Nurse Senka Workplace Diagnosis team (left)

※1: Annual awareness survey on nurse recruitment and retention conducted by the Company since 2021 (Reference: 2026 published survey https://www.bm-sms.co.jp/news-press/prs_20260512_nurse-research/)

※2: Includes certain optional plans