[Survey on Nurse Working Styles at Medical and Long-Term Care Facilities 2026] Over 60% Consider Wage Hikes Due to Medical Fee Revision, but Only 30% to Raise Base Salary

SMS Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Masaki Takahata; TSE Prime), which operates the nurse recruitment service 'Nurse Senka Tenshoku' (URL: https://www.nursejinzaibank.com/) and the nurse and nursing student community 'Nurse Senka' (URL: https://media.nurse-senka.jp/), has conducted a 'Survey on Nurse Working Styles' targeting 577 HR managers at nurse workplaces including hospitals, clinics, home-visit nursing stations, and long-term care facilities nationwide. This is the second time a survey has been conducted targeting business operators.

[Survey Results Summary]

- Over 60% of businesses plan to implement wage increases, including base pay and allowances. Just over 30% plan to raise base pay.
- The most common wage increase rate is 1.0% to 1.5%.
- 77.3% of businesses feel there is a shortage of nurses, nearly unchanged from last year.
- About 50% have not yet implemented initiatives for nurse work style reform or retention improvement.
- The most common monthly average overtime is 1 to less than 5 hours, followed by 5 to less than 10 hours.
- The most effective initiative for work style reform and retention was 'reducing overtime hours.'
- About 50% reported having nursing assistants and care assistants in place.
- Over 60% utilize nurses in their 60s and older.
- The most frequently witnessed harassment in the past year was 'patient harassment.'
- 38.5% have registered for the DX Promotion System Development Addition.
- The most desired DX tool to reduce the workload of nursing and administrative tasks is 'summarization of committee and meeting minutes.'

≪Comments on the most effective initiatives for realizing nurse work style reform and improving retention≫

- 'Promoting DX has led to a review and standardization of work processes, resulting in a noticeable reduction in errors and improved operational efficiency. As a result, overtime has been significantly reduced, allowing staff to spend more time with patients.'
- 'We are currently implementing an area buddy system in each ward, ensuring that not only new but also experienced nurses are not left alone. By dividing each ward into areas and forming teams, we create a system where staff can consult and help each other when they need to leave the ward or are multitasking. This allows everyone to follow up on tasks other than documentation, resulting in shorter overtime.'
- 'By task-sharing and shifting administrative nursing tasks to the medical affairs department and implementing AI for nursing summaries, we have been able to slightly reduce overtime hours.'

[Detailed Survey Results]

1. 63.3% of businesses plan to implement wage increases, including base pay and allowances. 33.3% plan to raise base pay.

2. The most common wage increase rate was '1.0% to 1.5%' (15.4%), followed by 'less than 1.0%' (10.6%).

3. 77.3% of businesses feel there is a shortage of nurses, nearly unchanged from last year (78.4%).

4. About 50% have not yet implemented initiatives for nurse work style reform or retention improvement. Among them, 14.4% of businesses responded that they 'plan to implement initiatives.' Only 5.5% said that work style reform and retention improvement have been achieved.

5. The most common monthly average overtime is 1 to less than 5 hours, followed by 5 to less than 10 hours.

6. The most effective initiative for work style reform and retention was 'reducing overtime hours.' In addition to this result, many specific examples were given in free-text responses about efforts to reduce workload and overtime through 'improving operational efficiency with ICT' and 'task shifting of peripheral duties.'

7. About 50% reported having nursing assistants and care assistants in place. This suggests a trend of promoting 'task shifting,' where peripheral duties traditionally performed by nurses are transferred to nursing assistants and care assistants to reduce the burden on nurses.

8. Over 60% utilize nurses in their 60s and older.

9. The most frequently witnessed harassment in the past year was 'patient harassment' (39.9%). Similar to the results of our survey of individual nurses announced in May 2026, it was reconfirmed that patient harassment is a major workplace issue.

10. 38.5% have registered for the DX Promotion System Development Addition.

11. The most desired DX tool to reduce the workload of nursing and administrative tasks in the future is 'summarization of committee and meeting minutes.'

■Conclusion

This survey is conducted to periodically visualize the challenges and changes in the nursing field and to provide information to business operators working on nurse recruitment and retention to assist them in considering future measures.

The results of this survey showed that over 60% of businesses are considering wage increases ahead of the June 2026 medical fee revision. However, only about 30% plan to raise base salaries, and the wage increase rate was limited to 1.0-1.5%. While about 50% of businesses have not yet worked on work style reform or retention, many free-text responses indicated efforts to improve operational efficiency through DX and task shifting to nursing assistants and care assistants.

We will continue to support medical institutions and long-term care facilities through this survey and contribute to creating an environment where nurses can continue to work.

[Survey Overview]

'Survey on Nurse Working Styles at Medical and Long-Term Care Facilities 2026'
- Period: March 2, 2026 (Mon) - March 31, 2026 (Tue)
- Target: Managers, HR personnel, etc., at nurse workplaces such as hospitals, clinics, home-visit nursing stations, and long-term care facilities nationwide.
- Total Respondents: 577
- Method: Web-based questionnaire
(Detailed survey information is available separately, please inquire)

■Last Year's Survey Results
[Survey on Nurse Working Styles at Medical and Long-Term Care Facilities 2025]
URL: https://www.bm-sms.co.jp/news-press/prs_20250625_nurse-research/

■Survey of Nurses
[Survey on Nurse Working Styles of about 10,000 Nurses 2026]
56% of nurses consider changing to a non-nursing profession, job satisfaction remains almost flat
URL: https://www.bm-sms.co.jp/news-press/prs_20260512_nurse-research/

[About 'Nurse Senka Tenshoku']
Launched in 2005 as 'Nurse Jinzai Bank,' our specialized nurse career partners with deep industry understanding provide optimal matching. We have been ranked No. 1 overall in the Oricon Customer Satisfaction® Survey for Nurse Job Change for four consecutive years since 2023. By creating an environment where all nurses feel 'glad to be a nurse,' we contribute to the continuous provision of high-quality medical and long-term care services.
URL: https://www.nursejinzaibank.com/

[About 'Nurse Senka']
We provide a bulletin board for consulting on problems, the latest nursing and medical news, and skill and career-up information such as national nurse examination preparation. We support the career development of nurses and nursing students.
URL: https://media.nurse-senka.jp/

[About SMS Co., Ltd.]
Founded in 2003, listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2011, and moved to the Prime Market with the TSE market division change in April 2022. With the mission to 'improve people's quality of life and continue to contribute to society by building an information infrastructure suitable for an aging society,' we develop and operate over 40 services focused on 'aging society x information.'
Name: SMS Co., Ltd.
Location: Sumitomo Fudosan Shibakoen Tower, 2-11-1 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Masaki Takahata, President
Established: April 2003
Capital: 2,551.72 million yen (as of March 31, 2026)
Employees: Consolidated 4,660, Non-consolidated 3,214 (as of March 31, 2026)
Business: We identify the areas required by an aging society as medical care, long-term care/disability welfare, healthcare, and senior life, and build an information infrastructure as a platform connecting end-users, workers, and business operators, developing over 40 services.
URL: https://www.bm-sms.co.jp/