What to check on a workplace visit or trial shift: a checklist for healthcare professionals

A job posting (求人票) only tells you what can be put into words. Where the break room is, whether records are handwritten or on an electronic medical record, how many people have gone home by 6 p.m. Those things are easiest to see when you are standing there yourself.

In the Japanese Nursing Association (JNA) “2025 Nursing Staff Survey,” 26.7% of respondents said that, when changing jobs or returning to work, they wanted “a chance to hear from nurses working in that field,” and 20.0% wanted “a chance to try the work.” Among those who want to move into home-visit nursing (訪問看護), the figures rise to 39.7% and 29.9%.

Source: JNA “2025 Nursing Staff Survey,” as presented in MHLW, 「2040年に向けた看護職員の養成・確保の在り方に関する検討会」 (Study Group on Training and Securing Nursing Staff toward 2040), 4th meeting, Material 3 (2026)

This article sets out what to check on the day of a workplace visit (見学) or a paid trial shift (お試し勤務), split into items common to all healthcare professions and items for specific jobs. It is based on the JNA job-hunting guide Hatasapo (『はたさぽ』, October 2025 edition), statistics from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), and the rules of the Employment Security Act.

Before you go: do your homework with public information

Time on a visit is limited. Look up in advance whatever can be looked up, and spend the day itself on the things you can only find out in person.

• Hospital nurse staffing: Categories of the basic inpatient fee, such as 7:1 nurse staffing (7対1: at least one nurse per seven inpatients), can be checked in the “list of medical institutions with accepted notifications” (届出受理医療機関名簿) published by each Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare. However, 7:1 does not mean “one nurse is always assigned to every seven patients.” Ask about actual patient assignments on the day.
• Departments, equipment and staff: These are listed on the MHLW medical information site (医療情報ネット, “Navii”).
• Long-term care facilities and home-visit nursing: The Long-Term Care Service Information Disclosure System (介護サービス情報公表システム) shows the number of employees, their years of experience, the number who left, and more.

Since April 2024, job postings must also state the “scope of possible changes to job duties” and the “scope of possible changes to place of work” (Article 4-2, Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Security Act). These fields tell you whether your assignment might change and whether you could be transferred to an affiliated facility. If they are not filled in, it is fine to ask on the day of the visit.

A checklist for all healthcare professions

Hatasapo lists these things to check on a visit: the atmosphere of the workplace; welfare facilities (staff housing, parking, childcare); how working hours are managed (time cards and the like, overtime); records and information management (handwritten or electronic medical records); breaks and naps on night shifts; and education and training. Adding the items that rank high in surveys of why people leave gives the following list.

• The flow of the day and patient assignmentsHow many patients each person takes, how long handovers last, whether anyone gathers information before their shift starts. The surest way to see this is during the actual shift hours.
• Real overtime and how to claim itBeyond average monthly overtime: “Does gathering information before the shift count as working time?” “Can overtime spent on records be claimed?”
• Breaks and napsWhere the break room and nap room are and how big they are. Whether the official break time is actually taken.
• How records are keptElectronic medical records or paper. Whether there is an order-entry system. Whether anyone is staying late to finish records.
• Training and supportPreceptor, elder (mentor) or team support. Whether there is orientation for mid-career hires and people returning after a break.
• Night shifts and overnight dutyThe actual number of shifts (actual, not planned), how many staff are on at night, time off after a night shift, and the conditions for reduced or exempted night shifts.
• How easy it is to take time offThe average number of paid leave days taken, how to request days off, and who covers when a child suddenly has a fever.
• Whether others work the way you want toHow many people work on the same terms as you would (days only, shorter hours, part-time a few days a week). Whether you can talk to them.
• How staff speak to each otherThe mood at handovers and conferences, how people react to questions, how newcomers are addressed.
• Where to go about harassmentWhether there is a contact point for consultations and whether staff know about it. The policy on verbal abuse and violence from patients and families.
• CommutingTransport at the times you would actually arrive and leave, whether you can drive to work, parking fees, the journey home after a night shift.
• What the salary is made ofBase pay and allowances listed separately (how much per night shift, qualification allowance, housing allowance). A model take-home figure.

Numbers that make it easier to ask

Overtime tends to be longer at larger hospitals

In the JNA Hospital Nursing Survey, average monthly overtime per nursing staff member in 2025 was as follows.

Source: MHLW, 「2040年に向けた看護職員の養成・確保の在り方に関する検討会」 (Study Group on Training and Securing Nursing Staff toward 2040), 5th meeting, Material 1 (September 2026). Figures from the JNA Hospital Nursing Survey (病院看護実態調査)

These are averages of “claimed” overtime as reported by hospitals. The same material also records the view of study group members that, with unpaid pre-shift work and overtime that cannot be claimed, the reality is harsher. Treat the numbers as a starting point, and on the day of the visit see for yourself “how many people go home on time.”

Electronic medical records: about 40% of smaller hospitals still don’t have them

According to the MHLW Survey of Medical Institutions, the adoption rate of electronic medical records (2023) was 65.6% for general hospitals and 55.0% for general clinics. For hospitals with fewer than 200 beds it was 59.0%; the remaining roughly 40% use paper or have not adopted them. This is an easy place to be thrown by differences from your previous job, so it helps to also ask whether there is training on using the system.

Source: MHLW 「電子カルテシステム等の普及状況の推移」 (Trends in adoption of electronic medical record systems; from the Survey of Medical Institutions, 2023 figures)

What new graduates can ask for is a fair guide for mid-career hires too

Employers recruiting new graduates are required, on request, to provide information such as the number of new graduates hired and the number who left over the last three years, average length of service, training content, average monthly overtime, and the average number of paid leave days taken (Articles 13 and 14, Act on Promotion of Youth Employment). There is no direct obligation for mid-career hiring, but you can use this as a guide to “questions it isn’t rude to ask.”

Extra things to look at, by profession

Even among healthcare professions, what to look at depends on the job. Add the items below to the common list above.

Registered Nurses (看護師) and Licensed Practical Nurses (准看護師)

• The actual number of staff on day and night shifts and the number of patients each person takes. How many nursing assistants (看護補助者) there are and which tasks they handle.
• Two-shift or three-shift system. Whether breaks and naps on night shifts are taken as the rules say.
• How assignments are decided. Whether you can visit or try out the ward you are likely to be assigned to.

Physical therapists (理学療法士), occupational therapists (作業療法士) and speech-language-hearing therapists (言語聴覚士)

• The ward’s function (acute care, convalescent, community-based integrated care, long-term care). Even within the same hospital, the rhythm of rehab time differs.
• How many others in the same profession there are. If you would be the only one, who you can turn to when you need advice.
• Whether you would work weekends and public holidays (a 365-day system). For home visits, the number of visits per day and how you get around.

More detail is in our article on choosing a workplace as a rehab professional.

Pharmacists (薬剤師)

• Pharmacy, hospital or drugstore. In a hospital, whether there is ward work; in a pharmacy, whether there are home visits.
• Dispensing equipment in place or planned. In a hospital, whether there is overnight duty or night shifts, and how often.

Clinical laboratory technologists (臨床検査技師), radiological technologists (診療放射線技師) and clinical engineers (臨床工学技士)

• The area you would cover (specimen testing, physiological testing, pathology; general radiography, CT, MRI; dialysis, operating room, ICU, etc.) and whether there is rotation.
• How often overnight duty and on-call come round.
• How far the workplace lets staff take on the tasks added by the October 2021 law revision (such as securing venous access during blood draws), and whether it supports taking the required training. This training is required for people who obtained their license before a certain date.

Dental hygienists (歯科衛生士) and dental assistants (歯科助手)

• How roles are divided between dental hygienists and dental assistants. A workplace that has unqualified staff do preventive procedures such as removing tartar may be in breach of Article 13 of the Dental Hygienists Act.
• Evening clinic hours and Saturday work; whether you can work shorter hours or within dependent-status (扶養) limits.
• Whether sterilization and infection-control procedures are set.

Medical office staff (医療事務) and dietitians (栄養士)

• Medical office staff: Only reception and billing at the desk, or also insurance claims (レセプト)? The reality of overtime at the start of each month. Which electronic medical record and claims software are used, and training for them.
• Dietitians: Is food service run directly by the hospital or facility, or outsourced to a catering company (this changes who your employer is)? The balance between menu planning and nutrition counseling and cooking work. The hours of early and late shifts.

For every profession: how pay raises are passed on

In the FY2026 revision of the medical fee schedule (診療報酬; from June 2026), eligibility for the base-pay-increase fee (ベースアップ評価料) was widened from “staff mainly engaged in medical care” to “all staff working there.” Office staff and others are now newly covered. Asking whether the workplace has filed for it, and how it is reflected in pay, is one option.

Source: MHLW 「令和8年度診療報酬改定の概要 1．賃上げ対応」 (Overview of the FY2026 medical fee schedule revision, 1: pay raises) (2026)

How to spend the day

A visit is a chance for the workplace to see you, and for you to see the workplace. Holding back and leaving without asking anything is the biggest waste of the day.

1. Narrow your questions down to three and write them down. You don’t need to ask everything. Decide in advance the three things that matter most to you.
2. Go during real working hours. If you can do a trial shift, do it in the department you would be assigned to, during normal shift hours. The evening atmosphere and the journey home can only be seen on that day.
3. Talk to people other than your guide. Talking with someone who works the way you would is the best way to learn what isn’t on the job posting.
4. Make notes on the way home. What was good, what bothered you, what you forgot to ask. This helps when comparing several workplaces.