"Examination Held for New National Qualification for Veterinary Nurses"

"Examination Held for New National Qualification for Veterinary Nurses"

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Welcome to "Learn Japanese from the News."
　
Join us as we learn Japanese and about the country through Japanese news stories.
Today's headline is…
　
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ペットの看護師（かんごし）　国（くに）がつくった新（あたら）しい資格（しかく）の試験（しけん）を行（おこな）う
　
"Examination Held for New National Qualification for Veterinary Nurses"
This news story was published on NEWS WEB EASY's website on February 22nd.
　
Now let's go over some vocab words that will help us understand what's going on.
　
愛玩動物（あいがんどうぶつ）
companion animals, or in other words, "pets"
　
資格（しかく）
qualification
　
Let's keep these words in mind as we listen.
　
「2月（がつ）19日（にち）、ペットの治療（ちりょう）を手伝（てつだ）う「愛玩動物看護師（あいがんどうぶつかんごし）」の初（はじ）めての試験（しけん）がありました。
農林水産省（のうりんすいさんしょう）によると、長（なが）く生（い）きるペットが増（ふ）えて動物（どうぶつ）の医療（いりょう）が進（すす）んだため、犬（いぬ）や猫（ねこ）などを治療（ちりょう）する医者（いしゃ）の仕事（しごと）が増（ふ）えています。このため国（くに）は、ペットの治療（ちりょう）を手伝（てつだ）う看護師（かんごし）の資格（しかく）をつくりました。
この資格（しかく）を持（も）っている人（ひと）は、医者（いしゃ）を手伝（てつだ）って、動物（どうぶつ）の血（ち）や尿（にょう）をとることができます。誰（だれ）のペットかわかるチップを犬（いぬ）などの体（からだ）に入（い）れることもできます。
農林水産省（のうりんすいさんしょう）などは「ペットは家族（かぞく）だと考（かんが）えている人（ひと）が増（ふ）えて、治療（ちりょう）が必要（ひつよう）な動物（どうぶつ）が増（ふ）えています。この資格（しかく）ができて、もっといい治療（ちりょう）ができるようになると考（かんが）えています」と話（はな）しています。」
　
As more pets live longer lives, it's led to more medical needs for animals. To improve quality of care, the Japanese government has created a new qualification system for nurses assisting veterinarians, and held the first national examination in February.
　
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Now we'll break down a few sentences from the story that contain helpful expressions and keywords.
Let's start with the following sentence:
　
2月（がつ）19日（にち）、ペットの治療（ちりょう）を手伝（てつだ）う「愛玩動物看護師（あいがんどうぶつかんごし）」の初（はじ）めての試験（しけん）がありました。
　
"The first exam for "veterinary nurses," who help treat pets, was held on February 19th."
　
看護師（かんごし）means "nurse." 看護（かんご）generally refers to taking care of those who are sick or injured. Someone who does this professionally is called a 看護師（かんごし）. And in order to work as a nurse in Japan, you need a national nursing license.
　
Today's story is about how veterinary nurses will now also need to be nationally certified.
　
Now, a word closely related to 看護（かんご）is 看病（かんびょう）, which refers specifically to the act of nursing a patient who is sick. So 熱（ねつ）を出（だ）した子（こ）どもの看病（かんびょう）をする means "take care of a child with a fever."
看護（かんご）has a more general meaning than 看病（かんびょう）.
　
OK, let's move on to our next sentence.
　
農林水産省（のうりんすいさんしょう）によると、長（なが）く生（い）きるペットが増（ふ）えて動物（どうぶつ）の医療（いりょう）が進（すす）んだため、犬（いぬ）や猫（ねこ）などを治療（ちりょう）する医者（いしゃ）の仕事（しごと）が増（ふ）えています。
　
"According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the workload for doctors who treat dogs and cats is increasing because of more long-lived pets and advances in veterinary medicine."
　
によると means "according to." It's a way to mark the preceding noun as an information source or the maker of a decision.
And is frequently used when reporting the news.
　
When you're not sure about the source, you can use the verb 聞（き）く to convey that something is hearsay. So the expressions 聞（き）いた話（はなし）によると and 聞（き）くところによると both mean "from what I've heard..." or "according to reports..."
　
And that's all we have for today.
　
As someone who has two beloved cats, today's story is very welcome news. It's comforting to know that they're working to improve the quality of veterinary care.
　
And these nurses will not only assist medical treatment, but also provide emotional support for pet owners and advice on looking after their beloved animals. Good luck to the newly certified nurses out there.
　
Indeed. Be sure to tune in next time for more!
　
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