As the professional education and public service division of Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Oita-NHS Extension serves the educational and health care needs of the community by offering extension courses open to all persons who want to experience the newest knowledge, philosophy and skills related to health, health care and nursing. Our mission is to bring a high standard of academic excellence and real-world experience to each course, allowing students to gain practical knowledge and professional skills. Oita-NHS Extension courses are designed to meet the needs of both working nurses and the average citizens of the local community, and are offered during the day, in the evening, and on weekends at the campus of the university and at the university's Center for Nursing Education, Research and Collaboration (CNERC).

Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences established the Center for Nursing Education, Research and Collaboration (CNERC) in April 2004 with the objective that the new institution would play a leading role in the advancement of nursing practice and nursing science in Oita. The main activities of CNERC are in its community exchange division, international collaboration and exchange division and continuing education division.

In the community exchange division, CNERC coordinates with the Japanese Nursing Society to plan and conduct training programs and dispatch instructors for nursing professionals throughout Oita prefecture. In addition, CNERC dispatches instructors for the research guidance of staff upon the requests of hospitals and other medical institutions, and established a statistical analysis consultation window to give advice on statistical methods.

The international collaboration and exchange division conducts courses of instruction, seminars and field visits for nursing and medical professionals who visit from Korea, China, and other overseas countries. Since July 2004, CNERC has also participated in the Japan International Cooperation Agency's "Nursing Education Improvement Project in the Republic of Uzbekistan".

Finally, CNERC has created an alumni directory system. In collaboration with Oita-NHS Extension, the professional education and public service division of Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences, the continuing education division of CNERC offers annual seminars to the graduates of the university.

The Notsuharu Project was organized in 1999 to research and develop a prevention system for lifestyle related diseases and to assist in care prevention in the town of Notsuharu and Oita prefecture. Since its inception, the project group has investigated the lifestyle and health history of the citizens of Notsuharu and measured their physical fitness in order to identify the characteristic health problems in the community. The project group used this data to develop a new physical fitness test battery suitable for health examinations of the elderly, an ADL-related norm for assessing physical fitness, and a new index of obesity.

In 2001, the project group examined the safety and effectiveness of fall prevention programs for the elderly and implemented a program of such classes for the senior citizens of Notsuharu. In 2003 and 2004, the group developed a database system for personal computers that is useful for planning health guidance and other health related activities.

Since 2005, the project has collaborated with the governments of Oita City and Oita Prefecture to develop a care prevention system in the prefecture. The project group has held classes that have taught more than 10,000 people to do physical exercises for care prevention and that have trained more than 300 people to be volunteer care prevention leaders in their communities. In the future, the project members plan to spread this care prevention system in Oita.