Maniac Magee: Summary Essay

Characters’ Name: Jeffery Lionel Magee- (Maniac Magee), Amanda Beale, Mars Bar Thompson, John McNab, Piper McNab, Russell McNab, Earl Grayson, Mrs. Beale, Hester, Lester. Personalty Traits: Maniac Magee, the main character, has very kind and a nice personality. He is also brave, and trusted and very athletic. Physical Features: Jeffery’s parents died by a car accident when he was 3 years old. andout Questions: Title of the book: Maniac Magee Author: Jerry Spinelli Number of pages: 1-184 Name of the main characters: Full Name: (Jeffery Lionel Magee)- Maniac Magee Genre of the story: Fiction Plot: Maniac Magee, lived with his parents until he was 3 years old. His parents died in a car accident. Then he lived with his uncle Dan, and aunt Dot. He left his uncle and aunt when they were annoying in the school auditorium. He went to far away, after he left. He wanted to find a home that will be best for him. There he faced many challenges that he overcame, such as a race running backwards. Maniac is very athletic, he is also nice. He met a lot of people that liked him of his kindness. All he wanted is a home where it would be best for him. He made the west end (white side) and the east end (black side) be together. Climax: Maniac needs a new home. Resolution: Maniac finds a home, the Beale’s family said he can stay with them. Maniac also made the east side and the west side be together. Would you change anything about the story: I would change the part where Grayson dies because Grayson loved Maniac as much as maniac loved Grayson. It feels like that Grayson felt as a grandfather to Maniac. Opinion: The best part I like about the book is that when Maniac won the race against Mars Bar by running backwards. The least I liked about this book is that when Maniac’s parents died, and when Grayson died. The part that truly got attention is when they died, and it feels like something worse is going to happen when is parents died. I visualized this book well because this book was really interesting, and even though this book is faction it sounds real. I would recommend this book to students that are in 5th to 8th graders because it teaches you about how difficult it can be when you are an orphan and how the west side and the east side came together.

“Everybody knows what religion is, and so, we do not need to define it.” Essay

The study of religion may be as old as humankind itself according to one author. Defining religion is difficult as there are many definitions as there are many authors. The word religion is the most difficult to define because of the lack of a universally accepted definition. Specifically the root meaning of the word religion can be traced to Latin. Relegare or religion means to bind oneself, emanating from the Latin religio, which is translated to re-read emphasising tradition passing from generation to generation. Douglas Davies says â€Å"some have simply described religion as a belief in spiritual beings.† (10). In the book The World Religion there is a suggestion of approaches for tackling the question of religion such as viewing it anthropologically, sociologically, through history, in a scholarly way, theologically and by reductionism. In this paper I will try and assess the definition of religion from aforementioned views and identify the problems of defining religion. James Cox states that in their introductory textbook on religion the American scholars Hall, Pilgrim and Cavanagh identify four characteristic problems with traditional definitions of religion; these are: vagueness, narrowness, compartmentasation and prejudice (9). The authors argue that vagueness means there are so many definitions that they do not distinguish the matter of religion from other fields of study. Tilich’s defines religion as ultimate concern or a simple idea of religion meaning living a good life (9). Living a good life is subjective to an individual since the concerns and values we have are influenced by culture and the community that we live in. The definition of religion may also be viewed as narrow by means of compensating for the vagueness. In most cases the study of religion is fixated on a certain field or line of thought. Hall, Pilgrim and Cavanagh use Thomas Aquinas’ claim that religion denotes a relationship with a God, thereby excluding non-atheistic or polytheistic forms of religion (Cox 9). Most definitions are narrowed down to religious beliefs such as Christianity among other world religions. In narrowing down the definition of religion it excludes other religions such as African Traditional Religions. Due to the fact that African religions lack most characteristics needed of World religions they are excluded from being religion. Atheism is a growing phenomena in the world that does not believe in a God, which I feel have its own belief system. Many definitions focus too narrowly on only a few aspects of religion; they tend to exclude those religions that do not fit well. It is apparent that religion can be seen as a theological, philosophical, anthropological, sociological, and psychological phenomenon of human kind. To limit religion to only one of these categories is to miss its multifaceted nature and lose out on the complete definition. The same authors by way of compartmentalisation explain religion in terms of just one single, special aspect of human life. This compartmentalisation reduces religion to one part of human life and ignores its relevance to the totality of human existence. They also argue against Schleiermachers’ definition of religion as a feeling of absolute dependence which might reduce religion to a mere psychological condition, (Cox 9). By compartmentalisation you are taking the part of the whole to be the whole, thereby reducing religion to one aspect of human existence ignoring the totality of existence. Religion is not just a feeling but encompasses the totality of existence in a human being his beliefs, culture and language. Religious or religion is not static but dynamic from one generation to another and they are ever developing in accordance with time and nature. Religion is not only a compartment in life of a human being but a totality, a large elephant it is huge and complex. Most definitions of religion may be viewed as prejudice because they are evaluative in process which cannot present an objective picture of what religion actually is. The same scholars argue giving the example of Karl Max that religion is the opium of the people which is clearly biased (Cox 9). A scholar by the name of Barnhart criticizes traditional definitions of religion identifying in them five issues in prejudice: belief in supernatural, evaluative definitions, diluted definitions, expanded definitions and true religion. In his argument, Barnhart denies that religions must not hold a belief in God or supernatural beings to qualify as religions. He believes that such definitions restrict the subject matter of religion and thus are too exclusive, (Cox 9). In the same argument he concurs with Hall and company call on narrowness of definition of religion.  In the same view disagrees with E.B Tylor ‘religion consists of beliefs in spiritual’ beings as too narrow. In asserting that religion definitions are evaluative in nature, Barnhart concurs with Hall that these definitions are prejudiced. He argues against Marx and Freud saying the ultimate concern is itself an evaluative concept imposed on religion from the perspective of Western philosophy. Citing Clarke’s statement that ‘religion is the life of God in the soul of man’ tells us nothing about either God or the soul thereby diluting the definition and affirming other scholars view that religion’s definition is vagueness. Compartmentalisation of the definition of religion can also be likened to what Barnhart calls expanded definitions. He argues against Russell who tries to expand the definition of religion so far as to make it seem an effort to seek comfort in a terrifying world. The argument follows that by trying to define religion as a way of expanding a list of what comprises religion to accommodate one compartment of human existence it has an opposite effect of diluting the definition rather than searching for consolation, (Cox 10). Lastly Barnhart finds a problem in defining all religions in terms of one religion which by definition claims itself to be true. He gives the example of ‘Religion is belief in Jesus’ or ‘there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet’. This clearly categorises the definition of religion are subjective (Cox 10). The example also clearly shows how exclusive some definitions of religion are and proves the earlier mentioned problem of prejudice against one belief system or being traditionally fixated on belief systems of faith. The problem of plurality according to Roger Schmidt religion is difficult to define because it is a collective term applied to a wide range of phenomena. The phenomena include beliefs and practices that all religions have in common. Closely related to plurality is the problem of culture as religion and culture are closely linked. Religion is a child of culture, which is a result of religion being found in a certain contextual culture, therefore, difficult to define religion in all cultures. Religion itself is dynamic the Buddhism of a hundred years ago is not the same today. This shows that religion is not static but dynamic.

Qatar Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East Essay

Qatar is located in Arabian Peninsula in boarders with Saudi Arabia, with only 225,000 citizens in a population of 1. 7 million. Qatar follows a conservative religious ideology, Wahhabism. While some refer to Qatar as the â€Å" Second Wahhabi Emirate,† it is traditionally known as â€Å"the most boring place in the gulf† or â€Å"the country known for being unknown (Roberts, 2012). † However, Qatar emerged as a strong state actor with extended networks of alliances in the world. The mediator role that Doha plays today is crucial in the region, particularly after the Arab Spring (HRW, 2013). Indeed, Qatar supported the Arab Uprisings across the region in 2011. In addition, Qatar invested between $65 billion and $100 billion to the FIFA world cup that it will be hosting in 2022. The Emir founded a number of humanitarian projects in Sudan, South of Lebanon, Gaza and Asia. In this paper, I attempt to answer the question of what are the driving motives of Qatar’s foreign policy in the Middle East? And why, unlike its neighboring countries, Qatar’s leadership supported the Arab appraisals of 2011? Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Al Thani, stated, â€Å"we support those who demanded justice and dignity,† when asked about his country’s role in the Arab revolutions in an interview in 60 Minutes . In response, President Barak Obama thanked the Emir for promoting democracy in the Middle East (Al Thani, 2012). Ironically, Qatar is an absolute monarchy described as an â€Å" authoritarian regime† that is ranked 138th out of the 167 countries by Democracy Index 2011. In addition, the Freedom House lists Qatar as â€Å" not free† (freedom house), (Democracy Index, 2011). Therefore, Qatar’s lack of rule of law, freedom of speech and political rights contradict â€Å"the Emir’s efforts to promote democracy† and delegitimizes his political statements. In relevance to this hypocrisy, Qatar’s foreign policy in general and its support of democratic transitions in the Arab region in specific serves its ambitions to secure itself from threats, maintain its status quo of an independent state and take a leadership role in the region. Political Emancipation and the Saudi Threat: Al Thani family ruled Qatar for more than 150 years. Qatar attained its independence in 1971, when the British-mandate came to an end and after its refusal to join the United Arab Emirates federation. Since that date until the 1990s, Saudi Arabia acted as the de facto protector of Qatar. Consequently, the Emir took policy directions from Al Saud. However, this relationship witnessed a change in the early 1990s as tensions in bilateral relations between the two countries began to arise. After the invasion of Kuwait and Sadam’s threat to attack the Suadi kingdom, Saudi quickly reached out to western coalitions in aim of protection. As Suadi presented itself as weak and unable to defend itself, the Qataris began to doubt Saudi’s ability to protect the Qatari entity and decided to pursue a strong alliance with the US. Therefore, between 1990-1992, Qatar signed a military agreement with the United States to host its military base in Al-Odead. In response, Saudi worked to block Qatar’s pipeline exports of gas to United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman. As a result, tensions between the two countries intensified. Later, in 30 September 1992, Saudi attacked the Qatari boarders leaving three soldiers dead (2012). However, the clashes did not stop there. In1995, Shiekh Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince back then, seized power after a bloodless coup d’etat against his father. Of course, Saudi Arabia did not welcome the coup d’etat because of Hamad’s known strong motives to maintain his country’s autonomy. Instead, Saudi financially supported another coup against the current Emir. Then, Qatar detained a number of Saudi and Qatari citizens who cooperated with the Saudi government to bring the ousted prince back into power. These tensions led the Saudi-Qatar relations into a deep freeze until rapprochement happened in 2008 (2012). Since then, Shiekh Hamad Al Thani led the modernization process to create a brand name of Qatar. In its foreign policy, Qatar adopted diplomacy as a foreign policy tool that allows it to take on the mediator role in a number of regional disputes. In addition to its diplomatic activism and small size, the Qatari wealth that is invested in mediation efforts paves the way for Qatar to be a head in the political game today. A Theoretical approach on Qatar’s Mediation: The tribal nature of the Qatari society and the hierarchal system of the government lends the leadership absolute power to form the country’s economic-political agenda and foreign policy. The major two agents that determine the political strategies of Qatar’s foreign policy are its national security and its desire to establish a brand name for itself. Hence, the main key element of Qatar’s foreign policy is mediation, which is apparently is not a new political tool as the â€Å"early Al-Thanis were forced to become experts negotiators quickly in anarchic corner of the Middle East (Roberts). According to Jacob Bercovitch in his book, Studies in International Mediation, countries engage in mediation for various reasons that include â€Å"(a) a genuine desire to change the course of a long-standing conflict to promote peace, (b) a desire to gain access to major political leaders and open channels of communication, (c), a desire to spread one’s ideas and enhance standing and professional status, (d) the wish to preserve intact structure of which they are part, (e) viewing mediation as a way of extending and enhancing their own influence and gaining some value from the conflict (Roberts). Therefore, from this perspective, Qatar’s employs mediation for the enhancement of its professional status and the acquirement of power. From here, Qatar mediated a number of disputes in the region including the Hezbollah dispute with the Lebanese government, the rebellion disputes with the Northern Sudanese government and the Huothis dispute with the Yemeni government. Moreover, Participation in mediations between states is of great advantage to Qatar. Internationally, it promotes a peaceful image as a peacekeeping state in an attempt to gain worldwide respect (Roberts). Peterson argues in his work, Qatar and the World, â€Å"The fundamental advantage, however, is that it assures the legitimacy of the micro state. This in turn leads to the single most important factor: increased awareness of and legitimacy accruing to Qatar- in domestic and external terms- enhances the prospects of the states’ survival†(Roberts). Qatar neutral position and its small size makes non-threatening to other state to except negotiation with compare to Saudi which has interests in regional conflict, which leads political parties to refuse its negotiation, e. . Saudi support of the government in Yemen and rivalry with Hezbollah. On the other hand, Qatar established diplomatic relations with almost everyone. Qatar’s Foreign affairs minister, Shiekh Hamad bin Jasem Al Thani, in an interview on Al –Jazeera, was asked by Ahmed Manosur, Al Jazeera presenter, â€Å"I just want to understand one thing! In Qatar you have relations with the devils and the angels, with the Iranians and the Americans, with the Israelis and Hamas, he continued, how can we understand this policy? (Mansour, 2012). Today, Qatar unlike other state in the region, calls Tehran in the morning and Tel Aviv in the afternoon â€Å"(Roberts). It was the first state in the gulf to host trade office of Israel, established good relations with Hamas, opened communications with Hezbollah, the Emir of Qatar was the first to invite Ahmadinejad to attend the 28th Gulf Cooperation council summit in 2007. While other Arab states alienated Islamists, Qatar was in good terms with Arab oppositions, particularly Islamic groups. For example, Yusuf Al Qaradawi is an influential Islamic leader, resident of Qatar since 1960s is the main guest who taken the Qatari citizenship is Al Jazeera chief religious show. Also, other Arab political dissidents were welcomed and took Qatari citizenship such as Mohammed Hamed Al Hamari from Saudi Arabia who organized Youth Role in Change in the Arabic Gulf; young activists from across the gulf attended the conference (Al Qassemi, 2012). Al Jazeera as foreign Policy tool Part of â€Å"Brand Qatar† project, is to spread ideas and enhance Qatar’s status. The establishment of Al-Jazeera in 1996 came to serve that goal. Al Jazeera is an important tool of Qatar foreign policy, with its slogan the â€Å" The Opinion and the other Opinion† and the channel shameless criticisms to Arab leaders and programs on democracy and political rights. Al Jazeera soon gained the respect of Arab public compare to other media alternatives that are state sponsored (Khtib, 2013). The channel broadcasted the revolutions across the Arab spring countries – except the appraisals in Bahrain . The spread of revolutions were feared by Arab states, yet Qatar seemed to support the revolutions through Al Jazeera. That is said to be reason that inspired the youth in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen to rebel against their governments and demand freedom and dignity. Nevertheless, The channel neutrality was under question, during the Egyptian elections, Al Jazeera hosted members of MB like Khirat Al Shater, and Moahhmed Mosri. Sultan Al Qassimi, a, wrote about Al Jazeera’s Arabic love ffaires with MB, he discussed some of his observations, that Muslim Brotherhood supports were given the chance to express their views on through the channel while critics towards Muslim Brotherhood were barely heard in the channel (Al Qassemi, 2012). Recently, Waddah Khanfar the director – general of Al Jazeera was replaced with Shiekh Ahmed bin Jasem Al Thani, who holds degree in petroleum (Al Qassemi, 2012). This suggests that Al Jazeea is becoming less free to represents Qatar’s government preferences and its support to Muslim brotherhood. Apparently, Qatar calculations towards the Arab spring were opposite to its neighbors who supported Mubarak regime. It saw an opportunity to ally itself with revolutions to promote for its image as â€Å"Pro- Arab public † and play regional role in Arab-Arab relations despite the policy risks its taking incase these revolutions were not successful. Through Qatar’s Money, Al-Jazeera, regional mediations and international pressure, Doha was successful in making the Arab Spring an opportunity so that it plays valuable role and take a leadership role in the region. Qatar in the Arab Spring: Qatar natural position had to be changed when it realized that change will topple the former leaders to stay at the head of the game head of Saudi, After Mubarak’s fall, Qatar supported Muslim brotherhood in Egypt. Shiekh Hamad Al Thani, the foreign minster of Qatar state that his country won’t allow Egypt to go bankrupt, Doha transferred five billion dollars to Egypt to meet its financial obligations. In addition to the financial support, Al Jazeera members’ Muslim brotherhoods are regularly interviewed to spread their influence. Middle Ease Scholar, Alain Gresh calls Al Jazeera the mouthpiece of Muslim brotherhood (Khatib, 2013). Furthermore, Rashid Al Ghanushi of Al Nahdha party of Tunisia, stated in an interview with Al Arab newspaper that Qatar is a major partner of the Arab spring revolutions hence it’s also a partner in next period of democratic transition and development since it offers development projects to support the economy of the Arab spring states (2012). Qatar had to intervene in Libya and Syria to sustain its leading regional position. It was the first country to lead the international action against Gaddafi. Qatar supplied the rebels with total US$2billion. On the other hand, Qatar involved in arming Syrian rebels like the Free Syrian Army. Also, it was successful in unifying the Syrian opposition. The importance of Qatar involvement in the latter is to counter Iranian influence by allying with opposition while Assad regime is backed by Iran (Khatib, 2013). In contrast to this, Al Jazeera was silent towards the uprisings in Bahrian. Qatar has been selective in backing uprisings there. The reason behind that, is Saudi Arabia influence that views the situation as â€Å"Shi’a uprising â€Å" and regional rivalry with Iran, hence any intervention from Qatar’s side in Bahraini issue would result tensions (Roberts, 2012). In conclusion, Qatar had different view towards the Arab Spring compare to its neighbors. Its objective to play a valuable role in the region, made Doha change its position as neutral state and take foreign policy risks. Although the question of weather Qatar made the right policy decisions or not remains unanswered yet. However, Doha succeeded in playing regional role a head of regional power like Saudi and influenced the Arab countries to take collective action towards Libya and Syria. In addition, Qatar foreign policy faces challenges; among these challenges is the reliance on money donations to support Post Arab Spring countries that would hinder progress in Qatari diplomacy. On the other hand, the lack of democracy and rule of law domestically puts Qatar legitimacy to promote for democracy under question. Moreover, making policy changes internally such as guarantee of political and civil rights to citizens hold parliamentary elections and protection freedom of speech will give Qatar legitimacy and enhance its image in international community.

Can Christians disagree on a moral issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Can Christians disagree on a moral issue - Essay Example Moral issues can be created when an individual, a community or a firm is not in control of all the factors that influence the choices that they make. For example, there are differences in moral values and norms accepted by the individuals who are practicing different religions. Moral issues arise as the values and norms accepted by the individuals do not comply with each other. However, an individual who is devoted to a specific religion cannot force the others in the world to accept one set of values and norms accepted by that specific religion. Therefore, Christianity which is a specific religion does not act as a barrier to arising moral issues in the society. Clearly, two Christians can have different opinions on a given moral issue. Moral code indicates that individuals have a larger role to play in the society than just chasing dollars and cents. There are various moral issues that are often viewed as controversial by different people. The main reason why people tend to disagre e over certain moral issues is that they have different perceptions about their worldview. Even devoted Christians can disagree on different moral issues and there are several reasons why this trend is common because Christianity fails to create perspective that can be universally held. A devoted Christian is a person who is devoted to the teaching of Jesus Christ as written in the Bible. In my view the religious faith can discourage critical thinking on a specific moral issue. There are many disagreements regarding what is written in the Bible and who wrote them. Therefore, even the most faithful Christians can have different perception on specific moral issues. Wise people often think out of the box and view different moral issues in an analytical perspective. For instance, the same bible can be used by two Christians to defend or condemn the practice certain moral issues as they believe their own understanding on gospels as the absolute â€Å"truth.† However, is it rationa l to denounce perceptions of the other people just because they are different? No, it is irrational. Some devoted Christians may view critical thinking as inappropriate and readily condemn other people’s views. Therefore, two individuals can have different opinions about a specific moral issue. Some other Christians who are more open-minded can look into the same moral issue from different perspectives and consider the possibility of others’ understanding also being acceptable. In reality, different individuals in the society are enslaved by different perceptions. These perceptions are associated with the different levels of individual intellectual capacities, different enduring social experiences and differential exposure to cultural values and norms. Individuals can view their own perception as the â€Å"only† truth and haste to judge other human beings in the society. Therefore disagreements upon specific moral issues can arise between two different individua ls regardless of the fact that they are both devoted to Christianity and are educated. As a point of departure, it is important to note that each person has his or her own opinions. It is important to acknowledge the fact that having different opinions is â€Å"not wrong† but is inevitable. The strategy to deal with the different

Human Resource Planning and Recruitment strategies Essay

Human Resource Planning and Recruitment strategies - Essay Example The present global financial meltdown has created real and urgent human resource issues for organizations throughout the world. Everything seems to be shrouded in uncertainty. Employers are unsure of how events will play out in the near future, while employees sit tight, holding fast to the job on hand, not because they don't want better opportunities but because everything is in a stand still. KPMG is a global network of professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. The firm has a total of 137,000 outstanding professionals working together to deliver value in 144 countries worldwide. The realities created by the present global financial crisis are poles apart from what used to obtain when the global economic climate was good. Being a firm that recruits high flyers and top graduates, there was always a high turnover in manpower before the crisis began. People were leaving and coming in at a fast rate. This implied that HR was always on its feet and on the move. Consulting jobs from clients streamed in whether employees went out on marketing or not. The reputation of the company attracted new clients every day. Sometimes the firm had no option other than to reject jobs that are not value adding According to Vetter (1967, p15), Human Resources Planning is "the process by which management determines how the organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired position. Through planning, management strives to have the right number and the right kinds of people, at the right places, at the right time, doing things which result in both the organization and the individual receiving maximum long-run benefits". Writing in the American Psychologist, Jackson and Schuler (1990, pg 227) state that "traditionally human resource planning occurs within the context of the overall organizational plan and its strategic focus. It generally involves predicting, in the light of prevailing circumstances and past performance, the organization's future human resource needs and planning for those needs to be met". It includes establishing objectives and then developing and implementing programs (staffing, appraising, compensating, and training) to ensure that people are available with the appropriate characteristics and skills when and where the organization needs them. The biting economic climate has affected planning in several organizations. Now more than ever, there is uncertainty about the future and how things will

Buyer Behaviour Analysis - The Psychology of Buying Coursework

Buyer Behaviour Analysis - The Psychology of Buying - Coursework Example It is therefore important to understand how they arrive at a decision to purchase in order for a marketer to build an offering that would attract them. This paper focuses on how psychological factors; motivation, perception, learning and attitude could influence purchasing decision of luxury cars. A motive can be defined as the internal energizing force that directs individual’s activities towards achieving a goal or satisfying a need. Actions are however affected by several motives thus marketers’ ability to identify these motives forms the basis of developing a successful marketing mix. Motivation is the internal force that reorients our behaviour towards the decision making process and purchasing behaviour. According toYalch& Brand (1996, p.406), once an individual recognizes that they have a need, there is normal a state of tension existing that drives the consumer to achieving the goal by eliminating the need and reducing the tension. In this regard, it is important to note that only unmet needs motivates an individual and once they are eliminated there could only be another motivation emanating from another need. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs identifies five levels of needs that are likely to determine the level of hierarchy the consumers are and determine what motivates their purchases. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, purchasing behaviour is mainly driven by the lowest need that has not been met by a buyer. The five primary areas of needs identified by Maslow model are physiological, safety and security, love and belongingness, self esteem and finally self actualization. This model postulates that as the needs of consumers are met in the first level say physiological, they move towards the next and so on (Lester, 2013 p.15). In this model, consumer buyer decisions are motivated by one of the 5 needs level in their hierarchy. In this regard, ability of a marketer to appeal to one of five motivational

Museum Visit Humi 16 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Museum Visit Humi 16 - Assignment Example It represents a masculine man, who has a strong sense of power, which is apparently not threatening (Rodin 1). His massive form also adds to its dynamic torsion. The result is a powerful man, who is apparently meditating, and thinking about the problems and suffering he has undergone. Most of the French societies, during the Middle Ages, believed in the power of religion. For instance, people believe that sinners will be condemned and sent to suffer in the hell. Sculptures, like any other artistic work, are used to represent one’s culture. From his sitting position, â€Å"The Thinker† is probably visualizing souls suffering in hell, which they were condemned to by their passions (Rodin 1). Rodin was determined to create a figure that suggests meditation, and that is why he created it in a sitting position while supporting his chin by his hand. This is an indication that those who believe in the power and teachings of God will end up in heaven while sinners will end up suffering in hell (Rodin 1). â€Å"The Thinker† was originally referred to as â€Å"The Poet†. It represented the author of Divina Commedia, Dante Alighieri, who according to popular stories, used to sit and think while sitting on a rock called Sasso di Dente, in Florence (Rodin 1). Created in Dante’s portrait, â€Å"The Thinker† symbolizes intellectual power, which developed the dramatic world represented in â€Å"Gates†. This sculpture was later detached from Dante’s personal connection and is currently perceived as a symbol of mental creativity and power of thought. The creative qualities such as color, texture and the mood, which are represented in this sculpture, depicts a person who can judge and understand the society from a higher standpoint (Rodin 1). â€Å"The Thinker† is centrally placed high above the mayhem of sinners, which most viewers believe to represent the figure of Jesus Christ, in the judgment seat (Rodin 1). In the 19th Century, Europe redis covered the spirits

Describe the components of a case brief Assignment

Describe the components of a case brief - Assignment Example The legal defense or claim section ensures that all relevant facts are included; the facts relating to an event are normally organized in chronological order and organized separately as they are deemed to be relevant to every issue (Okrent, 2009). After the facts have been presented, the procedural history of the case is included. This is the history of the case from the time a lawsuit was filed until it came before the court (Jmls, nd). For example, lower courts’ decisions and the reasons for those decisions are presented in this section. Yet again, the decisions of any intermediate courts as well as the basis of those decisions and the parties that appealed are included. In many cases, the procedural history is then followed by the issue. The issue is a legal question the court seeks to resolve; the question should be answered in ‘yes’ or ‘no’ format. The rule that governs the dispute and the material facts are also included in the issue (Jmls, nd). It is recommended that the parties be identified generally by their relation to the legal claim. The holding or the answer to the issue is then presented in a nest section. It is however noted that the holding does not present the rule of the law. After the holding, the reasoning is always presented according to (Jmls, nd). This is where the court’s explanations and support a decision are included. It also includes the rule of law that the court applied and the rules the court rejected to reach its decision. The reasoning is sometimes referred to as the ‘heart’ of the case brief. In reasoning, the court’s decision policy is included. Notions of judicial economic efficiency, fairness, and justice are given priority over implicit policies that may also underlie the court’s decision. Finally the court’s disposition of the case is presented clearly somewhere at the end of the case

What effect does the financial crisis have on the luxury fashion Essay - 1

What effect does the financial crisis have on the luxury fashion market - Essay Example Companies are looking forward to commence with some sort of strategies which would help them to retain their revenue and sustain in such economic turbulence. The predictions have been made that financial woes would continue for few years and will deflate consumer spending even more. (your statement) Â   The term financial crisis is largely used when the financial institutions lose a large quantity of their value. The financial crisis is allied with banking panics, stock market crashes, bursting of financial bubbles, currency crisis and sovereign defaults. The global financial calamity started in July 2007, when around the world stock markets collapsed, and the financial institutions plunged. The governments started to release some effective packages in order to save their financial systems. The investors became frightened by the abrupt decline in the stock market, which reduces their investments in the market. A luxury good is a good for which the demand of the consumer increases as the income level increases. Luxury goods have always been a symbol of prosperity and wealth for ages, for the spendthrifts, who desire and enjoy buying. Owning and wanting to be the owner of luxury items such as the latest designer clothes, jewelry, watches, is a pleasure on its own. Items that comes with a heavy price tag than ordinary items and have a known brand name is identified as luxury item. In economics, luxury goods have said to have high elasticity of demand, which means that when buyers become wealthier they would like to spend more and more cash on the luxury items. It also means that when there is a turn down in income level there will be a decrease in demand. Both income and demand are directly proportional to each other, if one increases the other rises as well and vice versa. Income elasticity of demand is not constant with respect to income, and the demand may changes at different income leve ls. That is to say, a

National Correct Coding Initiative Edit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

National Correct Coding Initiative Edit - Essay Example The NCCI Coding Policy Manual for the Medicare Services is usually updated annually by the CMS. This Coding Policy Manual should therefore be used as a general reference tool, which explains the rationale for the NCCI edits, by the FIs and the carriers (â€Å"National Correct Coding Initiative Edits†, n.d.). There are two types of NCCI Edits, which include procedure-to-procedure (PTP), and Medically Unlikely Edits (MUE). The PTP edits defines HCPCS/CPT codes which should not be reported together for various reasons, while MUE defines the maximum units of service which a provider would report on the circumstances of the same beneficiary on a single service date for each HCPCS/CPT code The NCCI edits is aimed at preventing inappropriate or improper payments after reporting of incorrect code combination. It contains two tables of edits, one for the outpatient hospital services and another for the physicians/practitioners. The Correct Coding Edits table for Column 1 – Column 2 has been combined into one table with the Mutually Exclusive Edits table and they include the code pairs, which should not be reported together for several reasons, which are explained in the Coding Policy Manual (â€Å"National Correct Coding Initiative Edits†, n.d.). A Correspondence Language Manual has also been made available. It was written and is maintained for the Medical Contractors utilization in answering routine correspondence enquiries on the MUE edits and NCCI procedure-to-procedure. The rationale for the edits are explained in the paragraphs for the general correspondence language (â€Å"The National Correct Coding Initiative in Medicaid | Medicaid.gov.†, n.d .). These guidelines consist of HCPCS or CPT procedure code-pairs, which must not be reported together. It also consists of MUEs, which determine if the procedure codes are submitted in,

Analysis of proposed legislation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of proposed legislation - Essay Example he bill claims that an individual automatically commits a crime of illegal use of firearms if he or she possesses a gun while in possession of a specific amount of a controlled substance in the country. The bill is categorical and appropriate since it makes appropriate propositions that will govern the use of firearms while strengthening other existing laws that control specific substances (Webster and Jon 32). Drug abuse for example is another closely related legal aspect the bill seeks to curb. The government has categorized numerous types of drugs as controlled substances. Such drugs as cocaine, marijuana and heroin among others are example of controlled substances. Besides the hard drugs, the government regulates the use of other medicinal drugs often proposing for prescription before any form if over the counter purchase of such drugs. Such stringent legislations are responsible for the growing illegal trade on different types of drugs in the country. Drug peddling is a major social menace responsible for the rising crime rate and extrajudicial killings in the country. Drug peddlers operate in effectively structured syndicates characterized by heightened conflicts most of which result in violent use of both legal and illegal guns in the country. This validates the unique features of the law that seeks to control the use of firearms by associating guns to drugs among other types of controlled substances in the country. The bill will criminalize being in possession of a legal firearm while in possession of a specified amount of a type of controlled substance. Such is an appropriate clause that will help curb the rising number of gun violence in the country since some of the people implicated in both drug business and gun violence are always reputable business people with legal firearms. Without the bill, such individuals may readily use their guns to settle conflicts arising from the sale and use of rugs in the country. Proponents of the bill often cite the

Care Delivery & Management Essay Example for Free

Care Delivery Management Essay The purpose of this assignment is to reflect upon my personal and professional development. It will consider the quality of the care I provided, the skills I developed in my specialist placement, plus my learning since the commencement of my nurse training. Personal learning and self-reflection will be identified. I shall be using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle to consider my practice. Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle looks at six aspects which include the following; what happened, what were my thoughts and feelings, what was good or bad about the experience, what sense can I make out of the situation, what else could I have done and if it arose again what would I do? Findings will be supported or contrasted by relevant literature. A conclusion will be offered to evaluate findings. I shall also include an action plan, which will address future professional and personal development needs and any factors that may help or hinder this. I will also consider why I have selected these issues for my action plan, what my goals are and how I aim to achieve them. At the beginning of my nurse training we were asked to write on a piece of piece what our definition of nursing was. I wrote ‘It’s about being human’. At the time these words were based on my gut feeling and personal belief. Now, two and a half years later, I would write the same thing, but this time my definition would be based on the skills, knowledge and experiences I feel privileged and grateful to have had during my training and not just on gut feeling and personal belief. How does this knowledge impact on me in terms of practice? I can now put my definition of nursing into a framework and relate the theory of it to practice, for example I can identify when I am actively undertaking anxiety management with a patient. This is quite an achievement for me. What else have I learnt? I have gained knowledge of illnesses and understand how bio-psycho-social aspects of mental illness impact on the individual, their family and their life. I have also developed a good basic knowledge of practical skills such as: counselling, anxiety management, assessment, nursing and communication models, problem-solving and psychotherapy. This knowledge and development of practical skills has enabled my self confidence and self esteem to grow. What things have had the most influence on my personal and professional learning? These things are what ‘It’s about being human’ means to me as a nurse. They include a humanistic care philosophy. Evidence suggests that patients have found the humanistic care philosophy to be positive and helpful to their well-being (Beech, Norman 1995.) Humanistic care believes in; developing trust, the nurse-patient relationship, using the self as a therapeutic tool, spending time to ‘be with’ and ‘do with’ the patient (Hanson 2000,) patient empowerment, the patient as an equal partners in their care (Department Of Health 1999,) respect for the patient’s uniqueness, recognition of the patient as an expert on themselves (Nelson-Jones 1982, Playle 1995, Horsfall 1997). Equally important to me is person-centred care, Roger’s (1961) unconditional positive regard, warmth, genuineness and empathy, recognition of counter-transference, self-reflect ion and self-awareness. I was on placement with Liaison Psychiatry also known as Deliberate Self Harm. The team consisted of my mentor and myself. In this placement we would assess patients who had deliberately self harmed. Patients would be referred via AE only. We would see patients whilst they were still in AE or after they had been transferred to hospital wards for medical treatment for their injuries etc. We would only see patients once they were medically fit to have a psychiatric assessment. The purpose of the assessment was to find out what was happening for the individual and see if we could offer any help via mental health services to the individual, this is done via implementing ‘APIE’ the nursing process (Hargreaves 1975). The main focus was to consider what degree of risk we felt the patient was in. Therefore we needed to establish what the individuals intent was at the time of the deliberate self harm, and if suicidal, whether they still had suicidal intent after the incident. We also held a weekly counselling clinic. I considered Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle. How did I feel about this placement? At first I was apprehensive as to how I would feel dealing with patients who do not necessarily want to live. I belong to a profession that saves lives, so I felt an inner conflict. This is an anxiety that is recognised in most nurses (Whitworth 1984). In my first few weeks I felt distressed by the traumatic events that these patients were experiencing. I felt guilty that I have a family who love me, a fulfilling career, a lovely home and no debts, then each day I talk to people who may have no home, no money, no one to love them and no employment. It was hard for me to make sense of these things when life circumstances, such as class, status, wealth, education and employment create unfairness. I felt a desire to help try and improve the quality of these patients’ situations. Midence (1996) has identified that these feelings are a normal response when dealing with others less fortunate that oursel ves. Patients’ who attempt suicide have lost hope (Beck 1986). I felt more settled and positive once I was able to make sense of the situation (Gibbs 1988). I realised that could help by listening to these patient’s and help to restore hope, develop problem solving ideas to tackle some of their problems or referring them to gain the emotional help and support they needed from appropriate mental health services. Patients find help with problem solving extremely valuable and can help them feel able to cope (McLaughlin 1999). Generally, after most assessments, I learnt that listening, giving emotional support and problem solving helped restore enough hope in the previously suicidal patient enable them to feel safe from future self harm. In only a handful of cases did my mentor and I need to admit patients to any inpatient facility under the Mental Health Act (1983). This was because they still felt at risk of future self-harm. Through using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle to consider my special placement area I feel I have been able to change my nursing practice in a positive way, initially from feeling anxious, guilty and helpless when dealing with suicidal patients to feeling useful, constructive and positive. I’ve learnt that by confronting my own feelings of guilt and discomfort I was able to help in a very positive, practical, constructive and empowering way. My mentor identified that one of my strengths is that I can generally combine common sense, logic and practicality in terms of risk assessment and problem solving and still build up a sensitive and caring, therapeutic relationship when dealing with patients whose circumstances are in crisis and complicated and they themselves are emotionally and mentally vulnerable. Nurses not only need good communication skills (Faulkner 1998) but they also need to have an environment conductive to open communication (Wilkinson 1992). Social barriers such as environment, structure or cultural aspects of healthcare can inhibit the application of communication skills (Chambers 2002) Utilising Gibbs (19988) Reflective Model, in retrospect; I feel our interview with some patients could have been done differently. On occasions when my mentor and I were in the A E department the two rooms that we had available for our use were occasionally both in use. This meant that we would conduct our assessment interviews in the Plaster Room, if it was empty. This room was where medical patients would have plaster-casts applied. This was a very clinical room. However, due to limited room availability this was sometimes the only option we had at the time, it was not a welcoming or appropriate setting and would not have helped patients feel relaxed or valued. In reflection, I believe it was actually demeaning as we were asking patients who had attempted suicide to sit on a hard chair in a clinical workroom and share their despair with us. I am sad that this happened and I feel as though we were giving the patients the impression that a cold clinical work room is all they were worth. If this arose again (Gibbs 1988) I would suggest to my mentor that we wait for one of our allocated rooms to become available, where the rooms were relaxing, with soft armchairs and a feeling of comfort. Using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Model I shall describe a situation with a patient to highlight my learning. What happened (Gibbs 1988)? Neil had been bought to AE by his son after he made an attempt to take his own life. His son explained that Neil’s wife had terminal cancer and had died the day before. Neil was unable to engage in conversation other that to repeat over and over again â€Å"I don’t want to live without my wife.† However the more disturbed and difficult to communicate a patient is the less interaction they receive therapeutic or otherwise from nursing staff (Cormack 1976, Poole, Sanson-Fisher, Thompson 1981, Robinson 1996a, 1996b). I found this too be true in Neil’s situation as some A E nurses did not wish to approach him because of his disturbed state and unresponsiveness to verbal cues. What were my thoughts and feeling (Gibbs 1988)? After spending twenty minutes in the assessment interview Neil had remained unresponsive to our approaches and had remained distressed, distant and uncommunicative for the entire time. I had past experience of recent bereavement within my immediate family and I realised that counter-transference was at play and was a reason for my strong emotional reaction to Neil’s distress resulting in me having an overwhelming desire to ease his suffering. Even though another part of me understood the need for him to experience this extreme pain as a normal part of grieving. What was good or bad about the experience (Gibbs 1988)? This was not a good experience for me because as a compassionate person, I found it extremely hard to suppress my own feelings of wanting to protect him from such devastating distress, although I recognised that I was over-identifying with him due to my own grief. I considered that he might have been embarrassed by the emotional state he was in and his inability to control his grief; he could not speak, maintain eye contact or even physically stand. What sense could I make of the situation (Gibbs 1988)? We adjourned for a few minutes so that my mentor and I could assess the situation. I thought it might be appropriate to utilise Heron’s Six Category Intervention Analysis (1975) cathartic intervention as a therapeutic strategy to enable the patient to release emotional tension such as grief, anger, despair and anxiety by helping to (Chambers 1990). I hoped it would facilitate the opportunity for Neil to open up and express his full feelings in a safe and supportive environment. I initially planned to sit quietly with him and briefly put a reassuring hand on either his hand, arm or shoulder. My mentor supported this action. I was aware that I ran a risk of misinterpretation by choosing therapeutic touch. Therapeutic touch may be criticised because it is open to misinterpretation by the patient and abuse of power by staff. The patient may view holding another’s hand as a sexual advance, violation or abuse, so nurses should always consider patient consent, appropriateness, context and boundaries. Clause 2.4 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2002) Code Of Professional Conduct says that at all times healthcare professionals must maintain appropriate boundaries with patients and all aspects of care must be relevant to their needs. Therapeutic touch appeared acceptable given his situation and seemed appropriate to the context it would be performed in, given that my mentor would supervise me. As per Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle I considered what else I could have done especially if the situation arose again and mentor not been there. I would may have chosen to utilise Hanson’s (2000) approach of ‘being with’ whereby I use therapeutic use of self through the sharing of one’s own presence, and not involved any form of touch, avoiding any misinterpretation or breach of boundaries. I was anxious because I felt concerned that my nursing skills would be inadequate to address his needs due to his acutely distressed state. In reflection my mentor helped me acknowledge that this was about my own anxiety rather than being accurately reflective of my nursing ability. I approached Neil and explained that if it was acceptable with him I would like to sit quietly with him so that he was not alone in his distress. â€Å"It is likely that the nursing process is therapeutic when nurse and patient can come to know and to respect each other, as persons who are alike and yet different, as persons who share in the solution of problems† (Peplau 1988). I gently placed my hand onto his. Neil reacted by given the impression that he physically disintegrated, he become extremely distressed and crying loudly, squeezing my hand tightly. This continued for several minutes. Neil became calmer and started to talk about his situation. This was a good outcome. I was able to utilise Herons (1975) cathartic strategy with positive effect via empathising with Neil’s situation and using myself as a therapeutic tool through the use of touch, thus enabling Neil to express his emotions and activate a nurse-patient relationship. Studies have shown that nurses can express compassion and empathy through touch, using themselves as a therapeutic tool (Routasalo 1999, Scholes 1996) and this has a cathartic value, enabling the patient to express their feelings more easily (Leslie Baillie 1996). The therapeutic value of non-verbal communication and its harmfulness is overlooked (Salvage 1990). Attitudes are evident in the way we interact with others and can create atmospheres that make patient care uncomfortable (Hinchcliff, Norman, Schoeber 1998) On one occasion, one nurse privately referred to Neil as a â€Å"wimp† because he was having difficulty coping with the death of his wife. I wondered whether her body language had transmitted her bad attitude towards Neil, contributing to his distress and difficulties in communicating with staff. Again using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle, I shall provide another example to highlight my learning in practice. What happened (Gibbs 1988)? Cycle On one occasion my mentor and I received a phone call from A E asking us to review an 18-year-old girl called Emma who had taken an overdose. They said she was medically fit to be assessed. When we arrived they claimed that she was pretending to still feel unwell and described her as â€Å"milking it†. We found her to be vomiting and discovered she had been left in a bed in the corridor of A E for 8 hours. McAllister (2001) found that patients who had self-harmed were ignored, had exceptionally long waits and suffered judgemental comments. What were my thoughts and feelings (Gibbs 1988)? I felt very angry towards A E staff as I felt that she was being unfairly treated because she had caused harm to herself, she had been labelled as a troublemaker by staff and I do not believe she had received good quality care. Emma explained that in the last month her father had died, she had miscarried her baby, discovered that her partner was having an affair, and she had been made redundant leaving her with debts that she couldn’t pay. As I looked at her, I saw a vulnerable young woman at the end of her tether. I felt saddened and disappointed by the judgemental attitudes of the A E staff who had not even taken the time to talk to Emma or ask her why she had taken an overdose, instead they describe her as an â€Å"immature and attention seeking kid†. As per Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle, I felt this was a very bad experience of poor care, bad attitudes and unacceptable moral judgement being made by A E staff. Cohen (1996) and Nettleton (1995) identify that social status; age, gender, race and class contribute to stereotyping and judgemental attitudes. I noticed that people who self-harmed were judged differently dependent upon their age and the younger they were the worse the attitude of A and E staff. Interestingly ageism towards youth is an area that I could find no research on. I believe ageism towards younger people is overlooked and is really only identified in the elderly. During the assessment I was aware of how my physical presence can impact on the care given. However, I have learnt about the importance of considering how one can communicate to the patient via body language. By attending to patients in a non-verbal or physical way it is another method of saying, â€Å"I’m interested, I’m listening and I care.† To do this during Emma’s assessment I utilised Egan’s (1982) acronym S.O.L.A.R. This meant that I sat facing Emma Squarely, with an Open posture, Leaning towards her, whilst making Eye contact and Relaxing myself, to give her the feeling of my willingness to help. This client centred care recognises her equality in the nurse-patient relationship. What sense did I make of the situation (Gibbs 1988)? I was very unhappy about the attitude of A E staff but recognised that they had a lack of understanding and knowledge. In one study looking at self-harm admissions it was discovered that patients who deliberately self-harm are often deemed as unpopular patients, being labelled and judged as time wasters by A E staff. Apparently 55% of general nurses perceived these patients as attention seekers and disliked working with them, 64% found it frustrating, 20% found it depressing and almost a third found it uncomfortable (Sidley, Renton 1996). What else could I have done (Gibbs 1988) After reflecting upon the experience with my mentor, I was able to realise that part of my role is to act as a representative for mental health. If this happened again what would I do (Gibbs 1988)? If staff were to make judgemental comments again it is part of my role to educate and inform them so they can have a positive understanding of the needs of the mental health patient and learn to address any judgemental comments made. This is a view supported by Johnstone (1997), who says that if we are made aware of our actions when we are judging and labelling people it is our responsibility to correct this. Medical staff need to be aware of mental health promotion, and need further training and education in respects of helping to care for and understand of this vulnerable patient group (Hawton 2000). This is a view supported by the Department of Health (DOH 1999a) who have recommended closer liaison between mental health and A E services in an effort to address the poor understanding and negative attitudes of A E staff. I have also learnt that I must look at both sides of each situation and should show more understanding towards the A E staff’s feelings, as they are often confronted with shocking and distressing acts of self infliction which can make them feel despair, helpless and unskilled to deal with these sort of patient. I believe nurses negative attitudes develop because we all intuitively apply own our values and views to everyday situations, people, experiences and interactions. It may be the staff member’s own coping mechanism to keep their distance from the patient or to label them as attention seeking in order to make sense of the situation for themselves. This is a view supported by Johnstone (1997). In reflection, following the assessment and planning of care for Emma my mentor and I reflected upon the care I provided for her. I recognised that I felt nervous because it was my first experience of conducting an assessment. Having my mentor there to observe me made me feel secure because I trusted my mentor and could rely on her expertise to ensure that I provided safe practice for Emma. However, I still felt anxious as I was faced with an unknown situation. This made me realise how difficult and intimidating the assessment process may have felt to Emma. I had the security of feeling safe in the relationship with my mentor. Emma didn’t know either of us. This highlighted the huge value of the nurse-patient relationship and how the importance of utilising Rogers (1961) theory of client-centred care involving unconditional positive regard, warmth, genuineness and empathy towards patients. My mentor said that I provided evidence based care and I appeared to have a good humanistic approach, sensitively providing client centred care. She joked that I was so keen to ‘get it right’ that I was practically sat on Emma’s knee in my efforts to non-verbally show to Emma that I was attentive and listening to her. I think that whilst this was a joke, I will endeavour to continue to be keen but will relax a bit more, hopefully as I gain more experience myself. I will also use the insight and understanding from these experiences to benefit my future practise and the care I provide for patients. Boyd Fales (1983) suggest, â€Å"Reflective learning is the process of internally examining an issue of concern, triggered by an experience, which creates and clarifies meaning in terms of self, and which results in a changed conceptual perspective.† Self-reflection helps the practitioner find practice-based answers to problems that require more than the application of theory (Schon 1983). I have discovered this to be true, especially in mental health nursing where problem solving may be in the realm of religious, spiritual or cultural beliefs, emotional or intuitive feelings, ethics and moral ideals, which sometimes cannot be theorised. With one patient I couldn’t understand his unwillingness to engage in therapy even though he turned up for a weekly appointment. Once I reflected on this with my mentor I realised that I was not considering his strict religious and cultural background, which complicated his care. I realised that I had been completely ignorant of his needs and had in-fact lacked self-awareness otherwise I would have recognised these issues sooner. According to Kemmis (1995) a benefit of self-reflection is that it helps practitioners become ‘aware of their unawareness’. I have learnt that there are barriers to reflection. On occasions after seeing a patient my mentor may interpret events in a slightly different way to myself. Newell (1992) and Jones (1995) criticize the idea of reflection arguing that it is a flawed process due to inaccurate recall memory and hindsight bias. Another criticism of refection is that it aims to theorise actions in hindsight therefore devaluing the skill of responding intuitively to a patient (Richardson 1995). I considered that my thought to hold Neil’s hand may have been intuitive but because we must use evidence based practice and appropriate frameworks of care, I theorised my care and utilised Heron’s (1975) framework. I believe self-reflection helps me to become self-aware. Self-awareness is achieved when the student acknowledges there own personal characteristics, including values, attitudes, prejudices, beliefs, assumptions, feelings, counter-transferences, personal motives and needs, competencies, skills and limitations. When they become aware of these things and the impact they have on the therapeutic communication and relationship with the patient then they become self-aware (Cook 1999). I have learnt through these experiences that reflection can be a painful experience as I have recognised my own imperfections and bias. I have felt angry with general nursing staffs attitudes towards mental health patients and have now been able to realise that this emotion is unhelpful and instead I should be more tolerant and understanding and help them to understand the patients needs. It is also difficult especially if one is experiencing strong emotions such as anger, frustration and grief (Rich 1995). At times I have over-identified with my patients and personalised their situation to similar situations of my own. This is known as counter-transference and has blinded my ability to address their care needs. Counter-transference is the healthcare professionals emotional reaction to the patient, it is constantly present in every interaction and it strongly influences the therapeutic relationship, but is often not reflected upon (Slipp 2000). Counter-transference can be defined as negative as it can create disruptive feelings in the clinician, causing misguided values and bias (Pearson 2001). I have learnt that it is crucial for me to consider how my reactions to a patient’s problem can impact on the care I provide. Whilst I endeavour to always give 100% best and unbiased care to each patient, I have realised I respond more favourably to patients that I like or identify with. For example I was extremely compassionate and biased towards both Emma and Neil and I feel that my personal life experiences influenced me because I could really empathise with them both. However, I realised that I am only human and that as long as I recognise the impact of counter-transference then I can use it positively as my self awareness of the fact that the process is occurring will enable me to address and challenge my own thoughts, feelings and responses. To conclude, I have been able to highlight my learning over the last two and a half years, both personally and professionally. This has enabled me to look at the areas that I am good at and the areas that I can improve on. I have been able to look at the quality of the care I have given patients and considered what I have achieved, how I felt, how I could have done things better, what was successful and unsuccessful, what issues influenced me and what understanding I had of the experience. I have also been able to recognise my role as a representative for mental health nursing and how I can promote it to other healthcare professionals. I have also identified the value of the role of my mentor in helping me to develop as a nurse. I will use the insight and understanding from these experiences to benefit my future practice and the care I provide for patients. ACTION PLAN Word Count 1086 What are my goals? My mentor and I discussed the areas that I want to improve on. We identified that my stronger points are common sense, logical approach and practical ability in terms of things like risk assessing and problem solving. I am also competent in the building of a therapeutic relationship, utilising a humanistic care philosophy, person centre approach, empathy, genuineness, unconditional positive regard and honest. I also have a good knowledge in respect of mental health promotion, anxiety management, basic counselling skills, understanding of the fundamentals associated with nursing, assessment and communication models and the basic principles of psychotherapy. I feel I have come a long way in two and a half years and have accomplished a lot. However, there are areas that I recognise that I can improve on and I am happy that I can address these as I hope this will improve my learning, skills and competency as a nurse in the future, providing better patient care. The areas I need to gain more knowledge and experience of include: understanding the religious, cultural and spiritual needs of the patient and how this impacts on their care and quality of life, recognising and working with counter transference and my tendency to feel the need to over protect patients as this does not help the patient to utilise choice, be responsible for themselves or empower themselves. I want to continue developing my own self awareness through self reflection. Finally I wish to develop my academic abilities and to train further so that I have more knowledge. Why have I chosen these issues? I have chosen to improve my knowledge and understanding of patients religious, cultural and spiritual needs and how this impacts on their care and quality of life, because by doing this I hope to be able to address their needs holistically. To successfully undertake a thorough assessment the healthcare practitioner needs to identify the holistic needs of the patient, failure to do so would neglect the patients physical, psycho-social and spiritual needs (Stuart and Sundeen 1997.) At present I feel I am unable to fully comprehend or provide best care as I feel I lack the skills and knowledge to do so. I also wish to further consider the impact of counter transference and my tendency to feel the need to over protect patients. I feel that if I gain more understanding and recognition of how counter-transference can change my reaction to a patient then I will be able to address it and have more control and choice over my nursing and my responses. In practice, I have experienced strong emotional reactions to some patient’s, perhaps because I could identify with some of their issues. However, this can result in my wanting to over protect them, which may disempower them, and this is unhelpful. Different characteristic in patients can influence the emotional reaction of the nurse (Holmquist 1998). I need to be able to recognise these characteristics in the patient and be self aware of the way I am responding. I want to continue developing my own self-awareness through self-reflection, as I will need to be able to exercise autonomous and expert judgement as a qualified nurse. The ability to use self-reflection as a learning tool to becoming self-aware will help me achieve this. This is a view supported by (Wong 1995). Boud, Keogh Walker (1995) believe self reflection is an important human activity, essential for personal development as well as for the professional development of the nurse. By being able to mull over my experiences will help me challenge my beliefs and behaviour as an individual and a nurse. Finally I wish to develop my academic abilities and to train further so that I have more nursing knowledge. Experience alone is not the key to learning (Boud et al 1985). I wish to gain further qualifications so that I may further my career and knowledge, as this will provide a sense of achievement and fulfilment for me. How am I going to achieve my goals? I intend to develop my portfolio and keep an open reflective diary (Richardson 1995) to show evidence of my learning and prepare for my PREPP. Portfolios are seen as a collection of information and evidence used to summarize what has been learnt from prior experience and opportunities (Knapp 1975), and acknowledges professional and personal development, knowledge and competence, providing nurses with evidence of their eligibility for re-registration every three years (NMC 2002). I believe maintaining my portfolio helps with one’s self-assessment and will help me to develop my strengths, plus identify and critically evaluate my weaker areas, this is a view supported by Garside (1990). However in contrast Miller Daloz (1989) suggest there is no evidence to suggest that self assessment contributes to enhance self awareness. A barrier to one’s ability to self-reflect may be time constraints and socio-economic factors such as high staff and management turnover, low staff morale and staff illness (Bailey 1995) I hope to overcome this by being a supportive team member to my colleagues and maintaining a positive mental attitude. I am happy to work on my portfolio and diary in my own time as I think it is a valuable learning tool. I will use my preceptorship, learning in practice, observation in practice and clinical supervision to help achieve my goals. Reflection on action is considered to be an essential part of clinical supervision (Scanlon Weir 1997). I will continue to use Gibbs (1988) Reflective Model to help me develop my learning through reflection. I will need to feel confident that by sharing my portfolio, diary, reflection or seeking advice via preceptorship and supervision that this will not reflect negatively on me and effect my ability to feel able to trust my mentor. Students and staff sometimes feel unable to fully express themselves or belittled by the power relationship if supervision is not in a trusting relationship feeling it could be open to bias, personality clashes, counter-transference or could disadvantage them in terms of career development (Richardson 1995 Jones 2001). However, good clinical supervision enables nurses to feel better supported, contributing to safer and more effective nursing (Teasdale 2001, Jones A 2001). I hope to continue with life long learning and would like to be able to study for a degree in nursing. I shall do this by apply for funding once I am employed and hope that whoever my employers are they will support me in my goal to become better qualified. 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Linking Modern Technology To Global Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay

Linking Modern Technology To Global Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay The 21st century, often referred to the era of globalization, we are expecting to make tremendous advancements in the field of science, technology and telecommunication. The rapid change of technology over the past thirty years has brought the many innovative changes and as a result of advancement in technology and increasing the standard of living. Scientists are producing new modern technology for the welfare of human results in new luxuries being produced. We enjoy an assortment of new consumer products that have enriched our lives and provide luxuries benefit to us all. For example such as computer, iphone, satellite networks and so on. However, a newly industrializing country and the rapid industrialization along with greater consumerism by adoption modern technology has led to increased levels of global pollution, such as air pollution, green house gasses, acid rain, global warming, toxic chemical usage, ozone depletion and so on. As we know, in today modern life of living, modern technology manufacturing operation has generated an increasing demand for the use of industrial chemicals. The use of these chemicals has resulted in great benefit in the advancement of technology and the standard of living but at the same time, they are generating the pollution and waste into the environment. Pollution can reduce the quality of life, impacts negatively on socio-economic conditions and harms to the environment. And waste can cause to lose destroy and become physically worn to an unusable or unwanted substance or material, such as a waste product. Today, there are many of environmental problems, all with unique causes and consequences and the primary causes is because of the adoption of modern technology that make to the degradation of the environment. For an example, the heavy industrial use of chemicals can cause air pollution. Air pollution is including all the contaminants found in the atmosphere. And these dangerous substances can be either in the form of gases or particles. Every time we breathing, we also are taking risk in inhaling the dangerous chemicals As a result, the health of human can have serious consequences and also severely affects natural ecosystems. Many diseases could be caused by air pollution unconsciously such as bronchitis, lung cancer, and heart disease and so on. This is because air is located in the atmosphere, which it can able to travel far off places easily. Besides that, the ozone layer, which protects the environment from dangerous UV radiation, is being destroyed by the release of chlorfluorocarbons (CFCs), which is allowing the penetration of UV radiation to the lower atmosphere (Wark et al.,1998; Sharma and Kaur, 1994). The burning of fossil fuels as an energy source creates CO2, which along methane and CFCs is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Fossil fuels, since the beginning of the industrial revolution, have been the dominant energy source throughout our economies, but is has bring to the pollution. The global pollution of the release of CFCs into the atmosphere has caused major health hazards such as global warming and acid rain. Actually, as a manufacturer must bear the responsibility of declining the level of air pollution to dangerous levels. But unfortunately, they are like to use instruments such as fridges and air conditioners that release CFCs in the environment which in turn deplete the oz one layer. This can increase the incidence of skin cancer and affects plant growth. Aside, land pollution and water pollution which by the increasing use of plastic bags was lead to the pollution of the land and the sea. They can kill plants and trees by destroying their leaves, and can kill animals, especially fish in highly polluted rivers. Meanwhile, because of the manufacturing operation, harmful chemicals are discharged into the seas and rivers by irresponsibility factory. For example, oil spills, can kill fish, marine birds and other marine life, as well as destroy critical habitats such as mangroves and coral reefs. It has a negative impact on fisheries affecting local livelihoods. In the other hand, tropical forest, a variety of plant species and the animal or insect life that inhabit in the forests act to conserve soil, water resources and provide food to people living in these lands. But because of industrialization and modernization, these resources are decrease. The felling of trees for construction purpose is reducing the forest areas in Malaysia. This reduction in the forest area has not only reduced the natural green cover which acts as a sinking base for the polluting carbon dioxide in the air, but has also led to the extinction of plants and animal species leading to loss in bio-diversity. (Purba Rao, 2004). In addition, the uncontrolled deforestation to built buildings for the accommodation is increasing the oxygen content in the atmosphere, which is leading to global warming. Global warming has resulted in increase in the earthà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s surface temperatures, which has terrific effect on human health. The rapid melting of snow in the attic, rising of sea levels and erratic climate variations because of global warming can cause serious alterations to the eco system, as there would be changes in the vegetation. Moreover, the rain forests, which hold water, are shrinking due to frequent forest fires. And the ocean is getting warmer that until the storms can pick up more energy from them due to global warming. These all will increases the temperature of that place as well as the global temperature. b) The need for sustainability in terms of raw materials and energy in manufacturing. Because all of the industrialization and modernization activities, it is force a need to take some proactive action to solve and protect the environment. And if this trend of modernization activities is continuously sure will ultimately make the change of earth into a new place, which will be full of pollution and unsuitable for flora and fauna. Therefore was born the sustainability concept such as cleaner production, lean production, eco-efficiency, total quality environment management, and preventive environmental management, which are involved in industrial manufacturing. Besides that, there are a lot of possibilities action to reduce the environmental problem exist. For example: optimization of the environmental performance through good housekeeping, total quality management, application of end-of-pipe techniques, recycling of wastes, non-renewable products substitution or adaptation cleaner technologies. Nowadays, a broad and worldwide consensus has been reached on the great importance of striving for sustainable development (Qinghua Zhu, Raymond P. Cote, 2004). Sustainable development is a dynamic process which enables all people to realize their potential and improve their quality of life in ways which simultaneously protect and enhance the Earths life support systems Forum for the Future, 2000. It has been increasing consciousness of the environment. These issues are not only of concern to the general public, but are serious problem for the manufacturing industry. All of these environmental issues are because of the modern technology adoption. Without doubt, in this age of industrial progress, there is an improvement in the quality of life but at the same time, they will lead to environment degradation and it has become a serious problem that must to handle. If not, it could lead to a serious threat to the environment. There are many approaches and concepts can use for the environment protection, for example the use of environmental friendly raw material to achieve the efficient use of the natural resources, the way to conservation of water and energy in a save way to reduce the pollution and waste. Among the famous concepts being implement are clear production, total quality environmental, eco-efficiency, green engineering and lean manufacturing and so on. The effect of environmental pollution has put the governments, industries and communities on alert to take an appropriate action to protect the environment for our future and better generation. Worldwide concern about the environment, people are becoming aware of this problem. They start realize the environmental damages and the important of environment. With the increasing awareness in global pollution and sustainable development, all the governments, corporations and also industries are seeking more cost-effective ways to manage their manufacturing operation to ensure a cleaner and safer environment. There are some new technologies that can help in prevent global pollution like recourse depletion, ground water and air pollution global warming and many others facets of ecological degradation. To built sustainable economy in 21st century, It is require breakthrough technologies that are cleaner and can help produce on mass scale to cater to the needs of teeming millions that would have added to the population of the world by the end of this century, advanced batteries and fuel cells to build non-polluting automobiles, genetically engineered plants that actually can grow biodegradable plastic, fundamental changes in manufacturing science and engineering to achieve the goal of conservation of material and energy requirement and to have cleaner production. Sustainability in terms of raw materials is the process to choose of raw material or by improvement materials to reduce waste and for environment protection. Example of improvement materials is the efficiency in gasification of coal and biomass can be improve by hot gas clean up and filters fabricated by high rate chemical vapour infiltration of low cost fiber. Furthermore, Materials management is very important in sustainable development. Material management is involves making a materials useful while minimizing the amount of added processing needed to effect recovery. There are 3 categories of materials managementà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s activities, which are design for recycle, design for assembly, and toxics management. Design for recycling is applies to the cost-effective reuse of materials and whole components. Because the current design practice is ignore the need to support the product disposal stage or the potential for reusing. While design for assembly is applie s to the use of assembly methods and configurations that allow foe cost-effective separation and recovery of reusable components and materials. Lastly the toxic management is applies to the elimination or control of toxic materials that are an intrinsic part of the product. Example is the cadmium in batteries or lead solder in printed circuit boards. And the sustainability in terms of energy is by the efficient energy generation. Efficient energy generation is high-efficiency natural gas conversion, in which less fuel would be required to produce the same amount of electricity, while containing the amount of emissions per unit of electricity. Presently power plants convert fuel to electricity at about 32-38% efficiency, the existing gas turbine power plants are up to 40% efficient. With improvements in technology, it is possible to raise the efficiency to 50-60%. Besides, there are some several ways of saving energy through efficient use. For example, the technology of high compact fluorescent light, dimmable ballasts, electronically corrected systems, some of which have already become available. As we know the earth is the place we live, the environment is a source of raw materials, energy, food, clean air, water, and soil for useful human purposes, so we must preserve it for our future and better generation. Thus, according to W. Burton Hamner (1996). Sustainable development is to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development integrates economic development and environmental sustainability. Thus the goals of economic and environmental development must be defined in terms of sustainability in all countries by developed or developing, market-oriented or centrally planned. For example, manufacturer must ensure that products have as beneficial an impact as possible throughout the whole life. Manufacturer must source sustainable raw materials, use energy efficient processes, develop long-life and low maintenance products, and make recycle, reclaim and re-use products at the end of the initial life. In order to working toward sustainability, many industries are starting do all this commitment into their company for a part of their responsibility. By broadening the responsibility, company should try to integrate all the manufacturing considerations in their production strategies for example the product design, choice of raw material, energy and technology, or even their worker, supplier and business partners. Not only manufacturer industries, the governments, or even communities also have responsibilities towards the environment. After that, only can make sustainability in reality.

Role Of The Registered Nurse

Role Of The Registered Nurse Registered Nurses (RNs) provide many different services to health care consumers in a variety of settings. Some things nurses do on a daily basis offer a unique contribution to health care, whereas others can be done by other health team members. Professional nursing offers a specialized service to society. Professional nurses use a broad approach when considering holistic health need of the people they serve. Because of the broad nature of the discipline, nurses assume multiple roles while meeting health care needs of clients. For this reason, this paper would be discussing the role of the registered nurse in health care delivery. We would also discuss the professional standard and expectations for registered nurse. The quality assurance and confidentiality issues would then be discussed. In addition, this paper would explore the responsibility of the employers in hiring new health care staff. This would then include the employers expectation regarding competencies. Finally, a conclusion would be provided in order to highlight important details discussed in the paper. Different Roles of the Registered Nurse Primary Caregiver As a caregiver, the nurse practices nursing as a science. The nurse provides intervention to meet physical, psychosocial, spiritual, and environmental needs of patients and families using the nursing process and critical thinking skills. The nurse as a caregiver is skilled and empathetic, knowledgeable and caring. RNs provide direct, hands on care to patients in all health care agencies and settings. They also take an active role in illness prevention and health promotion and maintenance (Chitty, 2005; Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2006; Masters, 2009). Nurse Leader/Coordinator The Nurse Coordinator role is unique. It is a vital part of the multidisciplinary care team for patients and contributes to improved patient outcomes. The core functions of the Nurse Coordinator role centre around the patients physical and psychosocial assessment, care coordination, education and support, from coordinating the patients diagnostic work-up tests to assisting them to navigate the hospital system, and referring them to allied health professionals. The Coordinator is an important resource for the patient and family and acts as a focal point of contact throughout their time in the hospital (ANMC, 2006; Hood Leddy, 2006). Incorporated in this advanced practice role, the Nurse Coordinator is responsible for maintaining clinical competencies and participating in those activities that contribute to the ongoing development of self and other health care professionals. The Nurse Coordinator contributes to the educational needs of clinical nurses and participates in both informal and formal education programs at a national and international level (ANMC, 2006; Hood Leddy, 2006). Patient Advocate The purpose of this role is to respect patient decisions and boost patient autonomy. Patient advocacy includes a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship to secure self-determination, protections of patients right and acting as an intermediary between patients and their significant others and healthcare providers (Blais et al., cited in Masters, 2009). A patient advocate is mainly concerned with empowering the patient through the nurse-patient relationship. The nurse represents the interests of the patient who has needs that are unmet and are likely to remain unmet without the nurses special intervention. The professional nurse speaks for the patients interest as if the patients interests were the nurses own (Chitty, 2005; ANMC, 2006; MacDonald, 2006: Masters, 2009). Nurse Educator Nurse educators teach patients and families, the community, other health care team members, students and businesses. In hospital settings as patient and family educators, nurses provide information about illnesses and teach about medications, treatments and rehabilitation needs. They also help patients understand how to deal with the life changes necessitated by chronic illnesses and teach how to adapt care to the home setting when that is required (Chitty, 2005; ANMC, 2006). Nurse as Collaborator Collaboration is important in professional nursing practice as a way to improve patient outcomes. Multidisciplinary teams require collaborative practice, and nurses play a key role as both team members and team leaders. To fulfill a collaborative role, nurses need to assume accountability and increased authority in practice areas. Collaboration requires that nurses understand and appreciate what other health professionals have to offer. They must also be able to interpret to others the nursing needs of patients. Collaboration with patients and families is also essential. Involving patients and their families in the plan of care from the beginning is the best way to ensure their cooperation, enthusiasm and willingness to work toward the best patient outcome (Chitty, 2005; ANMC, 2006). Nurse Practitioner A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse educated and authorized to function autonomously and collaboratively in an advanced and extended clinical role. The nurse practitioner role includes assessment and management of clients using nursing knowledge and skills and may include but is not limited to, the direct referral of patients to other health care professionals, prescribing medications and ordering diagnostic investigations. The nurse practitioner role is grounded in the nursing professions values, knowledge, theories and practice and provides innovative and flexible health care delivery that complements other health care providers. The scope of practice of the nurse practitioner is determined by the context in which the nurse practitioner is authorized to practice. (ANMC, 2006; Carryer, Gardner, G., Dunn, Gardner, A., 2007). Professional Standards and Expectations for Registered Nurses Standards within a professional practice are known as statements of an authoritative nature through which the profession to which they relate to provide a unique description of the responsibilities of all practitioners within that profession (Campbell Mackay, 2001). Further, the standards and expectations are in place to ensure that all practitioners are also accountable for the work and duties they perform. When it comes to nursing, this is done in order to create boundaries and to provide a level of care that is equitable for all patients. Further, the priorities and values of nurses must be common to each nurse within the profession, and the standards and expectations outlines this as such (Campbell Mackay, 2001; Pearson, Fitzgerald, Wash, Borbasi, 2002; American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 2003; ANMC, 2006, 2008; Schiemann, 2007; Furaker, 2008). While standards will vary in specifics across nursing specializations, and across countries, there is a general mindset as to what is expected of nurses in terms of expectations and standards. They are intended to provide daily guidance to nurses as they practice. Accountability, ethics, competence, knowledge, and the practical application of knowledge are key elements that are common to all nursing standards and expectations (Campbell Mackay, 2001; Pearson, et al., 2002; AACN, 2003; ANMC, 2006, 2008; Schiemann, 2007; Furaker, 2008 ). Nurses are required to be held accountable for every action that they take on a daily basis. This requires constant documentation of every element of their daily job, and following a chain of command within their select position. They are also required to maintain ethical standards within their practice, and to follow all ethical guidelines as set forth by their governing body of nursing. Furthermore, nurses are expected to have a set amount of knowledge before they enter the field of practitioner work, and with that knowledge set come an expectation of competence and practical application. Nurses are expected to be competent in their knowledge base such that they know and understand what they are supposed to in the medical field, and also, are supposed to know how to apply that knowledge in a practical manner (Campbell Mackay, 2001; Pearson, et al., 2002; AACN, 2003; ANMC, 2006, 2008). Quality Assurance Quality Assurance is another issue that is common across all standards and expectations for nurses. Through this, quality assurance standards ensure that nurses are practicing with quality efforts which in itself promote their competence and practical applications. This will require continuous education on the part of the individual nurse, as quality assurance standards across many medical centers, cities, and countries are in a constant state of evolution. It is the responsibility of the nurse practitioner to understand their quality assurance expectations at all times (Ellis Hartley, 2004; Hood Leddy, 2006). Confidentiality Confidentiality is another element of most standards and expectations for nurses. This is a requirement that nurses do not have an option to practice or not. Legislation and privacy concerns are in effect all across the globe, and nurses have the expectation that they will maintain confidential and private information for their patients within the patient doctor realm. Patients use medical services under the understanding that their information and medical records are not being seen by the wrong person, or found in the wrong hands, and because nurses have the most contact between patient and doctor, these are standards of paramount significance to the nursing profession (Deshefy-Longhi, Dixon, Olsen, Grey, 2004, Ellis Hartley, 2004; Chitty, 2005; ANMC, 2006, 2008; Masters, 2009). Employers Responsibility in Hiring New Health Care Staff The employer of an organization has an inherent duty to employ competent staff. This is not only cost-effective on the part of the employer but also guarantee in some ways that the products and services provided by the organization are competently given to the end-users. In the context of health care employees, such as the RNs there is an accreditation scheme to ensure the capacity of the RNs to carry out his/her job. In this manner, the employers responsibility to screen the professional capacity of the RN is significantly simplified. Seeking only the certification of the newly hired RN will guarantee that he/she has satisfied the minimum requirements of training, licensure, and communication proficiency to carry out his/her role as health professional. Having the employer check the credentials of the newly hired RN as well as his/her certification with authorities will allow the employer to measure the RN capability to perform his/her jobs in the organization (Ellis Hartley, 2004; Hart, Olson Fredrickson, McGovern, 2006). Employers Expectations Regarding Competencies Registered nurses should appraise their strengths, weaknesses and preferences. The RNs must ensure that there is a good match between their abilities and employers expectations. Ellis and Hartley (as cited in Chitty, 2005) suggest that RNs examine themselves in seven areas in which employers have expectations. Theoretical knowledge should be adequate to provide basic patient care and to make clinical judgments. Employers expect RN to be able to recognize the early signs and symptoms of patient problems, such as an allergic reaction to a blood transfusion, and take the appropriate nursing action, that is, discontinue the transfusion. They are expected to know potential problems related to various patients conditions. (p. 212) The ability to use the nursing process systematically as a means of planning care is important. Employers evaluate nurses understanding of the phases of the process: assessment, analysis, nursing diagnosis/outcome identification, planning, intervention and evaluation. They expect nurses to ensure that all elements of a nursing care plan are used in delivering nursing care and that there is documentation in the patients record to that effect. (p. 213) Self-awareness is critically important. Employers ask prospective employees to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. They need to know that new nurses are willing to ask for help and recognize their limitations. New graduates who are unable or unwilling to request for help pose a risk to patients-a risk that employers are unwilling to accept. (p. 213) Documentation ability is an increasingly important skill that employers value. Employers expect RN to recognize what patient data should be charted and to know that all nursing care should be entered in patient records. (p. 213) Work ethic is another area in which employers are vitally interested. Work ethic means that prospective RN employees understand what is expected of them and are committed to providing it. Employers expect new graduates to recognize that the most desirable positions and work hours do not usually go to entry-level workers in any field. In the nursing profession, a nurse cannot leave work until patient care responsibilities have been turned over to a qualified replacement; therefore, being late to work or â€Å"calling in sick â€Å" when not genuinely incapacitated are luxuries professional nurses cannot afford. (p. 213) Skill proficiency of new graduates varies widely, and employers are aware of this. Most large facilities now provide fairly lengthy orientation periods, during which each nurses skills are appraised and opportunities are provided to practice new procedures. In general, smaller and rural facilities have less formalized orientation programs, and earlier independent functioning is expected. (p. 213) Speed of functioning is another area in which new nurses vary widely. By the end of a well-planned orientation period, the new graduate should be able to manage the average patient load without too much difficulty. Time management is a skill that is closely related to speed of functioning. The ability to organize and prioritize nursing care for a group of patients is the key to good time management. (p. 214) Conclusion Through time nurses have advanced their roles into various spheres of practice, and this progression seems set to continue as healthcare continues to evolve. Whatever the reason, central to role extension should be the delivery of safe care to all patients, with the support of the multi- disciplinary team to ensure good standards of patient care. Nurses should ensure that each activity performed when advancing a role should complement the current job, one which they are competent in. Nurses should guard themselves against litigation and carefully consider what they really want to do, as each practitioner is accountable for their actions and should be aware of the legal implications of practice within the process of advancing professional practice. Reference American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. (2003). Safeguarding the Patient and the Profession: The Value of Critical Care Nurse Certification. Retrieved May 5, 2010 from http://0-web.ebscohost.com.library.vu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4hid=11sid=a5993293-dc81-4e26-93ec-1fec6430d3b1%40sessionmgr4 Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council. (2008). Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia. Retrieved May 5, 2010 from http://www.anmc.org.au/userfiles/file/New%20Code%20of%20Professional%20Conduct%20for%20Nurses%20August%202008(1).pdf Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council. (2006). National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse. Retrieved May 5, 2010 from http://www.anmc.org.au/userfiles/file/RN%20Competency%20Standards%20August%202008%20(new%20format).pdf Campbell, B., Mackay, G. (2001). Continuing Competence: An Ontario Nursing Regulatory Program That Supports Nurses and Employers. 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