Central venous catheter Essay Example for Free

Central venous catheter Essay Healthcare institutes today are facing a major problem with centrally-line- associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). CLABSIs occur commonly and are the most potentially preventable source if morbidity. This research was conducted to see how central line bundles could be use to eliminate CLABSIs. According to the Sutter Roseville medical center (SRMC), they have seven years of zero CLABSIs, by using a broader approach of the central line buddle rather then the conventional buddle required by the CDC (Harnage, 2012). The SRMC’s, central line buddle is ease to use and failure proof as shown in figure 1 of the article (Harnage). This article explained how various component of the central line buddle were modified to achieve zero infection of CLABSIs by the SRMC. The most important point of this approach was elimination of infection through central lines. The success of this approach was base on the protocol implemented on dressing change, catheter flushing and daily checking of all central lines. Dressing changes were done only when the site was messes but with the protocol is done every 7 days and as needed, also the catheter lines were been flushed with normal saline then with heparin using a positive pressure flush, but now flushing is done every 8 hours when not in use or before and after medication administration with 10ml of normal saline using a push and pause technique. Remember these lines can not be use if there is no blood return and the potency checked. For this protocol to be effective, education and training was mandated for the register nurses, that is a one -on -one bedside training. The register nurses are the once using this line on a daily bases so training them on the use of this line were a major past in the infection control process. An aspect in the dressing change kit in was also nurse friendly in that all the supplies needed for the dressing change were place in a single package. By putting everything together it helped the nurse to easily access everything they need, because due to the many tasks the nurse needs to do, they may be tempted to bypass or skip entirely preventive practices that are too time consuming. The nurses also had to document on a daily base on the patient flow sheet how the site and dressing on the line look, thus making the nurses take responsibility and accountabit of the site. The main problem with this approach was that it wasn’t cost effective. But according on research, CLABSIs cost from $21300 and $35000 to treat, thus avoiding infections can save most healthcare institute hundreds of thousands of pounds annually (Harnage). I will like everyone who reads this article to implement it because is a patient first culture approach and we as healthcare provide are there to provide care to patient and do no harm. With that say, my clinical group for NURS 210 at Grace Fairview have since this practice and protocol and have also participated in it implementation. So from experience I will follow the approach and encourage my register nurses colleague to do same because the benefits out weight the disadvantages. REFERENCE . Harnage, S. (2012) Seven years of zero central – line – associate bloodstream infections. British Journal of Nursing, 2012 (IVTHERAPY SUPPLEMENT),Vol 21, No 21

Sickle Cell Anemia Case Study

Sickle Cell Anemia Case Study A 20-year-old Africa- America woman visits her physical complaining of episodes of extreme pain and discomfort in her legs and lower back. She has been experiencing these recurrent episodes, accompanied by extreme fatigue, since she was a child. On physical examination, she appears jaundiced and has a hematocrit of 23% and a hemoglobin level of 7g/dL. She reports she has family members who experienced the same symptom. Sickle cell anemia (sickle cell disease) is a disorder of the blood caused by an inherited abnormal hemoglobin (an oxygen-carrying protein within the red blood cells). The abnormal hemoglobin causes distorted (sickled) red blood cells. The sickled red blood cells are fragile and prone to rupture. When the number of red blood cells decreases from rupture (hemolysis), anemia is the result. This condition is referred to as sickle cell anemia. The irregular sickled cells can also block blood vessels causing tissue and organ damage and pain. Sickle cell anemia is one of the most common inherited blood anemias. The disease primarily affects Africans and African Americans. It is estimated that in the United States, some 50,000 African Americans are afflicted with the most severe form of sickle cell anemia. Overall, current estimates are that one in 1,875 U.S. African American is affected with sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia is caused by a point mutation in the ÃŽÂ ²-globin chain of haemoglobin, causing the hydrophilic amino acid glutamic acid to be replaced with the hydrophobic amino acid valine at the sixth position. The ÃŽÂ ²-globin gene is found on the short arm of chromosome 11. The association of two wild-type ÃŽÂ ±-globin subunits with two mutant ÃŽÂ ²-globin subunits forms haemoglobin S (HbS). Under low-oxygen conditions (being at high altitude, for example), the absence of a polar amino acid at position six of the ÃŽÂ ²-globin chain promotes the non-covalent polymerisation (aggregation) of hae moglobin, which distorts red blood cells into a sickle shape and decreases their elasticity. The loss of red blood cell elasticity is central to the pathophysiology of sickle-cell disease. Normal red blood cells are quite elastic, which allows the cells to deform to pass through capillaries. In sickle-cell disease, low-oxygen tension promotes red blood cell sickling and repeated episodes of sickling damage the cell membrane and decrease the cells elasticity. These cells fail to return to normal shape when normal oxygen tension is restored. As a consequence, these rigid blood cells are unable to deform as they pass through narrow capillaries, leading to vessel occlusion and ischaemia. The actual anaemia of the illness is caused by haemolysis, the destruction of the red cells inside the spleen, because of their misshape. Although the bone marrow attempts to compensate by creating new red cells, it does not match the rate of destruction.[17] Healthy red blood cells typically live 90-120 days, but sickle cells only survive 10-20 days.[18] Normally, humans have Haemoglobin A, which consists of two alpha and two beta chains, Haemoglobin A2, which consists of two alpha and two delta chains and Haemoglobin F, consisting of two alpha and two gamma chains in their bodies. Of these, Haemoglobin A makes up around 96-97% of the normal haemoglobin in humans. In normal Haemoglobin A, glutamic acid is on the 6th position of the beta chain, while in sickle-cell disease, this glutamic acid is replaced by valine leading to the formation of sickle cells. This happens due to a one point mutation. This leads to polymerization of the two beta chains and therefore their appearance as puzzle pieces (or lock and key); which means they fit into each other forming a longitudinal polymer that would lead to the cell becoming deformed and very rigid leading to vessel occlusion. This process of polymerization can be activated by infections, hypoxia, acidosis, physical exercise, vasoocclusion due to cold as well as hypertonic dehydration. Diagnosis Sickle cell anemia is diagnosed through blood test, testing for hemoglobin S (the defective form of hemoglobin descriptive of the disease), the presence of other abnormal hemoglobin variants, evaluating status and number of erythrocytes, and/or determination of one of more altered hemoglobin gene copies. In the United States, this blood test is part of routine screening for newborns done in the hospital. However, older children and adults can be tested also. In adults, the blood sample is extracted from a vein in the arm. In young children and babies, blood is taken from a finger or heel. The testing itself is typically performed on a smear of blood utilizing a special low-oxygen preparation, known as sickle prep. Other prep tests can be utilized, including but not limited to solubility tests. [4,6] Another screening testing is the Hb S solubility test. In this procedure, a chemical is added to the blood sample which reduces the amount of its oxygen carrying capacity. In individuals carrying even one sickle gene, some hemoglobin S will be present. The reduced amount of oxygen will cause S-related polymers to form and affected erythrocytes will sickle. This test, in essence, detects for the presence of Hb S alone. However, this exam should not be performed on infants until age six months, as babies with sickle cell will not produce significant amounts of Hb S until several months after birth. [6] To confirm the diagnosis, DNA analysis can be utilized. This exam is used to detect alterations and mutations in the genes producing hemoglobin components. DNA analysis reveals one copy or two copies of the hemoglobin S gene, or copies of different hemoglobin variants. DNA analysis can be performed on the developing fetus in fourteen to sixteen weeks gestations via amniocentesis or through chorionic villus sampling.[6] Treatment Treatment of sickle cell anemia is done by blocking the red blood cells from stacking together. the health professional maintenance helps the patients to begin with early diagnosis of the disorder, preferably during the newborn period. Penicillin prophylaxis, vaccination against pneumococcus bacteria, and folic acid supplementation is standard. [2] Treatment of sickle cell complications includes ,vitamin supplementation, intravenous fluids, blood transfusion, supplemental oxygen, surgery (splenectomy) and psychosocial support. Management is best accomplished via multidisciplinary program of care. [2,3,5] Blood transfusions benefit by reducing recurring pain crises, risk of stroke, and other complications. Blood transfusions increase the amount of normocytic erythrocytes in circulation, helping relieve the anemic state. However, since erythrocytes contain iron and the body does not possess a natural process for its elimination, patients can accumulate iron in the blood. Thus, possible iron toxicity must be closely screened and methods to remove excess must be executed. Excess iron is removed artificially through administration of the drug Deferasirox (Exjade ÂÂ ®) orally in patients two years of age and older. If this is not checked, the excessive iron can accumulate in the heart, liver, and various other organs causing organ damage. [3] Other treatments for this disease include finding a substance that prevents erythrocytes from sickling without producing deleterious effects to other body areas. The medication hydroxyurea has been found to reduce the frequency and severity of pain, acute chest syndrome, and decrease the need for blood transfusions in adult patients. Droxia ÂÂ ® (prescription name brand formulation of hydroxyurea) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998 and is currently available for adult patients. Studies are currently being conducted to determine the proper dosage in pediatric patients. However, there is concern in this medication that chronic usage may facilitate tumor growth or leukemia in certain individuals. [5] Other pharmacological therapies include antibiotics and pain relievers. Regarding antibiotics and aforementioned earlier, children benefit from penicillin at age two months and usually continue medication until age five. Prophylactic antibiotic treatment helps in preventing pneumonia. For adults, prophylactic antibiotic treatment can aide in fighting certain infections that they would normally fight provided they had normal erythrocytes. [2,3,5] Non-pharmacotherapy treatments are bone marrow transplant and supplemental oxygen therapy. Bone marrow transplant procedure offers the only potential cure for sickle cell anemia. Replacing the system with unaffected bone marrow aids the body in producing normocytic erythrocytes. However, finding a donor provides difficult even with the advent of registries. Also, the extraction of bone marrow possesses serious risk, including death. After the procedure, a mandatory lengthy hospital stay is required. In the hospital and upon leaving, the patient will be administered medications to help prevent rejection of the donated marrow. The procedure is currently only used for those possessing serious symptoms and problems with sickle cell anemia. Regarding supplemental oxygen therapy, this proves beneficial by forcefully increasing oxygen content in the blood via oxygen mask. Supplemental oxygen can be helpful in acute chest syndrome or sickle cell crisis.[2,3,5] Surgical treatment involve splenectomy to remove a possible damaged spleen from the sickle cells or eye surgery for vision problems associated with sickled cell damage. New sickle cell treatments on the horizon include gene therapy, the pharmacological treatments of butyric acid, clotrimazole, nitric oxide, and nicosan. [3] Since sickle cell anemia is caused by a defective gene, researchers speculate that insertion of a normal gene into bone marrow of people with sickle cell anemia will result in the production of normal hemoglobin. Another gene therapy possibility is turning off the defective gene, while reactivating another gene responsible for production of fetal hemoglobin (a type of hemoglobin found in newborns) that prevent sickle cells from forming. [3] Butyric acid, normally utilized as a food additive, may increase the amount of fetal hemoglobin in the blood in some patients. [3] Clotrimazole, the over-the-counter antifungal medication may help prevent loss of water from erythrocytes, possibly reducing the number of sickle cells formed. [3] Nitric oxide is decreased in sickle cell anemia, a gas that normal causing vasodilatation. Administration of this agent would prevent the sticking of sickled cells to one another.[3] Nicosan, an herbal treatment in early trials in the United States, is currently being used to prevent sickle crisis in Nigeria (West Africa). [3] Reference section Sickle Cell Anemia: Treatments and Drugs MayoClinic.com. Sickle Cell Anemia. Mayo Clinic, 1 Apr. 2009. Web. 13 July 2010. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sickle-cell-anemia/DS00324/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs Smith WR, Penberthy LT, Bovbjerg VE, et al. (Jan 2008). Daily assessment of pain in adults with sickle cell disease. Ann. Intern. Med. 148 (2): 94-101. ISSNÂÂ  0003-4819. PMID1819533 Sickle Cell Tests. American Association for Clinical Chemistry (2006). Lab Tests Online. American Association for Clinical Chemistry, 20 Aug. 2006. Web. 13 July 2010. The case study was taken from first aid usmile step1 What Is Sickle Cell Disease. About Sickle Cell Disease. Sickle Cell Disease Association of America SCDAA Home, 2005. Web. 13 July 2010. http://www.sicklecelldisease.org/about_scd/

Blood and Debt: War and the Nation-State in Latin America

Blood and Debt: War and the Nation-State in Latin America Book Review: Miguel Angel Centeno. Blood and Debt: War and the Nation-State in Latin America. Penn State University Press 2002. Centenos book begins with the mystery of absence of interstate war-what he calls limited war-in Latin America, and then goes into the genealogy of state development in South America and the role of war on that continent. His historically contextualized analysis of warfare takes up the imbricated factors of class structure, organizational power, and international restraints in Latin America. He characterizes the Latin American states institutional and administrative capacity as not well developed as a result of divisions among dominant class structures, foreign power influence and control, which in turn have contributed to the states relatively peaceful history. He succinctly argues that they have been relatively peaceful because they dont have sophisticated political institutions to manage wars -the no States-no Wars argument.[1] Centeno contends that the lack of strong state institutions and limited state capacity accounts for these states inability to create autonomy and finance these wars through internal revenue; rather, this created dependency on foreign government loans that in turn weakened local capacity to create autonomy and thwarted the establishment of strong central institutions.[2] Foreign loan dependency created the conditions for the weakening of the possibility of creating strong central institutions that resulted in limited state capacity and the associated limited scale of war.[3] According to Centeno, limited war[4] do[es] not require the political or military mobilization of the society except (and not always) in the euphoric initial moments.[5] Foreign intervention based on trade interests also limited the scale of Latin American wars.[6] Centeno substantiates his argument with assessments of the capacity of Latin American governments to collect taxes, raise troops, and establish effective bureaucracies. Equally important is his argument about the ability of governments to galvanize nationalism, an ethos that creates a coherent concept of nation.[7] Based on comparative insight derived from North Atlantic nations, he argues that compared to Latin American states, these nations have more capacity to mobilize millions of troops to fight, financed through internally raised revenue from taxes.[8] I believe Centenos work is important as it provides a thorough analysis and critique of state-building theory based on empirical study. His work invests more attention in the Latin America region and makes a country-specific study to understand the particularities and nuances of generic state-building theory. His work draws attention to institutional analysis of states. As he writes, [This] magnificent display of institutional failure deserves further attention.[9] Centeno argues that Latin America has fought limited wars and further inquires into the meaning of this in an attempt to better understand the relationship between war and state-making. His work opens the door for deconstructing conventional nation-building theory, which is largely based on a Eurocentric account of war. Grounded in a set of empirical data and rigorous analysis, Centenos critical work illustrates how war contributed to the weakening of institutions, paying due attention to the fiscal aspect of the state, and shows how war in Latin America ruined institutions and resulted in more entrenched internal divisions.[10] He discusses the institutional capacity of the state as a central theme to explain and critique the regional history and political development, and he examines wars impact, how it has shaped state-society relationships, national identity and fiscal development. Centeno repeatedly emphasizes the fact that states in Latin America did not develop the kind of institutional strength of their Western European counterparts. The author is puzzled by the process and experience and consequences of war in Latin America and how this relates to states institutional strength and capacity to undertake war in a way that has shaped their creation. Based on multiple cases, Centenos historical development of each case and the experience of war illustrates the exigencies, contextual factors, and relational dimensions that all must be taken into account in order to determine, understand and explain variations and commonalties across the continent. This theoretical approach and these methodological insights are critical to assessing the development of the state based on European history and experience while complementing the theoretical discussion of the development of the state on both levelscapturing country-specific variations and theorizing or bringing in theoretical explanations for differences and commonalities. Understanding and explaining regional and country-specific variations using comparative methods provides relevant details to critically engage conventional state-building theory. Through this work, I learned that understanding variations and contextualizing analysis case by case is an important approach. The author uses the prism of war-state development bellicist model[11] as an important theoretical framework to problematize and further explain the nuances and regional and country-specific conditions and factors that alter and critique Eurocentric generalizations of the causal relationship between war and state development. Indeed, Centeno uses the counterfactual realties of Latin America to successfully refute the European model of state-building theory that suggests that wars created modern states and enhanced their institutions, creating the capacity for states to exploit resources, monopolize violence and make more wars. In fact, he successfully illustrates how (limited) wars in Latin America destroyed institutions and thwarted nation-state building. Here, he introduces internal factors such as class structure, internal elite divisions and the enduring impact of postcolonial chaos, noting how all contributed, along with the international factors related to how trade interest played out and to debt/loan dependence. An important lesson we can draw from this book is that the experience of war in Latin America, its role and influence on state creation (both the types and kinds of state formation) are distinct here, different from the significant role war played in the development of some European states. No doubt more cases from Latin America and elsewhere would further refute, contextualize, deconstruct and critique the conventional presuppositions, assumptions and models of state-building theory. The complex historical realties of states problematize and create an elaborated space for other factors, beyond war, providing complementary explanations related to creation of the state. Centenos central message is that the link between war and state-building is contingent on historical specificities and case-specific factors. However, his work does not help us to understand how strong states could develop without wars. The logic in Centenos theory and argument is important as it highlights important elements in appraising the link between war-making and state-making as understood in conventional theories, putting the focus on certain contingent factors-history, domestic socio-economic and political structures, and international politics. [1] Centeno, M. A. (2002). Blood and debt: War and the nation-state in Latin America. Penn State Press.p 26 [2] Ibid p 28 and Chapter 3 [3] Ibid [4] Ibid p 20-26 [5] Ibid p 21 [6] Ibid p 26 and 72-73 [7] Ibid p. 23, 7 and Chapter 4 and 5 [8] Ibid p 108- 109 191 and Chapter 5 [9] Ibid p 17 [10]ÂÂ   Ibid p 142 -145, 14, 6-7 and Chapter 3 [11] Ibid p. 19 and 266 What Makes a Teacher Effective? What Makes a Teacher Effective? What do you think it means to be an effective teacher? An effective teacher utilises aspects of their background, professional knowledge and personality to boost students academic growth (Whitton, Barker, Nodworthy, Sinclair, Phil, 2004). The favourable characteristics that follow an effective teacher are their high confidence, optimism and knowledge of the content. Effective teachers are confident in their knowledge, skills and their ability to guide students as well as feeling secure about their status as master of their subject. As well as having confidence in themselves, teachers must have confidence in their students, and believe that they will learn (Killen, 2013). The teacher should have strong beliefs that even the most complicated concept can be explained in such a way that students find it easy to learn. The teachers deeper understanding of the content should provide a means that makes it easy for them as teachers to alter known concepts to suit the students, making it easier for students to consume (Killen, 2013). Teaching is more than just presenting content, our Australian curriculum displays content that students must intake and how their academic level should be judged e.g. Tests and exams. A starting point for an effective teacher is to understand that learning is based on understanding the concept of the content, and the means of an effective teacher is to motivate learners from a state of not understanding to deeper understanding (Killen, 2013). Teachers must be able to create an environment where learners can understand the content presented. Specific techniques that are used to effectively create this environment involve the transformation of the content to something that is easier to understand, motivating learners and engaging them in learning tasks and the teachers adaptability to different students and different learning styles (Killen, 2013). Interactions with students gives teachers the chance to know what is happening around the class room so teachers have a chance to manipulat e their teaching style to best suit the students (Whitton et al., 2016). Why do teachers need to purposely plan for learning? Planning is an important technique teachers use to amplify student achievement as well as teacher satisfaction, the best teachers are able to organise and deliver the best learning experience through thoughtful planning. Overall planning put into class rooms should meet the curriculum requirements and learning needs, to further extend student academic achievement and make the learning experience worthwhile (Whitton et al., 2016). In order for students to meet the learning goals set out by the curriculum, teachers must understand the importance of effective planning. An effective plan helps students to learn purposefully with more efficiency as time is always a constraint in a class room, a developed plan also helps the teacher to clarify what goals are set for students and a step by step process on how to achieve those goals (Killen, 2013). An in-depth plan can boost the teachers confidence as it mirrors to the teacher that they understand the content the students want to learn, the increase in confidence will propel the overall teaching effectiveness. Purposely planning for learning is a must if a teacher is to grow in the art of teaching as it develops the teachers capability for effective teaching and gives a mean to reflect on their planning and effectiveness (Killen, 2013). A plan for learning needs to be effective in order to ensure the learning procedure is productive. Teaching can be simplified into a learning cycle: Planning, implementing then evaluating. Planning requires thorough knowledge of the students in the class their age, gender, interests, learning styles, academic talents and social / emotional states all come into effect when identifying the most effective techniques to be highlighted in the plan (Whitton et al., 2016). Knowledge and understanding of the curriculum must also be taken into account when setting up the plan so learning outcomes can be met. With an active and comprehensive plan the implementing of the actual teaching shows more effectiveness, evaluation of the lesson taught will provide feedback to the teacher on if the content and process was suitable for the students (Whitton et al., 2016). The purpose of the lesson taught must be clear so that students know why each lesson is important, simultaneously the lesson should al so be used by the teacher as means to guide their planning (Killen, 2013) How can effective teachers best engage students in learning? Engaging students in learning is just as important as teaching the students. In order for learners to take in the content being taught they must be focused on the objective and have a clear understanding as to why theyre being taught this. Various strategies are used together by teachers to best engage students to learn. Lesson introductions are one of the major components to involve learners and have them drawn into the learning experience, a lesson introduction should spark the students interests and have them feel connected to the learning environment (Whitton et al., 2016). Just as we discussed in the tutorial in week 3 examples to get the class interested in learning are setting up display materials, objects that students can touch and build understanding through a hands-on experience (e.g. cutting fruit into pieces when examining fractions) or reading a childrens book as audio-visual resource. The introductions should always be related to the topic and spark interests (Whitton et al., 2016). Just as lesson introductions lesson closures should also be given high amounts of attention. The lesson closure must also be relevant and involve the learners to make them aware that the lesson is over. Recapping what occurred, having groups display their work or discuss amongst themselves are good closures that give the teacher an idea if learning outcomes were met during the lesson (Whitton et al., 2016). Therere are many teaching and learning strategies, all the strategies can be broken down into 4 planning components: content, process, products and environment. The content is what is taught, process is how the content is taught, products are the teachers themselves that guide and help students (Whitton et al., 2016). Discovery learning is a strategy used that challenges students understanding and their thinking skills, this strategy of learning focuses on the students, expecting them to develop a solution and a method to the solution (Whitton et al., 2016). Discovery lessons require hands-on research activities to best engage the students. The advantages of discovery learning are that students are involved in the process of learning, the actives used in this type of learning are more meaningful and students acquire their own research and reflective skills (Westwood Peter, 2008). Why is developing positive communication skills important for effective teachers? The idea of enforcing positive communication skills upon teachers to further present in the classroom serve a clear purpose, an effective teacher will use their communication skills to create a rich and positive learning environment. Specific teaching strategies, skills and attitudes impact the learning environment as a whole and in turn these characteristics of the teacher can be manipulated and adjusted and then presented with strong communication skills to the students in order to gage their interests and create a healthy, productive classroom (Whitton et al., 2016). In an educational setting the relationship the teacher has with the students has a significant impact on the communication that occurs between teacher and student (Howell, 2014). If a teacher builds a positive relationship with their students there is a direct influence on the type of communication they will engage in, positive relationships opens a positive environment and negative relationships will generate a negat ive environment (Howell, 2014). An effective teacher will aim to promote a positive learning environment through means of displaying approachability and showing assertiveness in their communication. Assertiveness is categorised as communication style as well as aggressiveness and passivity (Howell, 2014). A good teacher will avoid aggressive and passive styles in communicating as they foster a negative learning environment but should focus on being assertive. The assertive teacher will display the capabilities to be an effective active listener; non-judgemental; able to express himself with honesty; respect others values; able to check on others feelings, all while being proactive, flexible, trustworthy and confident (Howell, 2014). All these highlighted qualities make the teacher approachable, if a student finds a teacher approachable theyre more likely to confide with the teacher and should they have a problem in the future they will feel encouraged to come to the teacher to share their concerns and feelings (Whi tton et al., 2016). By advocating positive relationships and communication, through assertiveness and approachability teachers promote a healthy and positive classroom environment for effective learning (Whitton et al., 2016 Howell,2014). References Whitton, D., Sinclair, C., Barker K., Nosworthy, M., Humphries, J., Sinclair, C. (2016)Learning for teaching: Teaching for learning. VIC, Australia: Cengage Killen, R. (2013). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice. South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia. Retrieved from http://CURTIN.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1696408 Westwood, P. (2008). What teachers need to know about. VIC, Australia: ACER Press. Retrieved from http://search.informit.com.au.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=569324157817332;res=IELHSS Howell, J. (2014). Teaching and learning: Building effective pedagogies. South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/lib/curtin/detail.action?docID=4191370

Importance of Staffing in Organizations Essay -- Business Management S

Importance of Staffing in Organizations Staffing has been an important aspect in all types of organizations’ development. More and more companies have noticed a good staffing plan could increase productivity and reduce operation costs in terms of lower turnover rate and transition costs. Good staffing could be able to minimize cost in order to maximize profit, because it could assist the company to stay more competitive within the industry. According to the definition by Dr. Green, â€Å"staff is the process of identifying work requirements within an organization; determining the number of people and the skills necessary to do the work; and recruiting, selecting and promoting the qualified candidates. It is the selection process of screening and hiring new employees, which includes functions like resume reviewing, interview, drug testing, assessment testing, and background check† (Green, 2003). Different companies have different strategies in how to select their candidates. Depending on the size, geographic and industry etc, so that their strategies could be very different. Therefore, one specific staffing plan might work for one company, but it might not work for another. â€Å"In staffing an organization or an organizational unit, it is important to consider its developmental stage-embryonic, high growth, mature, or aging-in order to align staffing decisions with business strategy† (Cascio, p.268). In the 21st century, due to the reason that new technologies have been invented and improved. That had lead to many organizations change its behavior in terms of the way they deal with customers, suppliers, business partners and employees. Without a careful selection, organizations often hire people that do not fit the job or it is just not the type of work the employee wants to do. There are people who could not keep up with the technology trend working in a place where new technologies always come into place. There are people who could not deal with other people, or with no patient working as a teller in the bank, or going into the teaching field. There are so many different examples in today’s world where people apply for jobs that they co uld not be successful, or in many cases that organizations hire people who do not have the qualifications for the job. Organizations have encountered some problems that associated with which method to use in the selectio... ...ng Decisions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(4), 634-644. Van der Zee, K.I., Bakker, A.B. & Bakker, P. (2002). Why are Structured Interviews so Rarely Used in Personnel Selection? Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(1), 176-184. Brket, M.D., & Motowidlo, S.J. (2002). Effects of Procedure and Outcome Accountability on Interview Validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(1), 185-191. Roth, P.L., & Bobko, P. (2000). College Grade Point Average as a Personnel Selection Device: Ethnic Group Differences and Potential Adverse Impact. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(3), 399-406. Gardner, R. (1998). How well do you really know whom you hire? The CPA Journal, 68(3), 62-65. Brown, B., & Campion, M.A. (1994). Biodata phenomenology; Recrutiers’ perceptions and use of biographical information in resume screening. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 897-908. Roth, P.L., BeVier, C.A., Switzer, F.S., & Schippmann, J.S. (1996). Meta-analyzing the relationship between grades and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 548-556. Roth, P.L., & Clarke, R.L. (1998). Meta-analyzing the relationship between grades and salary. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 53, 386-400.

A Good Man is Hard to Find :: essays papers

A Good Man is Hard to Find In â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† Flannery O’Conner tells the story of a family in route to their Florida vacation and the trouble the grandmother gets them in. The grandmother does not want to go to Florida on vacation and tries many methods of changing her son, Bailey’s mind. Although she tries many methods, none of them have the effect on him she desires. Bailey is as stubborn as his mother, completely shutting the door on every proposition his mother makes. When she finally makes some progress in delaying their travels things go horribly. Bailey and his family discover the hard way just how ironic life can be. The grandmother uses many excuses for the family to go to Tennessee instead of Florida on vacation. The first of her many excuses is â€Å"The Misfit†, a serial killer that has escaped from prison and is headed toward Florida, claiming that she would never take her children anywhere near a man like that. This didn’t have the desired effect on Bailey so she explains to him and his wife how the children need more variety and they should take the children to see different parts of the world, East Tennessee for example. Once again her plea to Bailey and his wife had no effect. Even after they had left home she continued to try and divert them from their coarse. Finally succeeding when she convinced the children they would like to visit an old plantation home she had visited during her own childhood. There were many clues as to what was unfolding during the story, although one would have trouble noticing them upon initial reading. The first of the clues was, of coarse, the mentioning of â€Å"The Misfit’s† escaping from prison. As the family was eating at a small restaurant the second clue was given. The owner was discusing with grandmother the criminal nature the society has compared to the old day an example was three men had stolen gas from him only a few days earlier. The next clue came after grandmother and the children persuaded Bailey to turn off the main road in search of the old plantation home. The road had not been driven on in months, suggesting the perfect, deserted, hiding places for escaped prisoners. While traveling down the dirt road grandmother remembered that the house was actually in Tennessee, not Georgia.

Health Risks of Energy Drink Essay

Introduction People want immediate results in the middle of the busy day, after exercise, or any other activity which requires them to recharge themselves. So, instead of focusing on key natural ways such as sleep habits, improving diets we used to go for certain energy drinks available in the market without knowing the pros and cons of these drinks related to our health. Recent researches on the consumption of energy drinks have proved that the excessive use of these types of drinks can cause severe health risk including increase in systolic pressure, insomnia, and various other discussed later in the paper. It is the common phenomena that energy drink used to rebuild the energy lost during the exercise, which is not right. Similarly, it does not help burn calories, neither it speed ups the metabolism nor it provides long lasting energy to our body. Energy drinks are the fastest growing beverages market (Bornstein, 2011). Youth is reportedly consumers more energy drinks than other demographic variable. There are various energy drinks available in the market targeting the same type of crowd with different slogan and appeals. Some have focused on athletes, some on teenagers and students etc. Excessive caffeine can cause various health problems such as insomnia, jitters, nervousness, gastrointestinal problems, and heart palpitations. Background Statement We see various TV ads focusing on red bull, 5-hour ENERGY, monster etc so are these drinks shelved at the supermarkets. However, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and UK drug inspecting agencies has reported severe health related issues on the consumption of energy drinks. The sales of energy drinks in UK and other parts of the world is increasing so are the concerns after the researches made on this particular subject. Hence, the need is to review the myth surrounding energy drinks consumption. What are energy drinks? According to UK soft drink report (2012), soft drinks are â€Å"traditional glucose based energy drinks; functional or stimulation energy drinks which claim a particular energy boost from caffeine, Guarani, turbine and ginseng or other herbs or some combination of these ingredients†. The ingredients used in these energy drinks act as a stimulant to the central nervous system of our brain. These include caffeine or Guarani and vitamins etc. Health Risk There are various serious health risks associated with the consumption of energy drinks. Some of these health risks are discussed in this section. Drinking energy drinks in moderation is not necessarily harmful. Excessive consumption of energy drinks containing caffeine, however, can result in the same health effects related to consuming too much caffeine, such as insomnia, jitters, nervousness, gastrointestinal problems, and heart palpitations. Like sodas, the amount of sugar and empty calories (calories that do not contain nutrients) in energy drinks contribute to poor dietary health when consumed regularly. Hence, the affects of these drinks are short term as well long term. These affects are categorized below: Short term affects †¢ Hurts performance †¢ Increased heart rate †¢ Abnormal heart rhythm and other problems †¢ Crabby †¢ Trouble Concentrating †¢ Negative interactions with medications †¢ Increased Blood Pressure Long term affects †¢ Caffeine Addiction †¢ Liver Failure †¢ Sleep Apnea †¢ Kidney Failure †¢ Cardiovascular Disease So, it is better to be aware of these health issues and do not use more than 100mg/day of the caffeine as per health official recommendation. Conclusion After reviewing the ingredients, myths, and other factors surrounding the energy drinks it can be concluded that excessive use of caffeine i.e. by consuming more energy drink will certainly lead us to the several health risks which might be short term as well as long term. So, the need for the people is to get educate themselves, so is the responsibility of the energy drink manufacturers to warn the customers of the potential health hazards associated with the particular drink. References Roy-Bornstein, C. (2011). Just Say No to Energy Drinks. Pediatrics For Parents, 27(7/8), 11. UK soft drink report (2012) Available at: http://www. britishsoftdrinks. com/PDF/UK%20soft%20drinks%20report%202012. pdf.

Leadership Essay Introduction Essay

Perhaps none of you are lucky enough to be a leader and fight for animal rights or other beliefs, but every year colleges and universities require students to write a leadership essay. Its goal is to identify and evaluate your potential leadership qualities. One of the best ways to cope with the task is to list the characteristics that successful politicians or opinion leaders have. And then demonstrate their presence in your case by an example of specific life situations. This is the main difference between the leadership essays and similar ones. Instead of analyzing literary works or their authors, you need to focus on your own personality. The leader is not always associated with the commander or the strong-willed warlord. An effective guide could be strong and weak, learn and teach simultaneously. The leadership category offers a lot of qualities, the presence of which plays a great role in the life of each person. We are talking about empathy, dedication, sincerity, consistency, altruism, responsibility, self-development, influence, the ability to teach. The essential part of leadership paper outline consists of describing the bright moments of your life to substantiate the stated thesis. Examples should not be abstract and contain pathos reflections. It is better to resort to the specifics and show in which cases you showed courage, intelligence or organizational skills. It is the details that increase the confidence in the content of the text. The personal nature of the essay on leadership makes it possible to use anecdotes as arguments. Each new quality must begin with a new paragraph while keeping in touch with the previous text using transitional phrases. This will help make the essay easily readable to the audience. You also could use the information collected earlier from various sources. When writing a leadership essay, the following necessary components should be considered. First of all, to compose an idea of ​​the phenomenon of leadership, use online resources or biographical stories. They will not only clarify the concept but will also lead to good ideas. Do not confuse the leadership essays with the heroic epic. You need attention to yourself, but not to other people. At the same time, it is necessary to avoid fantasies and blatant lies. Remain as honest as possible to make your work realistic, and look like a fairy tale. To achieve this, shun qualities that are not inherent in you. The use of the method of brainstorming will help determine the required skills. Remember the situation where you were given a great responsibility, for instance, a project, a sports team or the main role in the play. In general, any experience of cooperation can be presented in the context of leadership. Once you have decided on the field of research, it is significant to develop an essay scheme. Thus, a successful completing of a leadership essay depends on the depth of understanding of this concept, your honesty and life experience. Also, remember that real effective leaders have a unique vision of things. Use this quality to present yourself in a favorable light.