Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Becoming Influential Essay Example for Free

Becoming Influential Essay The public view of nurses as subordinates to physicians, simply â€Å"trained† to follow doctors’ orders, an overall lack of understanding as to the level of education and the kind of work nurses actually do (Sullivan, 2004) has lent to this perception. Sullivan (2004) writes about telling nursing’s story as an avenue to turn opinions around; empower nurses at an individual level, and ultimately raise the bar to a degree where nursing as a whole takes a stance to being viewed and treated as experts in the health care arena alongside other disciplines. Nurses outnumber all other health care providers (Kelly Crawford, 2008, p. ) in both acute care and community care settings; are the most diverse clinicians having knowledge and experience that intertwines with all other health professionals, the public and now the business world. Nurses collectively have a deeper understanding of the everyday goings-on within all areas of healthcare. The challenge is to convince those who do not recognize this attribute to tap into an invaluable resource. The message I have chosen to include in this paper will attempt to encourage and support the utilization of nurses in the area of clinical informatics, as this is an up-and-coming opportunity to recruit the experts. Deciding on My Message I have always had an interest in computers long before I went into nursing. As a new graduate nurse in the early 1990’s I went straight to San Antonio, Texas where at one of the hospitals I worked implemented a cutting-edge clinical documentation application in the intensive care units. I quickly became a champion user as I was quite comfortable with the whole concept. That, blended with my diverse clinical experience in nursing to include using many other applications in various areas set the stage for my area of expertise; clinical informatics. As a practitioner, I felt unfulfilled at the bedside, frustrated with the lack of positive recognition toward the profession, regardless of the root cause. Being able to move away from direct patient care to a role that required a strong clinical background, informatics became my passion. My concern has intensified over the lack of clinicians called upon to do what nurses do best: clinical workflow analysis, agents of clinical change management and clinical adoption, and most important ensuring the application is robust enough for that program, clinic or unit based on expertise in that area. The further I observe resistance to change and poor adoption by nursing the more incensed I become with the lack of expert utilization. The motives for the resistance are significant: the omission of the nursing process, the inability to enter orders (physician and nursing), track medication and document medication administration is to list a few. These gaps could have been identified and possibly avoided had nurses been involved in the initial requirements gathering. Nurses understand process and know what questions to ask, as opposed to non-clinical analysts, who could not know what they do not know; who better to understand specific practice methodology and process than those who live it? Furthermore, physicians are viewed as the key holders to patient care while nursing and other allied health groups are seen as simply assisting the physician, not as part of an integrated multidisciplinary team. Nurses understand and embrace this model far more than other disciplines and are the best choice in this domain. Deciding on How to Share My Message The conduit for my message is through networking with individuals I have met and worked with over the years with influence and power; those at the executive level in the health region, university and college leaders, business leaders and clients, in person, via letters, and public speaking. Another channel I will utilize is the Canadian Nursing Association Journal with a letter to the editor or submission of an article to be published within the magazine. The target audience at this time is business and other health care professionals as the need to have nurses recognized as assets to the fast moving execution of electronic systems in health care, soon to replace paper, is urgent. If more nurses are not involved in this process as expert consultants, there is a high risk of failure and inevitably patient safety. I will not directly target the public but indirectly as I believe once health care and business professionals view nurses as experts in our profession overall, then their perceptions and opinions will reach the public. The obstacle will be persuading those with little health care understanding just how nursing can be affective. Business leaders are all about deliverables, making sure they are provided. How the product is packaged is not of great concern; patient safety is not a term truly understood by non-clinical analysts and project managers. Within eHealth in general, the organizational structure from top down holds minimal if any clinical knowledge beyond the high level business of healthcare. The best way to convey the message in this arena is by example of competency and the successes when nurses are part of the team. Unfortunately, failed deliverables due to lack of clinical analysis and input is the other method of getting the message across in this instance. However, that would require a clear understanding of why the project failed, which has slowly been coming to light within the eHealth community. Therefore, the target for this message would be the CIO and the medical officer of eHealth, however, the argument must be well supported to ensure being heard. As Kelly Crawford (2008) discuss, the lack of awareness noted by the reluctance of nurses to be identified as experts creates an obstacle. Opportunities to speak at various forums that involve nursing directly or indirectly is the best way to share the message with nurses. I was recently asked to speak to an audience from the informatics graduate program at a university in order to encourage and promote more nurses into the program. As one individual stated, â€Å"we recognize the unique expertise nurses bring to informatics and have identified the gap in this program. † My Message In preparation for this assignment I learned that there are others in the profession that have identified similar trepidations around the lack of positive recognition toward nursing, however, a solid foundation to build on has been laid. As discussed in Sullivan (2004) nurses rarely take the opportunity to promote the profession through the media, citing shortage of time, or fear of repercussions as a motive to decline. In order to be valued in positive locus those in the profession must promote their own successes without fear of appearing egocentric or as a braggart; taking pride in undertakings that might seem unremarkable but are more than that. While other professionals present their individual accomplishments regularly, gracefully accepting the prestige and standing that comes with their show, nurses must embrace this characteristic in order to continue paving the road to professional recognition. I am inspired to carry on promoting nursing as I have- by example, through networking.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Standardized Testing Provides an Inexpensive and Reliable Indicator of

Standardized Testing Provides an Inexpensive and Reliable Indicator of Student Learning and Achievement The question of assessment in the "school system, individual schools, and teachers has evoked strong and sometimes violent emotions from the educational community, the general public and their legislative representatives"(Brown & Knight, 1994). Assessment based on standardized tests has been looked at very closely over the recent years, and some people have even mentioned that they be eliminated completely. Those who feel traditional methods should be replaced by alternative methods. These people feel that demonstration, exhibition, investigation, oral response, portfolio, and written response's are all examples of alternative assessments and should be incorporated in the classroom. They also feel that peer assessment should be incorporated because students learn a great deal from each other, and with large student numbers, "the importance of student feedback increases as the availability of tutor feedback decreases"(Brown & Knight, 1994). G.I Maeroff wrote the first article I read he feels that assessment of student's achievement is changing, largely because today's students face a world that will demand new knowledge and abilities. "In the global economy of the 21st century, students will not only need to understand the basics, but also to think critically, to analyze, and to make inferences" (Maeroff, 1991). The author clearly identifies that we often believe that what get assessed is what get taught and that the format of assessment influences the format of instruction. Contrary to our understanding of how students learn, "many assessments test facts and skills in isolation, seldom requiring students to apply what they already know and can do it in real life situations"(Maeroff, 1991). He feels the problem with standardized tests is that they do not match the emerging content standards, and over reliance on this type of assessment often leads to instruction that "stresses the basic knowledg e and skills" (Maeroff, 1991). The article reassures that rather than changes in instruction toward the engaged learning that will prepare students for the future, these test will encourage instruction of less important skills and passive learning. "Although the basic skills may be important goals of ... ...nt is expensive and difficult to develop, administer and score, which makes their usefulness for large-scale assessment questionable. If these alternative models achieve comparable reliability and validity, wouldn't they in effect have become standardized as well? The issue is not whether or not one form of assessment is better than another; no assessment model is suited for every purpose. The real issue is choosing appropriately among the variables that apply the most suitable model for the students. It is necessary to determine what information is sufficient to each purpose before you decide what format that you are going to teach. The best way to do our students justice is to use as wide as possible a mixture of all the assessment methods; this will allow all the students to show their strengths and weaknesses. Bibliography Brown, S and Knight, P (1994). Assessing Learners in Higher Education. Kogan Page, London. Linn, R.L., Baker, & S. B. Dunbar. (1991). Complex, Performance-Based Assessment: Expectations and Validation Criteria. Educational Researcher, 20 (8), pp. 15-21. Maeroff, G.I. (1991). Assessing Alternative Assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 73 (4), pp. 273-281).

Monday, January 13, 2020

Beneath the Pipes Essay

When Ralph’s teacher Mrs. Pitt announced that his class was going on a field trip he felt a surge of happiness and there was an immediate buzz of excitement throughout the class of thirteen and fourteen year old children. However, the following words which escaped the teacher’s mouth did not engender the same kind of enthusiasm. The class were disappointed that visiting the brand new Monster Valley theme park, was not on the agenda. A curly ginger boy, whose surprisingly tall figure appeared to be made solely of knees and elbows, stepped off the bus as his eye caught the sign that read ‘NORTH HELLWITH SEWAGE WORKS’. Ralph sighed in chorus with his only friend Callum. Callum’s frame was stout and his pale face was painted with spots and freckles. The class was approached by a man who wore an unpleasant grin. â€Å"Good afternoon children†, his words penetrated like when a wooden chair is dragged across a gym floor. Ralph gave Callum a profound curious look and then turned his attention back to the leering man. â€Å"I am your guide for this tour of the sewage works, my name is Mr. Red†. On a closer inspection, it came to Ralph’s attention that the man had a tail which spouted from the back of his trousers. ‘Nobodies perfect’ thought Ralph. It seemed that Ralph was not the only pupil losing interest on the subject of how many light bulbs were in the various rooms of the works. Callum was trying to reach his attention. â€Å"Ralph, I’m bored† â€Å"Me too† came the reply. â€Å"I’m off† â€Å"No you’re not†, as Ralph said this he recalled memories of Callum achieving other inappropriate feats and began to wonder if this statement would stand. â€Å"Perhaps you are, but I’m not†. Callum glanced around him and when his teacher had turned her back he strolled away purposefully. Ralph moaned and darted after him like a lion that had its favourite luncheon snatched from under its nose. Ralph followed Callum into a pitch black room. â€Å"Callum, get here now!† â€Å"Are you scared?† â€Å"Of course not† â€Å"Come on then† there was a patter of feet and then Ralph heard a sudden, â€Å"AAAARRRRGGHHHH†. Ralph fell on the floor in terror and confusion. He began searching on hands and knees for his glasses which had fallen off his head. As he crawled he felt his hand squelch into something soft – without pausing to consider what this mess could have been he scampered on with an unpleasant smell surrounding him amidst the dark. â€Å"Callum?† he waited for three or four seconds to pass and then â€Å"Callum? Callum?† still there came no reply, Ralph’s stomach slipped past his trembling knees. In a dazed panic he darted upright and sprinted for the exit to find the rest of his class. What Ralph didn’t know, is that he was running the opposite way from which he entered†¦. Ralph fell with a thud and glanced back at the stairs he had fallen down. It was still very hard to see but there was an eerie red glow leaking from the walls. He began to whimper and it was not too long before his whimpers became tears. Ralph pulled himself together and dried his eyes with a chewed sleeve. He looked up at the stairs and remembered those dark rooms, so he took the alternative route and continued along the boardwalk he found himself on; he convinced himself that he would find someone – anyone to help him. But he didn’t. Finding the boardwalk spiralling downwards, Ralph broke into a sweat and started to run. A dim red glow lost itself in a mysterious humid fog. The walls began to deconstruct and develop to a cave wall. The red glow started to get brighter and brighter still as he tunnelled further beneath the ground. After what seemed like a lifetime, Ralph gratefully found himself at the opening to a huge chamber and he could hear faint voices in the distant. The first thing he noticed about the room was the disgusting smell of raw sewage. He ran to find the owners of the voices but as he got closer he realised the talking was exceptionally deep and croaky. He launched himself round several corners to the increasingly loud sounds until, â€Å"OOOFFFFF† he was stopped dead in his tracks and fell to the cold hard floor. When he opened his eyes he screamed, â€Å"AAAARRRGH† he was staring into the eyes of a completely red demon which had two horns and a massive nose. Ralph was tall but it towered over him; it must have been three times his size and twenty times stronger. â€Å"LOOK WHAT WE GOT ‘ERE!† the beast snarled and beckoned to others just as threatening. â€Å"WHAT WE GONNA’ DO WITH ‘IM? BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE HAD ONE OF THESE†. â€Å"EAT ‘IM† said a second, Ralph squealed. â€Å"RIP HIS BONES APART† a large drop of saliva let go of the demon’s face onto Ralph’s leg. â€Å"NO, WE ‘AVE TO GIVE ‘IM TO THE KING, HE’D HAVE OUR TAILS IF HE EVER FOUND OUT WE ATE ‘IM WITHOUT SHARING†. Murmurs of understanding and self pity were heard amongst the gathering demons. Ralph felt himself hoisted up and they carried him off, he fought desperately with flying legs and arms. Ralph was launched into a cave walled cell with long iron bars at the front. A rusty door slammed shut behind him. He looked around the cell and to his terror; in the shadows he saw the shape of a demon. â€Å"RELAX†, it croaked, â€Å"THE NAMES GODFREY, GODFREY JONES – AND YOU ARE?† Ralph moved across the cell so a red beam of light fell on the demons face. It looked like he had been crying and for some reason, Ralph pitied him. â€Å"Ralph Marving† came the reply. And so the conversation continued for some time, of course, time was not an important factor in the demon world. Ralph became to like and admire Godfrey. Godfrey had been locked up because he was one of the rebels who did not believe in feeding and building houses out of human waste. They were living amongst the hills in caves, hiding from the regular demon society. The deep talk with Godfrey was not to last too long, they were interrupted by the wailing of a child. Shouts and curses were heard everywhere as the boy was thrown in the cell. Ralph smiled. It was Callum. They rejoiced when they saw each other and then the introductions began. â€Å"We’re getting out of here† â€Å"How?† â€Å"These demons may be powerful, but they’re not likely contenders for brain of Britain.† â€Å"OI!† â€Å"No offence meant† â€Å"He’s watching us†, the huddle shifted further away from the guard standing at the door. â€Å"So?† â€Å"Callum, you’re going to wind up Godfrey. Godfrey you’re going to hit Callum, only you’re not really hitting him. Okay?† â€Å"I SUPPOSE† â€Å"The guard will hopefully open the door and try to stop the fight and I will hide and launch myself on his back and grab the keys from his belt.† â€Å"Sounds easy enough† â€Å"Meanwhile, you two run past the guard and make for the exit I will let go of the demon and run. When I get past you, slam the door shut and I will lock it, right?† â€Å"Right† â€Å"RIGHT† Callum and Godfrey began their argument. It was clear that neither of them were natural actors. Yet sure enough, the door opened and in walked the guard. The next part of the plan, however, did not go accordingly. Ralph made a leap for the keys but the demon was too tall. It turned its unwanted attention towards Ralph, who backed off. Godfrey threw himself courageously at the demon the two of them fell plundering to the ground with a loud thud. The stout figure of Callum darted in and grabbed the keys. â€Å"YOU MUST GO! I CAN’T HOLD HIM DOWN† â€Å"No!† â€Å"THE HUMAN WORLD IS NOT MY WORLD, GO! I BELONG IN THE HILL CAVES†, Ralph would argue no more, he was grabbed by Callum and they ran and ran for an exit. He turned to look back and saw demons flooding into the cell and his heart felt heavy. After minutes of running they were exhausted but the way was clear. Fortunately, it was easy to find their way to the corridor that led upwards. Callum and Ralph paced themselves up the spiralling corridor with the red ambience growing thinner. The shouts behind them diminished. They eventually reached the boardwalk and were too tired to continue running so they came to a halt. â€Å"What time is it?† Callum lifted his chewed sleeve and his battered watch read, â€Å"Two minutes past three† they looked at each other in astonishment. The six hours which had passed seemed to have stretched to days. â€Å"If we’re quick we may just make the bus back to school† so the two of them, once again, heaved their bodies forward. When they arrived at the entrance to the sewage works, Callum heaved a sigh of relief. The air was cooler, fresher and moist, it strew itself on their faces gratefully. They spotted the class lining up next to the bus, it was apparent that a head count was being done. They tried to mingle into the group unnoticed but Mrs. Pitt was aware of their presence. â€Å"Callum, Ralph, where on Earth have you been?† she snapped. â€Å"Well -â€Å", Ralph begun, then he considered the reality of his adventure. â€Å"We – got lost†. The class boarded the bus and Ralph and Callum landed themselves on a tattered seat. Ralph breathed on the window and wiped it. Just for one moment, he thought he saw a distant red object, disappearing over the valley towards the hills which stood boldly above the landscape.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Effects of Drugs Essay - 1163 Words

Controversies over drugs and the effects they have physically, mentally, and emotionally have been around for centuries. Some argue the fact that smoking marijuana has no health effects on the body. Some also say that other drugs have no long term mental consequences to suffer. Now, thanks to technology and hours of studies, answers have came to show the true long term health effects of drugs on the human body and mind. Marijuana is one of the most popular drugs in the world. It is known to many people as a way to get high and just relax. Its effects on the mind and psyche appeal to many musicians and writers because it can bring their creative thoughts to new levels of depth. It is also popular as a medicinal drug to control†¦show more content†¦Meth has much of the same effects as other stimulants like cocaine. It makes the person feel extremely energetic and alert. It also suppresses hunger, leading to extreme weight loss. The powerful chemicals in this drug do a number on a user’s mouth my eating away the teeth and giving the person â€Å"meth mouth†. Some other long term effects include anxiety, extreme weight loss, paranoia, psychiatric disturbances and violent behavior. It can also alter judgment leading to actions such as risky sex practices, leading to increased chances of getting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Other diseases can also be contracted by these users because of using contaminated needles, syringes, and other injection tools. (Volkow/Meth) Heroin is another highly addictive drug that effects the brain as a depressant and blocks the brains ability to recognize pain. Users say when using heroin, they feel an extreme rush, warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and heavy arms and legs. After repeated use of the drug for a period of time, heroin users may experience liver disease, collapsed veins, and infection of the heart valves. Un-pure heroin may have additives that do not dissolve which will lead to clogging of the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. As a result all of these drugs can prove to be fatal after extended periods of use. (Hyde 30) Illegal drugs are not the only ones that canShow MoreRelatedDrugs And Its Effects On Drugs1338 Words   |  6 PagesAs with most drugs, a tolerance can be obtained with chronic use and eventually addiction. The difference with LSD, however, is that if administration is ceased for a period of days, the downregulation of the 5-HT2A receptor is reversed and normal function is restored. This indicates that physiological effects of the drug are only temporary and abstinence from use will reverse whatever process have been done. 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