Henry George and Andrew Carnegie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Henry George and Andrew Carnegie - Essay Example Henry George had visited a lot of places to become a democrat and develop views against the corruption that was prevalent in a government set up. He closely analyzed the situation of poverty in the different cities of the world. He finally came to the conclusion that industrial capitalism was a ground reality which was increasing the poverty in the world. It was during his early times that the rail roads and tractors were coming as new technologies. But as he reviews in his book these new technologies were of no good to the poor community as they did not up heave the status of the poor communities (Henry 1). He rather saw all these new technologies as an act of deception to put the poor communities in a bitter turmoil where they could not avoid the overall situation. In his belief it was the material progress which was the primary reason of poverty and hence he was against industrial capitalism as a whole.Henry George had visited a lot of places to become a democrat and develop views against the corruption that was prevalent in a government set up. He closely analyzed the situation of poverty in the different cities of the world. He finally came to the conclusion that industrial capitalism was a ground reality which was increasing the poverty in the world. It was during his early times that the rail roads and tractors were coming as new technologies. But as he reviews in his book these new technologies were of no good to the poor community as they did not up heave the status of the poor communities (Henry 1).

Reflecting on one’s Communication Skills Essay Example for Free

Reflecting on one’s Communication Skills Essay Introduction Nursing students can enhance their learning through reflection that is, reflecting on a situation that involves nursing care (Parker 2006, p.115). In line with this thought, I shall reflect on an experience and discuss the communication skills I used or should have used during the patient encounter. I will use the three what model based on the work of Borton (1970) and Boud (1985) to help structure my reflection. Before going any further, I am invoking the provision in the NMC (2008) code which declares the need to respect people’s confidentiality; hence, the identity of the patient who will be cited in this reflection will be kept anonymous. He will be given a pseudonym and will simply be referred to as Mr. B What? Mr. B is a 75-year-old patient in a nursing home diagnosed with dementia. Initially, it was my mentor who initiated nursing care to him and I was instructed to continue its delivery. The rationale why my mentor assigned me to Mr. B was so I can sharpen my communication skills. During my interaction with Mr. B, I tried to remain calm and spoke in slow and short sentences. I also used simple words although at times, I cannot help but repeat what I have already said because I was not sure whether the patient understood my statements. So What? At first, I was honestly hesitant and quite nervous when I interacted with the patient. I was already aware of his condition; hence, I was in a dilemma as to how I can communicate with him. This experience helped me realise that communication is truly an important part of nursing practice. Mastering all the routine nursing tasks and other complicated nursing interventions will all have been for nothing if a nurse does not know how to initiate a nurse-patient therapeutic relationship or interaction which naturally begins with communication. To simply put it, Ellis, Gates and Kenworthy (2003, p.214) declare that good communication is vital to effective nursing. According to Collins (2009) good communication helps build a therapeutic relationship which is central to nursing. It is a must for a nurse to be able to communicate effectively with the patient because communication is the tool that will allow the nurse to reassure a patient, empower the patient, motivate the patient, put a patient at ease, and convey understanding of the patient’s concerns (Collins 2009). I realised that communicating with a patient with dementia is more difficult than I have actually predicted. His condition was definitely the barrier that hindered effective communication. Even though I spoke in clear, short and simple sentences, there were still instances when the patient did not understand what I said or may be pretended to have not heard what I said. With this, I realise that one effective counter against such circumstance is to establish and maintain genuine rapport with the patient which can be done through frequent therapeutic conversations with the patient. Rapport entails trust and confidence of the patient to the nurse. Without, a nurse will have difficulty convincing a patient to follow instructions or adhere to advices. The experience also led me to realise the importance of valuing non-verbal communication. Before, I honestly took for granted non-verbal communication because the patients I handled in the past had no cognitive impairments that hindered verbal communication. It was only during this experience that verbal communication is less reliable due to the patient’s condition. This experience pointed out that a patient’s facial expression, presence or absence of eye contact, and bodily gestures can all help decipher a patient’s mood, feelings and attitude towards the nurse and the interventions given by the nurse. Videbeck (2010, p.107) relate that it is crucial for a nurse to understand what a patient is trying to communicate by means of observing non-verbal cues. I learned that a truly competent nurse is someone who is able to assess not only what a patient can verbalise but also assess those non-verbal cues displayed by a  patient which may lead the nurse to truly unde rstand how the patient feels and what the patient needs. Now What The experience helped me learn the importance of both verbal and non-verbal communication. As an aspiring nurse, I have to continuously sharpen my communication skills because I shall be interacting with more varied patients in the future. I have to be able to establish rapport with each new patient and I can do this by communicating with them. I must maximise my communication with my patients because I can do a lot of things by communicating such as motivate, empower, educate and understand my patients. Conclusion To sum up, reflecting on an experience will help discover different important learning. It will increase one’s knowledge identify strengths and weaknesses in one’s skills. Communication is key to building rapport and therapeutic relationship with patients. A nurse must always improve on his or her communication skills in order to better deliver nursing care. References Collins, S. (2009). Good communication helps to build a therapeutic relationship. (online) available at: http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/clinicalspecialisms/educators/good-communication-helps-to-build-a-therapeuticrelationship/5003004.article Ellis, R., Gates, B. and Kenworthy, N. (2003). Interpersonal communication in nursing: Theory and practice. London: Churchill Livingstone. Nursing Midwifery Council (2008). The code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives. London: NMC. Parker, M. (2006). Aesthetic ways in day-to-day nursing. In: Freshwater, D. (Ed.). Therapeutic nursing: Improving patient care through self-awareness and reflection. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Videbeck, S. (2010). Psychiatric-mental health nursing. 5th edn., Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Introduction Aseptic technique is the practice of carrying out a procedure in such a way that minimises the risk of introducing contamination into a vulnerable area or contaminating an invasive devise (Dougherty and Lister 2011, p.129). Aseptic technique includes several methods such as sterilising instruments, using antiseptic hand scrubs, and donning of sterile gowns, gloves, caps and masks (Cho and Alessandrini 2008, p.43). In line with this thought, this essay will explore the underlying rationales and evidence for the performance of two common methods of aseptic technique. These methods are hand washing and gloving which I personally performed many times during practice placements. Practising Aseptic Technique The delivery of effective nursing care rests on the hands of the nurse. This statement does not only apply figuratively but also literally because the hands of a nurse must not only be capable of performing tasks, it must also be clean while performing such tasks. Hand washing is simply indispensable in the performance of any and all kinds of nursing care activities. It becomes too mundane that sometimes it is intentionally or unintentionally neglected or performed in a manner that is less than satisfactory. As a student nurse, it was made clear to me that proper hand washing is a very important initial step in the delivery of nursing services. I have performed hand washing countless times, some at an acceptable standard while others below standard. The origin for strongly recommending or rather enforcing the need to perform hand washing may be traced from Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis who advocated the performance of hand washing with a chlorinated solution among doctors before assisting women in labour (Case 2011). White (2005, p.527) defines hand washing as the rubbing together of all surfaces www.newessays.co.uk and crevices of the hands using a soap or chemical and water. It is a part of all types of isolation precautions and is the most basic and effective infection-control measure to prevent and control the transmission of infectious agents. Hand hygiene which includes hand washing and gloving, is the single most crucial means of preventing transmission of antibiotic-resistant organisms such as the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci or VRE (LeTexier 2011). The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2003, p.28) or NICE in its guideline for infection control dictate that hand washing and gloving are two fundamental modes of preventing healthcare-associated infection. The World Health Organization (2006) highly recommends that health care workers wear gloves to prevent microorganisms present on the hands to be transmitted to patients and to reduce the risk of workers acquiring infection from patients. The effectiveness of donning gloves in preventing contamination of infectious agents has been confirmed in many clinical trials (WHO 2006). To reiterate, both hand washing and gloving are two of the most indispensable methods of aseptic technique; however, amidst the overwhelming evidence on the benefits of both procedures, there are still erring professionals. Nurses, doctors and other health care professionals still do err in the performance of such procedures. In my case, I have done it many times before but sometimes, I still forget to do it or consciously neglect to do it. Perhaps, the problem lies not within the knowledge of the need to perform it but rather on the manner by which it should be perform. There are varying ways and means of performing hand washing. In fact there are different kinds of hand washing. There is the medical hand washing which is similar to ordinary hand washing and there is also the surgical hand washing. Every institution has its own version on how to perform hand washing. This is also true for donning gloves. There are different brands of gloves each of which advertise some form of advantage over the other. There are also different modes of donning gloves such as the open technique and the close technique. There are also different varieties of gloves like clean gloves and surgical gloves. The differences and varieties with the way hand washing and gloving may be performed may account for the reason why some professionals err in the performance of these two important aseptic technique procedures. Another factor in the possible non-compliance of some healthcare professionals may be related to convenience in the performance of such procedures. For instance, when a nurse is overwhelmed by work-related stress due to high inpatient census, sometimes, the simple act of washing hands is intentionally neglected. As a solution to this, it is recommended to make hand hygiene convenient (JCR 2009, p.64). Instead of the traditional soap and water, it is possible to achieve the same effect with alcohol based scrub; thereby, eliminating the need for washing hands with water. It is also advisable to choose gloves that have special fit for different sizes of hands rather than the fit-all type of gloves. Conclusion In summary, hand washing and gloving are two common types of aseptic technique which are indispensable in the everyday practice of nursing. It has been well established that hand washing and gloving are crucial in the efficient delivery of services particularly in the aspect of preventing the spread of infection. Despite this known fact, some still err in complying with such procedures. References Case, C. (2011). Handwashing. [online] Available at: http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/hand_background.php Cho, C. and Alessandrini, E. (2008). Aseptic technique. In: King, C., Henretig, F. and King , B. (Eds.). Textbook of pediatric emergency procedures. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Dougherty, L. and Lister, S. (2011). The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures: Student edition. 8th edn., Chichester: John Wiley Sons Ltd. Joint Commission Resources (2009). Meeting joint commission’s infection prevention and control requirements: A priority focus area. 2nd edn., Illinois: Joint Commission Resources. LeTexier, R. (2011). Preventing infection through hand washing. [Online].Available at: http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/articles/2000/07/preventing-infection-throughhandwashing.aspx National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2003). Infection control: Prevention of healthcare-associated infection in primary and community care. [online]. Available at: http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG2fullguidelineinfectioncontrol.pdf White, L. (2005). Foundations of nursing. London: Thompson Delmar Learning. www.newessays.co.uk Nursing Essay: Sample World Health Orgnization (2006). The first global patient safety challenge: Clean care is safer care. [online]. available at: http://www.who.int/gpsc/tools/Infsheet6.pdf www.newessays.co.uk

Internet & Society: Technologies and Politics of Control Essay

Internet & Society: Technologies and Politics of Control From the moment Internet file-sharing became a reality, exploding into millions of homes and dorms, something changed. Internet file sharing brought with it the opportunity to access for free what had previously cost money. Beyond that, file sharing created a social norm that music and digital media ought to be free. How did this happen? How did file sharers warp reality and forever create this notion that digital media, notably music doesn’t require the money it always had before? Through this paper, I will attempt to prove that the social norms of the Internet public were corrupted by code, by deceptive P2P programs that mask reality for the sake of prosperity. It is this warped social norm that plagues the future of digital media tomorrow. By examining the programs that have forced this revolution (Napster, LimeWire, KaZaA) much can be learned and understood about where and how society failed to recognize its Internet world is in fact an extension of the physical world, and the same rules of civility and morality ought to apply. It is my contention that the P2P networks created an atmosphere built around harmonious sharing—using the ideas of strength in numbers and anonymity to create richly stocked P2P networks. Finally, after careful analysis and discussion of the facts, I will offer suggestions on moving forward and hopefully solving the chaos and problems faced by the present system (or lack thereof). In â€Å"Code and other Laws of Cyberspace†, Lawrence Lessig outlines the four modalities of regulation—law, markets, norms, and architecture. Law has the ability to regulate behavior through penalty and markets create incentives for people to behave in particular... ...the Internet and online file sharing no longer be a chaotic jungle of copyright infringement, but an extension of community and relationships as we understand these terms in the offline world. Works Cited Goulder, Alvin. â€Å"The Norm of Reciprocity: A Preliminary Statement† American Sociological Review 1960. Levin, Daniel. â€Å"Building Social Norms on the Internet†. Yale Journal of Law & Technology. 2001-2002. Steiner, Peter. â€Å"On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog†. The New Yorker 5 July 1993. Strahilevitz, Lior Jacob. â€Å"Charismatic Code, Social Norms, and the Emergence of Cooperation on the File-Swapping Networks†. John M. Olin Law & Economics Working Paper No. 165. The University of Chicago Law School. http://law.uchicago.edu/lawecon.index.html Takahashi, Nobuyuki. â€Å"The Emergence of Generalized Exchange† American Journal of Sociology 2000.

Ebay Case Study Essay

1. Describe EBay’s culture using the six characteristics describes in the prescribed text book according to the Corporate culture Index. Organisation Culture can be defined as a system of shared beliefs and behaviours such as; the language they use in the organisation, values systems, feelings and attitudes among each other and the interaction and norms of the members in the organisation. This determines how the company, employees and management interact and proceed with business transactions. An organisation’s culture develops mostly over time (Luthans, 2005). This set of beliefs is build within an organisation to create a sense of relation to employees and sometimes also consumers, it can be said that corporate culture is symbolic and identifies the organization as self. Corporate/organisational culture helps the organisation to achieve goals in their own way. A set of 20 cultural factors was developed by Henry Miglione, termed â€Å"Corporate culture index† (Brown and Harvey, 2006) The corporate culture index was developed to measure an organisations culture. These cultural factors include the following characteristics: Member Identity: Can be defined as the extent to which an employee indentifies with of within the organisation, taking into consideration their job and field of profession. Team Emphasis: The degree to with employees is able to work together as a team rather than  focusing on individual responsibilities, tasks and activities. People Focus: This involves the extend to which employees are empowered within the organisation. Autonomy: This involves the degree of independent and coordinated operation of the different departments within an organisation. Control: How rules, regulations and direct supervision is used to control employee behaviour that leads to better performance, and to what extent. Risk Tolerance: The motivation and encouragement employees receive from the organisation to be more aggressive, innovative, challenging and risk seeking to improve performance and development within the organisation. Describing EBay’s corporate culture trough using the 6 characteristics mentioned above. Member Identity: The working environment is casual and informal. Employees know what is expected from them and what they need to do. They stay focused on their goals. With the casual and informal atmosphere employees are able to identify with the organisation easier as they feel at home. In the case study the organisational vision and mission is outlined ant this would make it easier for the employees to identify with the organisation if they know what their working towards or standing for. They feel comfortable in their working environment and this leads to a better sense of identifying with their working environment/organisation. Team Emphasis: Employees work every day, they understand that a daily contribution is necessary to reach the organisations goals, they even ‘shop talk’ in the tearoom. People Focus: EBay empower staff by making them brand executives that makes them brand orientated. Employees have freedom within the office to do their work in a casual and comfortable environment to enhance performance. Autonomy: The department or brand executive is responsible for the specific happenings in the department. Every department operates in a coordinated manner to assure threat every purchase is handled with the upmost importance. Whitman  is all about bottom line approach and performance. Control: Employees know what’s expected from them, the informal culture gives the employees a sense of comfort that can lead to better performance, although the approach is still corporate it stays comfortable. There is no stick control. Employees are left to do their jobs without direct supervision. Employees have a drive to do their jobs as expected from them. The departments do not depend on one another so they know they are responsible for the completion of their responsibilities or tasks. Risk Tolerance: No risks were mentioned but referring to the case study and the departments employees will have a sense of competitiveness within the organisation against the different departments. EBay developed a target of internet users that they wanted to reach by the end of 2005. Their goals are innovative and reachable. 2. Briefly explain the socialisation process. Socialisation is the process where a new employee within the organisation learns and develops the skills, social knowledge, behaviour, norms and values that’s acceptable in the organisation. This usually follows after the introduction or training phase after an employee has been appointed, it can also be called learning the ropes. During socialisation an employee becomes aware of what is important in the organisation, what the organisation stands for and how things are being done. (Luthans, 2005) The socialisation process explained: New employee expectations New employees that join the organisation need to become aware of all the organisational norms, values and procedures of operation within the organisation. During this phase they need to be able to recognise it. This phase is easier handled when the new employee receives a mentor to help him/her through this process. (Brown and Harvey, 2006) The more the new employee adapts and learns the new culture the more comfortable they feel. Encounter organisational culture A new employee needs to learn their work group, and establish a relationship between the different members of group or team they work in. The new employee should understand and identify the way of functioning among the team members this includes the norms and values that’s used in the group. During this phase the new employee will develop positive relationships among colleges as well as support networks within the team or group. (Luthans, 2005) Adjustment to cultural norms The employee needs to accept the organisations culture and adapt to it. Responses to socialism can be identified into three different groups; they can reject the values and norms of the organisation and become rebellious, the new employee can accept only a few of the values and norms and make peace with the rest in time or the new employee can accept all the values and norms of the organisation and fully adapt and adjust to the organisational culture, that will lead to a comfortable employment and working atmosphere for the new employee. Result When an organisations culture is developed in such a positive way the employees will improve production and performance. The organisations climate and culture are set in place to develop a mission and vision in the organisation. Employees should be allowed to adapt to the norms of adapt it as a whole for the advantage of the organisation. (Brown and Harvey, 2006) 3. Bibliography Brown, D.R. and Harvey, D. (2006) An Experiential Approach to Organisational Development. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. Luthans, F. (2005) Organisational Culture, Socialisation and mentoring. In: Luthans, F. Organisational behaviour. 10th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill Irwin, pp. 30-55.

Drugs and Society Essay

1b. List and describe briefly the major structures of the brain, as presented in your textbook, including the function of those elements that are most related to psychoactive drug reaction. The first layer of the brain is the cortex which covers the top and sides of the brain. This area controls reasoning and language, and this area will be less active when under sedative drugs. The basal ganglia are located underneath the cortex and it is made up of by the striatum. The striatum controls muscle tone and is part of the dopamine pathway which is a potential transport highway for psychoactive drugs. The hypothalamus is at the base of the brain and serves as liaison between the brain and pituitary gland. The pituitary hormonal output is involved in behaviors such as feeding and temperature regulation. The limbic system affects emotion, location memory, and physical activity. Along the brain stem are the medulla, midbrain, and pons from which contain the bulk of neurons that create dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The lower brain stem controls vomiting and respiratory functions. If affected, the respiratory function can be suppressed by drugs. 1c. Describe the life cycle of a typical neurotransmitter. A cell membrane with the uptake of a particular precursor absorbs amino acids to create a neurotransmitter. The amino acids undergo synthesis with a reaction with enzymes to become a neurotransmitter. Once created, the neurotransmitters are stored in vesicles until they are released into the synapse. Once released, the neurotransmitters will attempt to attach to the membrane of neurons. If the neurotransmitter does not make it to the neuron, then it will either absorb in the originating cell or be metabolized within the synapse. 2b. Differentiate between drug disposition tolerance, behavioral tolerance, and pharmacodynamics tolerance, and provide reasons why these concepts should be taken into account when determining the effects of a drug. Drug disposition tolerance is defined as the increase of the drug’s rate of metabolism or removal. The user may increase the amount of a drug taken due to the drug being metabolized too quickly or being removed from the body. A person may compensate their behavior when exposed to a drug overtime such as learning to drive while intoxicated. The impairment is reduced and this is known as behavioral tolerance. Pharmacodynamics tolerance is the main contributor to the need to increase the dosage of a drug in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms. The user does not feel the same effects of a dosage so the dosage must be increased in order to get the same feeling. 2d. Provide several specific personal and societal steps you would recommend in an effort to reduce the likelihood of adverse reactions to drugs taken in combination. The largest deficit that can be produced to avoid adverse reactions to drug taken in combination is to avoid doing it all such as alcohol and other depressants. Individuals that need to take multiple medications such as person with diabetes and high blood pressure need to be carefully monitored and educated on the effects of the medications individually and the effects of the medications when combined. 3b. Explain the basic rationale and theoretical foundations for the extensive use of amphetamine in the treatment of ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). ADHD individuals have deficits involved with the functions of executive control within the brain. This control center affects concentration, hyperactivity, and learning. Amphetamines have been shown to produce a calming effect upon the individual from the amphetamines ability to increase brain catecholamine activity whereas ADHD individuals suffer from catecholamine deficits in the prefrontal cortex. 3c. Provide your personal viewpoint on major concerns about ADHD diagnoses and the efficacy of drug treatments that have led to recent controversy. The basis of diagnoses of ADHD has not been fully researched due to any widely accepted knowledge as to why stimulants are effective in treating hyperactivity. The causes of ADHD are still not thoroughly understood. There have also been non-stimulant drugs that have been shown to be just as effective as stimulants such as Strattera and Atomoxetine. I believe that ADHD itself is a complicated issue that requires multiple points of attack such as the use of stimulant and non-stimulant drugs. What may work on one individual may not work on another. 4a. Provide evidence of your understanding of the ways in which time course events of barbiturate and benzodiazepine actions contribute to the onset of psychological and/or physical dependence. Barbiturate are fast acting drugs that may work within fifteen minutes and stay in the system for up to three hours. Due to the rapid activity of the barbiturates, they serve as a strong reinforcement to users due to the drug produced a desired effect quickly and leaving the body just as quickly. Benzodiazepine takes longer to initialize, but also stay in the body for up to ten hours. Barbiturates are taken in higher doses more rapidly, while Benzodiazepine is taken at lower does. Withdrawal symptoms of barbiturates from chronic symptoms are severe due to the rapidness the drug leaves the user’s body without the user’s body being able to adapt to the drug adequately. 4b. Describe the key functions of GABA (g-aminobutryic acid) in producing the effects of various sedative-hypnotic agents, with specific reference to benzodiazepines. GABA is a neurotransmitter that is found in CNS areas and deals with inhibitory functions. Benzodiazepine molecules are strongly attracted to the GABA receptor sites and when bound to the GABA receptor, the Benzodiazepine molecules will increase the inhibitory effects of GABA on the receptors.