Haunted Elevators at the University of Maryland :: Urban Legend Myths

Haunted Elevators at the University of Maryland A good urban legend is like a play: so well written and delivered the audience cannot tell if the performers are acting. The legend is carefully crafted to resonate with the audiences’ â€Å"hopes, fears, and anxieties† and the delivery works to suspend their disbelief. One urban legend epitomizes these characteristics. This urban legend was told by an eighteen-year-old African American college student at the University of Maryland. The urban legend dealt with Denton Hall, where he currently lives. The storyteller claimed that one of the dormitory’s early residents was a girl who, due to some kind of calcium deficiency, had an unusually weak bone structure. The storyteller could not recall her name, but indicated that it had just slipped his mind and was on the tip of his tongue. One day, she was going to the dining hall with a friend of hers when she realized she had forgotten her I.D. card. She asked her friend to hold the elevator while she ran back to her room to get it. She was just reaching the elevator with her card when the elevator, having been held open for too long, began buzzing and the doors closed. The girl tried to jump onto the elevator at the last second but the doors closed on her and crushed her. According to the storyteller, some of her â€Å"brain fluid,† c omposed of neurotransmitters and other electrically conductive chemicals, sprayed into the elevators control panel and fried some of the circuitry. From that point on, the elevators in Denton have been on the fritz and break down whenever anyone holds them open for too long. The urban legend was delivered excellently. The storyteller had also selected a perfect time for his performance. He was speaking too a small group of other Maryland students who were waiting for the elevator in Denton. He had enough time to finish his story, because only one of the elevators was working. The storyteller presented the story as if he was simply relating the facts. He did not fill the story with dramatic pauses or extensive efforts to get an emotional response from the audience. If he thought his audience was going to find a part of the story disturbing or unbelievable he qualified it by saying â€Å"Now I thought this was really gross.

Improving Procurement Lead Times at Hill Air Force Base Essay -- Busin

Improving Procurement Lead Times at Hill Air Force Base In today’s tough economic times organizations need to seriously look at ways to improve their service level, even in the government. With decreasing military budgets and workforce reductions all government agencies need to streamline activities as much as possible to ensure that the taxpayers’ dollars are being spent wisely and the warfighter is being supported. The National Health Service (NHS) of East Midlands, England has established an excellent website, which benchmarks their twelve steps to process improvement on their Improvement Network (NHS - East Midlands, 2012). The website offers many tools and techniques as well as improvement tools that can be used during the process improvement steps. Although many organizations struggle with process improvements, careful analysis suggests that government agencies can reap the benefits of process improvements just as much as other public and private sectors, especially if they follow an organized approach such as the one identified on the NHS improvement network. Step 1 - Choose a Specific Service to Improve The government procurement process can be a daunting task. Whether the acquisition is competitive or non-competitive, procurement lead times can vary greatly depending on the type of procurement. With news stories of impropriety transpiring among the government on a daily basis more oversight is being required during the procurement process which is adding unnecessary time to the procurement lead times. With the increased oversight requirements it has become more difficult to get the necessary products to the warfighter during their time of need, which greatly affects the ability for government procurement offi... ...though some may argue that making improvements within an organization can be difficult. As long as organizations follow the first four steps in process improvement they should be able to operate more effectively and efficiently. In order for organizations to improve their service levels they need to examine both their internal and external processes and determine the steps required to make necessary improvements. It is essential for organizations to reduce operating costs and improve their service level, even in the government. Works Cited Jacobs, F. R., & Chase, R. B. (2010). Operations and supply chain management. (13 ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. MindTools.com. (2012). essential skills for excellent career. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/ NHS - East Midlands. (2012). The improvement network. Retrieved from http://www.tin.nhs.uk/

Role of Social Worker in Non-Profit Long Term Care

Several studies have highlighted the efficiency of profit-oriented organizations compared to non-profit organizations. In the nursing homes or long term care facility too, this is no exception, where the profit driven homes are seen to be technically and economically efficient than the non- profit facilities. The operation of the non-profit homes is directed to ensuring that revenues and costs are relatively equal. The non-profit nursing homes, run by government, religious bodies and even by private philanthropic affiliations are not seriously classified for their performance and quality, and are largely categorized together (Knox, Blankmeyer and Stutzman).Research done into staffing levels of profit and non-profit nursing homes however, show that nursing homes in the non-profit sector have higher staffing levels, compared to profit oriented nursing organizations. Literature on nursing homes in the US show that non-profit care facilities have higher number of direct care staff and lo wer staff turnover rates. It should be noted here that the majority of nursing homes in the US are profit oriented while in Canada, the majority are non-profit care homes (Margaret J et al., 2005).Social workers in health care have addressed the problems and situations associated with illnesses, seeing things in the bigger perspective, while also addressing the immediate concerns. The largest area of focus in social work is perhaps in the health field. Social workers have performed their expected or required roles, and have also raised awareness among other health care professionals to look beyond disease or ailment of the patient; into the psychological and social aspects of the ailment and its treatment (Dhooper, 1997).The responsibilities associated with social work in long-term nursing homes  include tasks with patients and their families, both within and outside the hospital. Most social workers in hospitals are responsible for functions like high risk screening, social and p sychological assessments, coordinated patient care, discharge planning and follow up.In long term care facilities, the social worker is required to be aware of the traditional and non traditional social work involvement and their roles, and appropriately examine the most suitable application. The social workers review the evidence base systematically and accordingly develop protocols and recommendations for practice. They encourage academic and practice partnerships and try to identify similar areas of concern, with their medical colleagues.The social workers perform several roles, even beyond that expected of a social service worker. However there is no formal profile of the tasks associated with social worker in nursing home care. The law and regulatory governing are restricted to finding out the presence and absence of the social worker. There is no certification or recognition process to evaluate the contributions of the social worker particularly in the non-profit nursing homes .An important aspect of social work in health setting is assessment, including psychosocial assessment. Client problems need to be assessed to begin treatment intervention, irrespective of the ailment or the people. Assessment helps in gathering, analyzing and evaluating relevant information based on which appropriate treatment strategies are implemented. Sometimes the social worker may be required to service at  homes of clients. Interviewing clients at home, particularly the elderly ones, offers an informal atmosphere and reinforces to the client that he or she is supported and is not left alone (Mellor and Solomon, 1996).Use of client’s first name, hugging, accepting a cup of tea are all part of a professional conduct of a social worker. The social worker is also sought to address psychosocial needs in nursing homes, to treat mental health problems. The social work provider’s perspective in diagnosing and treating anxiety, dementia and depression is considered nec essary. Through appropriate in-home interventions, social work providers even ascertain ineffective diagnosis and delivery of inappropriate care.   They address several issues with social relevance like relationship loss, adjustment to environment, terminal care etc.In the non-emergency nursing home admissions, social work personnel carry out the psychosocial assessment of the client during the initial contact. Based on this assessment, the level of required social work involvement, preparation of social work activity and discharge plans are finalized. This assessment also marks the beginning of the patient-social worker relationship. The social worker may at times be required to alert other physicians on existing psychosocial problems, which they should consider before medical interventions.Here the social worker must ensure that patient details or medical history are not breached or misused by anyone having access to it. Preadmission screenings by social workers can reduce unwan ted readmissions while also reducing the stay in nursing homes. Discharge planning may be involved with many ethical issues or even legal issues for the social worker. The social worker has a crucial role in sorting conflict between  patient expectations and nursing home obligations. When patients with very little hope of recovery or irreversible conditions are discharged, they and their families consider the nursing home to have abandoned them and experience a loss of hope. Here the social worker, attempts to change this perception by planning for the future through problem solving.The role of social worker in non-profit long term care is highly diverse from being a psychotherapist, social work consultant and a consultant on psychosocial issues. They assist client immensely in their transition to and from long-term care. They associate elders and families to community facilities and services through appropriate brokering, cause and needs advocacy.They help in planning long-term c are with the client and their family and resolve issues in finance, legal and social requirements. In care planning, the social service provider needs to develop plans taking into consideration the arrangements and psychosocial support for older persons. The plans, particularly long term care plans must be accommodative of any physical or cognitive changes, as and when it arises.Social workers need to be wise to accept and respect the fact that clients, particularly older clients in long-term care have the right to choose or decide on matters pertaining to their treatment (Vourlekis, et. al, 2005). Social workers also need to be conscious of the ethical issues arising in their work with older clients.Long term care is not just restricted to the caring of elderly people. Long term care can be associated with any age, like even with children having long term health implications.The services provided by social workers are very diverse and is associated with both, a health perspective a nd a social perspective. The quality of delivery for the health factor is judged based on technical aspects of care like treatment outcomes and evaluation of care process. The quality of social services provided is judged based on the opinion and perception of the users. In contrast to acute care which is associated to restoration of normal health, long term care is more associated in suppressing or preventing further decline in health condition or progress of disability (Gooloo, Wunderlich, Kohler, 2001). Sometime people would adapt to heir disabilities and adverse health conditions and may even begin to depend less on social or medical assistance for a considerably long period of time.The role of social worker in the non-profit long term care is immense and cannot be overlooked. They are involved in all aspects of patient care from assessment to discharge, apart from ensuring their social well being. Given the trend in modern medicine, where newer and sophisticated treatments incr ease life span, the population of elderly people has been increasing significantly, and more elderly people are likely to seek nursing care for various reasons. Also with newer diseases, associated with developing life styles, food habits, and environment; people are likely to seek more medical intervention for unconventional diseases. Therefore people across all ages and backgrounds seeking medical intervention would have more social implications and social relevance, relying more on the social worker to deliver.REFERENCESKnox K.J., Blankmeyer E.C and Stutzman J.R., (2006) Comparative Performance and Quality among Nonprofit Nursing Facilities in Texas, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. Sage Publications [Electronic Version] downloaded on 10th May 2008 from http://nvs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/35/4/631Margaret J et al., (2005) Staffing levels in not-for-profit and for-profit long-term care facilities: Does type of ownership matter? Canadian Medical Association Journal, March 1 , 2005 [Electronic Version] downloaded on 10th May 2008 from http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/172/5/645 Vourlekis B, Zlotnik J.L, Simons K., (2005) Institute for the advancement of Social Work Research, Evaluating Social Work Services in Nursing Homes: Toward Quality Psychosocial Care [Electronic Version] downloaded on 11th May 2008 from http://www.charityadvantage.com/iaswr/IASWRNursingHome.pdf Dhooper S.S., (1997) Social Work in Health Care in the 21st Century. Sage Publications, London Mellor J and Solomon R., (1996) Geriatric Social Work Education Haworth Press. Gooloo S, Wunderlich, Kohler P.O., (Eds) (2001) Improving the Quality of Long-term Care, National Academies Press Role of Social Worker in Non-Profit Long Term Care Several studies have highlighted the efficiency of profit-oriented organizations compared to non-profit organizations. In the nursing homes or long term care facility too, this is no exception, where the profit driven homes are seen to be technically and economically efficient than the non- profit facilities. The operation of the non-profit homes is directed to ensuring that revenues and costs are relatively equal. The non-profit nursing homes, run by government, religious bodies and even by private philanthropic affiliations are not seriously classified for their performance and quality, and are largely categorized together (Knox, Blankmeyer and Stutzman).Research done into staffing levels of profit and non-profit nursing homes however, show that nursing homes in the non-profit sector have higher staffing levels, compared to profit oriented nursing organizations. Literature on nursing homes in the US show that non-profit care facilities have higher number of direct care staff and lo wer staff turnover rates. It should be noted here that the majority of nursing homes in the US are profit oriented while in Canada, the majority are non-profit care homes (Margaret J et al., 2005).Social workers in health care have addressed the problems and situations associated with illnesses, seeing things in the bigger perspective, while also addressing the immediate concerns. The largest area of focus in social work is perhaps in the health field. Social workers have performed their expected or required roles, and have also raised awareness among other health care professionals to look beyond disease or ailment of the patient; into the psychological and social aspects of the ailment and its treatment (Dhooper, 1997). The responsibilities associated with social work in long-term nursing homes  include tasks with patients and their families, both within and outside the hospital. Most social workers in hospitals are responsible for functions like high risk screening, social and psychological assessments, coordinated patient care, discharge planning and follow up.In long term care facilities, the social worker is required to be aware of the traditional and non traditional social work involvement and their roles, and appropriately examine the most suitable application. The social workers review the evidence base systematically and accordingly develop protocols and recommendations for practice. They encourage academic and practice partnerships and try to identify similar areas of concern, with their medical colleagues. The social workers perform several roles, even beyond that expected of a social service worker. However there is no formal profile of the tasks associated with social worker in nursing home care. The law and regulatory governing are restricted to finding out the presence and absence of the social worker. There is no certification or recognition process to evaluate the contributions of the social worker particularly in the non-profit nursing hom es.An important aspect of social work in health setting is assessment, including psychosocial assessment. Client problems need to be assessed to begin treatment intervention, irrespective of the ailment or the people. Assessment helps in gathering, analyzing and evaluating relevant information based on which appropriate treatment strategies are implemented. Sometimes the social worker may be required to service at  homes of clients. Interviewing clients at home, particularly the elderly ones, offers an informal atmosphere and reinforces to the client that he or she is supported and is not left alone (Mellor and Solomon, 1996).Use of client’s first name, hugging, accepting a cup of tea are all part of a professional conduct of a social worker. The social worker is also sought to address psychosocial needs in nursing homes, to treat mental health problems. The social work provider’s perspective in diagnosing and treating anxiety, dementia and depression is considered n ecessary. Through appropriate in-home interventions, social work providers even ascertain ineffective diagnosis and delivery of inappropriate care.   They address several issues with social relevance like relationship loss, adjustment to environment, terminal care etc.In the non-emergency nursing home admissions, social work personnel carry out the psychosocial assessment of the client during the initial contact. Based on this assessment, the level of required social work involvement, preparation of social work activity and discharge plans are finalized. This assessment also marks the beginning of the patient-social worker relationship.The social worker may at times be required to alert other physicians on existing psychosocial problems, which they should consider before medical interventions. Here the social worker must ensure that patient details or medical history are not breached or misused by anyone having access to it. Preadmission screenings by social workers can reduce unw anted readmissions while also reducing the stay in nursing homes. Discharge planning may be involved with many ethical issues or even legal issues for the social worker. The social worker has a crucial role in sorting conflict between  patient expectations and nursing home obligations. When patients with very little hope of recovery or irreversible conditions are discharged, they and their families consider the nursing home to have abandoned them and experience a loss of hope. Here the social worker, attempts to change this perception by planning for the future through problem solving.The role of social worker in non-profit long term care is highly diverse from being a psychotherapist, social work consultant and a consultant on psychosocial issues. They assist client immensely in their transition to and from long-term care. They associate elders and families to community facilities and services through appropriate brokering, cause and needs advocacy. They help in planning long-ter m care with the client and their family and resolve issues in finance, legal and social requirements.In care planning, the social service provider needs to develop plans taking into consideration the arrangements and psychosocial support for older persons. The plans, particularly long term care plans must be accommodative of any physical or cognitive changes, as and when it arises. Social workers need to be wise to accept and respect the fact that clients, particularly older clients in long-term care have the right to choose or decide on matters pertaining to their treatment (Vourlekis, et. al, 2005). Social workers also need to be conscious of the ethical issues arising in their work with older clients.Long term care is not just restricted to the caring of elderly people. Long term care can be associated with any age, like even with children having long term health implications.The services provided by social workers are very diverse and is associated with both, a health perspectiv e and a social perspective. The quality of delivery for the health factor is judged based on technical aspects of care like treatment outcomes and evaluation of care process. The quality of social services provided is judged based on the opinion and perception of the users. In contrast to acute care which is associated to restoration of normal health, long term care is more associated in suppressing or preventing further decline in health condition or progress of disability (Gooloo, Wunderlich, Kohler, 2001). Sometime people would adapt to heir disabilities and adverse health conditions and may even begin to depend less on social or medical assistance for a considerably long period of time.The role of social worker in the non-profit long term care is immense and cannot be overlooked. They are involved in all aspects of patient care from assessment to discharge, apart from ensuring their social well being. Given the trend in modern medicine, where newer and sophisticated treatments i ncrease life span, the population of elderly people has been increasing significantly, and more elderly people are likely to seek nursing care for various reasons. Also with newer diseases, associated with developing life styles, food habits, and environment; people are likely to seek more medical intervention for unconventional diseases. Therefore people across all ages and backgrounds seeking medical intervention would have more social implications and social relevance, relying more on the social worker to deliver.REFERENCESKnox K.J., Blankmeyer E.C and Stutzman J.R., (2006) Comparative Performance and Quality among Nonprofit Nursing Facilities in Texas, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. Sage Publications [Electronic Version] downloaded on 10th May 2008 from http://nvs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/35/4/631Margaret J et al., (2005) Staffing levels in not-for-profit and for-profit long-term care facilities: Does type of ownership matter? Canadian Medical Association Journal, Marc h 1, 2005 [Electronic Version] downloaded on 10th May 2008 from http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/172/5/645 Vourlekis B, Zlotnik J.L, Simons K., (2005) Institute for the advancement of Social Work Research, Evaluating Social Work Services in Nursing Homes: Toward Quality Psychosocial Care [Electronic Version] downloaded on 11th May 2008 from http://www.charityadvantage.com/iaswr/IASWRNursingHome.pdf Dhooper S.S., (1997) Social Work in Health Care in the 21st Century. Sage Publications, London Mellor J and Solomon R., (1996) Geriatric Social Work Education Haworth Press. Gooloo S, Wunderlich, Kohler P.O., (Eds) (2001) Improving the Quality of Long-term Care, National Academies Press

Civil Unions and Same-Sex Marriages Essay

Questions about morality, family relationships, freedom of expression, and sexuality are at stake in the gay marriage debate. The main argument of the issue of same sex marriage is how much we should allow the government to control in issues like marriage in our private lives. â€Å"At Issue: Gay Marriage†, which is a book written by Debra Miller in 2012, includes a broad spectrum of views on the subject. One of the biggest issues in the gay marriage debate is the meaning of the separation of church and state in the United States. Some organizations and churches argue that state support of same-sex marriage is a breach of their religious freedoms which are protected by the US Constitution and if they are forced by laws enacted to include same sex marriages that they are being forced to accept acts that are against their religious beliefs. In a statement made concerning same sex marriage; some religious organizations and churches claimed that homosexual acts go against their religious beliefs and the natural moral law and that they should not be forced to perform marriages that go against their beliefs. Religious organizations say that to legalize homosexual marriage is religious persecution in their eyes. People that approve of gay marriage make the point that marriage is a legal right and a religious right as well because church and the state are separate. Activists argue that homosexual couples have a right to a marriage the same as heterosexual couples do. Another point that is called on is that people do not have to marry in a church but can do so in a court house as well and that no church or religious organization is bound to marry any couple. They are basically saying that churches are not forced to do anything against their belief system. One side will argue against federal laws that encompass and over rule state laws. Others will argue that each state should be able to make and enforce laws that concern each state as they see fit within their state governmental departments, like those concerning marriage laws. President Bush believed and stated that â€Å"the voice of the people is being compromised by the actions of a few judges in isolated cases†, (President George Bush, 2003). Former President Bush believes that laws like these could threaten every state in the union because of the â€Å"full faith and credit† clause in Article IV of the Constitution, (The United States Constitution, Article III, Section 2, 2013), which requires all states to honor the laws of every other state. President Bush said in an interview that the full faith and credit clause would require all states same-sex marriages performed anywhere in America. Bush, 2003) Civil Unions include heterosexual and same sex unions according to The Department of Internal Affairs, (The Department of Internal Affairs, 2004). Civil Unions differ from marriage because they are entered into by two people who chose to live together as man and wife and present themselves to the public and in private this way without an official marriage or marriage license. They consider themselves married but the government, whether state, local, or federal do not. At one time heterosexual civil unions were accepted and now are no longer recognized in most states. What this means is that people with a marriage license issued by the state are guaranteed certain rights, responsibilities, and privileges that people in civil unions are not given. These rights extend to the work place where insurance is guaranteed to a spouse of heterosexuals that are married but not to civil unions between same or opposite sex couples working in the same place. If same sex marriage and civil unions are both accepted and laws are enacted to approve of them then I believe this opens the doors to many other types of behaviors in the future that will do more harm than good to our society. These behaviors would include the right of an older person to marry a child for instance or to marry an animal or inanimate object even. We must ask ourselves one question and that is where we are willing to draw the line in our inclusions and amendments to the laws that were written to protect us in the beginning. The more we accept the more we are willing to accept as a society.

Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay

The nursing shortage and high turnover rate in nursing impacts the economic life of every health care organization in America. The purpose of this paper is to define and discuss the approaches in leadership and management styles in relation to the nursing shortage and nurse turnover using theories, principles, skills, and roles of the leader versus manager and to identify this student’s professional philosophy of nursing and personal leadership style. INTRODUCTION The Affordable Care Act has changed the landscape of health care delivery in America. Many more patients are seeking health care. Mary Force concludes one of the most serious issues facing healthcare delivery is the nursing shortage. It is estimated the current shortage of registered nurses will be 340,000 by the year 2020 (Force, 2005). There is inadequate nursing staff to meet the heavy demands of the current patient climate seen in acute care hospitals today. Hospitals need dependable, highly trained nurses. Nursing turnover and shortages mean current nurses seek different employment, resign, transfer or are terminated. Causes of turnover and shortages are an aging RN population and a demographically large aging boomer population, low enrollments in nursing schools, increased workload, poor nurse staffing ratios and high patient acuity according to Ribelin (2003). Nurses do not leave hospitals; they leave their managers (Ribelin, 2003). Lack of good leadership by nurse leaders and managers, limited upward mobility, unsatisfactory remuneration, lack of teamwork, poor communication, and inflexibility in work schedule all also contributing factors to high staff turnover. COMPARE AND CONTRAST LEADERS APPROACH It is important to understand the different role the nurse manager and nurse  leader play in order to understand their approach to the staff they have responsible for, especially in the area of staff retention. The roles are different yet there is interface between both. The nurse manager’s role is defined by the organization that gives her or him authority (control) and has subordinates (nurse leader) to delegate tasks to so that the goals of the organization are met. They value stability and focus on short-term results. Their objectives are to complete tasks, perform time management, control productivity, and maintain necessary equipment. They plan, budget, organize, coordinate, solve problems and make decisions. They focus on the organization’s policy and procedures, systems, efficiency, and doing the work in their assigned area per organizational boundaries. It is little wonder that staff sometimes see themselves as little more than a number in the eyes of some nu rse mangers. The nurse manager can address the problem of turnover by being visible and present in the unit and be seen by their staff frequently. They can assist with flexible scheduling and adequate staff-patient ratios. They can also be champions for adequate reimbursement, benefit plans, and the synchronization of resources that enhance the nursing experience. When coupled with organizational reimbursement for advanced education such as completion of baccalaureate and master degrees, nursing satisfaction is higher and managers are better able to retain their staff. Hunt suggests job sharing as a possibility also (Hunt, 2009). They can also recognize staff for their services and give tokens of appreciation. Unfortunately nurse managers have little control over the nursing shortage. The U.S. federal government must allocate more educational funds to support nursing programs. There must be more programs available so teachers can be trained and additional seats made available to students at universities and community colleges. The nurse leader’s role and activity with the staff is an important link in assisting the organ ization reach its goals. They earn the right to lead by influencing people through communication, consensus, explaining vision, listening, teaching, inspiring, motivating, creating, building trust relationships, and empowerment. Effective nurse leadership is about teamwork, listening, mentoring, coaching, and persuasion. Nurse leaders assist staff with the big picture, the vision. Nurse leaders look for new ways to solve problems by being flexible and adaptive. They are excellent at communication and being involved with their staff. They  encourage participation by the nursing staff in clinical ladders for career advancement. Their followers value them. They are a positive force through their communication, sense of purpose, and thus assist in staff retention and turnover. Effective leadership is an essential component in staff retention (Kleinman, 2004). PESONNAL LEADERSHIP STYLE The writer’s own personal and professional philosophy blends well with the role of nurse leader. She has the qualities to be a manager but her personal and professional style revolves around teaching, communicating creating vision and team building. To be positive and inspiring is part of this nurse’s innate character. This nurse has the capacity to be a transformational nurse leader, leading by example, inspiring others of the organizations vision, and to encourage others to further their education. This writer identifies and promotes shared responsibility for actions and a democratic process in which nurses communicate effectively with management. This nurse leader empowers everyone to work as a team and accomplish goals. The collective group then takes ownership if they feel they are heard and valued. They catch the vision. The organization’s vision becomes their vision. Success comes from people working together understanding that together they can all do great things. The issue of turnover and retention can be addressed by increased satisfaction in the nursing career. This often comes by nurse leaders like myself knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the staff, treating the staff as individuals with great potential to contribute to the team, listening, persuading, encouraging, being sensitive to the workload of the staff, showing empathy for the staff and involving nurses in the decision making process. This also involves nurse leaders communicating clearly with the nurse manager, linking the team together to achieve goals. CONCLUSION Nursing shortages and turnover are ongoing issues. All levels of Leadership must collaborate to address the ongoing issues of nursing shortages and turnover. Good leadership by nurse managers and nurse leaders can reduce the nurse turnover rate but the nursing shortage that is plaguing the health care system is hindering the ability of nurses to provide adequate care of their patients. It is a policy matter to be addressed by the highest levels  of government. Nurse managers and nurse leaders have differing roles and methods of obtaining objectives but both are needed to successfully meet the goals of the health care organization. References Force M. V. 2005. Relationship Between Effective Nurse managers and Nursing retention. Force, M. V. (2005). The Relationship Between Effective Nurse managers and Nursing retention. , 35(718), 336-341. D Hunt, S. (2009): Nursing Turnover: Costs, Causes, & Solutions. Retrieved on October 6, 2013 from http://uexcel.com/resources/articles/NursingTurnover.pdf Kleinman, C. (2004). Leadership: A key strategy in staff nurse retention. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 35(3), 128-132. Retrieved from http://tools.hhr-rhs.ca/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=att_download&link_id=5677&cf_id=68&lang=en Ribelin, P. (2003). Recruitment & retention report: Retention reflects leadership style. Nursing Management, 34(8), Retrieved from http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/journalarticle?Article_ID=418488

Boethius Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Boethius - Essay Example In this case, the infallible providence of God is privy to all future events and whatever actions a rational creature sets out to do have actually been predetermined. However, this is going against the concept of freedom of choice, this is because the premise for legitimate free will would comprise of a non-predetermined course of things since freedom can be loosely defined as a the will by a rational creature to determine its own life and destiny independently. Thus, concisely if God is all knowing, cannot be wrong, and he knows of the human destiny and future action, then it translates that man’s future is predetermined in Gods knowledge of its occurrence and in these premise the concept of free will is fallacious. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius is one of the sages who have had significant impact on this debate; he posited a solution for this problem which he claims was shown to him in a vision by lady philosophy while he was locked up in prison. On free will he says the fact that humans are capable of reasoning means they possess free will, reason enables them to make logical judgments which translate to decisions (Flew, 175). Therefore, they have the ability and capacity to decide what should be included or excluded from their lives. He further classifies freedom thus; humans are freest when contemplating philosophically and least free when engaged in addictive behavior and bound in earthly fetters. However lady philosophy tells him that, God can foresee our future and puts everyone in the situations that are best fitted for their present needs in his infinite and infallible wisdom. However, this begs the question which had been earlier discussed before that, if the infallible God knows our actions and it is impossible that he is wrong, how then can we claim to have free will, this is because to justify perfect foresight, either what is going to happen must be foresees by him or what he sees must invariably come to pass, nevertheless in either ca se, human freedom is nullified. The solution offered by lady philosophy and which Boethius proposes is that God does not â€Å"know† or see things in the same way as man, he is eternal and the past present and future are simultaneous to him. He does not exist in the same temporal dimensions as humans thus despite the fact that tomorrow is yet to be, he sees it as we do the present, therefore he knows what will happen without directing it to happen (Flew 176).   Therefore, the knowledge of God transcends all that is in the temporal and spatial realms as perceived by man and it exists in the simplicity of a simple present, thus Gods knowledge is not future knowledge but awareness of a consistent present. In other words, one should not think of providence as the causative agent in the cause of things, they happen independently and providence only foresees them because they will happen not to make them happen. In my opinion, Boethius’ reasoning is not tenable, his argume nts go round in circles and coming back to the same point, because he wants to justify two diametrically opposed ideas and makes it appear that both are logical. At the end of the day, if we agree God all knows, his transcendence of time will not change the fact that humans are immersed in it, thus events in his continuous present are occur to humans in different times. Thus, the fact that thing happen as they do, and God presumably is aware of them means free will remains and illusion. However, to borrow from a biblical reasoning, God knows an individual even when they are in

The Biggest Issue Facing The American Correction System Research Paper

The Biggest Issue Facing The American Correction System - Research Paper Example The correctional system in the US continues to suffer serious problems that hamper its smooth operations. These problems include but not limited to; overcrowding, the radicalization of inmates, prisoners deviant behaviors, funding, litigation, negative coverage from the media, mental conditions affecting inmates, lack of staff morale from the prison officers, and lack of proper training of prison officers and guards (Cole, 2015). The radicalization of inmates has become a growing concern in the correctional system today. Members of organized gangs, terrorist groups, and religious sects are quietly and rapidly recruiting inmates into their outfits. The usage of contraband mobile phones inside the prisons is also a contributory factor. The proliferation of violence and other deviant behaviors in prisons is also a problem. It is estimated that about 60 percent of all incarcerated persons in the US is violent (Cole, 2015). This behavior leads to confrontations between inmates and officer s. Funding has also been highlighted as one of the bottlenecks the correctional system is facing. Federal budget cuts targeting the prison system affects programs such as staff training, consequently affecting job morale. However, overcrowding is the arguably the biggest issue affecting the American correctional system today. Overcrowding, of all issues bugging the prison system, has been cited as the biggest and most troubling. In the US today, over 2 million Americans and other foreign individuals have been incarcerated.