Monday, September 30, 2019

Management performance: efficiency and effectivity

Efficiency is the relationship between the means and the end. It simply refers to the amount of resources used to achieve target production and company goals. The main objective of which is to increase productivity by increasing respective efficiency at all levels. Where the concept of process improvement relies on the provision of technology, it integrates links of all key business functions and makes use of integrated structured software to run and manage the company. The philosophy of planning and organizing company’s activities demands proper control and monitoring of its resources. This serves as the basis to making necessary corrections and guidelines. Information technology (IT) therefore plays an important role in the aspects of technology adaptation. Its vital design is accessibility to information or speed of access created to fit total client and business management system. However, the main consideration of the integration with IT is still the people, and the workflow. Teamwork and management leadership are factors that shall still be mutually carried over the entire workflow. Efficiency aims to bring together knowledge, people and materials to achieved optimal results in market positioning. It entirely reflects the methods and the means to try to accomplish the plan. Strong management leadership in line with employee motivations greatly influences the effects of efficiency. To recapitulate: efficiency enables the organization to support the business by leveraging on its integrated workflow management to customer relations management for higher productivity. This ensures virtual service quality in simplified mapping enhancements of the network performance reporting capabilities. The basic key of the process is to align every diverse constituent to critical information asymmetries that allows timing and participation in the cycle. Where the people are highly motivated and is performing at high levels, organization performance always refers to the means and methods used to achieve corporate goals. It focuses on management of human, conceptual and technical skills to enhance flexibility through teamwork in the art of getting things done through people and integration of technology in an efficient manner. The diversity of the corporate culture needs solid management skills and action in creating the conditions and environment to manage and run the company in an efficient manner to sustain its long term existence. The results of which can be measured on its productivity and effectivity. In comparison, effectivity is the means to measure the methods and applications applied to achieve corporate goals. Thus it is the task involve in making an analysis of the result and efficiency of the management tools and skills being utilized by the current organizational system and practices. It utilizes systems thinking to assess cause and effect variables of its applications in the fundamental aspects of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of each unit or department in reference to overall effectivity. Efficiency is the logical integration of people, equipment, and technology resources to promote productivity and achieve end values while effectivity measures the consistency of the means to achieve corporate goals by the measure of man-machine-systems efficiency and calculations of productivity ratios. Working in the efficiency of each individual, machine, and technology performance is what defines the heart and soul of an organization’s systems and procedures which aims to regulate management practices to enhance productivity. Efficiency is the primary indicator of either a successful or failing management performance. It can be improved simultaneously only by making critical analysis of its efficiency by measures of the individual productivity. This measure of efficiency and productivity is the task or the concept of effectivity. (Daft 2004). References Daft, Richard. (2004). Management. South Western College. Â  

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Social Criticism in William Blakes Chimney Sweeper

Social Criticism in William Flake's â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† ‘The Chimney Sweeper' by William Blake criticizes child labor and especially society that sees the children's misery but chooses to look away and it reveals the change of the mental state of those children who were forced to do such cruel work at the age of four to nine years. It shows the change from an innocent child that dreams of its rescue to the child that has accepted its fate. Those lives seem to oppose each other and yet if one reads the poems carefully, one can see that they have a lot in common too.The poem was inspired by the first laws that were supposed to make the chimney sweeper's life better, but since those laws were loosely enforced Blake wanted to draw attention to their horrible situation and wanted society to be aware of this problem to reinforce the existing and make new laws. Blake shows the life of two different chimney sweepers, one very naive child, Tom, that somehow managed to keep some of its childlike innocence and one that he calls ‘experienced' that sees his life more realistic and shows who is to blame for this situation.One can find many phrases that underline Tom's innocence throughout the mom but the symbols of the hair that is compared to a lamb's wool and the White hair' confirm that first impression one gets when reading the poem. Little Tom's dream is another symbol of his innocence. He dreams of an angel that comes to rescue him with a ‘bright key. In Gardener's book Flake's Innocence and Experience Retraced he comments on the dream but also has a very interesting theory of the black coffin's meaning.The gowned figure of Christ appears in the illustrations to all these poems, and in ‘The Chimney Sweeper' the same gowned figure releases the sys from the coffin â€Å"of black†, which epitomizes the horizontal flues (the size of a child's coffin) which killed so many infant sweeps (Gardner 66). His theory is that the black c offins symbolize the small chimneys where many children got suck and suffocated. Which is a reasonable theory; chimneys that were built at that time were made very narrow and many children weren't able to get out of them anymore.Here Blake criticizes that many children had to Jeopardize their life to do their Job. At first there was a poor attempt to regulate this: children were sweeping the chimneys thou clothes so the clothes could not get caught and imprison the children in a chimney but this solution was inhumane as it takes away the child's dignity and another point that had to be called to attention at that time: The children's rights as they did not have any. And it wasn't Just about the children's rights but also without clothes the children hurt their knees and elbows very much.This was even worse because of the infections through the soot as chimney sweepers were washed rarely and were sleeping on the soot they swept during the day and in a black and very narrow room with all the other chimney sweepers. Blake also criticizes that those children are in complete darkness most of their time. They ‘rose in the dark (line 21), spend their day sweeping chimneys and when they were done they would walk from door to door asking for more work and then got back into their black rooms to go to sleep.So this stands in contrast with the life little Tom dreams of where he is being washed, can run free and enjoy his life as children should be able to do. ‘And washed in the river, and shine in the sun/ then naked and white, all their bags left behind/ they rise upon the clouds and sport in the wind' (line 6-18). Tom's dream creates a bit of hope in the reader that Tom might be able to be happy and consoled by this dream but this hope is dismissed at the end of the poem.Though Tom is warm and happy inside, the cold morning shows that in reality the angel's consolation is not much of a consolation and the reader knows that even the older boys help that the hair cannot be spoiled if it is shorn off would not help much either. Also those words like dark and harm create a baleful atmosphere and through the broken rhyme scheme the reader is thrown back into Tom's dark reality. So at the ND the reader does not have a choice but to deal with this reality and think about the boys situation which is what Blake intended The conditions of the places the children slept in were another point that Blake criticizes. He sleeps in soot instead of the early mother's bosom or lap. But Just as the mother shields the child from the intense beams of God's love until he is able to bear them alone, so the sweeper's soot is ironically his shield' (Inurn 19). As this quote states the child should sleep on the mothers lap instead of soot that a child is supposed to be loved and taken care of but instead it is sold and surrounded by luckless.I disagree with the second statement that the mother shields a child from the intense beams of God' and what it is compar ed to; the reason why I disagree is that Blake was not a very religious person for his time and I doubt that he meant to draw a connection between the mothers loving shield to an ironic shield of soot. This interpretation is going away too much from the original statement and there is too much imagination in this thought. Blake criticizes that children were so young when they were sold to be chimney sweepers that they couldn't talk properly yet.The reason for this was that the chimneys were so narrow an older child would not be able to crawl through. This fact is shown very clear in the first line of both poems but the picture gets much more distinct in the second and third line where the child says he could not even pronounce the word ‘sweep' and says Weep instead. Those children were too young to be aware of their situation until they were enslaved, and when they did understand it, they would cry like Tom when he gets his hair cut.The only consolation the other older boys ca n give is that now his beautiful white hair cannot e spoiled. But if this is a good consolation at all is up to the reader to decide. Blake does not indicate whether he agrees or disagrees. From the mature or maybe the experienced point of view, it is in fact no consolation at all but little Tom seems to believe it is a good one. When my mother died I was very young, and my father sold me while yet my tongue could scarcely cry N. ‘pep! Weep! Weep! † (line 1-3). But the M. ‘pep!Weep! Weep! † does have two meanings. The first one I Just explained but it also suggests that even the innocent child is suffering and shows it through weeping. Though he does not consciously realize it yet, subconsciously he is weeping and not Warm and happy at all. The nameless second child uses this sentence again, but here it does not symbolize the child's inability to speak but the experience that is causing the child to weep. Another point of indirect criticism is that chimney sw eepers were punished if they disobeyed.One is not told directly what was to happen to the children if they did not do as they were told one only knows that the child is going to be harmed if the work is not done ‘so if all do their duty they need not fear harm' (line 24). This criticizes the way those children were treated. Some sweepers had to climb up a chimney while the fire was burning in the fire place; if the child refused they were forced ‘by fire, slaps, prodding with poles, or by the pricking of the bottoms of their feet with pins' (Inurn 17).Blake also criticizes the church, God and society. In the Songs of Innocence, little Tom's dream can be seen as a sign from God or from heaven and one can view it as a metaphorical representation of the church. So it implies that the chimney sweepers believe in the church and God's help Just as they believe in the dream's message. This meaner the church's help is compared to the angels consolation that if Tom was ‘a g ood boy/ he'd have God for his father and never want Joy (line 19-20) which is no consolation.This is Flake's indirect criticism of the church that does not help those children and of God. He raises the question of how God can be truly good if he sees this injustice and does not act to prevent those children from being harmed. And Punter explains in this book about the Songs that Blake used to ‘†¦ Associate the angelic with goodness but increasingly as the years went by he connected it with a mind of hypocritical self-righteousness†¦ ‘ (Punter 17) so the angel in Tom's dream would not be a good sign but a symbol for a hypocritical society.In the second poem the criticism goes on as the question is raised where the parent's of the chimney sweeper are, since it is their duty to take care of their child; but they left the child and went to pray to God instead. And there is more criticism of the parent's: The child asks if they sold it because it was happy and if i t is its time to suffer now because it has been happy once? This question is meant for the reader to think about if it can e right that a child has been sold because it did not show how much it is suffering. In the second poem, the reader gets to know that the child is not allowed to go to church to pray to God.Blake criticizes that children were outcasts of society Just because of their profession and there are records showing that chimney sweepers were thrown out of church if they tried to participate mass even if they were wearing the right clothes, which only a few chimney sweepers were provided with in the first place. As an instance in what a manner these poor children are treated, I remember n anecdote of a little band of them, who had the fortune to be supplied with Sundays clothing; their faces, however, proclaimed them chimney-sweepers.Curiosity, or information that the churches were houses of God, carried them within the gates of a church; but alas! They were driven out b y the beadle, with this taunt, What have chimney sweepers to do in a Church? (Inurn 18). Since there were many families that were so poor at the time the poem was written that they could not feed and sold them in order to prevent them from starvation. This is what Gardner meaner n this quotation: ‘The Gap between the respectable and the non-respectable poor was therefore widening' (Gardner xvii).The two Songs show some contrast but as one can see in the criticism there are many symbols that show up in both poems. Little Toms white hair that is shorn off shows his innocence that is being taken away from him yet the nameless child in the second poem is referred to as a ‘little black thing, the nameless child is almost seems black among the white snow, which shows that his innocence already is lost and that experience has given him the black color that makes him stand out from civilization. Nowadays one could also compare this to black people being outcasts of society in Am erica that were sold Just like the chimney sweepers.And the word sold is meant to stand out in the second line. Just like the black slaves in America those children were sold to a master to be sweeps. This would have been criticized a lot more nowadays as slavery still was quite common back then when the poem was written. The child in the second poem does not have a name and there are several reasons for that: Blake did not want to focus on one child and its situation but show that in act there are many children and therefore the child doesn't have a gender so it doesn't represent Just boys or Just girls as they were treated the same.This is a contrast to the first chimney sweeper Tom, who has a name, emotions and feelings so one can sympathies with him. The second child's experience is not presented as clearly as Tom's innocence but through its unveiled vision of its destiny and the way it accepts its fate. The child knows it has been wronged by its parent's who were supposed to ta ke good care of it and sold it like and object but it also has been ranged by ‘†¦ God and the priest and the King who make up a heaven of our misery (line 11). They try to pretend it's a perfect world and do not look at those children too closely, but since they make up a heaven†¦ (line 13) – a better world, they clearly must be aware of the misery around them. Also Blake is playing with the reader's conscience in the Songs of Innocence; the child says that he is sweeping your' chimney. The reader is included and addressed directly this ‘implicates the reader in the circle of exploration' (Seasick 53). This is also shown in Garners book: Alone among all the voices of Innocence, the chimney sweeper speaks from unrelieved destitution and an enforced self-reliance; his counterpart in Experience speaks from familiar exploration.The two sweeps state a condition, the difference being in relationships, as the illustrations signify (52). Blake does not speak for himself in his poems, he creates a narrator that states his thoughts; this way Blake can show two different states of mind or point of views without disagreeing with his previous statement and does not become unbelievable through those contradictions that may result from this. Blake believes that one can't separate those states (innocence and experience) from each other, they Just show the same world from a different perspective.Flake's poems presents a contradiction between the states of innocence and experience, two phases through which all people must pass. It shows the untainted world of an innocent child against the mature world of experience and corruption. Tom is both innocent and yet somehow experienced too because of his hard work. When he is conscious he is innocent but in his dreams – even though they are very good and innocent, he still knows that it is to the right way he is being treated, because he is dreaming of a better life; ‘†¦ He child must ind ulge in symbolic compensations for his real lot†¦ ‘ (Adams 261). One can also see this in the contrast in the sentence that ‘†¦ If he'd be a good boy†¦. ‘ (line 19). Being a good boy meaner doing his duty here. The contrast in this sentence is that actually people are supposed to be good and do their duty, but in this case to do his duty would mean that he hurts himself and maybe dies trying to ‘be good'. Blake does not ally with one particular point of view since all humans have to go through both tastes.In the Songs of Innocence life is seen through the child's eyes thus showing the innocence but in the Songs of Experience it almost appears as if it is seen through the eyes of an adult, showing that children can't stay innocent in those conditions. It shows that sooner or later the child can't believe in those promises the angel gives in the Songs of Innocence and that it will lose its innocence. This innocence ‘†¦ Can be both imag inative and pathetic at the same time – imaginative because the innocent child can transcend' his outer environment†¦ ND pathetic because the child so obviously suffers from that outward existence' Adam 206 This Quotation will underline my statement that even though the child seems innocent, it is affected by the horrible things that are happening to the child. It also shows the conflict that the reader has to deal with: does he believe in Tom's innocence and hopes everything will work out for Tom so he can stay happy and warm or does the reader believe that the child cannot be this naive and even try to believe the angel. In my opinion the reader cannot believe in Tom's happy ending as he knows too much.As we read the mom, sitting beneath the chimney newly swept in Golden Square, our discomfort arises not from the necessity of chimney-sweeping, but from the sense that a child may belong so little to the living that he is driven for necessary solace to a posthumous explo ration (Gardner 52). Gardner shows that the reader will have to decide what he believes in the end. Works Cited Primary Sources Beer, John. Romanticism, Revolution and Language. The Fate of the Word from Samuel Johnson to George Eliot. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Bentley, Gerald Decades, Jar. William Blake. The Critical Heritage. London and Boston

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Effects of discrimination Essay

Discrimination against children may have a great impact on their self-esteem and self-worth. They may find life very lonely and develop trust issues; this could affect the child throughout their whole life. A child with low self-esteem will often give up on a task earlier than other children or may not want to participate at all because they fear that they won’t be able to achieve it. There are four types of discrimination, these are; Direct: this is where a person is told they are unable to do something because of their colour, race, religion or sex. Indirect: this would be excluding people from taking part by making rules or practices that affect them negatively for example displaying pictures which only include white children and not multicultural children. Institutional: occurs when the policies, systems and procedures in a setting discriminate against a group or groups of people. This happens because the systems and processes were designed without taking into account the diverse needs of groups within the community in relation to their race, disability or gender resulting in some children being treated differently. Individual: where one person views lead to the unfair treatment of another person. Children can be discriminated against because of racism and cultural differences, their gender, abilities or the way they look, for example my child has Nystagmus which is an involuntary eye movement so when he is trying to focus on things his eyes move from side to side, so when he goes to school he may be discriminated against because he maybe need special equipment to help him in his learning so he can achieve everything possible. Parents can be discriminated against because of their age, lifestyles, parent values, education or income, for example they may not look as wealthy as some of the other parents but this doesn’t mean they are any less educated or any less of a good parent. ensure settings are welcoming, non-threatening and fun places to be, where children and their families are valued because of their differences. Stereotyping and discriminating can lead to bullying from a young age that children can then carry on into adulthood. There are many ways in which people could be stereotyped, some of these can include stereotyping against boys and girls, girls are not good at sports; boys shouldn’t play with dolls or dress up. Cultures all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists, all white Americans are obese, lazy and dim witted. Groups of individuals Goths wear black clothes, black makeup, are depressed and hated by society, girls are only concerned about physical appearance, and all blondes are unintelligent. In the Oxford dictionary it stated that the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex:victims of racial discrimination. This quote is from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/discrimination 20th September 2013 Anti-discriminatory means action taken to prevent discrimination against people on the grounds of race, class, gender or disability. Anti-discriminatory practice promotes equality by introducing anti-discrimination policies in the setting As an early years practitioner it is our responsibility to support children to develop ideas of equality, in doing this the children will grow up less likely to be prejudice. Children are not born with these attitudes they learn from adults. You should show positive role models by having books/posters/toys which show different ethnic persuasion/religions/people and books and male and females in equal roles (i.e male nurse/female nurse. Male builder/female builder. Black policeman/white policeman. Disabled teacher/non-disabled teacher Each child is an individual and has different needs but should all be treated equally by making sure that all children are included in activities for example making Christmas cards, if a parents wishes were that their child doesn’t celebrate other religions you must accept their decision and should adapt the activity so that the child can join in, so you could suggest that the child creates a winter scene or snowman card so that they still feel included, valued and have a positive sense of identity. Parents should be made aware of who is who and each staff members job role, a noticeboard with a photo of each member of staff, and their job description would be a good way for parents to become familiar with members of staff. Each child should be assigned a keyworker; parents should be made aware of who their child’s keyworker is, as this is the person the parent would liais e with regarding their child. If their child has any special requirements for example diet requirements, medical needs or any other relevant information in which the setting may need to be made aware of then the keyworker is the person that should be informed of this important information. The keyworker is also the person responsible for monitoring the child’s development and activities the child has participated in. Parents should be invited to support their child by attending parent’s evenings this will enable parents and keyworkers to discuss the child’s learning and development in more detail and for either party to voice any concerns they may be having regarding the child. Another way to involve the parents would be to hold school events, assemblies and sports events.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Transatlantic Tunnel Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Transatlantic Tunnel - Research Paper Example For quite some time since the Industrial Revolution, sustainable transport has almost been synonymous with train form of transport. Several modifications have taken place on the first steam engine design to more energy and speed efficient models. With advancement in technology in this information and technology age, even more fascinating models are likely to be designed to keep up with the pace of lifestyle change. Critical limitations that hinder train transport will be addressed in a more creative and a more daring manner [1]. In this report, one such limitation presented by geographical intricacies has been discussed in detail. The Transatlantic Tunnel proposal dares to defy the ocean waters and the huge distance from America to Europe and bring these two world business centers closer than they are via a train. Top speed underwater tunnel across the Atlantic Ocean could be nearer to reality than many people would have thought. Engineering designers initially estimated that by the turn of the 21st Century, trains moving at around 5000 miles per hour could make the journey from America to Europe in less than an hour. However interesting this future engineering project appears, several issues are involved right from the design that will pass the test of time across the treacherous ocean to the huge funding demand. Should these and other factors stand in the way of the project, it remains a brilliant engineering project of this age. Among the several other challenges include time and they are seriously posing as hindrances for engineers to achieve this massive project. Resilience could on the other hand be propelled by the invaluable benefits that the project is likely to present to the world such that the project sees the light of the century. According to the documentary video Extreme Engine ering, the possibility of this unbelievable project is not out of reach of reality amid modern technology. Challenged by the success of

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 40

Management - Essay Example Since the organizational environment is a complex comprised of different activities and with the involvement of numerous sides in it, management theories help to make sense in that complexity. Management theories enable organization to realize its activities in order to determine what is relevant for the business, for instance, viable product and compliant workforce. Management theories have changed due to different historical and social times and places still addressing issues of relationships of particular times. Thus, at the turn of 20th century, organizations were large and mostly industrialized whose activities were ongoing with routine tasks that were concentrated with the manufacturing of different products. Thus, in the U.S. there were highly prized scientific and technical organizations that included careful measurement and specification of their activities and outcomes. Management was mostly the same, espousing careful specification and measurement of all organizational tasks. Tasks were standardized and employees either rewarded or punished. This approach was developed by Frederick Taylor and known as scientific management theory and appeared to work well for organizations with mechanistic and routine activities. The scientific management theory was changed with the openings of Max Weber, who developed his bureaucratic theory focusing on dividing organizations into hierarchies and establishing strong lines of authority and control within them. Weber proposed that organizations shoul d develop comprehensive and detailed standard of their operating procedures for all the routine tasks (McNamara, n.d.). Organizations run their activities using bureaucratic management principles across the world, managing their activities in formal processes and hierarchies that enable them to achieve stable structures and consistent results. However, bureaucratic principles are slow to

Introduction to People, Organisation and Management Assignment

Introduction to People, Organisation and Management - Assignment Example Thus, it won 50 PC Game of Year awards. IN 1998, the game was published originally on Windows in 1998; then at Playstation 2 during 2001 and lastly at Linux & Mac OS X during the middle of 2013. Steam, the online distribution service of Valve, helped the games to be released in these particular platforms. Steam has enabled the gaming platform to connect to millions of people globally. According to the records, the company employed about 300 employees in 2012. Despite the success of the video games, the company has encountered issues pertaining to its organisational structure and decentralization (Belbin, 2010). The main aim of the report is to elaborate how Valve Corporation survived without leadership of managers. Valve Corporation adopts flat structure in order to avoid or reduce obstacle between its employees and customers. It is observed that flat organisational structure is useful for companies to provide freedom of practicing new technologies without thinking about technological failure. The justification for choosing these issues for the report is that flat organisational structure is threatened by high level of risk. It is observed that the company has committed innumerable mistakes by adopting the flat structure for its organisation. Additionally, it has been noticed that the company has no leaders who will communicate the information to its employees and direct them to do a particular task (Dawson and Andriopoulos, 2014). Thus, the company has failed to develop mentors or guides for its employees and thus it has given rise to informal mentoring which is another big problem for Valve. Informal mentoring leads to weak decision making which may harm the reputation of the company. An organization is defined as a social arrangement of human and capital resource which is controlled for achieving a set of collective goal. The human resource here refers to

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Sports Event Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sports Event Management - Assignment Example Tourists are often people from regions outside the venue in which the activity is happening. However, there are incidents of domestic tourists i.e. people from the region within the venue of the tourist attracting event. Tourism is often a source of income to the organising organisation which may or may not be affiliated to the government of that specific country in which the event is taking place. Most of the time the planning of the tourist event involves a government organisation and in such a case the income gained goes to the government. If the event is organized by a non governmental organization then the organization is under obligation to pay tax to the government. Therefore regardless of who is organizing the event, the government earns revenue. The organisers of any tourism event need a strategy to maximize the revenue gained. An event that recurs maybe annually or after a number of years requires that the organisers make it attractive for the visiting tourists so as to encourage a possibility of them coming back again in future and their enjoyment may lead them to favourably sell the destination country (hosting a tourist event) to their friends and family back home. Security is yet another important thing that has to be taken into consideration to guarantee the safety of the visiting tourists. Some events have been cancelled in the past based on security concerns. The organizers have to guarantee the security of every individual attending the tourist event before they can be given the right to host the event. One such tourist event is the world cup 2006 which took place in Germany. Being the 18th instance of the world cup which happens after every four years, Germany was chosen to host the event. German won the right of hosting the event in 2000 and this means that they had six years to prepare for the event. In this event 198 soccer teams representing their nations took part in a qualification process that started in 2003 to see only 31 teams qualify for the finals in Germany (Coleman, 2006). Germany is ranked 7th tourist destination worldwide. The number of tourists visiting German keeps on increasing annually. For example the number of tourists visiting German rose from 23.6 million to 24.4 million in 2006 and 2007 respectively. The number of tourists visiting Germany annually is nothing though compared to France which receives more than twice what German receives annually. Germany therefore set out to utilize the worlds popular and biggest sporting event, world cup 2006, to market itself as a tourist destination. With more than a million visitors that were expected to visit German courtesy of the world cup event, Germany was more than jubilant to receive them because this was a sure boost to it tourism industry. Actually, according to the managing director Tourist Board, Petra Hedorfer, the event was projected to boost the German's domestic economy by more than 9 billion euros. This is extremely impressive for a short term event. The 2006 world cup event was to be more beneficial to German than to boost its domestic economy from the revenue that would come from the more than 1 million visitors most of which were soccer fans. The tourism board planned to use the event as a marketing tool. Through television, German intended to reach the more than 40 million viewers worldwide. This is relatively large audience for the German's tourism promotional advertisements and commercials. German intended to

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The History of drag racing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The History of drag racing - Essay Example I find the title of the documentary movie very descriptive. Slingshot was an ancient weapon used mainly for accelerating an object towards its target. Therefore, the title stick out as the movie tries to unravel how this sporting event started many years ago. Even before opening the movie, the title thus gave me the idea of what I was to expect as far as its content is concerned. I like the idea of how the young men decided to go to the dry riverbeds and desert environment to compete amongst themselves. There were no rules and regulation in the 1930s regulating such dangerous activities. So I find moving away from the general public in Southern California was a great idea for the young men who were not afraid of speed and injuries. I was amused by their choice of the dry lakes of Mojave Desert as their field since it is a pretty dusty environment. After all, I think the sport was a dirty game of trying to outscore each other taken too far. I however find it interesting to discover that even during the domestication of the horse long time ago; young men would challenge each other on matters of speed. I believe any event however entertaining; lack of organisation is a recipe for its failure in the long-run. I was a little bit taken aback that the rowdy youth saw the need for organising their risky activity despite having the most outrageous desire that can cross any mind of a sane person. Two locations that really stands out that helped in the advancement of drag racing is Goleta, north of Santa Barbara and Santa Ana Airport, which came into use in 1949 and 1950 respectively. I like the way their idea of using Goleta as a venue of streamlining drag racing. However, the thought of using an airport to conduct their businesses is a clear indication that the young men were ready to move their love for speed a notch higher establishing codified rules and

Monday, September 23, 2019

Bill Gates Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Bill Gates - Research Paper Example After he stepped down as the CEO in Microsoft in 2000, he and his wife, Mrs. Melinda Gates established Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is one of the biggest charitable trusts in the world (Microsoft, â€Å"Bill Gate†). Global surveys have ranked Gates among the world’s richest persons at several instances, as on May 2013 (Cuadros & Crayton Harrison, â€Å"Bill Gates Retakes World’s Richest Title from Carlos Slim†). Bill Gates was the son of William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates born in Seattle, Washington on October 28, 1955. Bill’s father was a well-established and respected American attorney as well as a philanthropist of his time. His father was also a member of a Boy Scout troop, who also had won the ‘Eagle Scout Award’ in 1941. Bill’s mother, Mrs. Mary Maxwell Gates also belonged from Seattle, Washington. She held the designation of being the first female president of King County’s United Way. She also held the  directorial position of First Interstate Bank of Washington. She even worked as a board member of the University of Washington until the end of her career. Bill’s wife, Melinda Gates belonged from Dallas Texas. She is a bachelor in Computer Science and Economics from Duke University on 1986. She is also an MBA from the same university batch for 1987.She worked at Microsoft Corporation as a product development officer prior to her m arriage with Bill Gates. Bill Gates has two daughters and a son, Jennifer Katharine Gates, Rory John Gates and Phoebe Adele Gates (Encyclopedia of World Biography, â€Å"Bill Gates Biography†). Bill Gates, until date has been a living inspiration and icon for many young entrepreneurs around the world. In his early life, Bill Gates was very much fascinated towards computers and software. He and his friend Paul Allen used to practice their skills in their school’s minicomputers when studying together in Lakeside School in Seattle. Besides, working in the computer lab of their

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Advice on feeding children for parents with concerns about their own eating Essay Example for Free

Advice on feeding children for parents with concerns about their own eating Essay Many parents have concerns about their own eating and worry about the impact that this may have on feeding their children and on their children’s healthy development. What follows below is some advice about how best to manage feeding children for parents or caregivers with their own concerns about eating. A role model for children1 ? Children copy the behaviours of others. Your children will pick up eating behaviours exhibited by parents, siblings, other family members and friends so try to be a positive role model for your child by eating and enjoying regular meals with them if possible. Give children child-sized portions ? For parents who are limiting their own calorie intake or portion size, they may lose sight of what is an appropriate portion for their growing child. It is important to give children suitable portions, rather than those that are too large or too small. Guidance on portion size can be found here: http://www. nhs. uk/change4life/Documents/pdf/Step_By_Step_Me_Size_Meals. pdf or here: http://www. nhs. uk/change4life/pages/kids-portion-size-tips. aspx.? As a general rule, a portion of fruit or vegetables is the same size as a person’s palm. So, a child-size portion of peas on a dinner plate should be the same size as your child’s palm. Offer a healthy, balanced diet ? Children and adults need a nutritious, balanced diet for optimal development and health. Try to ensure that you are giving your children meals that include: fruit and vegetables; starchy foods (e. g. , rice, pasta, bread, potatoes); meat, fish, eggs and beans; milk and dairy foods; and moderate amounts of food containing fat and sugar (see here: http://www.nhs.k/Livewell/Goodfood/Documents/Eatwellplate. pdf). ? Don’t cut food groups out of your child’s diet (unless they have an allergy / intolerance) and do try to offer a variety of foods across mealtimes. ? Ensure that children have three meals a day, as well as healthy snacks. Research suggests that breakfast is particularly important for school children as it provides them with energy required for the day. Listen to your child ? Children are good regulators of their own levels of hunger and fullness. They will tell you when they are hungry and full. If they are often still hungry 20 minutes after finishing their meal, it may be that the portion size is too small for them. Try not to be too controlling2-5 ? Parents may feel that their child needs to eat all the food on their plate in order to be healthy. Avoid pressuring or forcing your child to eat more than he/she wishes. Pressuring children to eat food can result in the food becoming less liked and children eating less of that food. If your child tells you he/she is full, they probably are. ? Try not to overly restrict your child’s access to (unhealthy) foods. Limiting children’s intake of foods can unintentionally make these foods seem more desirable and children may then eat more of these foods if given free access to them (e. g. , at parties). ? Everything in moderation. Keeping track of what your child eats is good parenting and ensuring that your child eats a balanced diet is encouraged. However, it is important to offer your child a balance of foods from all the food groups to ensure healthy growth and development. Above all remember that food is a fuel. Your child requires a healthy, balanced diet and regular meals and snacks in order to grow and remain healthy.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

A Fruit Smoothie Is A Drink Biology Essay

A Fruit Smoothie Is A Drink Biology Essay Fruit and vegetables are not consumed in the required quantities, throughout the world due to a variety of reasons e.g. availability, cost and/or convenience. Even though there importance is clearly defined by the World Health Organisation guidelines (Keenan et al. 2011a), in the developed world convenience is perceived as being the predominant cause for the demise of fruit and vegetable consumption. This has directly led to the development of a new product set that enables the consumer to achieve the recommended 5 portions a day, whilst maintaining their busy life styles. Smoothies have now entered into popular culture; the (Oxford English Dictionary, 2013) defines it as Noun a thick, smooth drink of fresh fruit purà ©ed with milk, yogurt, or ice cream A fruit Smoothie is a drink that blends fruit and fruit juice together to create a healthy snack. The Smoothie market to have reached $9.0 billion by 2015 (Global Industry Analysts, 2010) and that UK sales reached 34 million in 2006, which is 6.3 million up on 2001 according to Mintel who also expect Smoothie sales to treble by 2011 (BBC News, 2007). In the USA the sales reached $2 billion in 2012, which has grown 80% over the past 5 years (Smoothie Statistics, 2012). In the UK, the sales of smoothie increase to 80 million in 2007, but showed a reduction in sales gradually falling by 2009, however sales have increased again by 2011 to 55 million (British soft drinks, 2011). Mintel are a company that provide food and drink research to the UK. They have reported that many fruit Smoothies have been found to have a hidden sugar content to sweeten the Smoothie up; many of the fruit Smoothies were found to have hidden sugars comprising of fruit juice concentrates and high fructose syrup (Courier mail, 2013). Most Smoothies have apple and banana as core ingredients. Apples have a natural sweetness; this means not as much, if any additional sugar needs to be added to the drink, to sweeten the taste, banana is also added as it adds a natural thickness to the Smoothie, nothing artificial needs to be added to the Smoothie (Innocent drinks, 2013). One problem that is faced is the texture of the drink, it can be quite bitty or grainy, this is derived from tiny particles that some fruits contain, for example strawberries have small pips on the outside of the fruit, so blending the fruit alone will not get the particles to break up. However a way to change this has been found that passing ultrasound waves into the fruit during its preparation makes the particles smaller. Ultrasound wave technology has been available for many years, but in the last 10 years the food industry has developed a methodology to use the ultrasonic waves in food processing (Ultrasonic innovations, 2008). This paper presents an example of using ultrasound waves in the Fruit Smoothie product to reduce the particle size problem outlined earlier. There are a number of advantages for using ultrasonic waves, they have a more effective mixing and micro-mixing, faster energy and mass transfer, reduction in temperature the mixture can remain at the same temperatu re throughout the process. Ultrasound wave technology also increases the production volumes of the Smoothies (Chemat et al., 2011). 1.1 Aims To investigate and reduce the particle size within the Fruit Smoothie mixture using ultrasound waves. To test the treated Smoothie for its- viscosity, colour and centrifuge for the acceptability of the particle size. Testing the treated Smoothie on samplers for the acceptability of the particle size, the colour and the taste in the mouth. 1.2 Objectives Employ ultrasound waves at different power levels for the reduction of particle size and for two different lengths of time. To use the Brookfield viscosity to test the flow rate of the different samples. To use the Hunter LAB to analyse the intensity of the colour change and the centrifuge machine to test the separation for the different samples. Test the finalised product on random, untrained samplers to identify their thoughts about the product and compare the product to an untreated sample product. 1.3 Hypothesis This paper will be an experimental hypothesis. Using ultrasound waves will reduce the particle size in the Smoothie product and create a smoother taste. 2. Literature Review The literature review consists of what a Smoothie is, the types of products available, the role of ingredients, the manufacturing process and sensory attributes. 2.1 Smoothie Definition The word Smoothie comes from the English word smooth meaning tender and creamy. Smoothies are defined as a creamy cold drink which is made of blended fruit or berries together with some fruit juice, only natural ingredients are added to the product. The texture of a Smoothie is of a thick consistency unlike the slush drink and has a consistency more like a milkshake (Smith et al., 2013). 2.2 Types of Smoothies Available The main Smoothie manufacture that is available in the UK, is Innocent Smoothies, they have a wide range of Smoothies already available on the market, from Strawberry and Banana to Kiwis, Apples and Limes to Pomegranates, to Blueberries and Acai (Innocent Drinks, 2013). These Smoothies are available in four different sized bottles, they vary from handy grab and go bottles, to bottles that can be stored in the fridge and used many times over. Innocent dominate with 80% of the market in 2010 (Mintel, 2010). Figure 1: Innocent Smoothie Drinks (Innocent drinks, 2013) Innocent Smoothie also offers other products in this range, five kids Smoothies are available in handy lunch box sized cartons, useful for lunches. Figure 2: Kids smoothies (Innocent drinks, 2013) 2013) Happy monkey are another brand of Smoothie that are mainly branded for kids and their lunch boxes (Happy Monkey Smoothies, 2013). They come in two varieties orange mango and strawberry banana, and can be purchased in a variety of shops. Happy Monkey Smoothies offer less variety than Innocent Smoothie however they have similar products available. One close to the orange and mango is available in Innocents childrens range and the strawberry and banana is found in the main Smoothie range. Figure 3: Happy Monkey smoothie products (Happy Monkey Smoothies, 2013) Another place that Smoothies can be found is from Ellas kitchen, these again are more aimed at children to take to school and have as a healthy snack. They are comprised of five different flavours available in small handy sizes. Like Innocent and Happy Monkey, they have similar flavours with the same ingredients as the back bone to the Smoothie products. Figure 4: Ellas kitchen Fruit Smoothie products (Ellas Kitchen, 2012) The Naked Smoothie Company are aimed at producing Smoothies for adults on the go, that do not have time to eat fruit with their everyday life commitments. Naked advertise that they are a healthy alternative and contain antioxidants in them (Naked Juice, 2013). These advertisements are aimed at those wanting to try and stay healthier for longer by adding antioxidants into their bodies, to help fight free radicals. Naked have launched additional products that claim to increase energy levels throughout the day Figure 5: Naked Juice Smoothies (Naked Juice, 2013) These are the main Smoothie brands on the market in the UK today. Many companies target their brands towards childrens health, helping them get their 5 a day, thus making it easier for their parents by allowing them to have one of their products, the parent does not have to try and persuade the child to eat a piece of fruit. However some companies do promote their products to the older generation advertising that their Smoothie can help them to stay fit and healthy as well as their children. All these Companies claim that their products are 100% pure fruit without any added sweeteners or artificial flavourings. 2.3 Role of ingredients Fruit is the primary component in a Smoothie. Many producers of fruit Smoothies promote how they can help you achieve your five a day in a tasty quick convenient drink. Strawberry: Strawberries in this fruit Smoothie is one of the main ingredients and adds flavour to the drink. Strawberries have a natural sweetness that will sweeten up the product without the need to add any sweeteners to the mixture, thus making the smoothie healthier. Strawberries are a major contributor and they give the drink the pink colour. Strawberries have natural bits around them which give the texture in the smoothies the natural graininess; this is what the ultrasound waves will reduce in the smoothies. Banana: As well as bananas being one of the main ingredients in the smoothie, banana is also a natural thickener (Innocent Smoothie, 2013), this making the banana a vital ingredient in the fruit mixture, as without the banana the drink may become too runny. The banana also adds as a bulking ingredient as it increases the volume of the Smoothie. As banana is one of the main ingredients it adds to the flavour of the drink and produces the banana and strawberry flavoured Smoothie. Grape: Grape juice adds to the flavour, and helps break down the thickness of the banana and sweetens the banana taste. Grape is an acidity regulator and controls the acidity levels in the smoothie. Without the grape juice the acidity in the Smoothie may become too strong. Apple juice: Apple juice is used to add a natural sweetener to the Smoothie (Innocent Smoothie, 2013). By adding this it means no additional sugar is necessary resulting in a healthier drink. The apple juice as with grape helps to break down the banana thickness to create a smoother texture. Oats: Oats are added to the fruit Smoothie to add more fibre. They also change the thickness of the product. The oats added in to the mix changes the texture of the Smoothie. This again will be decreased by using ultrasound technology to reduce the particle size. 2.4 Manufacturing Process Ultrasound is a non-thermal technology utilising high power and high frequency that results in a longitude wave that creates a sudden implosion of bubbles. The implosion generates localised spots with a very high pressure that can disturb cellular structures; this means the particle size will reduce (Fellows, 2009). When ultrasonic waves hit the surface of a material they generate a force, this force is vertical to the surface and it results in a compression wave that moves through the food. If the force is parallel to the surface it produces a shearing wave. Both methods allow the food product to be sonicated (Fellows, 2009). In recent years using ultrasound waves in food processing has been investigated extensively (Rawson et al, 2011) concentrating on the effect that pulses have on the nutritional aspects of the food sample and the lengthening of the shelf life of products. Sonication has significantly improved the preservation role in foods (Rawson et al., 2010). The amount of bu bbles produced depends on the amount of frequency and amplitude of the ultrasound waves (Keenan et al., 2011b). This means the particles of the fruit Smoothie should be reduced when the ultrasound waves are at a higher frequency and higher amplitude. The longer the ultrasound waves are placed through the Smoothie the more this will have an affect the amount of particles broken up. 2.5 Quality attributes Fruit and vegetable beverages can have certain sensory barriers that can put off many people from drinking them. These barriers include a bitter taste and a grainy texture and in the most recent National Diet and Nutritional survey (NDNS) report, it highlights the difference in consumption of the 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day between children and adults. It found that children are more prone to eating fruit and vegetables every day. Fruit juices continue to grow in popularity and are potentially driven by an increase public interest in preventative healthcare (Wootton-beard and Ryan, 2011). 2.6 Nutrition Due to marketing and advertisement of Smoothies there is a misconception that the drinks are as healthy for you as eating fruit by themselves. Labels claim that they are packed with vitamins, low in fat and bursting with goodness and the UK has spent over  £100 million a year on Smoothies, however many of them contain sugar, calories and acids as extra ingredients that have been added to sweeten them up and make them taste better (BBC News, 2008). This means that Smoothies are not as healthy as the packaging is advocating. Juicing fruit and storing it can make it quite acidic, and one being consumed can damage the persons teeth. Juicing takes away the fibre and removes many nutrients that are found in the whole fruit (Independent, 2006). Juice and Smoothies count as one portion of your 5 a Day when drunk in a 227g portion. It was found that pure fruit and vegetables can offer similar health benefits to whole fruit and vegetables. This is due to the antioxidant and polyphenol content that is found in fruit and vegetables, however it still remains a concern regarding the impact juices have on sugar consumption, fibre intakes, dental health and appetite control. It has been found that fruit contains a naturally high carbohydrate, sugar, starch and fibre content. Smoothies are not that different to a consumer choosing fruit like a banana than it would be if they chose it in the Smoothie form (Ruxton, 2008). The advice expressed by health professionals is that consumption of Smoothies should be discouraged due to the high carbohydrate and sugar content, as this would prevent the rise in sugar consumption that has been on the increase in recent years. However this is a mistaken belief in regards to Smoothies, for in a 250m l portion, 30g of sugar can be found, similar to a piece of fruit. Research has been undertaken to show that Smoothies may have more associated dental health problems than eating two portions of whole fruit and vegetables; this has not been proven with reliable evidence. When Fruit Smoothies were first introduced onto the market, it was thought that it would encourage those in the population who did not consume the minimum daily dietary requirements regarding fruit and vegetables. It was a concern that they may stop people from consuming the actual fruit and vegetable however, it was found that those who consumed higher levels of fruit and vegetables were more likely to consume both the whole fruit/vegetable and Smoothies/fruit juices. Smoothies were found to be higher in fibre, vitamin C and antioxidants compared to fruit juices alone (Ruxton, 2008). 2.7 Consumer acceptability/ Sensory To the consumer, the most important quality attributes are the five sensory characteristics Texture, Flavour, aroma, shape and colour (Keenan et al., 2011b). These attributes determine the individuals preference for specific products. These attributes help to define differences between certain brands and their differing tastes. In the case of this study, these attributes will help the panellists to taste the size of the particle in the sonicated Smoothies (Povey and Mason, 1998). 2.8 Taste and Flavour Taste and flavour is a major factor in consumer choice. There is a difference between taste and flavour, taste is the sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness and umami. The taste buds on the tongue affect what the taster can detect, and some attributes can be detected at very low thresholds in certain food groups. Taste occurs on the tongue were 10,000 taste buds are located on the front, back, sides and the tip of the tongue. Each taste bud has clusters of 50-100 taste receptor cells. Flavour is the result of the interaction between the sense of smell that the person can detect from the sample, and the taste that the taste buds have given off which determines the flavours they can taste in the sample, however 80% of the perception is from the smell of the sample, the food is inhaled through the nostrils and from the back of the mouth as the food is chewed and swallowed. The flavour of foods is influenced by the flavour compounds which are released when chewed (Povey and Mason, 1998). 2.9 Texture The texture of food has a major influence on consumers perception of quality. Information is passed to the brain, about the texture of the food from the sensors in the mouth and from recalling these senses from memory it can build up an image of the texture properties of the food. This can be seen in three stages: 1. Initially the first stage is to assess the hardness, the ability to break the food and the consistency of the food product in the first bite 2. The second stage is the chewiness, adhesiveness and the gumminess during the chewing of the product. During this phase the moistness and the greasiness of the food is also detected. 3. The third stage is the perception of the rate at which the food will be broken down whilst chewing. The type of the pieces formed, then the release of moisture and finally any coating on the mouth or tongue with food (Povey and Mason, 1998). 2.10 Colour The colour of a Smoothie or any other product is one of the main aspects that a consumer is going to take into consideration when choosing a product they wish to purchase. If the colour is unusual or not natural to the eye, consumers may find it off putting, particularly in this market segment, as the Smoothie purports to be a replacement for natural products. So the products colour is very important The colour of a Smoothie is affected when the sonic processing is undertaken. Typically the more ultrasound power put into the Smoothies, the more particles are broken up, resulting in the colour of the Smoothie being affected by the particle degradation (Keenan et al., 2012a). 3. Method The methodology section consists of the following: Sample Preparation, Ultrasound Processing, Physical analysis, Brookfield Viscosity, Colour, Analysis, Centrifuge Analysis, Sensory Analysis, Ethical Issues, and Statistic Analysis. As similar work has been undertaken on the topic of using ultrasound waves in Smoothies, several methods were incorporated to expand on the work already developed to test four different methods (Keenan et al., 2010), (Keenan et al., 2011a), (Keenan et al., 2012b), (Keenan et al., 2012c). As this paper is concentrating more on the mouth feel of the Smoothie, than for example the shelf life changing due to the sound waves being passed through the product, the sensory aspect was a higher priority, so only following limited methods helps to get the full purpose of the study across. In this study, a Smoothie is the product of choice to test and investigate with the ultrasound waves process, because of the varying particle size that can be found in Smoothies. Reducing the particle size should have effective results. According to recent sales, Smoothies have become very popular in the UK, however many consumers find the graininess of some fruit puts many consumers of drinking Smoothies off putting. This study, investigates a way to reduce this, using a novel technology that has not been used extensively in food products. 3.1 Sample preparation The Smoothies prepared were based on the commercially available Smoothie Strawberry and banana by innocent Smoothies. 1400ml of Smoothies was made using 288g of banana, 284g of grapes (mixed), 520g strawberries were chopped, 700ml of apple juice from concentrate then added to a homogeniser (Keenan et al., 2010), (Keenan et al., 2011a) and (Keenan et al., 2011c) along with 50g of oats, and all food products were sourced from a local supermarket. Once the fruit, juice and oats are homogenised the Smoothie is split into seven 250ml samples and refrigerated to between 2-4oC, so all Smoothies are at the same temperature before ultra sound processing can take place. Each time the particles are tested the same amount of each fruit is the same, to make sure texture and colour is the same each time. The Smoothie composition was derived from the commercially available; innocent Smoothie product banana and strawberry. Place into blender with oats and apple juice for 1 minute Split mixture into seven samples Chop strawberries and bananas. Peel grapes Place 2 into ultrasound machine for 5 and 10 mins. on power 60 Place 2 into ultrasound machine for 5 and 10 mins. on power 100 Place 2 into ultrasound machine for 5 and 10 mins. on power 20 Test sonicated samples for separation of particles Test sonicated samples for colour Test sonicated samples for viscosity Figure 6: Summary Flow Chart of Smoothie Method of Sonication and Testing. 3.2 Ultrasound machine Once the Smoothie is split into portions the ultra sound treatment can be done, the Smoothies were tested using (Keenan et al., 2011a) method on how to test ultrasonic waves through fruit samples. Three treatments were used in this practical; the Smoothies were treated with three different power levels (20%, 60%, 100% on the 0.5 cycle) for two different lengths of time. Six of the Smoothie samples were processed on and one was kept as a control to compare the results to the original Smoothie. Figure 7: Ultrasound Machine C:UsersFionaPicturesIMG_0486.JPG 3.3 Physical Analysis Once each of the Smoothies has been treated, tests were done on the different samples for viscosity, colour and centrifuge. 3.4 Process Parameters Due to the ultrasound machine being placed in to the smoothie, it can change the temperature of the smoothie mixture. (Keenan et al., 2012a) study shows that the smoothie mixture inside the pressure chamber increased from 20 to 37oC during the high pressure processing. Power Level Time (Minutes) 20% 5 20% 10 60% 5 60% 10 100% 5 100% 10 Table 1: Processing power level and time it was sonicated A way to stop the temperature of the Smoothie being increased when ultrasound waves are being passed through it, is to decant the mixture into a beaker (which allows water to flow through) syphon off the warmer water so as to keep the Smoothie from increasing in temperature. 3.5 Brookfield Viscosity Viscosity is a measurement of the internal friction of a fluid, for example liquids and semi solids and Brookfield is the measurement of these. The viscosity measurements are made to test the quality and the efficiency of a product. A main way that that researchers test their work, is using a viscometer. It is one of the quickest, most reliable and accurate ways of analysing some of the most important factors affecting the product. (Brookfield engineering, 2013) The accuracy of the viscometer was checked with a standard solution of water to calibrate the viscometer. The seven samples were then tested the same way this was done by using the number four spindle at speed ten and placing the spindle into the Smoothie sample to get readings. A reading was taken on twelve occasions at ten second intervals to get an average. This was repeated on all seven samples. Figure 8: Brookfield viscometer meter C:UsersFionaPicturesIMG_0488.JPG 3.6 Colour Analysis The hunter lab model UltraScan PRO was used to test the changes in colour of the fruit Smoothies once the initial processing had taken place. The colour test was useful to see if the Smoothie had become lighter or darker in visual terms after the processing. Hunter Lab system is a popular and trouble free technique used in both quality control and research; it is able to test a wide spectrum of product colours from transparent films to clear liquids and/or opaque solids (hunter, 2008). In this case study it was used to test the difference in colour of the six processed samples, comparing them with the control sample. The colour was then tested by placing some of the Smoothie into a glass square tube with black foam to form a blackout around the outside to avoid any other light affecting the result. This was then placed on to the machine and the machine produced an L* a* b* reading of the colour. Each time a new sample was tested it was calibrated back to the original Smoothie. Each of the seven samples was tested three times to obtain an average. The 250ml Smoothies are then spilt in to 125ml samples. One 125ml sample is placed into the refrigerator and left for twenty four hours; the other 125ml placed into a water bath at 4oC for the same twenty four hours. Figure 9: Hunter Lab ColourC:UsersFionaPicturesIMG_0487.JPG 3.7 Centrifuge Analysis Centrifuge is driven by a motor and forces a sample to evenly separate the substance of greater and lower densities apart. A sample is placed in the machine and the motor is switch to a certain speed, the sample is then spun around a fixed axis. After the twenty four hours, 10ml of each is poured into a numbered tube and then placed into a centrifuge machine and spun at 4600rpm for ten minutes, this causes substances to separate and the bigger particles at the bottom with the smaller particles on top. The results are entered and analysed using SPSS. Figure 10: Centrifuge machine C:UsersFionaPicturesIMG_0489.JPG 3.8 Sensory Analysis Four samples of 1000ml were poured into four jugs consisting of Strawberries, banana, grapes, apple juice and oats. Three of the samples were treated with ultrasound waves at three different power levels (20%, 60%, 100% on cycle 0.5) for 10 minutes and the fourth was kept as a fresh control sample. The samples that were being tested were treated at the three different power levels for 10 minutes and control sample that was left untreated. An untrained panel of 50 people with an age range of 19 to 57 were used. As the study was based on the overall mouth feel of the Smoothie no training was needed before the tasting took place. The sensory was carried out in individual sensory booths and had controlled lighting. The odour in the booths was controlled to avoid any misconception of the product and its taste. The panellists were presented with four samples of the different Smoothies and given a sample of 10ml in 25ml plastic cups. Each sample was given a randomised three digit code, this was to avoid the panellist from know which order they are sampling each (Keenan et al., 2011b). Each panellist received the samples in a different order. The untrained panellists were given a cup of water to cleanse the palate, so the mouth was free of flavour before the next sample is tasted. There were eight important attributes that were necessary to get a clear picture of whether the participants could tell the difference between the samples and if the particle size had been reduced. The sensory attributes being tested for were colour, smell, appearance, texture, mouth feel, viscosity, aftertaste, and over all acceptability. The rating scale used was a horizontal line scale. A vertical line is placed on the scale between 1 and 9 with the left to right on the intensity of liking the product, for example pale to dark. Appearance Like/ Dislike Texture Bits/ No Bits Colour Pale/ Dark Smell Like/ Dislike After taste Strong/ weak Viscosity Too thin/ Too thick Mouth Feel Creamy/ Watery Overall Acceptability Like/ Dislike Table 2: Sensory Attributes of Smoothies 3.9 Ethical Issues The only ethical part to this study that needs to be addressed is the sensory analysis. On taking part in the sensory analysis, the participants signed an agreement, that they understood the agreement, they understood the ingredients in the samples and made it known if any allergies or intolerances they had that would stop them from taking part in the study. All participants knew that they were free to stop taking part in the study at any point if they wished to so. 3.10 Data analysis All values were repeated twice to get an average number to compare. The comparison was tested using SPSS (ANOVA, TTest) and Microsoft Excel Software. The difference was considered significantly different with a p value of 4. Results The smoothies that had been processed with ultrasound waves were analysed and the results were measured and statistically analysed by using Microsoft Excel, and SPSS. 4.1 Hunter Colour LAB Analysis The colour of the six samples of smoothies that were processed at different power levels and the control sample were analysed to see the colour change. The average readings of the colour parameters (L, a, b, TCD and Chroma) of each of the samples was calculated and can be seen in table below. The analysis was repeated three times to get an average, and all the tests were completed twice to check the acceptability of the results.   Sample L A B TCD Chroma Control 27.46 8.16 7.09 3.23 9.56 5 minutes 20% Amplitude 11.59 6.14 6.43 2.14 7.08 10 minutes 20% Amplitude 11.85 6.14 6.58 2.09 7.13 5 minutes 60% Amplitude 10.91 5.80 6.34 1.68 7.02 10 minutes 60% Amplitude 54.47 10.85 8.31 1.63 13.69 5 minutes 100% Amplitude 55.93 11.33 9.13 0.13 14.57 10 minutes 100% Amplitude 55.64 11.63 9.09 0.04 14.78 Table 3: The average on Lab at the different power levels Figure 11: L values (a), a values (b), b values (c), TCD values, (d), and Chroma Values (e) of smoothie samples colour at the different level of processing. See figure 11a, b, c, d, and e sample key in appendix 1. Figure 11a, 11b, and 11c, has revealed that the more ultrasound waves that are placed through the smoothies, the more the colour of the smoothie changes. Figure 11d shows the total colour difference (TCD) in the Smoothie samples at different power levels.   L Values 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 -15.86* -15.61* -16.54* 27.01* 28.46* 28.17* 2 15.86* 0.25 -0.68 42.87* 44.33* 44.04* 3 15.61* -0.25 -0.93 42.62* 44.08* 43.79* 4 16.54* 0.68 0.93 43.55* 45.01* 44.72* 5 -27.00* -42.87* -42.62* -43.55* 1.45 1.16 6 -28.46* -44.33* -44.08* -45.01* -1.45 -0.29 7 -28.17* -44.04

Friday, September 20, 2019

Concept of primary health care in Nigeria

Concept of primary health care in Nigeria Introduction The concept of primary health care (PHC) was formulated by the 134 countries that met at the Alma-Ata conference in Russia on September 12, 1978 which was organized by the World Health Organization. Primary health care is a part of the three-tier system of health care in Nigeria. These are the tertiary health care, which the federal government is in charge; the secondary health care, under the auspices of the state government and the primary health care, controlled by the local governments. In the late 1980s there was a national initiative to overhaul the primary health care system through the adoption of a new national health policy, in the context of which the federal and state governments issued directives giving local government areas full jurisdiction over the delivery of primary health care services.1, 2 The local Government, the State Government and the Federal Government respectively are responsible for all financial aspects, including personnel costs, consumables, running co sts and capital investment. The Federal government through the federal ministry of health sets overall policy goals, co-ordinates activities, ensures quality, training and implements sector programmes. â€Å"Primary health care according to the world health organization means essential health care based on practical scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology, made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost which the country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self reliance and self determination. It is the first level contact of the individual and community in the national health system, thus bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work and contribute the first element of a continuing health care process†.3 It is essentially aimed to promote health, to cure diseases and to rehabilitate. Nigeria is one of the few countries in the developing world to have systematically decentralized the delivery of basic health and education services to locally elected governments.4 BACKGROUND: Nigeria has an enormous population of around 120 million in 20035, with a growth rate of about 2.9% per annum. It is hailed as the giant of Africa and yet ranked among the poorest nations of the world.6 The management of the health sector has been poor and this has affected the quality of services to the general populace. Although Nigeria has an extensive national health infrastructure, it lacks the resources needed to function effectively Nigeria is now decentralizing its health system and clarifying the responsibilities and services at each level, which should result in better management and coordination. In addition, its health policy has been guided by the Bamako initiative to encourage and sustain community participation in primary health care services.7 The evidence base for primary care orientated health care system Primary care that is, care from the viewpoint of the doctors who has been in contact exclusively to the patients appearing for care- has apparent limitation. From the evidence given by the World Bank table and world health report 2000. It shows that Nigeria is one of the very poor countries. It has a clear symptom of imbalance between resources in poor performance, deteriorating facilities and low working moral among staff. There a high mortality rate in child and adult. The structures of the economy have fallen from 2004, raised a little bit in 2005 and remain constant between 2006 and 2007. This shows that due to lack of adequate resources in will affect the orientation of the health care system. The development of primary care in Nigeria An effective primary care system is critical for any country, developed or developing, to maximize outcomes and minimize costs.8, 9 Accurate and relevant data gathering and information processing are necessary for any field of endeavour whether in health care or any other field. It has long been recognized that clinical issues in primary care in Nigeria are different from those in other types of care. For example, the predictive values of symptoms may be quite different in different settings and clinical evidence derived from other settings may have limited applicability to primary health care and delivery. This is due not only to differences in the prevalence of specific diseases, but also to the fact that patients in primary care have many problems and the clinician must prioritize the diagnosis and management of all of these together over time, often in a setting where continuity of care plays a crucial role.10 Primary care is the backbone of Nigeria health system. Primary care plays a vital role in deployment of all resources through appropriate channels in promoting, maintaining as well as improving health. All these confirm the definition of primary health care which states that â€Å"essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound, as well as socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community by means acceptable to them and at a cost that community and country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in a spirit of self-reliance and self determination. It forms an integral part of both the countrys health system of which it is the central function and the main focus of the overall social and economic development of the community. It is the first level of contact of individuals, the family and the community with the national health system, bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work and constitutes the first element of a continuing health care process†11. This implies that patients or individuals have a direct access to the appropriate source of care. It equally shows that it deals more with common and well defined problem in a community setting as well as affordable. Though, the development if primary care in Nigeria has improved immensely but it still shows some major defects. Reasons for the current status of primary care within the health care system The coverage is inadequate: it is estimated that 54% of the population have access to the modern health care services. The rural communities and the urban poor are not well served due to inadequate staff and infrastructure. Lack of basic health data is a major constraint at all stages of planning, monitoring and evaluation of health services. The basic infrastructure and logistic supports are often defective owing to inadequate buildings maintenance, medical equipment and vehicles and unreliable supply water and electricity also poor management of medicines, vaccines and other supplies system. The financial resources allocated to the primary care services, especially to some priority areas are inadequate to permit them to function effectively. Distribution of resources in Nigeria: The Federal and State Government allocate 15% of the state budget to health services. Within the available resources, high priority shall be accorded to primary health care with particular reference to the less privilege areas and groups. Community and financial sector resources shall be mobilized in the spirit of self help and self reliance. How the resource should be used in future: In the light of importance of health in socio-economic development: all the governments of the federation should review their financial allocation to health in relation to the requirements of other sectors of the economy. High priority programmes for primary health care should have the first consideration on any additional resources that may be available Within the health care system, effort should be made to redistribute the financial allocation among health promotion, preventive and curative health care services. This is to ensure that adequate emphasis and awareness are placed on health promotion and preventive services without comprising curative health services Governments of the federation should explore additional avenues for financing the health care system especially health insurance schemes and health development levies. The users should pay for curative services while the preventive services should be subsidized. Governments of the federation shall encourage employers of labour and the financial sectors to participate in the financing health care services. Workforce and resource issues in Nigeria: The workforce and resources issues have been a theme of discussion in the country. Earlier health services was focused primarily in the urban areas, this made them to be experiencing adequate health care delivery than rural areas. Even though health institutions such as leprosaria and dispensaries had been established for rural areas, these did not cater for the communities outside their immediate zones. The problem is that rural people were effectively overlooked in health care delivery, since the existing institutions were inaccessible to them due to cost and logistic constraints. Another basic problem is the inadequate staff situation to meet the needs of the country. But after training the staff most of them get a job in urban area where they are paid more. Quality of care issues in Nigeria: Quality of care varies among patients, politicians, managers, clinicians and other actors within the health care system12. She stressed that quality occurs when good decisions regarding care are made so that resource are utilized effectively and better health outcomes are produced. Quality of health care is a multidimensional and multifaceted concept interwoven with value judgements about what constitutes good quality13. There have been several definitions of quality of health care. â€Å"Quality of care is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge†14. Accessibility: assess to hospitals or medical centres from the rural areas can be problematic from the patients due to geographical or financial barriers. In some rural areas there are little infrastructure for primary care but there are no qualified doctors. This is due to the fact that most of the doctors are aboard or in the city trying to earn comfortable and decent living. Comprehensiveness: Nigeria health system can be categorized into the Public and the Private health services. The public health sector is further divided structurally into the Primary Health Care (PHC), Secondary Health Care (SHC) and the Tertiary Heath Care (THC). Though, World Health Organisation (1978) suggests that in order for primary care to be comprehensive, all development- oriented activities should be interrelated and balanced so as to focus on problems of the highest priority as mutually perceived by the community and the health system, and that culturally acceptable, technically appropriate, manageable and appropriately selected interventions should be implemented in combinations that meet local needs. This implies that single- purpose programs should be integrated into primary health care activities as quickly and smoothly as possible.11 In Nigeria, there are referrals but the problem the patients (either rich or poor, over 60 of age or not) faces is that they must pay pa rt of their hospital bill before any treatment can be commence. In United Kingdom most of the treatment the NHS pays the bills. Co-ordination of services: there is no co-ordination of services because of the way things are in Nigeria there is no accountability of the patients medical history. Patient can decide to move from one doctor to another without any referral. The system is not like in United Kingdom where the technology is computerized that you can pull out people medical records anywhere. Equity: in Nigeria there is no equity. This is country full of corruption even in the hospital. For instance Jane to the hospital around 8.00am, then John and Amy went around 8.30am and 9.00am. Because they are related to the staff in that particular hospital they will see the doctor before Jane. In United Kingdom people wait for their turn unless is on emergency bases. How could quality of care issues be made better in Nigeria over the next 10 years? Quality of care issues can be made better by monitoring and evaluation of the health care system, with minimum categories of indicators as follows: Health policy: proper distribution of health resources, financial, manpower, physical facilities to reflect the degree of equity by geography and by urban/rural ratios; government should devise appropriate mechanisms for supporting and involving the communities in the planning and implementation of health services; an organizational framework for managerial process. Health status: proper documentation of patients health status for instance nutritional status as indicated by weight of babies, weight and height measurement of infants and children in relation to age. Socio-economical indicators related to health and living standard: such as sanitation, housing condition, work condition, food availability, and adult literacy. Provision and utilization of health care indicators: immunization this includes the percentage of children at risk who are fully immunized against the major childhood diseases; the incidence of the six diseases in children under 5 years of age and the mortality rate due to the six disease in children under 5years of age. Prevention and control of epidemic diseases indicators shall specify disease specific incidence and prevalence rate. Adequate provision of the essential drugs. The coverage by referral system indicators shall state the proportion of population in a given with access to the within 5 kilometres or 1 hour travel time, the proportion of the referred cases who made use of the services and availability of referral services. Promotion of health in school. Recommendations for the development of primary health care: The national health policy: the aims are to achieve health for all Nigerians based on the national philosophy of social justice and equity. Therefore, a health system based on primary health care is adopted as the means of achieving the goal. Since health development contributes to and results from socio-economic development, the sectors should mutually be supportive and together contribute to the ultimate goals of the nation. All the governments of the federation should review their financial allocation to health in relation to the requirements of other sectors of the economy. High priority programmes for primary health care should have the first consideration on any additional resources that may be available More staff should be trained and an increase in wages for those who will agree to serve in the areas Facilitation of monitoring and evaluation data collection system within the nation. In conclusion: Primary health care in Nigeria have evolved through a series of historical developments. Though, it is the backbone of Nigeria health system but has been judged to be unsatisfactory and inadequate in meeting the needs and demand of the public as reflected by the low state of health of the population. The population should abide by principles primary health care based on equity and justice. However, if the services are available accessible as well as acceptable to and affordable by every individual, community and the nation; if the masses concentrate on solving those health problems that take the greater toll of life.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Foreign Policy :: essays research papers

Progressive era foreign policy was motivated by a variety of factors including racial and national superiority, business and economic interests, strategic concerns, and idealism. Excerpts from For the Record provide various examples supporting the concerns that led to America’s foreign policy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The idea of national superiority was evident in the belief of manifest destiny. This doctrine basically stated that America was a superior nation that was designed to expand. The nationalist argument is best depicted in Albert Beveridge’s â€Å"The March of the Flag† which states, â€Å"The rule of liberty that all just government derives its authority from the consent of the governed, applies only to those who are capable of self-government.†(For the Record p.117) This supports America’s superior views that it could govern a country better than the country’s native citizens. Frederick Jackson Turner further enhanced the feeling of national superiority in, â€Å"The Frontier in American History.† His writing explained that the frontier had been essential in establishing American independence and individualism. He also claimed, â€Å"The frontier is the line of most rapid and effective Americanization.†(For the Recor d p.49-50) The implication that expansionism leads to positive Americanization further displays the superior mindset. Racial superiority was obvious in the â€Å"White Man’s Burden.† This suggested that it was the responsibility of the American people to spread democracy and Christianity to civilize the â€Å"savages† and â€Å"inferior races†; those people included anyone of color.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Business and economic interests were also a driving force in foreign policy. â€Å"The March of the Flag† epitomizes the American viewpoint. It explains the problems of overproduction in the country: â€Å"Today, we are making more than we can use†¦there are more workers than there is work; there is more capital than there is investment†¦we need more circulation.†(For the Record p.117) All of these factors contributed to America’s need to expand to foreign markets. By establishing trade with other countries, America could import natural resources in order to produce manufactured goods at cheaper costs. This expansion of the economy would provide a market for the overproduction of goods and also increase jobs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Additionally, strategic concerns were contributing factors in expansionism. Since the U.S. wanted to expand and trade with foreign countries, it ensured that other countries were stable and open to trade. This was demonstrated in China and the Open-Door market. There was also the belief that Europeans would dominate the market if America did not become involved. Finally, Americans used their involvement in wars with foreign countries to build the U.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Serial Killers Essay -- Papers Psychology Murder Crime Essays

Serial Killers Introduction to Psychology Introduction In the past two decades, the creature known as the serial killer has captured the attention of the American culture. With the dozens of books and movies centered around serial killers the term has become a trendy catch phrase, replacing earlier terms such as "homicidal maniac". Fiction and screenwriters use the term "serial killers" with such casual abandon that is seems the meaning of the term escapes them. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my family and friends for encouraging me back to school so I can one day parlay my BIZARRE interest into a bonafide career. Justification of Problem Are serial killers born or made? What stops us from killing a disloyal friend or total stranger with nice shoes? Or ? to rephrase the question ? what fails to stop some people from committing such murders? This question has baffled psychologist, sociologists and criminologists for many years, and is the very essence of trying to establish the nature of this crime. The born or made argument, known as the "Nature versus Nurture" debate, asks whether criminality is due to genetic factors, and therefore unavoidable, or whether it is the product of social situations, environmental surroundings or other external factors. While the debate is a noble one, we must first answer the question ? What is a serial killer? Literature Review On February 9, 1978, 12 year-old Kimberly Leach disappeared; she was found in the first week of April, her body discovered near Suwanee State Park. In 1609, 25 handpicked daughters of Polish nobles left home to attend instruction in social graces at the Csejthe Castle; none left alive. The body of Rose Ambramovitz was found sprawled a... ...nd just as the heroin addict?s need for a fix may drive him to steal, the serial killer?s obligation to the fantasy drives him to murder. In short, the cycle of the serial killer is no different from the cycle of any other addict, the end result being functionally the same as the heroin addict?s theft. Bibliography: References Abrahamsen, David. (1973). The Murdering Mind. New York: Harper & Row. Alexander, Bruce. (1988). "The Disease and Adaptive Models of Addiction." In Stanton Peele (ed.), Visions of Addiction. Lexington: DC Heath & Company. Rule, Ann. (1996). "The I-45 Killer". New York: New American Library. Schechter, Harold & Everitt, David. (1996). "A to Z: Encyclopedia of Serial Killers". New York: Pocket Books. U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. (1984). "Serial Murders". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Goldstone needs to clearly define his expectations

It is clear from this case study that if Goldstone does not improve his performance he will lose his current management position. This report identifies and analyses the main issues and problems that Goldstone faces in his new role at Bulwark and also provides an improvement plan to lift performance.Over the period of 6 months since Goldstone accepted the branch management role, it has become evident that there are a number of problems and issues which need to be addressed, centred around his shortage of managerial behaviours (Yukl, 1998).Goldstone needs to clearly define his expectations of the sales team and then provide the required direction and support to facilitate the team consistently meeting those targets and expectations. Analysis Goldstone took an opportunity to move from a professional sales role into a management position at the urging of his previous manager and in the belief that he possessed the skills and knowledge to be a successful manager. He saw the role requirem ents from the biased viewpoint of a professional sales representative (Beyer et al, 1997) and once he started in the position was somewhat amazed to discover he was â€Å"†¦so wrong†.This revelation of the role demands, coupled with a shortage of Yukl’s managerial behaviours to allow him to adapt, has overwhelmed Goldstone in the first 6 months. It is likely that there was no formal management training program for Bulwark employees as part of an ongoing succession planning process, otherwise Goldstone would have had a more realistic expectation of the role requirements and had knowledge of the managerial skills needed to lead the sales team. This lack of management training is a shortcoming in Bulwark’s succession planning strategy.From the information provided in the case study it is assumed that the sales team is made up of a number of reps with varying degrees of self efficacy (Bandura, 1997). This is supported by the results of the survey conducted by G oldstone that showed an even 3-way split between satisfaction with his direction, neutral and wanting more direction. It is assumed that those with a high level of self efficacy, most likely developed through experience, are satisfied with his direction or are neutral as they are able to apply behavioural self management (BSM) techniques (Kanter and Schefft, 1988) and therefore feel that they require less direction.It is this group of reps which have driven the achievement of sales quotas in the second quarter. Those who want more direction are likely to be those who have a lower level of self efficacy and thus an increased need for development and mentoring. Goldstone’s inability to recognise the need for coaching and mentoring has resulted in significant problems managing two of his reps, Durkee and Puckett. He has provided Durkee with some support to help him through his personal problems, however has not addressed his performance issues.Durkee requires some coaching and m entoring to give him the skills to make the sale and build his self efficacy. He is already motivated as evidenced by his long hours and attention at sales meetings. There may be an opportunity to change his role within the sales team to better utilise his strengths to achieve targets and expectations. Puckett also needed some coaching and mentoring to assist in building her sales skills.Unfortunately Goldstone’s response to her approach for that assistance was to take away her delegated responsibility by completing the task himself which ultimately resulted in her leaving the company. Goldstone is also having problems managing Skrow, his branch’s top performer. Goldstone managed the conflict situation at the first sales meeting poorly when Skrow openly criticised the new investment products. It is clear from that incident that Skrow will require some extrinsic motivation if he is expected to sell the new products.In addition to this issue Skrow’s feeling of a l ack of equity in his treatment (Steers and Black, 1994) when Goldstone brought over the top performer from Spinnaker and gave him a corner office, may result in a loss in motivation to work at Bulwark. Improvement Opportunities I have identified two specific improvement opportunities to undertake if I was Goldstone. Firstly I would develop and implement a plan to improve my managerial skills and develop the required behaviours.Secondly, and concurrently, I would develop and implement a management by objectives (MBO) program (Managing People and Organisations, 2006) based on the targets and expectations set by corporate. To develop an improvement plan for my managerial skills I would initially seek some coaching from within the company. MacKinley has shown evidence of his willingness to assist and provide advice and Slake has offered his assistance on more than one occasion. I would arrange this coaching to occur on a regular basis, say 2 hours per week on the phone, and use real lif e scenarios as the basis for the coaching and advice.One obstacle that may arise is that MacKinley and Slake cannot provide coaching in all relevant aspects of management behaviour. This could be overcome by using external management consultants to supplement the internal coaching and provide a check that all aspects are being adequately addressed. The success of this coaching program could be measured through direct performance feedback from Ludlow and also utilising surveys of the sales reps to gauge their happiness with specific aspects of my management behaviour.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Health care challenges Essay

Our country is set to face a new way of managing health which could potentially change the environment on how nurses deliver care. As our nation prepares for the implementation of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, nursing as a healing profession has to be open to what the future of health management holds. The goal is to have all registered nurses reach a high level of understanding and acquire tools necessary to provide the best possible way at a low cost. It is both moral and professional obligation of our leaders to ensure that highly competent and well trained nurses are available throughout this transition. To achieve this goal, nurse educators are the key players to train both novice and seasoned nurses to the change based on the new policies and evidence-based research. However, our Nurse Educators are overwhelmed with their current workload hence causing faculty shortage in the country. A recent study published on 2011 aimed to explore the relation of nursing faculty shortage to their workload, determine if there are evidences that the faculty workload is not equitable and the implication/effect to the nursing research and nursing academic. According to this study, there are multiple factors that influence the nursing faculty shortage such as lack of interest from the nurses to try academic careers, time spends to clinical practice defers pursuance into academic positions, low salaries, high educational costs, nursing education dissatisfaction and most importantly low institutional funding for additional nurse educator positions. Nancy Falk stated in her article that â€Å"despite current critical shortage and growing demand for nurses and nurse educators, federal funding falls far short of addressing these healthcare workforce challenges. Workforce projections suggest that the US will face a shortage of 285,000 nurses by 2015 and 500, 000 by 2025.† (Mason, Leavitt & Chaffee, 2012, p 58). Also, American Association Colleges of Nursing reported on 2011-2012, that nursing schools turned away 75,587 applicants who are qualified for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs because of inadequate nursing faculty including clinical preceptors. These challenges ultimately impact the future of patient care if not addressed. Faculty leaders must work in partnership to create a strategy that will help prevent further faculty shortage by focusing on balanced faculty workload to avoid burnout. This article emphasized on the continuous support by government officials especially adequate funding to nursing education. AACN is allocating its resources to protect federal funding for academic development programs, identify strategies to prevent nursing educator shortage. Additional solution is to create a mentorship program for nurse faculty. This strategy was confirmed by various literature and studies to promote nursing faculty recruitment and retention. Mentorship brings encouragement and direction to clinical educators who are new to the role and prevent burnout. Health care system will be lost without nurses in our society. Statistic shows that there are currently 2.9 million nurses in the United States but nurses with special skills such as in education is extremely needed. Nurse Educators, in some ways, affect the lives of everyone. It is through this role where highly competent, compassionate healers such as nurses are produced. â€Å"The future of the nursing profession depends on a steady supply of nurses to provide the quality care to patients† (Cowen & Moorhead, 2011, p. 60)