Civil Disobedience : Bane of Boon to the Concept of Just Society? Essay

Even as the nations are engaged in tackling the menace of terrorism among its rank and file, the debate over what makes a ‘just society’ has renewed itself with fresh questions evolving out of it, especially from the perspective of civil disobedience, where issues on ethics, emotion, justification and morality are embedded in an inseparable way and therefore add complexities in the comprehension of just society. Thus this paper weighs some pertinent points involving the concept of just society from the perspective of civil disobedience before arriving at an inference on whether civil disobedience is a bane or a boon to the concept of just society. A Brief Definition of Just Society â€Å"Just Society† refers to a particular condition of a society, where its subjects enjoy some freedom beyond laws that are framed, provided that freedom should ideally be directed towards garnering collective benefits for the society. This facility of a citizen goes down under the head of â€Å"fair treatment† of the state to its subjects and is commonly known as social justice. With time, this freedom has become a medium of the thinkers and well wishers of the society to share and air their views to draw the attention of the government on several issues pertaining to the well-being of the concerned society. Different political ideas, ideologies or situations create different interpretations of a just society. As for example, the left-wing ideology could prescribe an extensive use of income redistribution after judging its present state as a deterrent to the just society, while a right-wing political party could stress on philanthropy, open market system or charity to attain social justice for the society. However, the broad base of just society is powered by the concepts like equality and human rights. A Brief Definition of Civil Disobedience The briefest definition of civil disobedience could be like â€Å"an act guided by conscience towards preventing or developing a condition in the society, which might overstep certain areas of written law, yet that overstepping is not intended to oppose the law†. Civil disobedience is supposed to be an outcome of a serious observation of any flaw or the scope of development in the society, totally backed up by moral and ethical values and totally devoted towards a positive change in the society. Here the gray area lies in the quality of such an observation and inference. For example, a group of thinker might observe that certain areas of taxes are burdening the citizens and thus be waived, while another group might observe a positive impact of taxes on the citizen. However, civil disobedience is supposed to act under the guideline of equality and human rights and it has to be morally justified. Understandably, these preconditions are liable to vary according the laws of various states. The Questions The preconditions of civil obedience raises certain questions like why a civil disobedience would be considered as anarchy, if it fails to remain within such preconditions like moral justification or total submission to the written law of the land. Reasonably, questions like that evolve out of human rights’ parameter or the natural human qualities like emotion – where driven by the cause, one might go overboard and breach the law to end up in the prison. There are questions too, about the applicable yardstick of identifying the nature of civil disobedience or distinguishing it from ordinary offences. Civil disobedience is generally not considered as a crime in a democratic society. Thus, if a civil disobedient is jailed or otherwise punished, it becomes a recognized offence, which, in other words, stands as a different interpretation of the person’s motive. Perhaps it is for this reason even the founder of the very coinage ‘civil disobedience’, Henry David Thoreau, once rued over the apathy of the society towards the plight of the intellectuals who raise voice for the society itself – after he was jailed for refusing to pay the state poll tax to American government as a protest against governmental plan to prosecute a war in Mexico. An agitated Thoreau wrote in his essay – â€Å"Only a very few people – heroes, martyrs, patriots, reformers in the best sense – serve their society with their consciences, and so necessarily resist society for the most part, and are commonly treated by it as enemies† (Thoreau, 1991). Towards Making a Just Society Thus questions like above validate another query like ‘what makes a just state’, and stress on garnering more flexibility through legal parameters instead of leaving the subject on the leniency of the government – like when, in spite of acting on moral drive, a civil disobedient stands at a crossroad where the state can either overlook his/her offence or jail him/her. In either of the action, the government stands to loose – if it overlooks the situation it might be blamed for not doing its duty, and if it imprisons the person, it might be condemned of violating human rights. This indicates that to create a just state, states have a role to formulate a convincing script of the division of justice like Compensatory (corrective) justice, Retributive justice or Distributive justice. The observation of Thoreau as mentioned earlier, also points towards another roadblock towards making a just society. Since the range of values like transparency, security, privacy, integrity and autonomy cannot be fully defined by the scripts of justice, the governmental interpretations of them can invoke mixed reaction among people – some might resort to civil disobedience, some might remain skeptic to the situation. Majority should be able to justify the situation and their best role in it, before pursuing a cause. Thus people should be equipped to meet the standards of civil disobedience or to reap any benefit out of it – â€Å"Justified civil disobedience†, says John Rawls, â€Å"can serve to inhibit departures from justice and to correct departures when they occur; thus it can act as a stabilising force in society† (Rawls, 1971). This situation speaks about the important role of the civil society too – that it is their duty to educate and inform the mass about the nature of civil disobedience (direct or indirect) and the possible consequences attached to them. Alongside it should be a joint effort by state and the civil society to spread awareness about how civil disobedience differs from legal protest, rule departures and conscientious objection – and more importantly how it has no relation with the breakaway groups like radical protesters and extremists. CONCLUSION There can be no doubt that civil disobedience keeps the society lively and interacting, besides being instrumental in guarding the common interest of people through the conscientious voice of the citizens. Without this vigilance, the concept of just society cannot be put into action. While the governmental interpretation of just society determines the scope and outcome of civil disobedience, the clarity of perception of the civil society about ‘just society’ keeps civil disobedience movement on its desired track. Thus, both state and the civil society have to share the task of disseminating appropriate education at the every corner of the society to invoke awareness on judiciary system and the scope of civil rights. This awareness would then automatically serve as a shield to the civilians and as an alert to the state. However, in the modern context of terrorism or increasing rate of violence, some might opine that civil disobedience has lost its sting – which is in fact, not true. Now the new world order evokes global citizens to resort to civil disobedience on global issues like terrorism or environment, which might have no bearing with the local state’s policy or its actions. This speaks about how the civil societies across the globe have adapted itself to the new avatar of civilization – they are now connected to one another for the sake of making a ‘just global society’ – all the while depending on a common tool like civil disobedience. Thus, in both of its new and old role, civil disobedience proves to be a boon to the concept of just society. Ends Works Cited Rawls, John (1971), A Theory of Justice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Thoreau, Henry David (1991), ‘Civil Disobedience’ in Civil Disobedience in Focus. Hugo A. Bedau (ed. ), London: Routledge. Works Consulted Brownlee, K. (2007). Civil Disobedience. Web Article. Retrieved on Dec 1, 2007, from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/civil-disobedience/#FeaCivDis Civil Disobedience. Web Article. Retrieved on Dec 1, 2007, from http://www. answers. com/topic/civil-disobedience

Stand Your Ground

Diamond Crenshaw Professor Roost VPA 192: MW 31 October 2013 Stand Your Ground Law Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people. -John Adams As many of you are aware about the Traywon Martin / George Zimmerman story as well as Marissa Alexander on going story and both final Judgments so I became very curious about the â€Å"Stand Your Ground† law. In todays society, many young people especially minorities like me who aren't aware about many laws that could actually prevent a harsh Judgment if not any sentencing at all. Stand your round law originally branched off from another familiar law the Castle Doctrine.The Castle Doctrine acts as a self-defense law especially designed for those with homes. If an individual experience an intrusion while home they may act in the best possible way of protecting themselves and cannot be charged with any crime. The stand your ground law was to help those who felt the need to take actions into their own hands during t ragic and horrific situations. In some cases, citizens felt death was a last resort and they should not be penalized for self-defense. In 2005 (Octoberl, to be exact), Florida was the first state to pass a law where you could revoke (go against) the duty to retreat.The duty to retreat is if a person who may be faced with existing danger, they are to retreat (step back) before using any violence. Stand your ground also provide immunity (exception) from being prosecuted or entire trial all together, in most states. Since 2005, 25 other states have also passed this law which are mostly the mid-western and southern and led by Republicans. States with stand your round law condones someone using force before stepping back and no arrest can be made unless there is evidence proving otherwise. Meanwhile every state has their own interpretation of this law, Florida's goes to extreme measures.In Florida, this law could be applied to you in any environment in that state unlike in Wisconsin this law does not extend to public areas. In North Carolina, it's illegal to use a deadly force to a man of the law, landlords and bail bondsman but in South Carolina; you can only apply this law if the person wasn't engaged in illegal activity. In February 2012, Traywon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman who was a neighborhood watchman. Traywon Martin was an unarmed 17 year old boy who was Just walking home from a local store when he was stopped by Zimmerman who felt Traynv'on was up to no good.Zimmerman was taken into custody after being treated for head injuries where he was questioned about the incident for five hours. The police chief released Zimmerman stating that he had a right to defend himself with excessive force and by the Stand Your Ground law he was to release Zimmerman immediately. As this case was heard about throughout the country, great deal of media coverage, and protests Florida decided to make a full investigation. About six weeks after the shooting, Zimmerman wa s finally arrested and charged with murder and if found guilty he was looking at life without any parole.Trial began on June 10, 2013 and after manslaughter charges. The Juries believe Zimmerman was acting in self-defense and there no injustice present. Zimmerman suffered from a fractured nose and injuries on the back of the head. Zimmerman defense team stated due to Martin's taller rame and stamina, he had to act in such a violent way. Traywon Martin was 5'1 1, 185 pounds who played football at his local high school meanwhile George Zimmerman who was 28 years old at the time was 5'8 and 200 pounds.One day after the verdict, the NAACP started a petition asking the Justice department to open a civil rights case against George Zimmerman. In Just a few hours, over 130,000 people signed the petition. Attorney General Eric Holder said the Department of Justice was currently looking into opening a civil rights case and also criticized the stand your ground law. One month after the verdict was read, one of the Jurors spoke out and stated she â€Å"felt in her heart that Zimmerman was guilty and now she regretted her choice†.She also stated that the Judge reminded the Jury when deciding on a sentence to use the evidence at hand and not on sympathy for the family. Nonviolent rallies have been held in over 100 cities about racial profiling. Marissa Alexander is also a victim of the stand your ground law. She is currently serving 20 years for shooting warning shots to her estranged husband who was abusive to her during and after her pregnancy ack in 2010. The mother of 3 had no prior record before the shooting. Alexander went back to her previous home that she thought was deserted to retrieve some of her belongings where she end up arguing with her husband.In the mist of the argument, her husband chased her into her to the bathroom where she locked herself in for protection. Her husband broke down the door, grabs her and slams her head into the bathroom door. Some how she was able to break away from him and immediately ran pass his two young sons and out of the home. She realizes that she eft her car keys inside the home so she retrieves her licensed gun. As she re-entered the home, she fired a warning shot into the wall that ricochet into the ceiling.The court revoke her from using the stand your ground law because they believe she fired the gun with intentions of harming her husband as well as she had the opportunity to get away once she got outside the house. The children were also present during the ordeal and couldVe been harmed as well. In the state of Florida there's a law called 10-20 Life which was passed in 1999 whereas anyone who uses he gun in the commission of certain felonies gets an automatic 10 years in prison, if you fire the gun an automatic 20 years and if you shoot and wound someone you get 25 years to life.Marissa Alexander not only was stripped away her rights of using the stand your ground for acting in self-defense but she was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In September 2013, the District Court of Appeals for Florida decided to grant Marissa Alexander a new trial since the previous Judge did not properly instruct the Jury on what is onsidered as self-defense.Many politicians including Senator John McCain have stated â€Å"l can also see that the stand your ground law may be something that needs to be reviewed by the Florida Legislature or any other Legislature† where a lot of people are starting to disagree. So what have we learned from Stand Your Ground law? It's okay to kill a young teen who looks suspect because he's wearing a oversized hoodie and when you actually act in self-defense with nobody being harmed you are still used the same in every state and in the state of Florida this law needs major adjustments.

Symbolic And

Their efforts seem to have paid off, as evidenced by the enduring well-defined, and strong images of some of the world's popular brands (e. G. Marlboro, Ivory, Pepsi). In line with this evidence, theorists and practitioners (CB. Gardner and Levy, 1955; Park et al. , 1986; Rise and Trout, 1 986) have recommended that developing, communicating, and maintaining a brand's image is crucial to its long-term success. 32 Brand image important The importance of a brand's image in its long-term success necessitates having a framework for strategically managing the image over the long term Park et al. , 1986).Brand managers have had very little direction for setting up such a conceptual framework. One notable exception is brand concept management (BCC) proposed by Park et al. (1986). BCC proposes that every brand image should be based on a brand concept or a brand-specific abstract meaning. In its general form, a brand concept can be either symbolic or functional, and thus comprises one aspect of a brand's image. Functional brands satisfy immediate and practical needs. Symbolic brands satisfy symbolic needs such as those for self-expression and prestige, and their racial usage is only incidental.For example, in the category Of wrist watches, the brand Cassia would be considered a functional brand since its usefulness lies primarily in its ability to tell the time correctly. The brand Moved, on the other hand, would be considered a symbolic brand since it is used primarily for its status appeal, and its ability to tell the time is only an incidental reason for its usage. Once a concept is selected for a brand, park et al. (1986) advise that it should be maintained over the brand's life for sake of consistency. Symbolic or functionalWhile the notion of brand concept management is intuitively appealing, the proposition that brands can be either symbolic or functional in their appeal to consumers raises a number of interesting issues. The first issue is whether symbolism and functionality are two distinct concepts or are two ends of one brand concept continuum. In addition to the uniqueness of these two concepts, park et al. (1986) assume that each of these concepts is unidirectional. Whether that is really so has not been examined in empirical research to date.Also, to our knowledge, no measures or scales have been plopped that would assess whether a particular brand is symbolic or functional. Thus, empirical research has not directly examined these related issues. An understanding of such issues would also be very useful to marketing managers in planning positioning strategies for their brands. In this exploratory study, a set of scales are developed to assess a brand's symbolic and/or functional value to consumers. In the process, we JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING, VOLT. 15 NO. 1 1998 up. 2-43 @ MAC UNIVERSITY PRESS, 0736-3761 examine the issue of distinctiveness and dimensionality of the two brand incepts. Two schools of thought Brand concept Backgro und There is a long tradition of research into human needs and motivations. While there are a large number of theories and models that explain the nature of human motivation for consumption behavior, a simple typology would suggest two distinct schools of thought. The rational school or the â€Å"economic man† model suggests that consumers are rational and try to maximize total utility.They do so by buying products based on objective criteria like price per ounce or gallons per mile (Coffman and Kane, 1994). In arriving at this excision, consumers generally go through a variety of cognitive operations that include deciding the importance of each attribute in a product category, gathering information about competing brands' attributes, judging the levels of each attribute in competing brands, and finally using a judgment rule to decide on the optimal brand (for an exhaustive review of the information processing literature, please see Bateman, 1979).A number of researchers, how ever, contend that the rational model is appropriate only for goods which consumers value for their tangible and utilitarian benefits, and does not adequately capture their motivation for consuming products that satisfy their emotional wants (CB. Levy, 1959; Ditcher, 1960; Holbrook, 1980). For example, Hiroshima and Holbrook (1982) note that the rational model does not capture the multistory imagery, fantasy, fun, and emotions associated with the consumption of some products.They refer to this type of consumption, based on individual tastes and intangible product benefits, as hedonistic consumption. Thus, in contrast to the rational or information processing approach, the emotional or hedonistic school holds that consumers' motives are motional in nature. In this perspective, individuals use personal or subjective criteria such as taste, pride, desire for adventure, and desire for expressing themselves, in their consumption decisions (Coffman and Kane, 1994). Consumer behaviorist's have long recognized the importance of both types of motivations (CB.Katz, 1960; Metal, 1983). Empirically, several researchers have noted the existence of these two different types of motivations and the different product attribute categories that tap into these motivations (CB. Metal, 1988; Metal et al. , 1990; Sahara and Siring, 1991). Thus, both theory and research support the idea that consumers' needs are driven by functional/ utilitarian as well as by symbolic/expressive motivations. In keeping with this tradition, park, Gasworks, and Manacling (1986) noted that consumers' needs could be classified as being either functional or symbolic.They assert that functional needs are related to specific and practical consumption problems whereas symbolic needs are related to Selfridges and social identification. To tap into these two different types of needs, Park, Gasworks, and Manacling (1986) proposed that all brands should have a â€Å"brand incept†, which is an overall abst ract meaning that identifies a brand. They suggested that a brand concept be either symbolic or functional, thus tapping into consumers' symbolic and functional needs respectively. Park et al. S (1986) brand concept management framework advises managers to select a specific concept for a brand at the time of its introduction and then use the marketing mix to support and reinforce it over the brand's life. This helps consumers understand with clarity what a brand can do for them. JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING, VOLT. 15 NO. 1 1998 33 Functional or utilitarian deeds The existence of different types of motivations among individuals suggests that within most product categories, consumers' needs could be either functional or symbolic in nature, and brands could be positioned to satisfy either of these two types of needs.Thus, functional or utilitarian needs of consumers could be exploited with a â€Å"functional† brand, I. E. One positioned with a functional brand concept or meanin g. Similarly, a brand could be positioned as a â€Å"symbolic† brand to tap the needs of those who wish to enhance their self-image or their social image. Park et al. Rather argued that brands should be positioned to appeal to either one of these types of needs, but not both, for a number of reasons. A brand concept that is both functional and symbolic poses problems for consumers because they cannot clearly relate the brand to either their functional or their symbolic needs.In addition, it increases the number of competing brands and makes brand image management difficult. This argument, however theoretically compelling, has not been tested in empirical research. In one related research, park et al. (1991 ) Were able to show that nonusers' reaction to functional extensions of functional brands was more favorable than their reaction to prestige extensions of functional brands. In the same study, consumers also displayed a more positive reaction to prestige extensions of prest ige brands than to functional extensions of prestige brands.Please note that, in this study, the authors assumed that brand concepts could be either functional or prestigious (not symbolic). Unanswered questions Several questions, though, remain unanswered. Are functional and symbolic brand concepts adequately distinguished in consumers' minds? If so, what are mom characteristics that help in distinguishing these brand concepts? Is the prestige of a brand an adequate representation of a brand's symbolism to its customers? Are functionality and symbolism merely the two ends of a continuum?In any event, is there a mechanism to assess the functionality or symbolism of brands? The paucity of research to illuminate these issues resulted in this study. This study was set up to answer the preceding questions: to investigate the phenomenon of the functionality or the symbolism of brand image and to develop scales that would help classify a brand as functional or symbolic. Apart from the the oretical contributions, the issues raised in this study have a number of managerial implications for brand positioning.Method In line with this study main objective of exploring the issue of brand mage functionality or symbolism, scales containing items thought to measure a brand's functional or symbolic value to consumers was developed. The scale was validated by testing the scale's ability to discriminate between brands a priori identified as functional or symbolic. Correlations among the items in the scale and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the data were seed to investigate the dimensionality of brand functionality and symbolism.Stimuli lie Pairs of brands were identified in a few commonly used product categories, such that one brand in each pair was, a priori, thought to be functional and the other symbolic. In other words, the first brand was thought to primarily satisfy functional needs whereas the second brand was thought to mainly satisfy the symbolic needs of consumers of the product category. The pairs of brands which were selected are shown in Table l. 34 Product category Symbolic brand Functional brand Watches Role Timex 2 Sports shoes Nikkei Converse 3 Cosmetics Lana ¶me Amiability 4 Hair cream Paul Mitchell Suave 5 Ice cream Hagen Dads Scaliest Table l.Item generation Adjectives or phrases thought to indicate a brand's symbolism or functionality were first generated by the authors and a focus group of graduate students at a university. The focus group noted the difficulty of coming up with adjectives describing functional or utilitarian appeal. Based on these processes, three adjectives and phrases were identified as relating to functionality and 17 as relating to symbolism. Three sets of questionnaire items Three sets of questionnaire items were developed for the 20 adjectives and phrases.The first set of questions sought respondents' agreement with various statements about individuals' use of a brand to express themselves. Th e second set of items sought respondentBrand symbolism The 17 adjectives and phrases representing brand symbolism were assessed with three sets of items. In the first set of items, respondents were to agree with these statements: (1) â€Å"people use (brand) as a way of expressing their personality'; (2) † (brand) is for people who want the best things in life†; (3) â€Å"a (brand) user stands out in a crowd†; and (4) â€Å"using (brand) says something about the kind of person you are†. The second set of items sought to evaluate these brand characteristics: (1) hemolytic; (2) prestigious; (3) exciting; (4) status symbol; and (5) distinctive v. Invitational. The third set Of items evaluated these characteristics Of the brand's user: (1) sophisticated v. Simple; (2) not at all v. Very romantic; (3) not at all v. Very successful; 35 (4) unique v. Ordinary; (5) stylish v. Plain; (6) expressive v. Subdued; (7) glamorous v. Sedate; and (8) not at all v. Very ele gant. Survey design and administration Two separate questionnaires were prepared with questions on five of the ten stimulus brands such that each questionnaire contained questions about one f the brands within a product category.Thus, a subject would answer the above questions with respect to either a symbolic brand or a functional brand within a product category but not both. This procedure was used to eliminate any comparative biases in responses. The survey was administered to 62 graduate students at a major south-eastern university. Rest Its Analysis of correlations TO obtain a preliminary idea of the pattern Of relationships among these items, the correlations among the items were first examined.

The paper must deal with a particular third world country and a Term

The must deal with a particular third world country and a particular development issue. I was assigned Costa Rica - Term Paper Example The construction of the Hydroelectrical Project El Diquis (PHED) in southern Costa Rica has an effect on the native population of Terraba. The core players are anthropologists and sociologists who are hired by the development plan to deal with the involved indigenous community. The PHED’s anthropologists and sociologists face the issue of how to negotiated between the project’s management and militant factions in Terraba (Haffar & Carls 2010). A group of native protesters in Terraba downright opposes the building of the dam. They thoroughly analyze the ideas and agendas of its executives, claiming in its place the freedom to take in their own notions of an independent local development. As shown in the above figures, the Costa Rican people enjoy high life expectancies. Customarily reliant on beef, banana, and coffee exports, the country has undergone economic diversification. The launching of a major computer component factory in the 1990s was a boost to the economy, though its wealth has been at the mercy of the rising and falling global demand for computer parts. The primary source of foreign trade in the country is tourism (BBC News 2011). Its rainforests boast a great diversity of bionetwork. According to BBC News (2011), Costa Rica has also been a global advocate of environment concerns, guaranteeing that economic development is not attained to the detriment of its abundant natural resources, and effectively maximizing connections between poverty alleviation and environmental conservation. Costa Rica is successful in terms of economic development. Classified as an upper middle-income nation, Costa Rica was successful in lowering the rate of poverty from 23% in 2004 to 17.7% in 2008 (World Bank 2011, para 7). Nevertheless, inequality is widening as development has mostly promoted skilled work, and education is left behind, particularly among the country’s lower class. Costa Rica has encountered stable economic development over the

I need a topic for my dissertation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I need a topic for my dissertation - Essay Example esource practices of the high-tech firms must cater to the special needs of employees working with innovation at the leading edge and it should be possible to groom promising employees. According to Ting-Hua (2006, Pp. IV – V) the Human Resource Department of a firm involved with innovation does make a contribution to the overall success of the firm and the practices implemented should satisfy and act to groom brilliant employees. The previously mentioned study suggests that policy related to recruitment and selection, firm attitudes towards continuing professional development, salary and benefits, training and performance evaluation are a few examples of human resource practices that make a difference in motivating employees and helping with the success of firms involved with innovation. Jemielniak (2009, Pp. 402 – 403) suggests that capability it is important for organisations associated with innovation to identify capability and to develop this capability further. It is important to provide those involved with innovation and research with the right environment, which motivates and it is fitting to handle these employees differently from others. Jemielniak (2009, Pp. 402 – 403) suggests that individuals matter and as an example, tensions between knowledge creation and knowledge sharing should be properly mediated by firm policies. Thus, the right human resource policies make the difference for the success of firms involved with innovation and the national economy. Managing and developing human resources in firms involved with innovation makes the difference, but not much is available about the selection and adoption of human resource practices at high-tech firms located in the Birmingham Science Park. Thus, it is likely to be useful to carry out a research study of human resource practices of selected high-tech firms at Birmingham Science Park and to investigate their merits or shortcomings. Any suggestions for improvements will be of benefit for

Effects of Salt on the Melting Rate of Ice Lab Report

Effects of Salt on the Melting Rate of Ice - Lab Report Example Objective: to investigate the effect of dissolved salt on the melting rate of ice. Hypothesis The null hypothesis is that the salty water would melt faster than pure water. The second hypothesis is that the more the impurities in water, the faster the melting point (Van der Put, 2013). Materials and equipment Two Thermometers Ice cubes Two bowls Salt- sodium chloride (NaCl) Stopwatch Procedure Take two equal bowls and put the same amount of ice in each. Put some salt on the ice in one of the bowls. Label it A. Record the temperature of each bowl. Observe the ice as it melts completely in both bowls, and measure the temperature in both bowls at an interval of 40 minutes The results indicate that the null hypothesis should be accepted, because the pure ice melted slower than the ice with salt. The ice with salt melted in an average of 160 minutes while the pure ice melted at around 200 minutes. The second hypothesis was also accepted since the salt, in this case, is the impurity, and the ice that had the salt melted faster than the pure ice.

Thinkers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thinkers - Assignment Example Marx is considered to be is one of the founders of the International Working Men’s Association. The philosophy of George Friedrich Hegel is one of his most important intellectual influences and Karl Marx remains incomplete without the study of Hegel. He died at London, United Kingdom on March 14, 1883 (Engels, 1869). Karl Marx identified and shed light on the ills of capitalism and explained how it could be challenged. People of the world took his ideas as a guide towards changing the system of the world despite the regular efforts by the supporters of Capitalism to bury his ideas. He, along with Frederick Engels, identified the inevitable fault of a capitalist society that is class struggle; therefore, his dialectic holds Communism as the perfect and final form of the State that makes possible the appropriate use of human abilities. He believed that in the end socialism will replace capitalism and this world will be a classless society ensuring the rise of working class. Abov e all, Marx was a revolutionist whose main aim was to put an end to capitalism and contribute towards the liberation of the modern proletariat. As far as the influence of Marx’s ideas and beliefs on the world, as a whole, is concerned, most of the Americans have already accepted his main ideas unconsciously and uncritically despite the otherwise claims of the anti-Marxists. American and western businessmen who claim to be against the whole concept of communism are frequently found to be the ones who are convinced of the truthfulness of Marx’s ideas. They seem to have very little or no ideological defense against his Communist ideas when they encounter them under another name or are introduced to them without being labeled. Marx’s ideas have seemed to open the minds of American to their own propaganda. However, on the other hand, to label the ideas brewing in their minds as Marx’s might lighten some of their effective and successful talking points. At the same time, they are under the influence that depression cannot be solved by capitalism. He is one of the influential people whose ideas have such a strong impact even on those who think they abhor Marx and his beliefs. These ideas have an injurious influence on capitalist economy, clear political thinking and democratic action. The more politically radical European intellectuals have been influenced greatly by the ideologies of communism as well as socialism. Apart from economics and politics, he has a great influence on the way people think about culture despite the fact that he is not a pure cultural theorist (Rose, 1951). Marx’s hostility towards Europe, sometimes, resulted in strange extremes. For instance, he criticized the opposition to the Crimean war by calling the British Prime minister, Lord Palmerstone, a traitor and a paid agent of Russia. In the same way, Marx’s hatred for the Prussian monarchy can be observed his struggle with his Russian competitor Mikha il Bakunin for control of the International Working Men’s Association (Sperber, 2013). It is beyond doubt that Marx’s ideas about the commodity nature of Capitalist production plays an important role in describing the exploitation of working class under the system of profit. For Marx, class struggle was the major fault line of the Capitalist society which, indeed, is true even in the modern world for this

The Joke by Milan Kundera and how it relates with history of European, Essay

The Joke by Milan Kundera and how it relates with history of European, the Czech society, socialism, totalitarianism and any oth - Essay Example Consequently, the thesis statement of this paper is that the author criticises the communist ideology in Czechoslovakia. Analysis The idea of communism when it was introduced in many of the Eastern Europe countries was to create optimism on the people that they will be equal in acquiring and enjoying social and economic benefits (McKay, 2007). Ideally, the ideology was targeting the equal distribution of the resources in the society to enable people to grow equally on social benefits. This political idea has been castigated by the author as an opium system. Indeed, the author illustrates how one of the characters in the fiction novel wrote in a postcard critiquing the notion of optimism in a society. "Optimism is the opium of the people! A healthy atmosphere stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!" (Kundera 18). This observation of the author through the use of the character in the fiction novel, illustrates how the writer thought of the communist ideology in the republic of Czechosl ovakia during those days. Inasmuch the idea of communism in the country was to draw equality in the lives of the population, the system according to the writer, was pegged on optimism to the people that social and economic benefits will be distributed equally for their own good. ... Consequently, the statement from the novel depicts how the writer blames the communist ideology in Czechoslovakia in beholding them from participating in innovative and creative activities to improve their lives. Another aspect that has been demonstrated in the fiction novel by the writer in critiquing the communist idea is the imprisonment of the mind. This implied the effect of the political system that was practiced in the country in preventing the population in questioning the rationale of the government actions. Thus, the writer demonstrates how the communist ideology in his country had blinded the minds of the population in holding the government accountable in carrying out the state’s affairs. Indeed, the writer illustrates how one of the characters described another character in the fiction novel as unable to go beyond the government rhetoric in questioning its action. In addition, the writer demonstrates how the population is politically constrained in understanding t he ills of the government actions due to the legal system that was introduced by the communist ideology. "She was constitutionally unable to look behind anything; she could only see the thing itself" (Kundera, 143). In contrast, the communist idea in the history of European society was agitated to end the capitalism ills in imprisoning the population. Indeed, it was argued that the capitalism ideology had imprisoned the minds of the population due to its embracement of materialism in the society (McKay, 2007). However, the fiction novel demonstrates how the communist idea failed in liberating the population in questioning the actions of their own government. Indeed, the author demonstrates how one of the character

European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

European Union - Essay Example However, the idea of Europe cannot be entirely appreciatedwithout having the mentality of historical evolution of the Europe continent prior tothe periods of World War II and by extension the recent integration process that has been realized in the United States of Europe. By definition, stagnation in economic sense implies that there is a noticeable cease in motion, progress or generally activity. The progress as well as stagnation has been both customary and yet understandable stages in the expansion of the European Union and its antecedent, the European Communities (EC). European integration has had a kind of stop-and-go or an oscillating developmental pattern since the inception of the idea after the First World War (Louis Meuleman 2008; p. 401). Several factors have worked in a bid to understanding and shaping the composition and the future of the Union, for example issues like the adoption of a Constitution for the EU; the extension of EU membership to slot in ten new Member States; the ballot vote to the European Parliament; as well as the recommendation of a novel European Commission. In the 70s there was huge realization of lack of advancing the idea of EU among the member states. Citizens of independent member states were duly considered the then obstacles to the strong establishment and expansion of the EU. For instance, citizens of nations like the Netherlands and France at one time are in record having voted for their countries to pull out of the EU, leaving the reform process. In this regard at least according to Cini, (2007, 442); Citizens continue to disengage from the EU institutions, including what is ostensibly 'their' Parliament; the richer member states are seeking to reduce their contribution to the EU budget rather than increasing it to allow equitable treatment of the then new entrants in cohesion and agricultural aid. In fact the EU integration crisis in 70s Cini, (2007, 442) continue to declare, precipitated a situation dabbed Eurosclerosis. Eurosclerosis she explains further that it is the time period when the political integration in Europe mired. Fundamentally, it was the outcome of authority decisions in member states and by extension acute prevailing lack of public concern in regarding the condition of the European integration. There was also member state party politics as well as ethnicity issues (Bache, Ian & Stephen George 2006; 273). The principal issue here was how member states made policy decisions to shape their preferences regarding the EU (Folke, C., T. Hahn, P. Olsson, & J. Norberg, 2005; 361). The independent member states held varied political culture as well as big picture opinions of their national interest and preferences. These factors are by extension shaped by complicated bundles of issue-specific factors which further depends on negotiations between the EU27 members and t he apparent constantly shifting patterns of domestic politics within each member states. A pretty good example, according to Cini (2007, p. 450) is the French 'Non' to the Constitutional Treaty motivated by the then president. The French resisted the recommended liberalization of services in the Single Market which has been a prime EU policy, commonly called Bolkestein Directive. There is therefore divergent views on

Analyse the potential of group work to promote mutual aid and Essay

Analyse the potential of group work to promote mutual aid and empowerment - Essay Example Empowerment is a complex process that does not just happen at an individual level but also occurs in a group, organisational or other setting (Woodall, Raine, South & Warwick-Booth, 2010,   p 9). This is based on the fact that members have experiences, opinions and information that can be of benefit to other members in the group, assisting the others helps the helper, some types of intervention such as confrontation are better received when they come from a peer rather than a professional provider. Mutual aid is a factor of social support that helps cushion or provide a buffer for individuals from potentially harmful or unfavourable physiological conditions. Though social support may include professional help from a trained individual, mutual aid is more of a bi-directional support from people who are peers and who are able to relate to each other’s condition and experiences. Mutual aid groups usually have three objectives – as a solution for the problems that the members of the groups are experiencing, as a springboard for action in resolving these issues and as an alternative way of dealing with these social and personal situations (Hammond & Taylor, 1998, p1 5). Mutual aid is empowering to the group members as they not only get involved in the sharing and participating in all the activities, they all learn a lot from each other and thus are all better equipped to deal with their situations. The sometimes spiritual nature of the group makes the members more comfortable with themselves and each other and that is quite empowering and liberating (Mutual aid and self-help programmes, 2012). Unlike in a situation where there is a professional leader of the group the mutual aid group all gets to lead and learn and are thus empowered. The fact that the group are all at the same level and all dealing with similar situations it empowers the group members to be able to discuss in a free and conducive

Strengths and weaknesses of Rolls Royce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Strengths and weaknesses of Rolls Royce - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Rolls Royce has been a pioneer in the motor car market for over 100 years. It continues to set the standard for motor cars in the industry. Financial ratios help to analyze the financial health of a company. Gross profit margin is an indicator of how %age of a sales dollar is left after the payment of the goods has been made. It is the actual markup on the goods sold. It is better for the company if it has a higher gross profit margin. Rolls Royce gross profit margin has been stable for the past 5 years. There hasn’t been much change in the gross profit margin of the company. This means that with respect to each unit of the product the margin has been consistent and hence the company has been effectively maintaining the process of manufacturing of goods. Operating profit margin indicates the profit margin after payment is made for goods as well as its fixed expenses and other variables. This again has been stable for Rolls Royce with no sharp changes. This means that company understands its business very well and is very effective in managing it. The company has knows how to efficiently manage the various processes of its business. Net Profit margin is the actual measure of a company’s financial success. Net profit margin indicates how profitable the company is. Therefore, higher the net profit margin more profitable the company is. Rolls Royce’s performance with respect to net profit margin has been very inconsistent over the past 5 years.

Strength of Adhesives in a lap joint Essay Example for Free

Strength of Adhesives in a lap joint Essay Strength of Adhesives in a lap joint Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shear force refers to any internal force which acts in a perpendicular direction on a substance to its extension. For example air pressure along an air plane wing (Krenk, 2007). Compression test involves a measuring instrument such as leak-down tester used in determining internal condition of combustion engines; it’s done by compressing air into the cylinder and recording the rate at which air is leaking out.eg testing the condition of racing cars engines and other engines of vehicles with high performance (Chang, 2000). Double lap configuration refers to configuration of different timbers using PVA. Advantages of PVA Toxicity; its non toxic which can be handled without any danger but not healthy for consumption. It doesn’t have gassy fumes thus no need of ventilation in rooms which are closed or during cold days. Drying time; PVA dries up quickly. Normally, if applied in little amount it makes a thin coat which takes less than 30mins to dry up. For heavier applications it can take a lot of time of about 24hrs with other conditions being applied such as pressure. Reversible; its easily reversed using water. It implies that a material is attached using PVA, it can be removed using water such as in archival purposes (Merrick, 2005). Clean up; it can be cleaned up easily using soap and water without applying other toxic thinners. When dry, it can be removed by peel ding without causing damage to the surface. Characteristics of PVA PVA particles when dry they have microscopic appearances which are similar. Dry PVA particles are similar and significantly increase in size during nonionic contrast suspension. When each PVA group is measured and parameters compared using software program in a microcomputer, they present a non-consistent histogram. Initially their particles were obtained through rasping Avalon block. Their particles are related to fluid viscosity effect or their behavior in solution. This makes them to be compressible and flexible in nature. Characteristics of resin based adhesives Durability; resin based adhesives are more durable compared to other adhesives such as synthetic Resin based adhesives made of cement are more superior to those of glass and zinc phosphate. They temporarily form synthetic adhesives when polyvinyl acetate is suspended. Most of resin based adhesives are derived from polymers where adhesives of good properties are shown. Resin based has strong adhesion forces which makes them more durable compared to other forms of adhesives (Vlieger, 1995). Resin based adhesives appears in different forms such water based and cement based adhesives. Advantages of Resin Based Adhesives Inflammable; resin based do not contain flammable solvents which makes them friendly to human beings. They don’t wear and are resistant to shrinkage when they have dried up. Resins based are of high quality compared to other forms of adhesives. Their different forms such water based are eco-friendly due to their non toxic nature. They are moisture resistant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Double lap configuration is configured using access of light weight where adhesive forces are required in joining their respective wireless controller LAN. In conclusion, PVA particles are non uniform which have weak farces of adhesion. This affects the lap joints making them appear very weak. Resin based is known to be more durable making the relationship between lap joints stronger. References Chang, J. Y. (2000). Biopolymers, PVA hydrogels, anionic polymerisation, nanocomposites. Berlin: Springer. Merrick, M. J. (2005). The behaviour of PVA adhesives in chairs. S.l.: Furniture Industry Research Association. Krenk, S. (2007). Beam theory stresses in an adhesive lapjoint. Roskilde, Denmark: Risà ¸ National Laboratory. Vlieger, H. (1995). Results of uniaxial and biaxial tests on riveted fuselage lapjoint specimens. Amsterdam: National Aerospace Laboratory NLR. Source document

Decrease Ventilator Associated Pneumonia

Decrease Ventilator Associated Pneumonia Patients on ventilator support are very prone to respiratory infections. These patients have no means or control over what enters their lungs or what does not. One prevalent infectious process that can occur in these patients is ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), and affects many patients every year who require ventilator support. Ventilator associated pneumonia is a form of pneumonia, a lung infection, which occurs in mechanically ventilated patients. It develops at least 48 hours or more after the ventilator is utilized (Powers, 2006). Ventilator associated pneumonia is caused by bacterial organisms entering the patients lower respiratory tract usually by aspiration of oral pharyngeal secretions. The bacteria colonize within the lungs causing immune response or infection to occur (Powers, 2006). The development of this infection can lead to a decline in the patients outcome and increased healthcare cost to the patient as well as the health care facility (Mori, 2006). With all t hese problems VAP can produce it is important to the patient as well as healthcare providers to be able to find ways to reduce the development of VAP cases in patients. The purpose of this paper is to determine if routine oral care can decrease the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients. The picot question guiding this paper is what effect does routine oral care have on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia rates in mechanically ventilated patients. Background and Significance Ventilator associated pneumonia is a serious infection affecting both the patient, healthcare facility, and staff. It is the second most common healthcare-acquired infection (Koening, 2006). Incidence of VAP is estimated as high as 65% and it occurs in up to 28% of patients who have been on the ventilator 48 hours or longer (Powers, 2006). The mortality rate associated with VAP ranges from 12-50% (Sona et al, 2009). Studies on the mortality rates of VAP also show that patients who develop VAP have a 2.2 to 4.3 times higher risk of death compared to other mechanically ventilated patients who do not have pneumonia (Powers, 2006). A couple affects that VAP has upon the patient and healthcare facility are time of hospitalization and healthcare costs. Ventilator associated pneumonia causes the length of a hospital stay to increase significantly. It can increase the hospitalization time anywhere from four to nineteen days longer (Powers, 2006). This extra hospitalization can cause additional stress for the patient and their health. As the incidence of VAP causes longer hospitalizations to occur, patient and health care facility costs climb also. It is estimated that the average increase in hospital costs is around $57,000 per VAP occurrence (Powers, 2006). There are also increases to the hospital that occur due to increases in supplies used, staff that is utilized, and more medications used. Since VAP has such a negative impact upon patients and healthcare facilities many interventions have been tried to prevent the incidence of VAP. One intervention utilized is keeping the head of the patients bed raised to at least thirty degrees to prevent aspiration of bacteria in secretions. Another is sedation vacations which consists of interrupting the patients sedation medication until patient shows signs of alertness, to assess if patients can be weaned off the ventilator more quickly. Other notable interventions that have been utilized in the past and some in todays practice as well include: suctioning secretions, good aseptic techniques such as hand washing, and oral care (Pruitt Jacobs, 2006). Patients are continually developing VAP and having complications from the infection. If it is found that routine oral care, defined as teeth brushing with the use of an oral antimicrobial within this paper, can reduce the incidence of VAP in mechanically ventilated patients it could decrease length of hospital stay, keep costs due to incidence of VAP down for both patient and healthcare institution, as well as decrease mortality rates in these patients. Clinical Question Ventilator associated pneumonia occurs way too often in the hospital setting. It causes significant stress on the patients already problematic health status. The writer of this paper has observed many nurses who are vigilant in providing oral care to ventilated patients, but has also observed other nurses who forego oral care as if it not important and has no affects upon the patients health. This made the writer question what the actual effectiveness of oral care has upon reducing the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients. This issue is very relevant to nursing because the ultimate goal of a nurse is to help the patient have the best possible outcome. Trying to achieve the best possible outcome for the patient makes infection control is a very high priority for nurses. Patients who have infections are more prone to get other infections and require more nursing care and more time to recover from their illnesses. Although VAP will continue to occur in patients, and oral care is not a cure for ventilator associated pneumonia, there is valuable information included in research studies included within this paper that shows the incidence of VAP can be reduced in mechanically ventilated patients by implementing routine oral care. Empirical Review 1 The purpose of the first study, conducted by Sona et al, 2005 was to determine the effect of a routine oral care protocol upon incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia. The research design was a quantitative, experiment, quasi-experimental study which utilized a non-equivalent control group before and after the design. The study had no conceptual framework stated by the researchers. Within the study, the variables of significance to the clinical question being looked at were the routine oral care protocol and the ventilator-associated pneumonia rates. The independent variable of new oral care protocol was defined as the mechanical cleansing of the teeth or gums to remove plaque with a tooth brush and the application of an oral antimicrobial. The study went on to further discuss the protocol as brushing the teeth for one to two minutes with a regular toothbrush and then applying .12% chlorahexidine to all oral surfaces every twelve hours. The dependent variable was the ventilator associated pneumonia rates. It was defined as a common hospital acquired infection and is the leading cause of death in ICU patients who are ventilator dependent. Ventilator associated pneumonia rates were measured using the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (NNIS) criteria.The reliability nor the validity of this instrument was addressed within the study. Another variable that was studied was length of stay. This was just measured by the number of days that the patient spent within the ICU after a ventilator associated pneumonia infection occurred (Sona et al., 2009). This study took place at Barnes Jewish Hospital on a 24 bed intensive care unit (Sona et al., 2009). The study focused particularly on patients that were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) whom required mechanical ventilation. The subjects consisted of all patients who had mechanical ventilation between June 1, 2003 and May 31, 2005. Subjects were chosen using non-probability convenience sampling. The pre-intervention was implemented for patients that were admitted between June 1, 2003 and May 31, 2005. The size of this sample was 777 patients. The pre-intervention phase consisted of standard care the nurse provided to the patients, no changes were provided during this time; only observation took place. One month before the end of the pre-intervention phase all nursing staff working on the SICU were debriefed and educated on the aims of the study as well as the new routine oral care protocol by two clinical nurse specialists and a nurse educator. This was to help pre vent discrepancies in the intervention. During the post intervention phase of the study which took place between June 2004 until May 2005 the sample size consisted of 871 patients who were all nil per os (NPO) (Sona et al., 2009) On June 1, 2004 the new routine oral care protocol was implemented (Sona et al., 2009). The intervention/protocol consisted of the nurse brushing the teeth of the patient for one to two minutes with a regular toothbrush, rinsing the mouth with water and suctioning it out, and then using 15 mL of .12% chlorahexidine to cleanse the mouth. The intervention was repeated every 12 hours by the registered nursing staff. Compliance of the protocol was estimated to be around 90% and the implementation was carried out for 12 months before results were analyzed(Sona et al., 2009). For this study the level of significance was expressed using p-values. A p value of less than .05 was considered significant (Sona et al., 2009). For the data analysis, two statistical tests were used: The Mantel-Haesnel Chi Squared . After the analysis of data, it was determined that p=.04 showing that the routine oral care protocol did cause a significant reduction in the ventilator-associated pneumonia rates within the subjects studied. The pre-intervention rate for VAP was 5.2 infection per 1000 ventilator days while post-intervention rate for VAP showed 2.4 infections per 1000 ventilator days (Sona et al., 2009). Other statistics for the study showed the patients number of days the patient was on ventilator was decreased(Sona et al., 2009). From the statistical analysis within the study, the researchers derived certain findings and conclusions (Sona et al., 2009). One of the findings was that the post intervention group had trends toward shorter time on the ventilator, as well as length of hospital stay. The main finding within the study found that when the routine oral care protocol was being utilized, the rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia were significantly decreased. The researcher makes it a point to state that although the finding suggests that the implementation of the protocol reduces rate of VAP this cannot be proven (Sona et al., 2009). This study is a nonrandomized controlled trial. The quality of this evidence was convincing and significant. It was a consistent study and it is considered to be of Level II quality. Certain extraneous variables that could have had an effect upon the outcome of the study, as identified by the student, could have been the condition the patient was in before the ICU admission, any pre-existing conditions that could alter health and increase the risk of infection, and the nurses attitude toward performing oral care. Although the study was a strong and consistent one, it did have both strengths and weaknesses. There were no strengths identified by the researchers. However, the student did identify some strengths within this study. One of the first strengths was the education that was given to the nursing staff prior to the implementation of the protocol. This helped the study to be more valid by increasing the continuity of the care and way the nurses performed the protocol. The other strength of the study was the design being a quasi-experimental. This is because quasi-experimental studies usually can be generalized to the population that is being studied. Weaknesses that were addressed within the study by the researchers was that the researchers themselves did not evaluate the teeth brushing portion of the intervention to make sure that the nurses were being consistent in the way they did it, and if the nurses performed it for the correct amount of time (Sona et al., 2009). This resulted in the lack of control over nursing techniques. Another weakness of the study recognized by the researcher was the study did not take into account the change in the patient population over the duration of the study (Sona et al., 2009). Some weaknesses the student identified within this study was that the study was very susceptible to bias because no blinding or masking was used within this study. Everyone knew what was occurring and this could have had the researchers looking as if the intervention helped more than it actually did. Within the study the researcher did not address if the study could be generalized. However, the writer of the paper believes that this study can be generalized. The intervention is a very simple one. Most cultures have no problems with utilizing oral care. Also, most hospitals have intensive care units and/or ventilator dependent patients which were the population within the study. This intervention within the study does not have a lot of risks. The only risks mentioned were possible tooth staining from the antimicrobial and poor taste (Sona et al., 2009). Also, this intervention is very feasible. To implement oral care there is no special training needed, although education should be provided. The oral care routine is a relatively quick intervention that takes no more than 5 minutes to implement, which would allow nurses with busy schedules to still be able to perform the intervention. Also, this intervention is very low cost compared to the cost of ventilator associated pneumonia c ases. Therefore, the cost-benefit ratio would be a great benefit to health-care facilities. This study suggests that oral care can be very effective in decreasing the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia rates. Although a very valid study, one study is not enough evidence to implement a new protocol into a nurses practice. One must look for more studies and literature to support the finding in order to attempt to implement it into practice. The next study that was appraised by the writer of this paper seems to support the findings that were found in this study. Empirical Review 2 The next study examined by the writer of this paper was a research study conducted by Mori et al.,2005. The purpose of the study was to determine if oral care of mechanically ventilated patients contributed to the prevention and reduction of the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (Mori et al., 2005). The research design utilized for this study was a quantitative, experimental, quasi-experimental which used a non-equivalent before and after approach. Within the study the researcher did not state any theoretical framework to guide the study. The study was not randomized, and used a non-probability convenience sample method (Mori et al., 2005). The research study took place on a medical/surgical intensive care unit in an urban university hospital which was not named by the researcher (Mori et al., 2005). The population of interest was ventilator dependent patients with tracheal intubation. Since subjects were chosen by convenience sampling, they were chosen as they became available on the unit. Inclusion criteria for subjects were that they must have been receiving mechanical ventilation and have tracheal intubation. Exclusion criteria for the study were patients whose conditions contraindicated oral care, patients with severe bleeding tendencies, or patients with iodine allergies. The sample for the oral care group was patients admitted to the intensive care unit between January 1997 and December 2002, and consisted of 1,248 patients. The sample for the non-oral care group, or the control, was patients admitted during January of 1995 until December of 1996; this sample size was 414 subjects (Mori et al., 2005) For this study, the independent variable was the oral care being delivered (Mori et al., 2005). This variable was defined as cleansing of the oral cavity three times a day by nursing employees following the specified new protocol. The protocol was that the nurse would check the patients vital signs and then do oral suctioning, followed by positioning the patients head to the side to prevent asphyxiation and determine the condition of the oral mucosa. After this the nurse would clean the mouth with a 20-fold diluted solution of providone-iodine gargle (antimicrobial). Then the use of a standard toothbrush was used to brush the teeth; the patients mouth was rinsed with water. Directly following the brushing and rinsing, the providone-iodine was utilized again by swabbing the mouth and teeth. Finally, oral suctioning was done one final time. The dependent variable in the study was the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia. This variable was defined as a hospital-acquired pneumoni a that becomes present after 48 hours of the patient being mechanically ventilated. Ventilator associated pneumonia was suspected if patch infiltrates were present upon the patients chest x-ray and two of the following were present: a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, white blood cell count of 10,000 m3 or higher, or purulent respiratory secretions were observed. A definite diagnosis of ventilator associated pneumonia, which was used for evidence of the incidence in this study, was determined by trancheobronchial secretion cultures showing a result of 1+ or more. Other variables were duration of hospitalization defined as length of stay measured by the number of days and the causative agent of the pneumonia identified by bacterial cultures (Mori et al., 2005). Reliability and Validity of the cultures and radiography used to measure if ventilator associated pneumonia was present and causative agent were not addressed within the study by the researcher, so the validity is unkno wn.

Elderly Patient Surgery Case Study

Elderly Patient Surgery Case Study Every nurse has the responsibility to safeguard their patients from harm and the NMC (2009a, p.14), states that it is every adults right to live in safety and be free from fear and abuse. There are a number of individuals who can be classed as a vulnerable person, these individuals can be either children or adults. A vulnerable adult is someone who is over 18 years old and meets any one of the following criteria: is receiving any form of healthcare or welfare service, needs assistance to carry out daily activities, unable to take care of him or herself and is unable to protect him or herself against harm. (DoH, 2009, Section 59)(DoH, 2000, p.8-9). Older people are generally regarded as vulnerable adults because of their general poor health and their high dependency on others to help with daily activities. In Peters case, he is not very young, is inclined to be forgetful and has mobility issues and therefore has the high probability of requiring help at home to help with his independe nce. All of these issues combined could have serious impacts on his health and safety which would mean that Peter could fit into each, if not all, of the mentioned categories and therefore he should be regarded as a vulnerable adult. The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) is responsible for the vetting and barring of any individuals who may come into contact with or work with vulnerable individuals (ISA, 2009, p.3). The ISA have an Independent Barring Board who are responsible for maintaining two separate lists, one for the protection of children and the other for the protection of vulnerable adults, which contain the names of any person who has been referred to them for the harming of any vulnerable person (ISA, 2009, p.3). The harming of a vulnerable person, whether it be physical, verbal, psychological, emotional, financial or neglect, is regarded as abuse. Vulnerable adults may be abused by a wide range of people, including family members and abuse can be in the form of a single or a recurring act. As Peters daughter wants him to have the surgery the nurse will have to establish whether there is an underlying reason for this. Assessment of this situation would be essential because intimidation or coerci on, which are both forms of psychological abuse, may cause Peter to be incapable of making his own decisions (DoH, 2000, p.11). As such, if this was assessed to be abusive behaviour, it would be important to remove Peter away from his daughter as the nurse has a duty of care to ensure that her patient remains safe at all times (NMC code). Nurses have a professional responsibility to their patients, are accountable for their actions when the patient is in their care and have a duty of care to ensure that the patient receives good quality care at all times (NMC code 1.4). Every nurse must always ensure that they work within their abilities and should raise any concerns, to a senior member of staff, if they have been asked to perform any duties which they are not competent in performing and therefore may potentially cause harm to the patient (NMC, 2009b). Reasonable care must be taken to avoid acts or omissions which are likely to cause reasonably foreseeable harm to whomever a duty of care is owed (Dimond, 2008, p.40). If the nurse does not provide sufficient care to the patient and causes harm as a result, she will be held liable in the tort of negligence (Tingle crib, p.92), which is a civil wrong for the breach of duty to take reasonable care not to injure or harm a person. In order to be held liable in the tort of negligence it must first be proven that the nurse owed a duty of care to that patient, next the claimant must prove that there was a breach in this duty of care and then it must be proven that the damage being claimed for was caused by this breach of duty (Tingle). The Bolam Test is the test which is used to determine a breach of duty and is concerned with how negligence should be established (Legal aspects). It does this by testing the standard of care which should be given from a professional and comparing it to the standard of care which was actually given in the cases of the alleged negligence (). Accountability means being responsible for something or to someone (NMC, 2002, p10). According to Dimond (2008, p.5), registered nurses are held accountable to the patient, the public, their employer and their profession, and these are known as the four arenas of accountability. Where the registered nurse is accountable to the patient and the public, she is accountable to the law and accountability to her employer means she is responsible for keeping to her contract of employment and failing to do so may result in a hearing in front of the employment tribunal. Professional accountability assumes that the nurse is a member of the profession and that she has accepted the rights, status and responsibilities of the profession (foundations, p.473). The NMC (2002, p.3) suggests that professional accountability involves using knowledge, skills, experience and professional judgement in order to make decisions which are in the best interests of the patient and should be able to justify the re asons for her decisions. This implies that nurses, as professionals, are competent in their area of practice, which allows the patient to gain trust in the nurse and enables the nurse to be able to act in the patients best interest (foundations, p.473). Therefore, nurses have a duty of care to those they care for and as such, this implies that there is a right and a duty attached to professional accountability. Registered nurses must follow the guidelines within the Code of Professional Conduct and as such should be legally accountable for their work (NMC, 2009b) and will be brought in front of the Fitness to Practice Panel, and possibly removed from the register, for unprofessional behaviour that breaches the Code of Conduct (Brooker and Nicol, 2003, p.6). This is different for nursing students, as they are only accountable to their employer, in this case the university, and the law. It is not possible to hold students professionally accountable as their names have not yet been entered onto the professional register however the NMC states that students are still responsible for their actions (NMC, 2010, p.1). From this it must be said that it will be the registered nurse who is mentoring, or working with, the student that can be held accountable for the students actions or omissions as it is their responsibility to ensure that the student is working within their abilities (Brooker and Nico l, 2003, p.7). Nurses are fundamentally responsible for the promotion and restoration of health, the prevention of illness and to ease suffering for their patients (Hendrick, p.76), however nursing is not just about treating a patients illness; its about caring, teaching and supporting a patient at a time when they need it the most. This can be done if the nurse makes building a nurse-patient relationship with her patient a priority in the patients care. Communication is a necessary foundation for any nurse-patient relationship to be built appropriately and there are a number of ways in which people can communicate such as verbally, non-verbally, written or electronically. The nurse should always communicate with the patient at their level of understanding and should always avoid using medical jargon when speaking to the patient (NMC). Effective communication is not just about talking, it involves active listening too and is an essential key in building a trusting relationship with the patient. Dif ferent communication techniques could be used between the nurse and the patient which include observing, listening, silence and open-ended questions (Brooker and Nicol, 2003, p.46). Without the appropriate use of these different communication techniques the relationship will not have a base to build on and if there is no relationship, the patient will not have the trust required for them to share their feelings, anxieties or wishes. In our scenario, Peter has opened up to the nurse by telling her how he is feeling and has put his trust in her to help him make the decision as to whether or not he should have the surgery. In this situation communication is the vital key as it is important that Peter is given open, honest, accurate and unbiased information about any procedures or assessments that will be carried out and the nurse must ensure that he fully understands the benefits, risks, side effects and consequences of these procedures (). The patient should be consulted every step of the way which will enable them to remain autonomous. All healthcare professionals should have a respect for their patients autonomy and should treat their patients as individuals, with rights, rather than objects of care (Hendrick, p.95). Autonomy is the right of the person to make their own decisions and accepting their choices. One way in which a patient can exercise their autonomy is by giving consent and as such, autonomy is a requirement for consent (tingle cribb, p.143). Consent can be given in different forms such as expressed or implied. Expressed consent can be either written or verbal and this can be given by the means of a written and signed consent form or by word of mouth. Implied consent can be a simple gesture, such as holding their arm out for an injection or by arriving at the hospital for an operation. Each form of consent is as equally valid as the other however, consent is only legally valid if it is given voluntarily, based on clear and accurate information and if the patient is competent (tingle and mchale, p.100 -105). Gillan (Tingle and Cribb, 2007, p.140) defines consent as a voluntary un-coerced decision made by a sufficiently autonomous person on the basis of adequate information to accept or reject some proposed course of action that will affect the patient. This definition suggests that communication, autonomy and consent are intricately liked as effective communication is important because you must give adequate, open and honest information to the patient in order for the patient to fully understand and consider all the issues involved, which will enable the patient to be able to make an autonomous decision and ultimately be able to give consent. No other person is authorised to give consent, for any procedure or treatment, on behalf of another adult unless they are the legal power of attorney for the patient (legal aspects). Gillans definition of consent states that consent can only be given by a sufficiently autonomous person. The DoH states that healthcare professionals must not make any assumptions that a person is incapable of making their own decisions, therefore they should carry out an assessment which would assess whether the individual is mentally capable of making these decisions for themselves. Autonomous decision making is therefore based on the matter of capacity or incapacity (foundations p.500). The term capacity is used to define the individuals ability to make their own decisions about a particular matter at a particular time (Legal aspects) and, as autonomy is the basic foundation for consent, if incapacity is suspected the individual is therefore not allowed to give consent until they are deemed competent. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 states that healthcare professionals are required to assume that every person has the capacity to make their own decisions and that the healthcare professional has to prove that the individual has a lack of capacity and must then be deemed incompetent (tingle and crib, p.143). Deciding whether a person has the capacity to make informed decisions for themselves is determined using the assessment tools defined in the Mental Capacity Act and cannot be established or judged by an individuals age or appearance (The Mental Health Act section 2 and 3). There are two basic concepts that underpin the Act these are: the concept of capacity and the concept of best interests (Legal aspects). Both of these concepts link together and as such, if the patient lacks mental capacity actions can be taken or decisions can be made on their behalf and these must be made or taken in the best interests of that person. The assessment used to determine whether a patient is capable of making a treatment decision is split into two stages: the first stage is to determine whether the patient has any issues which prevent them from making a decision, and the second is to establish if this issue which prevents the patient from making a decision causes the patient any problems in communicating their decisions or wishes (Legal aspects). A person is not able to make their own decisions for themselves if they are not able to understand any of the information given to them, remember the information, utilise that information as part of the decision making process and are not able to convey or share their decision (Legal aspects). However, if the information is not given to the patient in a way that is appropriate to his circumstances such as using simple words or visual aids, they are not to be judged as unable to understand that information (legal aspects, p.139). Additionally, if the patient has a short memory span and can only retain information for a short period, they must not be classed as unable to make their own decisions, as this issue may not prevent them from being able to make the decision relevant to the treatment (legal aspects, p.139). In such instances this decision must be made whilst the information is still held within the patients memory. From this is must be said that every person should be encourag ed and enabled to make their own decisions or to participate as fully as possible in the decision-making, by being given the help and support they need to make and express a choice (NMC, 2008a). In this scenario it states that Peter has an inclination to be forgetful, because of this he must not automatically be deemed incompetent and it is vitally important that all the steps required to deem a person incompetent must be taken into account. One of the steps suggests that even though the Peter has a short memory span, it is vital to ensure that the information given is understood clearly and that the decision is made before the he forgets. This would enable Peter to give informed consent, however if he forgets this information and has not made an informed decision before his memory span lapses he must be deemed incompetent. From this we can establish that it is important to have the necessary mental capacity as it protects the individuals right to make their own decisions (legal aspects). If the individual is lacking in capacity then decisions need to be made on their behalf and these decisions that are made on behalf of someone else should be the decisions which limit the p ersons basic rights and freedoms the least (legal aspects mc). The Human Rights Act 1998 ensures that individuals rights are respected and that basic human rights such as the right to life, the right to not be discriminated against, the right to liberty, and the right to freedom from torture or degrading treatment and the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence are promoted (Human Rights Act 1998). These rights can be promoted by providing high standard of care and treatment, respecting a patients privacy, dignity and confidentiality and by safeguarding the patients from harm. A persons rights and freedoms are protected and promoted by the nurse when she acts as an advocate for them. Being an advocate for the patient is vitally important as it ensures that the patients choices and decisions are respected. The nurse can act as an advocate in many different situations such as, offering an alternative explanation, or asking the other professionals to give the information again in basic terms, if the nurse feels that the patient has not been given clear, honest and adequate information. (NMC). Another way for the nurse to act as an advocate is to try to adhere to the patients wishes if the patient was proved to be incompetent; if this is not possible then she must act in their best interests. As Peter has asked the nurse in this scenario to help him make the decision as to whether or not he should have the surgery, he is putting his trust in her and allowing her to become his advocate. However, until all the necessary steps have been taken to ensure whether Peter has understood what he has been told and once his mental capacity has been assessed, no other person can make this decision for him, unless he was deemed to be mentally incompetent. If he was deemed to be incompetent the decision as to whether he has the surgery or not will be made by the healthcare professionals, unless his daughter has lasting power of attorney, and will be based on his best interests. The decision that is likely to be made is that Peter will go ahead with the surgery, as this is in his best interests and will improve his quality of life. If Peter is deemed competent, then Peter should make the decision for himself and his decision will be final. If Peter decides not to go ahead with the surgery, then Peters home life would need to be assessed. Inter-professional working is required in order to care for the patient holistically. Holistic care is primarily concerned with ensuring that the patients basic needs are met (NMC, 2009a, p.9) and making sure that any observations, medications and decisions are recorded accurately (NMC, 2008b, p.6). A nurses role also includes supporting and teaching the patient and their families about the illness or about improving their lifestyle to prevent the illness from re-occurring. It is extremely important that the nurse develops a close working relationship with these other multi-disciplinary professionals, as Peter will need support when he gets home whether or not he has had the surgery. The range of other professionals which may be involved in Peters care when he gets home include social workers, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. It may be possible that Peters daughter may be pushing for Peter to have the surgery as she may be his primary carer and might be feeling stressed or overworked and if this surgery can improve his mobility, this may offer her some form of relief. If this is the case, the nurse could arrange for a carer to help them within their home and that way Peters daughter may get some relief from the work involved in his care. In this case, the nurse can act as an advocate to ensure that the decisions are not being made for him or that he is under no undue pressure or being forced to make the decision. Being an advocate for a patient implies that there should be a level of trust between the nurse and the patient and this level of trust can be built up through a therapeutic relationship. Therapeutic relationships are an intervention which is central to nursing and a nurse should have an essence of self-awareness and self-knowledge and have an awareness of the boundaries of the professional role in order to be able to establish a therapeutic relationship with their patient. Effective communication, trust, respect, genuineness, acceptance and empathy are key principles in establishing this relationship (Brooker and Nicol, 2003, p.45). When this relationship has been established the patient may feel at ease to share information and have a willingness to open up and share their feelings (Dossey and Keegan, 2008, p.370). Establishing and maintaining this nurse-patient relationship is vital to the holistic care of the patient and even though the nurse should develop a close relationship w ith the patient in order to open up communication barriers she must always keep and emotional distance from the patient and their families. It is the nurses responsibility to ensure that she never oversteps the professional boundaries throughout the care of the patient (NMC Code). In conclusion it has been established that in order for a patient to be given high quality, safe care a nurse needs to have the appropriate skills and knowledge to be able to perform the even the simplest of tasks competently. This assignment has briefly looked at the importance of a therapeutic relationship with communication being one of the vital keys, as without using it effectively it will be difficult to bond and build a professional relationship with the patient. It has also been identified that every nurse has a duty to protect their patients, that they should safeguard their patients and promote their rights and autonomy. It is vitally important that the nurse has the confidence to speak up to other professionals if she feels that the information hasnt been delivered to the patient honestly, accurately or clearly, otherwise she could be held accountable if something was to go wrong. The importance of the guidelines and codes issued by the NMC, have also been discussed, as th ey are in place to help protect, not only the patient, but also the professionals who are involved in the patients care. One of the guidelines which has been focused on, is for the nurse to make sure that the patient has given informed consent without any undue pressure and that the nurse, acting as the patients advocate, can help protect the patient. We have also looked at the importance of using assessment tools to assist in decision making process as this is used to identify whether the patient has the capacity to give consent or not. We have established that all health care professionals need to work together as a team and must communicate, not just with each other, but with the patient and his family to ensure patients needs are met and that every patient should be awarded the opportunity to live independently or be offered help and support from the necessary health care professionals to enable the patient to live as independently as possible.

Escape Through Dementia in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gi

Escape Through Dementia in The Yellow Wallpaper   Ã‚  Ã‚   Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper" is an excellent story on several levels. It works as a suspenseful thriller about the effects of mental illness. It also serves to make several points about feminism and the pervailing attitudes of her time. John, the husband, serves as a metaphor for masculine views of the time, and for the masculine side of humans, the side of reason and logic. "John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horor of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures" (1658). His character is almost stereotypical in its adherence to reason and its attittude towards his wife. He negates her intuition; "there is something strange about the house - I can feel it. I even said so to John one moonlight evening, but he said what I felt was a draught, and shut the window" (1658) He attributes her condition to "a slight hysterical tendency" (1658), which is, etymologically speaking, just a polite way of saying that she is instable due to being a woman. He is not interested in his wife's actual condition, rather in his diagnosis; "John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfie s him" (1659). His best advice is to not use her imagination (though trapped in an ugly room), but to become more reasonable and to resist her condition through willpower. When he does put her to bed and asks her to get well, he asks, not for her own self, but with him as the motivation; "He said [. . .] that I must take care of myself for his sake, and keep well" (1663). John is reasonable and educated. He represents a stifling pr... ...eedom from the bars in the pattern. This creeping about is certainly at odds with her husband's requests. It is irrational, in that she thinks she has escaped, when it is actually time to leave for good, and she has locked herself in. She defies his orders of bed rest, physically exhausting herself crawling about and pushing the bed and biting the bed and tearing the wall-paper. She overcomes her husband's forthright sensibility by acting so crazy that he cannot deny it, cannot make sense of it, cannot do anything but faint away, leaving her to crawl right over the top of him. She has escaped his oppression by going into her dementia and embracing it. Works Cited Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wall-paper." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Eds. Nina Baym, et. al. Shorter 5th ed. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999: 1656-1669.

Max Weber on Society Essay -- Max Weber sociology sociological Essays

Max Weber on Society Max Weber was one of the world's greatest sociologists and wrote a lot about the capitalist world he lived in. He had a different conception of capitalist society than most of his contemporaries. He looked at capitalism from all the different aspects that the philosophy was made of. Some of these aspects are state power, authority, class inequality, imperialism, and bureaucracy. To understand how Weber thought one must look at each area separately then put them all together in a global package. Weber describes history in terms of the constant struggle for power. He bases all significant historical changes on the power struggle that caused them. Weber describes power as a zero sum game. That means for one person to gain power, someone else has to loose the same amount of power. A fundamental aspect of the power struggle is the state, and its power. Weber states that the state is the monopoly of legitimate force. The state is a compulsory of power, and the laws within it are its powers to enforce its power. The main struggle for power is that of force verses authority. Force is power that can be used to get one's way, and authority is the legitimate use of power to rule. Within the struggle for power, Weber defines three forms of authority: rational-legal authority, traditional authority, and charismatic authority. Rational-legal authority is anchored in impersonal rules that have been legally established. This type of has come to characterize...

“Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin – Character

A dynamic character is a major character in a work of fiction that encounters conflict and is changed by it. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin, the emotional pattern and thought process of Louise Mallard after she is informed of her husband’s death are explored. Over the course of the hour in which the story takes place Louise has a realization about the constraints she feels in her life and in her marriage. By delineating Louise as a flat and dynamic character, Chopin is able to convey her theme that real freedom is found in death.Over the course of the story, all the characters are left as fairly flat and undeveloped. Louise is simply described as a young woman with â€Å"a fair, clam face whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength† (paragraph 8) and that was suffering from a heart condition. When the death of her husband, Brently, is revealed her immediate reaction was that of despair. After weeping suddenly with â€Å"wild abandon ment,† Louise retreated to her room in order to collapse in solitude (paragraph 3 and 4). The tragic realization and emotional exhaustion eventually leads Louise to a realization of freedom.By whispering â€Å"free, free, free! † (paragraph 11) under her breath and not over thinking the feeling she had, Louise was able to embrace the joy with open arms she discovered in her newfound freedom. Although she knew that she would be torn apart at the sight of â€Å"the face that had never looked save with love upon her† (paragraph 12) as a corpse, Louise welcomed the oncoming years spent in devotion to her own desires. This shift in position on death motivates Louise to realize that Brently’s death should not be dwelled on with sorrow. Motivation is a sufficient reason for a character to act the way they do.Louise’s motivation for living a liberated life comes through the open window. Through nature, Chopin provides Louise with purpose. For example, while being described, the upstairs room is left with the simplistic depiction that it has only a single roomy armchair. When her husband is no longer there to restrict her potential, the house, which was once her cage, finally opens up to the outside world. With the â€Å"breath of rain in the air† and the tree tops bursting with life (paragraph four), Louise begins her journey to her conclusion.Even though the visualization of nature, Louise is competent enough to grasp that her love for Brently could not compare to the â€Å"possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being† (paragraph fifteen). Soon enough she had nearly forgotten her departed lover and was â€Å"drinking in an elixir of life through that open window† (paragraph eighteen). After the inhalation of submission, Louise â€Å"carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory† (paragraph twenty) down the stairs.In doing so, the once emotionally unstable and physically ailed woman with â€Å"white slender hands† (paragraph ten) was able to prepare for a life without discretion or restrictions. The development of Louise only seized due to her preexisting medical condition claiming her life. However this motivation is what caused Louise to act in the ways she did and refined the theme. The development of character in â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is left stagnant. Having a flat main character allows the reader to identify with the story on a level of understanding separate from that of any round character.Although the reader is inserted into Louise’s mind, an entirely understood background for her is missing. In doing so a void is made in which the reader can implant themselves into the character’s shoes to further comprehend the exact emotions of Louise during the hour. This further expands the understanding of theme because as Louise remains in front of the window with her arms spread welcoming the years to come, since she is left lacking in detail, the reader can jump into her place; they can shed tears with her or drink the elixir of life with her.The theme that death is the ultimate release from constraint is understood in the story due to Chopin’s development of Louise as a flat and dynamic character. While companionship and love are significantly important aspects of life, Chopin was able to demonstrate that Louise was ecstatic only when she realized the new way she could live her life. After all, the Greek historian Thucydides once said, â€Å"the secret of happiness is freedom. † Works Cited: Kennedy, XJ and Dana Gioia. Literature, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. Seventh edition. Boston: Pearson, 2010. Print.