Monday, January 27, 2020

Reflecting On Swot Analysis Two Student Nurse Interviews Nursing Essay

Reflecting On Swot Analysis Two Student Nurse Interviews Nursing Essay you know you have got to lift the bar a little, because you are no longer a carer or a nursing assistant, your actual on your way up to being a nurse, obviously you have got to set an exampleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (from student F.) Incident: I was struck by Fs reflection on her own change in identity and awareness of internal drive to meet a standard. She was obviously struggling with this change process and aware of feeling vulnerable. I was surprised by her sharing this with me as she was a first year student nurse and this is a level of maturity in self awareness and reflection I might expect from a more senior student nurse or even from a newly qualified staff nurse. F. had spoken at the start of interview about trying to find her feet and perhaps feeling sensitive about things. I responded with active listening through the rest of the interview and with an effective summary question/ statement towards the end that allowed F. to talk about moving on to her next placement. F. was voicing the possibility of having a different outlook towards a new experience; almost as if she was recognising the beginnings of long process of change in becoming a professional nurse. Reflective observation: In my SWOT analysis of both interviews I conducted, I saw this as the obvious opportunity for a learning moment, both for F. herself and also for myself as an aspiring future mentor. My thought during the interview was that this was a precious moment for F in becoming a nurse; and did wonder how I should respond to her verbalisation of her thoughts and feelings. When I constructed the analysis this part stood out for me again as being a chance for myself to learn, perhaps how to become more effective as a mentor. My thoughts were how to cherish and help this kind of reflection in students in the future. I also wondered how rare these kind of conversations happened during nursing training. F. reflections that she shared with me, reminded me of my own training and how some staff nurses and charge nurses had stood out for me in the process of myself acquiring the identity as a nurse. There was a protective element here in that I wondered how F.s current reflective state could be nurtured and developed in her future placements. I wondered if she was aware herself of this change process and whether she would voice this in future with her mentors and tutors. It might be possible for F. and similar students to ignore and keep quiet about vulnerabilities and internalise this change process. If mentors were open to listening and gently questioning about becoming a nurse then this might facilitate growth and awareness of the nursing identity. I considered how it might be difficult to record this type of reflection in the CAP booklet, even though the booklet explicitly encourages the use of reflection. A mentor would have to develop excellent reflective skills in order to facilitate these skills in students, and perhaps become sensitive to these opportunities for reflection arising early in the programme of nursing education. A possibility for mentors would be to use the mid and end placement meetings with students. So that as well as assessing competencies and professional role development; there could be a place to gently discuss and reflect on identity as a nurse. As well as this it might be possible for students to keep a reflective diary during placement and regularly meet with the mentor to discuss issues as they arose. There might be some reluctance for both mentor and student to explore these areas as this is very much about personal identity and occurs during a period of learning and developing in many different aspects as a nurse. Reflection might well be different for a very experienced and skilled staff nurse who is confident in their own capabilities and skills. Related Theory: Some elements of theory relating to developing as a reflective practitioner within modern nursing will be analysed in the following section. The path to becoming a nurse, can involve sharing feelings and asking for support and finding ways to handle emotions (Jarvis and Gibson, 2001). There can be an inherent vulnerability during the process of socialisation where the values and attitudes, that allow the nurse to function in his or her role within the health care system, are in a state of flux and change (Morton-Cooper and Palmer, 2000). The mentor ideally should create a warm, genuine supportive relationship based on trust and sound interpersonal skills (Jarvis and Gibson, 2001). This must be fundamental to facilitating reflection upon personal and professional identity as a nurse. Gardiner (2003) introduces the idea of professional friendship to the role of being a mentor where listening, giving of recognition and challenging are added to the friend type relationship. Some barriers to facilitating reflection on attitudes and self awareness can lie in the multi faceted role of the mentor. The mentor role is flexible and may have to cover a number of parts and elements; some of which may be contradictory. Two possibly opposing roles are informal teacher and guide and also assessor of professional competence especially with a student that is struggling or failing. So it may be difficult to add to this list that of confidant and counsellor in the broadest sense (Jarvis and Gibson, 2001). The traditional concept of being professional could hinder openness for student nurses. There is a traditional view of keeping a professional distance and restraint in health care which may not encourage the expression of feelings and vulnerabilities for student nurses. However, Morton-Cooper and Palmer (2000) argue there is some growing evidence of the importance of developing emotional work as a critical element to caring, where this is described as emotional literacy, or perhaps in plain English terms as being able to express feelings appropriately, safely and effectively. Jarvis and Gibson (2001) discuss the teacher- learner relationship as being hierarchical and the teacher having authority versus creating an inclusive, informal teaching relationship that encourages open reflection and critical thinking. There may be some difficulty for the student to reflect and be vulnerable and open about their changing identity where there is a strict authoritarian relationship (Jarvis and Gibson, 2001). However, the nurse can develop authority based on professionalism and skills and knowledge that is legitimised by colleagues and students. This also relates to the element of mentorship in being a positive role model for student nurse (Jarvis and Gibson, 2001). Morton-Cooper and Palmer (2000) state the idea of the adult learner who directs their own learning and is in a process of becoming rather than being shaped into a role. There are some ways to facilitate reflective practice and awareness. Donovan (2007) suggests using a formal reflective tool and a diary can be useful. Reflective discussion with peers and mentors also can be helpful. Trust is an important element in making reflection effective in clinical placement. Levett-Jones (2007) suggests the idea of using narratives in self assessment. Case study or narratives may be more suitable to exploring practice, assessing competencies and skills. However, this could be a starting point in developing reflective skills and a language of emotional literacy. The value of narrative could lie in allowing direction by the mentor for the beginning nurse while being flexible during nursing education. There is also the value of providing a personal and persistent record for assessment and evaluation (Levett-Jones, 2007). Some of difficulties have been examined that there may arise in developing as a reflective practitioner and how a mentor may help. There has been a short consideration of some of the possible tools such as diaries and narratives which may help in the learning process. Future Action: To be a more effective mentor, I would consider using a formal reflective tool such as Marks-Maran and Rose (1997) while mentoring students. This will be familiar to student nurses as it is used in the University of Dundee and in NHS Fife. I would try and use it more explicitly during planned learning programmes. Further I would consider some strategies to encourage reflective discussion amongst students. Some ideas might be planned case studies involving one or more students. A structured and open discussion with a student about attitudes and professional roles may be useful at mid and end placement, although I would be tempted to arrange this after assessment and filling in competencies in the CAP booklet. I t would probably be ideal to have this at separate time as students appear to be anxious about completing their booklets. Lastly, I may trial the use of narrative and or diaries to help with assessment of learning to see if this can promote reflection by students I will be working with.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Legal, Safety, Regulatory Essay

Human resources must abide by legal regulations and safety laws, along with regulations requirements. This is set in place for organizations to avoid litigation. The employee-related regulations have been established by the United States including; Department of Labor, the U. S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Department of Homeland Security. The main focus of these regulations is to prevent any manager from acting biased or irrationally. As a result, common sense and compassion have been replaced by litigation. What managers and employees fear the most is being sued. Managers will make special efforts to prevent such situations from occurring. Some managers will neglect high stress levels of their employees and lack the proper attention to legitimately discontented and unhappy employees. This throws common sense and compassion out the door. Compassion is the workplace amplifies the morale and enthusiasm of the employees along with cooperation where people are actually open to help and not move quickly into suing and organization. Experiencing compassion at work generates positive emotion and, in turn, shapes employees’ long-term attitudes and behaviors. Positive emotions generated by compassion have a cascading effect on employees’ attitudes and behaviors, thereby increasing job satisfaction and lowering job stress, (University of Michigan: Newsroom, 2003). The most recent of the major Equal Employment Opportunity laws is The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 also known as ADA. The law forbidding employment discrimination against people with disabilities who are able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). This act also provides the definition of what a person with disability truly entails. Managers must be especially careful when it comes to this because these days employees will knit pick and strip down a situation and call it discrimination when without a doubt they were probably not fulfilling the job description. HR managers need to ensure the safety of their employees. To ensure such safety there are two important standard regulations; that is workman’s compensation laws, each slightly differing upon which state the employee is in, and OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act established since 1970 on the federal level . Workman’s comp is a legally required benefit that provides medical care, income continuation, and rehabilitation expenses for people who sustain job-related injuries or sickness. Also provides income to the survivors of an employee whose death is job related (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). That being the case, there are audits held to prevent employee’s from filing fraudulent workman’s comp claims. OSHA has set federal and states laws, employees are to abide by their states OSHA standards to ensure safety in the workplace (Dellpo, 2013). In violation to following such laws can result in employer fines. With compassion and common sense lacking in the workplace a real disgruntled employee could cost and employer tons of money by carelessly contributing to fines. Then when presented with such allegations will then claim discrimination. When dealing with laws that effect HR, these are brought to the EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employment decisions should not be based on characteristics such as race, sex, age, or disability (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). The EEOC are the ones who investigate claims and situations involving harassment, discrimination, ect. And do take everything seriously. Employers these days definitely abuse the EEOC for simple situations that common sense can be easily applied to, and under those circumstances wasting a lot of time and money for an organization. In the end, after exanimating the effect of legal safety and regulatory requirements on human resource process the main focus of these regulations is to prevent any manager from biasedly and without cause irrationally treating an employee badly. As a result, common sense and compassion have been replaced by litigation. It is unfortunate, but as managers that is why it is important to take actions that develop trust, such as sharing useful information and making good on commitments. Act consistently so that employees are not surprised by unexpected management actions or decisions. Be truthful and avoid white lies and actions designed to manipulate others by giving a certain (false) impression. Demonstrate integrity by keeping confidences and showing concern for others. Meet with employees to discuss and define what is expected of them. Ensure that employees are treated equitably, giving equivalent rewards for similar performance and avoiding actual or apparent special treatment of favorites. Adhere to clear standards that are seen as just and reasonable, for example, neither praising accomplishments nor imposing penalties disproportionately. Demonstrate respect toward employees, showing openly that they care about employees and recognize their strengths and contributions (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). By practicing these key points compassion and common sense can be restored in the workplace.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Ethics Essay ­ “Miss Evers’ Boys” Essay

One unethical issue that I saw in the film was that the patients that were being used for the experiment were misinformed about their medical status. This is unethical because the patients were being lied to about something that ultimately affected their health and lives. A second unethical issue that I saw in the movie was that the medical service was not provided so as best to promote the participant’s interest. The service was provide to conduct an experiment to study the progression of Syphilis in African American men. The only reason patients consented to the experiment was because they thought that they had â€Å"bad blood† and were waiting for treatment. Thirdly, another unethical issue that I saw in the movie was that the information about the Syphilis treatment, Penicillin, was kept hidden from the patients. Even when Penicillin became the official treatment, patients never received it whether they were looking for it or not. The fourth unethical issue that I saw in the movie was that the nurse did not recognize that considerations relating to the well ­being of the individual participants in the research should have taken precedence of any interest of the doctors, science, or society.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

The Minimum Wage War - 1167 Words

On Saturday, June 25, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed 121 bills. Among these bills was a landmark law in the United States’ social and economic development—Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) or otherwise known as the Wages and Hours Bill. This new law created a maximum forty-four hour workweek, guaranteed â€Å"time-and-a-half† for overtime hours in certain jobs, banned oppressive child labor, and established the nation’s first minimum wage. By definition, a minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement (such as one with a labor union). Throughout the years, the minimum wage has been a central debate topic for the socioeconomic world and now in 2014, the debate has broken through the surface once†¦show more content†¦Because these workers spend all the money they make, the $35 billion in extra wages would get pumped right back into the U.S. economy (Dickinson). However, not everyone is on the bandwagon. Conservative economists point out the negative effects the wage increase could have on the economy. They see it having an effect on the demand of jobs. Businesses facing higher labor costs would raise prices, passing those higher costs on to their customers. That would lead their customers to cut back on their purchases, meaning that businesses would need fewer workers (Lowrey). Raising the minimum wage would also make hiring low-wage workers more expensive relative to other investments, like new machinery. Businesses might then reduce their use of low-wage workers and shift their spending toward other things, such as automated systems. In contrast, an article written in the New York Times by Paul Krugman states that when it comes to the minimum wage, we have a number of cases in which a state raised its own minimum wage while a neighboring state did not. If there were anything to the notion that minimum wage increases have big negative effe cts on employment, that result should show up in state-to-state comparisons. It doesn’t. A University of California, Berkeley study found Wal-Mart could finance a pay hike to $12 an hour for its nearly one million low-wage associates by boasting prices just 1.1%—at a cost to theShow MoreRelatedThe Minimum Wage War, By Barbara Ehrenreich And The Article938 Words   |  4 Pageslike these arise in both the story Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich and the article â€Å"The Minimum-Wage War† by Rolling Stone. At first glance, these writings may seem unrelated; However, the themes of minimum wage and work ethic go hand-in-hand with respect to these texts. These writings express the correlation that working a minimum wage job and having a strong work ethic does not always result in enough money to pay for the cost of living. 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