Controversy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Controversy - Essay Example In fact, the market economy of New Zealand is one of the most prosperous economies of the world with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $181.3 billion, as on April, 2013 (OECD, 2013). Taxation in New Zealand is a vast and complex phenomenon. Since 1980, the country is going through significant tax reform programs for the purpose of restructuring its marginal tax rate system. In 2010, the marginal income tax rate was reduced from 66% to 33%, corporate tax rate was also diminished from 48% to 33%. GST (Goods and Service Tax) was introduced at a rate of 10% initially. However, imposition of Capital Gain Tax in New Zealand still remains a controversial issue. A Capital Gain Tax may be defined as the tax levied on realization of assets such as shares, bonds and properties or capital gains for individuals and corporations. This kind of tax is imposed when investors realize a profit by selling the capital asset at a price higher than the purchase price. In this paper, the significance of introducing Capital Gains Taxation in New Zealand’s economy will be discussed and eventually relevant inference regarding the concerned matter will be drawn (OECD, 2013). New Zealand is one among the three countries in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which is not having Capital Gains Tax. According to the reports from March, 2014 both the Labour Party and Green Party of New Zealand are advocating the importance of imposing Capital Gains Tax. However, implication of imposition of such tax burden is still in debate (Claus, Creedy & Teng, 2012). Capital Gains Tax from economic income perspective is a long debated issue. Arguments can be introduced in this regard by experiencing the Labour Party’s effort to establish horizontally equitable income by taxing the capital gain on accrual basis and by imposing taxes at an equal rate on capital gain irrespective of their other source of income. Apart from that, be it Labour or Green Party, the

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Starbucks Coffee Corporation is facing some strategic decisions on its current policy with regard to partnering with NGOs. Starbucks has a long history of social involvement. â€Å"CSR originated in 1994 as the Environmental Affairs Department with a budget of $50,000; by 2002, the 14-member department had a budget of 6 million. (Austin Reavis, 2004) Recently Starbucks completed a six year, $450,000 project with Conservation International; an NGO thats mission â€Å"is to conserve the earths natural heritage and its global biodiversity, as well as to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. (Austin Reavis, 2004) At the time CI had a staff of 776, overseeing projects in more than 30 countries on four continents. Roughly two thirds of CIs staff worked in the field and 90% were citizens of those countries. (Austin Reavis, 2004) Working with CI on the Chiapas Project, dedicated to working with coffee farmers to stop the destruction of rain-forests by farming and to promote shade-grown coffee which is sustainable, Starbucks has learned that it needs a clearer policy with regards to partnering with other NGOs in the future. Several challenges arose when Starbucks was working with CI on the Chiapas Project, and they both learned valuable lessons. Starbucks needs to consider how valuable the Starbucks-CI alliance had been and what it future might be. Is the approach sustainable? What should be the ongoing strategy for shade-grown coffee? Next, how should new coffee purchasing guidelines be implemented? How should Starbucks and CI approach other roasters to adopt the sourcing guidelines? Finally, how should Starbucks address the Fair Trade movement? When CI identified coffee as an important commodity affecting biodiversity, it launched a pilot conservation coffee program in 1996 organized around three co-operatives, located in the buffer zone of the El Triunfo Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. (Austin Reavis, 2004) CI Created this project to promote and preserve the pristine rain and cloud forests as well as shade-grown coffee. In 1997 CI convinced Starbucks that partnering with them in the Chiapas Project would not only promote conservation and shade-grown coffee, but also produce a high quality coffee bean; a bean that was shade-grown, sun-dried, and met Starbucks high quality standards. This alliance has proven to be successful. Since 1998, the coffee growing land incorporated into the project has increased by 220%, signaling that farmers had changed their practices. Starbucks was able to purchase 1. 5 million pounds of Coffee from the Chiapas cooperatives by 2002. An outside consultant doing a independent review of the CI project concluded that farmers environmental knowledge and awareness had increased significantly, as had conservation and organized farming practices (Austin Reavis, 2004) However conducive for Starbucks as a learning process and beneficial to CI and the El Triunfo Reserve, as well as the farmers and the cooperatives, the Chiapas project requires a vast infusion of capital and resources to operate. Capital in terms of time, resources, expertise, and field trainers. Austin and Reavis state,â€Å"CI had a team of 3 full-time and several part-time â€Å"extentionists† who visited every farm and monitored progress. CI provided training courses in the villages of the farmers, co-op managers, and technicians on quality control, organic farming methods, tree planting, and pulping methods. CI operates a training center and nursery where it grows a wide variety of trees that gives away free to cooperative members and coffee trees that it sold for a nominal fee. The center also produced an organic fertilizer which it sold at 1/3 the price of equivalent of chemical fertilizers. † ( 2004) with all the resources, funds, education, and time it has taken the Chiapas Project to meet Starbucks quality standards, it would seem impossible for Starbucks and Conservation International to set up projects like this in all the biodiversity hot-spots around the world. The Chiapas Project itself consumed too many resources to be sustainable elsewhere. Starbucks would have to subsidize projects in other countries and partner with other NGO’s, who may or may not share the same values and work ethic as Conservation International. Starbucks would have to set-up infrastructure, education centers, and hospitals. Starbucks would have to maintain a staff on the ground to ensure that best practices where in place. The development would occur at a slow pace. The amount of conserved land may not be a significant enough area to ensure the survival of diverse species of animals and plants. All this time and effort to produce a coffee bean that may not meet Starbucks quality standards Starbucks needs to find another strategy, one that continues to encourage conservation and farmer education, but also a strategy that would affect the industry as a whole. With this in mind Starbucks and CI decided to create coffee sourcing guidelines that would affect the suppliers of coffee. â€Å"Under Starbucks new system, introduced as a two year pilot program, suppliers of any size or location could earn up to 100 points for performance in three sustainability categories†¦if the suppliers me all the criteria, that is ,scored 100 points, it would become a preferred supplier and its coffee would receive priority in Starbucks’ purchasing queue. A producer’s performance had to be verified by an acceptable independent third party, although Starbucks was flexible on whom the verifiers would be. † (Austin Reavis, 2004) Mecklenburg, head of CSR at Starbucks describes her reaction to the guidelines, â€Å"While the Chiapas project is totally amazing and beyond what any of us could have imagined, it pales in comparison to what we’ve done with the sourcing guidelines. What we wanted to do with these guidelines is really define what sustainable coffee is. † (Austin Reavis, 2004) What Starbucks is essentially doing with the creation of these sustainable sourcing guidelines, was shifting the burden of responsibility from itself to the industry as a whole. If the suppliers adopted these sourcing guidelines then the industry would determine who developed the most sustainable coffee and change would occur much faster. There would also be incentive for coffee growers to choose organic farming over chemical pesticides and shade grown coffee production, because these sourcing guidelines would have them in preferential buying order. Starbucks challenge now was to get the rest of the industry to adopt their sourcing guidelines. If Starbucks is able to accomplish this, then the coffee industry will have change, it will be a dramatic beneficial change for the future. Other companies have had success leading industry wide changes. One Such company, Merck, has great success eradicating river blindness in Africa; a disease cause by onchocerciasis, a parasitic disease. In early 1975 Merck discovered a possible cure for the disease, Mectizan, and by 1980 the disease was ready for human trial. There was great pressure both internally and externally to produce the drug. Merck had to make a decision to either charge for Mectizan or donate it. The challenge as it relates to this case was once Merck decided to donate the drug how where they going to distribute it; Merck is in the drug creation business not the drug distribution business Professors James Austin and Diana Barrett discuss Merck’s challenges in a case study they prepared for the Harvard Business School. Austin and Barret state, â€Å"Most of those infected lived in areas accessible only by navigating poor roads or traveling on foot for several days. Neither was there a health-care infrastructure in many areas to administer the drugs – few doctors and no pharmacies. † (2001) Merck was in no position to handle this distribution problem on its own. Much like Starbucks trying to affect industry wide change to sourcing practices, Merck had to outline a strategy to deliver this drug to the people that needed them the most. Merck decided to create a committee to examine the problem. â€Å"In 1998 Merck created the Mectizan Expert Committee (MEC) to address the Distribution issue. † (Austin Barrett 2001) Ultimately what the MEC decided was to create a distribution model that called for other organizations interested in the drug to contact the company and apply to receive it. After the NGOs were properly vetted (they where looked at for ability to supply and monitor the drug), Merck would ship the drug directly to the specific countries. The key lesson to take away from Merck’s challenge is that the company could not distribute the drug on their own. Merck had to partner with other organizations in order to affect industry wide change. Starbucks is attempting to dramatically change the way suppliers source coffee. These new guidelines will be beneficial to the coffee growers, who will be forced to learn new methodology, but will receive higher income and higher buying priority in return. These sourcing guidelines will be beneficial to the environment, requiring sustainable practices, such as organic farming and shade-grown coffee, which will conserve land, present less danger to animals, and promote biodiversity. These guidelines will benefit suppliers trying to buy better tasting and more sustainable coffee in larger amounts for comparable prices to industry farming techniques. And finally, these guidelines will benefit the companies whose customers demand a more sustainable flavorful coffee product. Starbucks purchases about 1% of the global coffee supply in 2001. (Starbucks CSR annual Report 2001) World coffee production is estimated at 6. 7 million tones (Hoyt McMillan 2004) Starbucks purchases 67,000 tones of coffee annually. Although this is a lot of coffee it is only a small percentage of the global total. Starbucks is not going to be able to affect the suppliers by themselves; they just do not command enough of the global market to force their sourcing guidelines on suppliers. Like Merck, Starbucks must partner with other companies if they want to see their sourcing guidelines accepted industry wide. In order to align themselves with competitors, Starbucks must generate enthusiasm for its sourcing guidelines among the competitor’s customers, other NGOs, Coffee buyers, coffee suppliers, and competitors themselves. Although a herculean task, Starbucks is a behemoth of a company quite capable of through its weight around. Starbucks must show that their guidelines are more attractive than other sustainable coffee standards such as the fair trade movement. The Fair trade movement started in the Netherlands in the late 1980’s as a way to organize small farmers producing various commodities into cooperatives and to improve their incomes by pressuring buyers to pay guaranteed minimum prices (Austin Barrett 14) The Fair Trade movement seems poised for explosive growth. The world market for fair trade goods is currently valued at $400 million. (Raynolds 2002) Though this only represents a minor share of the international market, sales of Fair Trade commodities have boomed in recent years, with sales rising at close to 30 percent per year. (Raynolds 2002) Coffee forms the core of fair trade networks and is the most widely consumed Fair Trade product in the movements European home and in rapidly expanding North American markets (Raynolds 2002), Starbucks has encountered problems with the fair trade movement. Mecklenburg sums up Starbucks interaction with the Fair trade movements activist NGOs up till now, â€Å"It wasnt that we hadnt been in the cross-hairs of other advocacy groups before but this was much more aggressive. It was difficult to have rational communications There was a lot of pressure to sell Fair Trade Coffee. Ultimately it was up to the CEO. (Austin and Reavis 2004) Starbucks challenges with the Fair Trade movement arises from three points. Firstly the Fair Trade movement originated in Europe where Starbucks is not always regarded favorably. Although there are many Starbucks in Europe, there is simmering resentment at the American company for displacing European coffeehouses. Secondly, Starbucks buying and sourcing practices are not in-line with the Fair Trade Movement. Starbucks buys its coffee From high quality sellers, that sell only Arabica beans. Starbucks also seeks to, when it can, purchase shade grown organic coffee from farmers that are paid better than market price. The Fair Trade movement is basically a labeling movement. They do promote organic cooperative farming techniques and better wages for farmers in order to obtain the Fair Trade seal. However, the Fair Trade auditors do nothing to ensure the quality of the beans and do not have third party verification. Also farmers must pay to have their farms and cooperatives auditing which is a practice that Starbucks does not agree with. Finally, the Fair Trade movement is a supply side movement advocating on behalf of rural workers. They have no experience partnering with large companies, whom they view with mild distrust, only persuading companies to buy Fair Trade and selling Fair Trade commodities. In April 2000, Starbucks signed an agreement with TransFair to buy Fair Trade-certified coffee that met its quality standards up to amount that met customer demand (Austin Reavis 2002) Although often the quality of the purchased Fair Trade coffee did not meet Starbucks quality standards and therefore was unusable, Starbucks made a wise decision to purchase Fair Trade coffee to be sold through its stores. The Fair Trade movement is a popular movement, especially in urban neighborhoods. Starbucks needs to continue to work with the Fair Trade movement, educating the suppliers of its quality standards so that they can buy more of the Fair Trade coffee. Ultimately Starbucks has a proven track record of being socially responsible. Starbucks, along with Conservation International, created and nourished The Chiapas Project which conserved biologically sensitive land, educated farmers, encouraged organic farming, and promoted shade-grown coffee growing. This project was cost and time intensive, so Starbucks and CI went further to create sourcing guidelines. Guidelines that would affect the entire coffee industry as a whole. Starbucks also dealt well with another movement that threated to undermine the effectiveness of the newly created guidelines. Change comes slow to a behemoth like the coffee industry and Starbucks understands that if it continues to promote social responsibility as a strategic business practice, it will be rewarded by customers and eventually change the coffee industry for the better. References Austin, James , and Cate Reavis. Starbucks and Conservation International. Harvard Business School 9-303-055 (2002): 1-28. Print Hoyt, D. , McMillan, J. (2004). The Global Coffee Trade. Stanford Graduate School of Business, IB-53, 1-54. Retrieved July 26, 2010, from http://www. probeinternational. org/files/The%20Global%20Coffee%20Trade. pdf Raynolds, Laura. Consumer/Producer links in Fair Trade Coffee Networks. Sociologia Ruralis 42. 4 (2002): 404-424. Print. Starbucks Annual CSR Report 2001. (2002, February 15). 2001 Report Untitled. Retrieved July 25, 2010, from assets. starbucks. com/assets/csr-fy01-ar. pdf TransFair USA | About Us. TransFair USA | Home. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 July 2010.

Extraordinary Means Of Treatment Essay -- essays research papers

Extraordinary means of treatment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For many years now there have been people who center their lives on giving medical attention to sick patients in need of their care. There have also been many doctors who spend their lives developing techniques to help keep people alive as long as possible, even when the person quite possibly should have died a natural death a long time ago. Does this make what the doctor is doing wrong? Doesn’t the patient deserve a chance to live the longest and fullest life they possibly can?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These questions must be weighed on the benefits of the treatment versus the burden of the treatment. It may prolong life but will it make the life better or just lengthen the suffering that the patient has to go through. These and many other considerations must be taken in account in order to assure the best decision for the patient. Money can also be a factor in extraordinary treatment. Some people can’t afford to have their loved ones in a hospital for very long especially if they are in a coma or other severe illness, and might not be able to afford a long-term hospital bill. Also if there is a very slim chance of success with the procedure it may not be worth trying to save or preserve the life of the patient. Sometimes you may need to take the individual’s opinion on the treatments advice. If they are able to give a competent decision shouldn’t it be used to dete...

Could Have Been Different :: essays research papers

Could Have Been Different   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I had a situation once when I wished that I could have re run it. If only I had thought about what was happening and the power that I actually had, I would have had an entirely different situation at hand. I could have prevented the whole thing a lot sooner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The whole thing started when I was working at an auto shop called Car Quest. My friend Tammy had just gotten me the job starting as a cashier. Even in the few days that I worked there, I loved my job and everyone I worked with. . I really liked my boss because he was always so cool to me, letting me do my homework with my free time when no customers were around and letting me just mess around with the guys I worked with. Soon, I was beginning to close the store alone with my boss, a lot. He would make weird comments and things but I never really questioned them. I thought that maybe he was just kidding around as everyone there always did.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One night when I was finished closing my drawer with my boss Lonnie, we were heading to the front of the store when he told me he had something to say but it could wait until the next time I worked with him. I insisted that he tell me then. He pulled me to the side and started telling me how beautiful I was and what a great personality I had. I didn’t know what to say so I just said â€Å"thanks†. Ever since then he started to ask if I would kiss him and all these offensive things. I guess I just never knew what to say to him. I mean I was 16 and he was like 50. That was like him being my dad.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I went through this for a long time before I got the nerve to tell my other boss at work Kathy. I guess she wasn’t really my other boss; she was just the only other woman I worked with that could help me out. I told her the entire situation and that I was getting sick of Lonnie’s comments. Once I had told her this she told me that Lonnie was married and had two sons. I thought that was worse. I was beginning to get scared that something more would happen.

Angels Demons Chapter 13-15

13 Langdon stared in bewilderment at the study before him. â€Å"What is this place?† Despite the welcome blast of warm air on his face, he stepped through the door with trepidation. Kohler said nothing as he followed Langdon inside. Langdon scanned the room, not having the slightest idea what to make of it. It contained the most peculiar mix of artifacts he had ever seen. On the far wall, dominating the decor, was an enormous wooden crucifix, which Langdon placed as fourteenth-century Spanish. Above the cruciform, suspended from the ceiling, was a metallic mobile of the orbiting planets. To the left was an oil painting of the Virgin Mary, and beside that was a laminated periodic table of elements. On the side wall, two additional brass cruciforms flanked a poster of Albert Einstein, his famous quote reading: God Does Not Play Dice With the Universe Langdon moved into the room, looking around in astonishment. A leather-bound Bible sat on Vetra's desk beside a plastic Bohr model of an atom and a miniature replica of Michelangelo's Moses. Talk about eclectic, Langdon thought. The warmth felt good, but something about the decor sent a new set of chills through his body. He felt like he was witnessing the clash of two philosophical titans†¦ an unsettling blur of opposing forces. He scanned the titles on the bookshelf: The God Particle The Tao of Physics God: The Evidence One of the bookends was etched with a quote: True science discovers God waiting behind every door. Pope Pius XII â€Å"Leonardo was a Catholic priest,† Kohler said. Langdon turned. â€Å"A priest? I thought you said he was a physicist.† â€Å"He was both. Men of science and religion are not unprecedented in history. Leonardo was one of them. He considered physics ‘God's natural law.' He claimed God's handwriting was visible in the natural order all around us. Through science he hoped to prove God's existence to the doubting masses. He considered himself a theo-physicist.† Theo-physicist? Langdon thought it sounded impossibly oxymoronic. â€Å"The field of particle physics,† Kohler said, â€Å"has made some shocking discoveries lately – discoveries quite spiritual in implication. Leonardo was responsible for many of them.† Langdon studied CERN's director, still trying to process the bizarre surroundings. â€Å"Spirituality and physics?† Langdon had spent his career studying religious history, and if there was one recurring theme, it was that science and religion had been oil and water since day one†¦ archenemies†¦ unmixable. â€Å"Vetra was on the cutting edge of particle physics,† Kohler said. â€Å"He was starting to fuse science and religion†¦ showing that they complement each other in most unanticipated ways. He called the field New Physics.† Kohler pulled a book from the shelf and handed it to Langdon. Langdon studied the cover. God, Miracles, and the New Physics – by Leonardo Vetra. â€Å"The field is small,† Kohler said, â€Å"but it's bringing fresh answers to some old questions – questions about the origin of the universe and the forces that bind us all. Leonardo believed his research had the potential to convert millions to a more spiritual life. Last year he categorically proved the existence of an energy force that unites us all. He actually demonstrated that we are all physically connected†¦ that the molecules in your body are intertwined with the molecules in mine†¦ that there is a single force moving within all of us.† Langdon felt disconcerted. And the power of God shall unite us all. â€Å"Mr. Vetra actually found a way to demonstrate that particles are connected?† â€Å"Conclusive evidence. A recent Scientific American article hailed New Physics as a surer path to God than religion itself.† The comment hit home. Langdon suddenly found himself thinking of the antireligious Illuminati. Reluctantly, he forced himself to permit a momentary intellectual foray into the impossible. If the Illuminati were indeed still active, would they have killed Leonardo to stop him from bringing his religious message to the masses? Langdon shook off the thought. Absurd! The Illuminati are ancient history! All academics know that! â€Å"Vetra had plenty of enemies in the scientific world,† Kohler went on. â€Å"Many scientific purists despised him. Even here at CERN. They felt that using analytical physics to support religious principles was a treason against science.† â€Å"But aren't scientists today a bit less defensive about the church?† Kohler grunted in disgust. â€Å"Why should we be? The church may not be burning scientists at the stake anymore, but if you think they've released their reign over science, ask yourself why half the schools in your country are not allowed to teach evolution. Ask yourself why the U.S. Christian Coalition is the most influential lobby against scientific progress in the world. The battle between science and religion is still raging, Mr. Langdon. It has moved from the battlefields to the boardrooms, but it is still raging.† Langdon realized Kohler was right. Just last week the Harvard School of Divinity had marched on the Biology Building, protesting the genetic engineering taking place in the graduate program. The chairman of the Bio Department, famed ornithologist Richard Aaronian, defended his curriculum by hanging a huge banner from his office window. The banner depicted the Christian â€Å"fish† modified with four little feet – a tribute, Aaronian claimed, to the African lungfishes' evolution onto dry land. Beneath the fish, instead of the word â€Å"Jesus,† was the proclamation â€Å"Darwin!† A sharp beeping sound cut the air, and Langdon looked up. Kohler reached down into the array of electronics on his wheelchair. He slipped a beeper out of its holder and read the incoming message. â€Å"Good. That is Leonardo's daughter. Ms. Vetra is arriving at the helipad right now. We will meet her there. I think it best she not come up here and see her father this way.† Langdon agreed. It would be a shock no child deserved. â€Å"I will ask Ms. Vetra to explain the project she and her father have been working on†¦ perhaps shedding light on why he was murdered.† â€Å"You think Vetra's work is why he was killed?† â€Å"Quite possibly. Leonardo told me he was working on something groundbreaking. That is all he said. He had become very secretive about the project. He had a private lab and demanded seclusion, which I gladly afforded him on account of his brilliance. His work had been consuming huge amounts of electric power lately, but I refrained from questioning him.† Kohler rotated toward the study door. â€Å"There is, however, one more thing you need to know before we leave this flat.† Langdon was not sure he wanted to hear it. â€Å"An item was stolen from Vetra by his murderer.† â€Å"An item?† â€Å"Follow me.† The director propelled his wheelchair back into the fog-filled living room. Langdon followed, not knowing what to expect. Kohler maneuvered to within inches of Vetra's body and stopped. He ushered Langdon to join him. Reluctantly, Langdon came close, bile rising in his throat at the smell of the victim's frozen urine. â€Å"Look at his face,† Kohler said. Look at his face? Langdon frowned. I thought you said something was stolen. Hesitantly, Langdon knelt down. He tried to see Vetra's face, but the head was twisted 180 degrees backward, his face pressed into the carpet. Struggling against his handicap Kohler reached down and carefully twisted Vetra's frozen head. Cracking loudly, the corpse's face rotated into view, contorted in agony. Kohler held it there a moment. â€Å"Sweet Jesus!† Langdon cried, stumbling back in horror. Vetra's face was covered in blood. A single hazel eye stared lifelessly back at him. The other socket was tattered and empty. â€Å"They stole his eye?† 14 Langdon stepped out of Building C into the open air, grateful to be outside Vetra's flat. The sun helped dissolve the image of the empty eye socket emblazoned into his mind. â€Å"This way, please,† Kohler said, veering up a steep path. The electric wheelchair seemed to accelerate effortlessly. â€Å"Ms. Vetra will be arriving any moment.† Langdon hurried to keep up. â€Å"So,† Kohler asked. â€Å"Do you still doubt the Illuminati's involvement?† Langdon had no idea what to think anymore. Vetra's religious affiliations were definitely troubling, and yet Langdon could not bring himself to abandon every shred of academic evidence he had ever researched. Besides, there was the eye†¦ â€Å"I still maintain,† Langdon said, more forcefully than he intended. â€Å"that the Illuminati are not responsible for this murder. The missing eye is proof.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Random mutilation,† Langdon explained, â€Å"is very†¦ un – Illuminati. Cult specialists see desultory defacement from inexperienced fringe sects – zealots who commit random acts of terrorism – but the Illuminati have always been more deliberate.† â€Å"Deliberate? Surgically removing someone's eyeball is not deliberate?† â€Å"It sends no clear message. It serves no higher purpose.† Kohler's wheelchair stopped short at the top of the hill. He turned. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, believe me, that missing eye does indeed serve a higher purpose†¦ a much higher purpose.† As the two men crossed the grassy rise, the beating of helicopter blades became audible to the west. A chopper appeared, arching across the open valley toward them. It banked sharply, then slowed to a hover over a helipad painted on the grass. Langdon watched, detached, his mind churning circles like the blades, wondering if a full night's sleep would make his current disorientation any clearer. Somehow, he doubted it. As the skids touched down, a pilot jumped out and started unloading gear. There was a lot of it – duffels, vinyl wet bags, scuba tanks, and crates of what appeared to be high-tech diving equipment. Langdon was confused. â€Å"Is that Ms. Vetra's gear?† he yelled to Kohler over the roar of the engines. Kohler nodded and yelled back, â€Å"She was doing biological research in the Balearic Sea.† â€Å"I thought you said she was a physicist!† â€Å"She is. She's a Bio Entanglement Physicist. She studies the interconnectivity of life systems. Her work ties closely with her father's work in particle physics. Recently she disproved one of Einstein's fundamental theories by using atomically synchronized cameras to observe a school of tuna fish.† Langdon searched his host's face for any glint of humor. Einstein and tuna fish? He was starting to wonder if the X-33 space plane had mistakenly dropped him off on the wrong planet. A moment later, Vittoria Vetra emerged from the fuselage. Robert Langdon realized today was going to be a day of endless surprises. Descending from the chopper in her khaki shorts and white sleeveless top, Vittoria Vetra looked nothing like the bookish physicist he had expected. Lithe and graceful, she was tall with chestnut skin and long black hair that swirled in the backwind of the rotors. Her face was unmistakably Italian – not overly beautiful, but possessing full, earthy features that even at twenty yards seemed to exude a raw sensuality. As the air currents buffeted her body, her clothes clung, accentuating her slender torso and small breasts. â€Å"Ms. Vetra is a woman of tremendous personal strength,† Kohler said, seeming to sense Langdon's captivation. â€Å"She spends months at a time working in dangerous ecological systems. She is a strict vegetarian and CERN's resident guru of Hatha yoga.† Hatha yoga? Langdon mused. The ancient Buddhist art of meditative stretching seemed an odd proficiency for the physicist daughter of a Catholic priest. Langdon watched Vittoria approach. She had obviously been crying, her deep sable eyes filled with emotions Langdon could not place. Still, she moved toward them with fire and command. Her limbs were strong and toned, radiating the healthy luminescence of Mediterranean flesh that had enjoyed long hours in the sun. â€Å"Vittoria,† Kohler said as she approached. â€Å"My deepest condolences. It's a terrible loss for science†¦ for all of us here at CERN.† Vittoria nodded gratefully. When she spoke, her voice was smooth – a throaty, accented English. â€Å"Do you know who is responsible yet?† â€Å"We're still working on it.† She turned to Langdon, holding out a slender hand. â€Å"My name is Vittoria Vetra. You're from Interpol, I assume?† Langdon took her hand, momentarily spellbound by the depth of her watery gaze. â€Å"Robert Langdon.† He was unsure what else to say. â€Å"Mr. Langdon is not with the authorities,† Kohler explained. â€Å"He is a specialist from the U.S. He's here to help us locate who is responsible for this situation.† Vittoria looked uncertain. â€Å"And the police?† Kohler exhaled but said nothing. â€Å"Where is his body?† she demanded. â€Å"Being attended to.† The white lie surprised Langdon. â€Å"I want to see him,† Vittoria said. â€Å"Vittoria,† Kohler urged, â€Å"your father was brutally murdered. You would be better to remember him as he was.† Vittoria began to speak but was interrupted. â€Å"Hey, Vittoria!† voices called from the distance. â€Å"Welcome home!† She turned. A group of scientists passing near the helipad waved happily. â€Å"Disprove any more of Einstein's theories?† one shouted. Another added, â€Å"Your dad must be proud!† Vittoria gave the men an awkward wave as they passed. Then she turned to Kohler, her face now clouded with confusion. â€Å"Nobody knows yet?† â€Å"I decided discretion was paramount.† â€Å"You haven't told the staff my father was murdered?† Her mystified tone was now laced with anger. Kohler's tone hardened instantly. â€Å"Perhaps you forget, Ms. Vetra, as soon as I report your father's murder, there will be an investigation of CERN. Including a thorough examination of his lab. I have always tried to respect your father's privacy. Your father has told me only two things about your current project. One, that it has the potential to bring CERN millions of francs in licensing contracts in the next decade. And two, that it is not ready for public disclosure because it is still hazardous technology. Considering these two facts, I would prefer strangers not poke around inside his lab and either steal his work or kill themselves in the process and hold CERN liable. Do I make myself clear?† Vittoria stared, saying nothing. Langdon sensed in her a reluctant respect and acceptance of Kohler's logic. â€Å"Before we report anything to the authorities,† Kohler said, â€Å"I need to know what you two were working on. I need you to take us to your lab.† â€Å"The lab is irrelevant,† Vittoria said. â€Å"Nobody knew what my father and I were doing. The experiment could not possibly have anything to do with my father's murder.† Kohler exhaled a raspy, ailing breath. â€Å"Evidence suggests otherwise.† â€Å"Evidence? What evidence?† Langdon was wondering the same thing. Kohler was dabbing his mouth again. â€Å"You'll just have to trust me.† It was clear, from Vittoria's smoldering gaze, that she did not. 15 Langdon strode silently behind Vittoria and Kohler as they moved back into the main atrium where Langdon's bizarre visit had begun. Vittoria's legs drove in fluid efficiency – like an Olympic diver – a potency, Langdon figured, no doubt born from the flexibility and control of yoga. He could hear her breathing slowly and deliberately, as if somehow trying to filter her grief. Langdon wanted to say something to her, offer his sympathy. He too had once felt the abrupt hollowness of unexpectedly losing a parent. He remembered the funeral mostly, rainy and gray. Two days after his twelfth birthday. The house was filled with gray-suited men from the office, men who squeezed his hand too hard when they shook it. They were all mumbling words like cardiac and stress. His mother joked through teary eyes that she'd always been able to follow the stock market simply by holding her husband's hand†¦ his pulse her own private ticker tape. Once, when his father was alive, Langdon had heard his mom begging his father to â€Å"stop and smell the roses.† That year, Langdon bought his father a tiny blown-glass rose for Christmas. It was the most beautiful thing Langdon had ever seen†¦ the way the sun caught it, throwing a rainbow of colors on the wall. â€Å"It's lovely,† his father had said when he opened it, kissing Robert on the forehead. â€Å"Let's find a safe spot for it.† Then his father had carefully placed the rose on a high dusty shelf in the darkest corner of the living room. A few days later, Langdon got a stool, retrieved the rose, and took it back to the store. His father never noticed it was gone. The ping of an elevator pulled Langdon back to the present. Vittoria and Kohler were in front of him, boarding the lift. Langdon hesitated outside the open doors. â€Å"Is something wrong?† Kohler asked, sounding more impatient than concerned. â€Å"Not at all,† Langdon said, forcing himself toward the cramped carriage. He only used elevators when absolutely necessary. He preferred the more open spaces of stairwells. â€Å"Dr. Vetra's lab is subterranean,† Kohler said. Wonderful, Langdon thought as he stepped across the cleft, feeling an icy wind churn up from the depths of the shaft. The doors closed, and the car began to descend. â€Å"Six stories,† Kohler said blankly, like an analytical engine. Langdon pictured the darkness of the empty shaft below them. He tried to block it out by staring at the numbered display of changing floors. Oddly, the elevator showed only two stops. Ground Level and LHC. â€Å"What's LHC stand for?† Langdon asked, trying not to sound nervous. â€Å"Large Hadron Collider,† Kohler said. â€Å"A particle accelerator.† Particle accelerator? Langdon was vaguely familiar with the term. He had first heard it over dinner with some colleagues at Dunster House in Cambridge. A physicist friend of theirs, Bob Brownell, had arrived for dinner one night in a rage. â€Å"The bastards canceled it!† Brownell cursed. â€Å"Canceled what?† they all asked. â€Å"The SSC!† â€Å"The what?† â€Å"The Superconducting Super Collider!† Someone shrugged. â€Å"I didn't know Harvard was building one.† â€Å"Not Harvard!† he exclaimed. â€Å"The U.S.! It was going to be the world's most powerful particle accelerator! One of the most important scientific projects of the century! Two billion dollars into it and the Senate sacks the project! Damn Bible-Belt lobbyists!† When Brownell finally calmed down, he explained that a particle accelerator was a large, circular tube through which subatomic particles were accelerated. Magnets in the tube turned on and off in rapid succession to â€Å"push† particles around and around until they reached tremendous velocities. Fully accelerated particles circled the tube at over 180,000 miles per second. â€Å"But that's almost the speed of light,† one of the professors exclaimed. â€Å"Damn right,† Brownell said. He went on to say that by accelerating two particles in opposite directions around the tube and then colliding them, scientists could shatter the particles into their constituent parts and get a glimpse of nature's most fundamental components. â€Å"Particle accelerators,† Brownell declared, â€Å"are critical to the future of science. Colliding particles is the key to understanding the building blocks of the universe.† Harvard's Poet in Residence, a quiet man named Charles Pratt, did not look impressed. â€Å"It sounds to me,† he said, â€Å"like a rather Neanderthal approach to science†¦ akin to smashing clocks together to discern their internal workings.† Brownell dropped his fork and stormed out of the room. So CERN has a particle accelerator? Langdon thought, as the elevator dropped. A circular tube for smashing particles. He wondered why they had buried it underground. When the elevator thumped to a stop, Langdon was relieved to feel terra firma beneath his feet. But when the doors slid open, his relief evaporated. Robert Langdon found himself standing once again in a totally alien world. The passageway stretched out indefinitely in both directions, left and right. It was a smooth cement tunnel, wide enough to allow passage of an eighteen wheeler. Brightly lit where they stood, the corridor turned pitch black farther down. A damp wind rustled out of the darkness – an unsettling reminder that they were now deep in the earth. Langdon could almost sense the weight of the dirt and stone now hanging above his head. For an instant he was nine years old†¦ the darkness forcing him back†¦ back to the five hours of crushing blackness that haunted him still. Clenching his fists, he fought it off. Vittoria remained hushed as she exited the elevator and strode off without hesitation into the darkness without them. Overhead the flourescents flickered on to light her path. The effect was unsettling, Langdon thought, as if the tunnel were alive†¦ anticipating her every move. Langdon and Kohler followed, trailing a distance behind. The lights extinguished automatically behind them. â€Å"This particle accelerator,† Langdon said quietly. â€Å"It's down this tunnel someplace?† â€Å"That's it there.† Kohler motioned to his left where a polished, chrome tube ran along the tunnel's inner wall. Langdon eyed the tube, confused. â€Å"That's the accelerator?† The device looked nothing like he had imagined. It was perfectly straight, about three feet in diameter, and extended horizontally the visible length of the tunnel before disappearing into the darkness. Looks more like a high-tech sewer, Langdon thought. â€Å"I thought particle accelerators were circular.† â€Å"This accelerator is a circle,† Kohler said. â€Å"It appears straight, but that is an optical illusion. The circumference of this tunnel is so large that the curve is imperceptible – like that of the earth.† Langdon was flabbergasted. This is a circle? â€Å"But†¦ it must be enormous!† â€Å"The LHC is the largest machine in the world.† Langdon did a double take. He remembered the CERN driver saying something about a huge machine buried in the earth. But – â€Å"It is over eight kilometers in diameter†¦ and twenty-seven kilometers long.† Langdon's head whipped around. â€Å"Twenty-seven kilometers?† He stared at the director and then turned and looked into the darkened tunnel before him. â€Å"This tunnel is twenty-seven kilometers long? That's†¦ that's over sixteen miles!† Kohler nodded. â€Å"Bored in a perfect circle. It extends all the way into France before curving back here to this spot. Fully accelerated particles will circle the tube more than ten thousand times in a single second before they collide.† Langdon's legs felt rubbery as he stared down the gaping tunnel. â€Å"You're telling me that CERN dug out millions of tons of earth just to smash tiny particles?† Kohler shrugged. â€Å"Sometimes to find truth, one must move mountains.†

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Management Is Doing Things Right; Leadership Is Doing The Right Things Essay

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Sustainability supply chain management Research Paper

Sustainability supply chain management - Research Paper Example Generally, such pressures tend to reverberate alongside an organizations supply chain, especially the big multinationals preferably dealing consumer based products (Carter & Easton, 2011). As of today, public scrutiny is on the rise as consumers are currently aware of the fact that not only the final product that needs close observation, but also the supply chain used by an organization requires close monitoring. This paper will seek to research on sustainability, supply chain management, and bring out factors affecting the functioning of a supply chain. Many supply chains among different industries tend to absorb various external pressures, which traditionally act as a reactive stance to industries’ supply chains. However, several examples exist whereby a number of supply chains used by numerous organizations introduce instruments suitable for rolling out suitable and sustainable supply chains (Elsevier, 2008). Reliable evidence from approved sources maintain that sustainable supply chain management is that which seeks to put into place socially responsible and green proactive products into the identified market. Additionally, such supply chain management introduces performing, competitive, and environmentally acceptable processes into organization’s supply chain. ... anages and cooperate the flow of information and materials of a company effectively, it is true to say that, sustainable supply chain management revolves along three dimensions namely stakeholder, economic, and social requirements. This shows that, sustainable supply chain management takes into account the requirements of a stakeholder, economy, environment, and society (Carter & Easton, 2011). Nevertheless, it is crucial to note that for the social and environmental criteria to remain active in an organization’s supply chain, supply chain members must fulfill the aspect of competitiveness via meeting the needs of customers and related economic criteria. Attributively, as theories and principles of management linked closely with sustainable supply chains continue to advance, requirement for extra or rather additional critical analysis and investigation arises to comprehend further the field. As part of looking for ways to understand better the field of sustainable and supply c hain management, this research sought to identify a number of opportunities that needed investigation. Some of them include reviews of particular lines of development concerning the intersection of supply chain management and sustainability. Furthermore, case studies or empirical fields of companies as well as other initiatives of chain actors whose aim is to enhance aspects of sustainability issues needed a closer outlook (Elsevier, 2008). Cases and concepts considered during integration of particularly relevant sustainability issues within the supply chain management also proved to require research as this field is maturing rapidly. Particularly, contributions brought about by the three dimensions of sustainability and supply chain management sounded imperative to carry out a research on them

Edna’s First and Second Awakenings Essay Example for Free

Edna’s First and Second Awakenings Essay When Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Awakening† was published in 1899 the Industrial Revolution and the feminist movement were already beginning to emerge. However, they were still overshadowed by the prevailing attitudes of the nineteenth century (SparkNotes Editors). In the conservative state of Louisiana, from where the author had met her husband, for example, the feminist movement was almost absent that there still exist a law that considers a woman as the property of her husband. â€Å"The Awakening† in general is a novel about how the female protagonist was able to find and discover her own identity as a woman, gained independence, and learn the value of equality and freedom. However, it is also a novel about the social constraints of women during this Victorian era, about how Edna discovered in the end that she was still alone in the process of her ‘awakening,’ thus undergoing a ‘second awakening’. Chopin offered a different treatment of the traditional woman of society who is often portrayed to be under the mercy of their male counterparts, weak, and definitely restricted. Here, Edna, the female protagonist, is in the process of rediscovering herself, her world, and slowly learning what freedom and equality means. The story revolves around her as she slowly undergoes this process in such a way that the novel could actually fall under the genre of Bildungsroman—a sort of a coming-of-age story—wherein Edna, through her acquaintance with Adelle, has evolved from a restricted wife to a woman free from any form of male domination. This kind of approach had given a tone that offers a ‘sympathetic view toward the actions and emotions of the sexually aware and independent female protagonist. ’ One of the more important motifs in the novel is Edna’s swimming. The first time she had swum in the novel demonstrate the first moment of her awakening. It gave her the feeling of being strong. By and by, through her acquaintances in the Grand isle, particularly Adelle, she learned that she could be actually open about what she feels, that she could say it directly without being afraid. She also continued painting to relinquish her youth soon afterwards—another form of self-expression. And with Robert and Alcee, she had demonstrated freedom in her love, passion and sexuality. All these events that happened in her life contributed to her first ‘awakening,’ the awakening that pertains to her self-rediscovery and a gaining independence. It is at this moment that â€Å"She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to â€Å"feed upon opinion† when her own soul had invited her (Chapter 32). † Her second awakening happened after Robert had turned his back on her for the sole reason of not being able to rise over the expectations of their society. She had, for some reasons realized that despite all of her discoveries, the freedom that she had received, she was still alone. She felt the burden or the suffering that corresponds to all her learning and individuality for her society could still not accept the kind of woman she had become. Perhaps her action when she had swum again in the later chapter of the novel, when she committed suicide, is a symbolism of this second awakening. The solitude she had felt drove her there because she might have realized her true position in her society and therefore believes that only by ending her life could she free herself from every expectation there is. She was awakened. Again. And thus she says, â€Å"The years that are gone seem like dreams—if one might go on sleeping and dreaming—but to wake up and find—oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life (Chapter 38). † Basically, for me, the novel is not simply about a single awakening. It is a two-sided representation of the status/role of women during the Victorian era. It definitely showed how constrained these women are through the biases and prejudices thrown against Edna. But it has also showed how these women, through Edna, are struggling to free themselves from these constraints, how they are willing to suffer than to remain disillusioned, but still overshadowed by the prevailing attitudes of the majority. It might as well be also pertaining not only to Edna’s awakening but the awakening of all the women of that particular era. These women are all awakened, willing to fight for their independence, for equality. Unfortunately, the prevailing ideas of the people around them would only awaken them for the second time, so that they would realize that their position in their society at that time could be sometimes suffocating that they would rather drown themselves than submit to male domination. REFERENCE SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on The Awakening. † SparkNotes. com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 19 Jul. 2010. For the quoted passages:

Essay On Critical Incident Analysis During Placement Nursing Essay

Essay On Critical Incident Analysis During Placement Nursing Essay This essay will reflect on critical incident which took place at my placement. It will outline how critical incident analysis is incorporated in the care provision of people with mental health problems particularly from a nursing perspective. I will also attempt to point out the weakness and the values of reflection and analyse care provision in a more structured therapeutic approach. Bandman and Bandman, (2002) suggest that in order to analyse an incident we need to think critically, reflecting on our beliefs, ideas, feelings and use of language. Gamble and Brennan, (2000) suggest that relationship between reflection and critical thinking emphasises the need for critical thinking to be based on reflective thinking. In this essay I shall also draw on Johns Reflective Cycle (Pearson et al 1996) to give the reader a clear understanding and analysis of the incident, highlighting risk management as a major issue of concern. I will also highlight the daily risks, which Mental Health Nurse s face in relation to the ethics, policies and procedures that guide them. All names have been changed for reasons of confidentiality Nursing and Midwifery Council, (2008). Drawing upon an incident within my most recent placement, the discussion will reflect on the therapeutic intervention of family therapy as long-term psychotherapeutic intervention to treat an identified patient diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. It will also critically analyse the benefits and shortfalls of this intervention. Description Reflecting on the incident described later in this essay, I found it more appropriate to use Johns Reflective Cycle, (Pearson et al 1996) because it focuses on both the patient and the nurse unlike other models that lack a user focus reflection mainly on the nurses feelings, ideas, beliefs and judgements. Johns Reflective Cycle (Pearson et al 1996) places great emphasis on the feelings, emotions and insight of the client as well as the practitioner, which I feel is of greater significance as it offers a more objective perspective. The reflective cycle is also very clear, easy to follow, easy to understand and gives the reader a clear analysis of the incident which is very important in making sense of the whole reflective process. Johns reflective cycle illustrates the following framework; first stage- phenomenon, second stage-rationale, third sage-causal essential factors, fourth stage-reflection, fifth stage-alternative actions, sixth stage-conclusion. Following this guideline it is that one can structure their reflection and bring out sense to the whole reflective process. I chose to write about this incident because I feel it emphasizes the risks mental health nurses face when working with mentally disturbed people. It shows how policies and procedures can disempower professionals, placing them at increased risk of aggressive or disruptive behaviour. I also found it easy to use the critical incident analysis technique to evaluate possible therapeutic intervention in patient care. The risk posed by the patient in this scenario could have been reduced if the nurses involved in the patient care used psychosocial interventions. The incident described in this essay call into question the policies and procedures used in Community Mental Health Services on dealing with crisis or emergency situation and the duty of care as a role the nurse. Legally and ethically nurses are not allowed to search patients in the community, (Thomas et al 1997) which places staff in a very vulnerable position which is very evident after reading and reflecting on the scenario. Zack suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia. Following is a brief summary on Schizophrenia in order to give the reader a picture of the patients condition. Schizophrenia is a broad term given to group of mental illness which are traditionally characterised by thought disorder, auditory and visual hallucinations, delusional beliefs along with emotional and behavioural disorder leading to progressive deterioration and social withdrawal Ironbar and Hopper, (1989). This patient in-particular suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia, distinguished by intense thought disorder, delusions and hallucinations, the sufferer having perceptions, beliefs and ideas of reference that things are being said about them and things being done to them which they believe may cause them harm Thomas et al (1997). Medical treatment involves long-term use of psychotropic medications such as anti-psychotic drugs and mood stabilisers. From a social model approach research has shown that long-term psychotherapy programme s such as family therapy have proven effective Thomas et al (1997). Patient Profile and Context Zack is 28 year old male outpatient known to the Mental Health Services since 2001 with a diagnosis of Paranoid Schizophrenia. Zack is an asylum seeker from Algeria and of Muslim origin, though he is not very strict with the religion. He visits the clinic every fortnight for his depot (Depixol) injection. When is unwell, he develops ideas that Jews and homosexuals are conspiring against him and believes he has special powers. Both his parents are alive; they believe he brings shame to the family due to his mental illness. There has been growing concerns about Zacks family not doing enough to help him through his illness and neglecting his needs. Staff has raised the need to engage the family in family therapy as a way of helping Zack and family cope with his illness but as yet no family members has agreed to this type of intervention. Scenario/Phenomenon-Reflection The Depot clinic normally opens at eleven oclock following the weekly Community Mental Health Team meeting. Zack was due for his depot injection that day but he arrived two hours early looking unkempt. The Community Psychiatry Nurse (CPN) and I went to talk to Zack and told him that we were having a meeting therefore he had to come back when the clinic opens. Zack said he wanted to have his injection early because he wished attend the Muslim celebrations taking place locally that day. He displayed signs of being mentally disturbed, talking and muttering to himself about apparently meaningless and strange things. Zack appeared to be very hostile and provocative with fluctuating thoughts. The CPN insisted Zack had to wait but he was adamant on receiving the depot immediately. Zack became increasingly agitated, pacing up and down, raising his voice shouting abusive words to us. Zack began to make treats of arson, claiming he had a knife. He suggested he would stab one of us if we did not adhere to his demands. As soon as he said that and having observed his behaviour, I was perplexed on the one hand the need to do something about this patient who was clearly unwell and in need of support and treatment, while also being mindful of the risk to both the CPN and myself. The CPN decided to minimise the risk by agreeing to give Zack his injection and getting him out of the building as quickly as possible. I felt this was a risky decision because if Zack did have a knife we were potentially placing ourselves in greater danger by engaging with him further. I pulled the CPN to the side I let my feelings known. The CPN responded by informing me that Zack did not have a history of violent or aggressive behaviour nor was he known to carry knives. I felt we needed to make sure Zack was not carrying any knives or sharps before we went into the clinical room to give him his injection. The CPN then asked Zack calmly and politely if he was carrying the knife at this point Zack produced a knife from inside his jacket. We followed the Trust policy for dealing with armed and dangerous patients that you must call for back-up; we pressed the alarm alerting other staff for assistance. The police were called and arrived very quickly they seized the knife Zack was also found to be carrying a screwdriver. He was taken to an acute admissions ward of a nearby hospital under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act (1983) for further assessment of his mental state. His family were informed but they seemed not to be concerned. Influencing Factors Family therapy involves the whole family in the treatment process based on the understanding that a particular symptom or group of symptoms, exhibited by a family member. Reflecting on Zacks relationship with his family it is important to note that due to their culture the family had negative attitude towards the illness and they felt it brought shame to the family. By educating the family, which is a major component of family therapy, it helps gain understanding into the illness, how they can monitor, support and supervise the patient which contributes to the development of insight and helps reduce risk of relapse and hospital admission. Fadden, (1999) cited by (Gillam 2002, p106) defines psycho educational interventions as those interventions where the patient and family members are seen together, where is acquisition component in addition to a didactic element where the primary aim is reduction of relapse in the patient It has been shown that those patients who have family who are willing to engage in the patients care in a supportive manner have an enhanced probability of maintaining stability in their mental state. Therefore, use of family therapy as a long-term psychosocial intervention reduces the risk of relapse, which is what happened in this scenario with Zack. Engaging with the patient is very important in providing care and monitoring people with schizophrenia and it would be very important for the patient and his family. The family also feel supported by the therapist who works with them to help develop an understanding of the illness and reduce their fear and misguided prejudices. As a nurse/therapist it would be important to understand effects of culture in this situation and try to bring awareness to the family that mental illness is very common and maybe show the family statistics on how many people live with mental illness. It would also be important to educate the family on understanding the improvement rate for people who engage into family therapy and benefits. Evidence based practice would be very important when working with this family as it shows proof that treatment can actually work and has been proven to do so in many cases. Family therapy has been found to be effective, as an adjunct to drug therapy in the management of schizophrenia Birchwood, (1994), therefore the family should monitor that patient is taking medication as required. By encompassing family therapy, psycho education it encompass the involvement and support of family members in the care of an individual Gillam, (2002) which is very important in this scenario. This helps the family gain understanding into the illness and accepts it even though this might be difficult due their cultural beliefs. Staffs are always at risk of aggressive patients and therefore there is great need for risk assessment. Clinical risk is concerned with the danger in which an individual might pose to themselves or others Gamble and Brennan, (2000). Research has identified that the occurrence of violence, arson and homicide depends on additional situational factors and their accumulation lead to increased risk. In this situation having observed the incident from the beginning, I observed Zacks escalating behaviour, presentation such as speech, voice tone, gestures and they determine a lot in ones mental state Gamble and Brennan, (2000). There are other precipitating factors leading to this incident such as the psychosocial environment and stimuli in this case the day of the depot coinciding with the celebrations. If it was a different day, maybe Zack would not been very paranoid and carrying a knife. Also the fact that staff could not meet his needs, it made him more aggressive and in a way no one would have known he was carrying a knife. Psychiatry nurses face importance of risk assessment due to the restrictions they have in searching people who they suspect to be dangerous. The fact that Mental Health Clinics have no enough security measures to detect people who bring in weapons, it increases the risk. Staffs are limited in the procedures of working with patients and it is illegal and unethical to go through patients things or searching them without their consent Thomas et al, (1997). Mental illnesses can manifest in a way that can cause distress to both the patient family and carers but with the help of such therapies as family therapy I recommend it. I believe that Zack could benefit more from it. This intervention has been proven useful by research in the management of schizophrenia Gamble and Brennan, (2000), therefore it is useful to use such therapies inform our care as part of evidence based practice. Rowland and Goss, (2000), writes about evidence based practice as the aspirations nurses should deliver care and therapy based on procedures that are known through research to be effective. Family therapy help the patient cope with their condition and improve their quality of life. Relatives and carers also benefit and by empowering the patient, the family members help the patient change their behaviour Slade and Haddock, (1996) cited by Gamble and Brennan (2000). Research carried out in the last twenty years on high Expressed Emotion (EE) by the Social Psychiatry Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry provided evidence of negative impact of high (EE) on the course of the family of a schizophrenic patient Gamble and Brennan, (2000 ). Families find distress in copying with the condition but they are also showed hostile behaviour by the sufferer and eventually become emotionally over involved. These developments led to the development of family therapy intervention. Family therapy reduces the effect of schizophrenia such as hospitalisation and relapse Ironbar and Hooper, (1989). If Zacks family was involved in care, this incident might not have happened. Family therapy also improves patients functioning and lowers the burden on the family. If one receives support from family, he is more likely to improve adherence to medication, less violent and lower negative family effect. A component of family therapy includes engagement of families and patients, behaviour, self-management, maintenance of skills, dealing with violence, risk management, assessment, cultural issues, over involvement and interpersonal boundaries, Gamble and Brennan, (2000). In Zacks situation all the above on family therapy would be helpful and it involves issue on culture hence Zacks family feels he is a disgrace to the family, which is part of their cultural beliefs. Making them understand the illness would be more helpful in coping with Zacks illness. Research has also found out that these psychosocial interventions are more useful than taking routine medication treatment and not only benefit patient, but also family carers and relatives Ironbar and Hooper, (1989). In helping this patient, this type of intervention should help him gain insight and doing individualised care with the nurse in the therapy it can be achieved. Gillam, (2002) suggests the importance of using drug treatment therapy in conjunction with family therapy for maximum benefit to the patient, family and carers. Reflecting more on this scenario, it brings out issues of concern and critical incident analysis would be very important to guide the whole reflecting process. Developing skills on reflecting enables one to learn more effectively from practice situation and identify what you have learned in practice John, (2000). There is also emphasis that reflection is related to a complex and deliberate process of conscious thinking about interpreting experience in order to learn from it. In this incident I used my knowledge on risk management to lower the risks Mental Health Nurses face in working with mentally ill patients. I was trying to minimise the occurrence of an event that would be dangerous. Considering the importance of critical incident analysis to analyse this scenario was because it gives me an understanding and appreciation of the whole Clinical Incident Analysis (CIT) process. I also chose family therapy because as noted before the family could offer a lot of help to the patient, but only if they can engage with the patient and understand the mental illness and how they can lower the fear and prejudices of living with somebody with a mental illness. Before this incident happened, I felt very nervous that being a student nurse involved in such a difficult situation. However, my feelings changed later when Zack was found to be carrying a knife. Having not emphasised on the nurse to check if the patient actually had the knife, this could have lead into someone getting hurt or even killed by the patient. This was also a learning process for me I learnt that besides taking medication like in this situation, the patient was on medication, there are other therapeutic interventions which can be used to lower the stresses in the family of a schizophrenic patient and help the patient manage and cope with his own illness. Critical incident analysis was very important in giving structure to the whole reflection process and gain appreciation to therapeutic interventions that nurses can use in managing schizophrenia. On the other hand I knew it was unethical and illegal to search this patient, but I felt in such incident, nurses should have the power to search thought to be dangerous or threatening to staff. Evidently, according to reports from Department of Health (DH) (2008), there has been an increase in the violent incidents involving staff working with patients with mental health problems. The issue of risk management, risk assessment is something not to ignore in Mental Health Nursing. Risk management is intended purpose of assessment process, reducing severity of identified risks though they vary over time and circumstances Gamble and Brennan, (2000). Gates et al (2000) identifies clinical risk assessment as an established tenet of Psychiatry Nursing treatment. The establishments of National Service Framework and Guidelines (DOH, 2008) have emphasised on practitioners on the importance of risk assessment. There have been a large number of tragedies and homicidal incidents involving psychiatry patients therefore there have been high expectations in considering risk assessment as a major tool in mental health nursing. Alternative Strategies In this incident I felt I had to remind the CPN on the danger Zack was posing to us, reflecting on practice Thomas et al (1997). This is achieved by assessing situations and judge how dangerous they could be or how best you can deal with them in a professional and ethical way. NMC, (2008) states that professionalism and accountability in all our practices and by being accountable, you have a good cause to justify your actions in this situation safety was a priority. In future if I face the same situation, I would act quicker and take precautions to safety in time. I would also use good interpersonal skills to try and talk to the patient. I would also use my knowledge of risk management and safety precautions since nurses have a duty to look after themselves as well as public, than just looking after the patient Stern and Drummond, (1995). I would also consider that when working with people with schizophrenia there is great need to engage into psychotherapy interventions, family therapy a priority adjunct to drug therapy. Conclusion- Learning In conclusion, the essay clearly considers the values of family therapy as a possible psychotherapeutic intervention to be used in the management of schizophrenia. It also gives appreciation of the whole process. The essay also demonstrates the importance of ongoing clinical supervision and the role of a Psychiatry Nurse. Evidently throughout the essay, it is clear that mental health nurses face a great risk in their day to day practices in working with mentally ill patients. Highlighted is the importance of reflecting and using Clinical Incident Analysis (CIT) process as a major tool to help the whole reflective process. The stages of Johns reflective cycle were used in the essay as it enabled the writer to identify the phenomenon. The need for risk assessment and critical thinking you are able to analyse and reflect on an incident and bring more sense to the reader. Word Count: 3294

Televisions Positive Effects On Society Essay -- essays research paper

Television's Positive Effects on Society   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to Marie Winn and her essay â€Å"The Plug-In Drug,† television has various negative effects on our society today. In her essay Winn explores the ways in which television has harmfully caused disruptions with the quality of family life, rituals, and values. She recognizes there is a problem with our society and the way in which it is consistently influenced by television. I am able to agree with Winn on this point, but I do not feel that the totality of the influence is negative. Television today has a lot of positive effects and influences on our society and our American culture. Television gives us helpful information, various forms of education, and entertainment which are all a part of the positive effects that television has on our society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On a day to day basis, the television keeps us informed with plenty of helpful information. We are informed through the television of the latest news, weather, and information which are important in our daily lives. The television often acts as an almanac, dictionary, and an eye into the world around us. It informs us of the most recent happenings around the world within seconds. Such as the O.J. Simpson trial, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the wars taking place in the Middle East. Through TV we can be warned about almost anything from a hurricane approaching to the fact that the stock market is falling. Th...

War and Heroism in Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five Essay examples -

What is war? Is war a place to kill? Or is it a place where something more than just killing happens? War, as defined by the Merriam Webster is â€Å"a state or period of usually open and declared fighting between states or nations.† War, can also be viewed with romantic ideals where heroes and legends are born. Even the most intelligent of us hold some rather naà ¯ve notions of war. Upon reading Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, intelligent readers have been divested of any romantic notions regarding war they may have harboured. In Slaughterhouse Five the reader is encouraged to show contempt for war and to abandon all hopes of thinking war as a place where deeds of heroism are and bravery are performed. A character in the novel, Roland Weary, seems to think the very opposite of what Vonnegut is trying to communicate in the novel. He sees war as an adventure, a time for exploration, not as a time where horrible atrocities are committed and where massacres take place. Even army personnel turn on each other. Billy Pilgrim who is being beaten by Roland Weary is saved from death, ironically, when a German patrol finds him. Another bunch of characters that seem to ‘mistake’ war as something fun is the English officers at the POW camp. In the words of Vonnegut, â€Å"they made war look stylish, reasonable and fun.† Another interesting thing that Vonnegut does is that he frequently uses the phrase â€Å"So it goes,† after every death or mention of dying in the novel. He uses the phrase very often, and after a certain amount of time, it begins to remind the reader that the reader is powerless to stop all the killing that is going on. Vonnegut uses irony very often to strengthen the readers’ contempt for war. Edgar Derby, the well-liked high sc... ...me soldiers refuse to fire a shot due to the great personal conflict within them to kill another human being. Normal human beings cannot kill in cold blood. Normal human beings usually can’t even think about killing somebody. To not feel remorse after killing a fellow human being would be inhuman. Slaughterhouse Five is not a book that should be glanced over and discarded away like a dirty rag. Slaughterhouse Five is a book that should be carefully analyzed and be seen as an inspiration to further improve the well-being of mankind. Vonnegut makes it clear that an easy way to improve mankind is to see war not as a place where legends are born, but rather, an event to be avoided. Intelligent readers and critics alike should recognize Vonnegut’s work and see to it that they make an effort to understand the complexities behind the human condition that lead us to war.