Category: Collaboration

Abstract

Emergencies that happen within a maternity center can happen from maternal and fetal complications. The outcomes of theses situations can be largely influenced by the efficiency of the teamwork between members of the healthcare team. The purpose of this paper is research strategies that enhance teamwork between two units of a maternity center. The problem preventing these two units from performing efficiently is that these two units do very different things and members of each unit do not comprehend what the other unit does. It does not matter if they understand what each unit does, but how they work together during emergency situation is crucial. Combining these units for teamwork training and simulation activities can improve teamwork and communication during patient emergencies, which can then lead to better maternal and fetal outcomes.

Teamwork is an important aspect in any field of work one may pursue throughout a lifetime. A breakdown in teamwork in a business setting can lead to deadlines being missed, which may or may not have an impact on the business, whereas a breakdown in teamwork in a healthcare setting can lead to negative patient outcomes. The correlation between teamwork and patient care outcomes is teamwork is supposed to improve the quality of patient care, and adverse events happen when a patients’ health care team is not acting as one (Ehrenberg et al.,2016).

Teamwork is defined as “various disciplines working together to address the needs of patients” (IOM, 2003, p 54). Communication and collaboration within the group setting are important characteristics for efficient teamwork. These various disciplines offer a wide variety of skills, knowledge, and methods that may be essential collaborating to make a plan of care. Collaboration means that all members involved with a patients care are listened to and decisions are made together as a team (Finkelman, 2019). Working in a hospital setting, members of a team range between nurses to physical therapists. On a maternity unit, team members are more specific and usually include nurses, midwives, obstetricians (residents and attending), and anesthesiologist (Phipps et al., 2012). In some cases, based on a patents medical history, other members may become involved in care, but for the most part theses are the main team members. Inadequate teamwork during emergency situations can have detrimental effects on both mother and fetus (Cornthwaite et al., 2015). Teamwork training is a way to improve patient outcomes and make for a better birth experience for women and their families (Phipps et al., 2012).

Context

Working in a hospital that is a Regional Perinatal Center in upstate New York might seem like a scary place to work for some, but for others it is a very rewarding place to work. The Kienzle Family Maternity Center at Crouse Hospital is an 80-bed maternity ward that is split between 2 units. Labor and delivery (L&D) is one unit, and postpartum recovery is a separate unit, both units care for high-risk antepartum patients. One would assume that L&D and the postpartum floor is one unit, but as an employee on L&D for the past 4 years, they are anything but one unit. The lack of teamwork and collaboration between the two units, at times, has affected the safety of patients.

One thing all of our patients have in common is that they are all pregnant. The medical complications, which require them to be hospitalized, range from maternal to fetal complications, antepartum and postpartum, although the majority of our patients are full term and admitted to deliver their baby. Unstable patients stay on the L&D unit where residents and physicians can monitor them closely. This includes, but is not limited too, patients that have been diagnose with preeclampsia that are on a magnesium drip, patients bleeding due to an abruption or placenta previa, or a patient that has come in with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). Stable patients can be transported to the postpartum unit. This includes, but not limited too, antepartum PPROM patients or postpartum patients.

The core competency of teamwork and collaboration comes into play when medical emergencies happen. On L&D these emergency situations are more common that on the postpartum/antepartum unit. Cord prolapse, shoulder dystocia, abruption, seizures, to name a few, are the unstable patients that stay on L&D for close monitoring. Postpartum hemorrhage and precipitous preterm deliveries are events that can happen on the postpartum unit that some nurses are not ready for. Some nurses are more equip to handling theses emergencies based on having experienced them before, but others have no idea what they are doing. I only say this because in the event of these emergencies, the resident and attending usually call for L&D nurses to assist them. Teamwork between the two units is a struggle when the postpartum unit staff doesn’t completely understand everything that we do on L&D and vise versa. Expanding on that, we are not a perfect team on L&D either. Unfortunately there is a high turnover rate of nurses on our unit, so there are constantly new nurses on the floor that are unfamiliar. We have recently seen new physicians on the unit that have come from different hospitals and have different ways to practice that are unfamiliar. Upstate Hospital residency program works on our L&D floor because of the perinatal center, so every July 1st there is a new group of residents that join our team who are unfamiliar. The word ‘unfamiliar’ keeps coming up and it has a purpose. A team cannot work together if they do not know each other. There are many strategies to help enhance teamwork between nurses, physicians, and units, to improve patient care outcomes whenever and wherever emergencies may happen.

Improving patient outcomes

Strategies

“Those that work together should train together” (Cornthwaite et al., 2015, p 1045). This is not just going through the motions of what to do in specific patient emergencies, because no one emergency is the same. Every patient’s health history is different and that will affect the course of action taken in the given situation. As stated earlier, communication between team members is a key to efficient teamwork. A team cannot function without communication, but how one communicates is what really makes a difference. A program called TeamSTEPPS is an evidence based teamwork system that focuses on communication and teamwork skills as a way to improve patient care outcomes (Finkelman, 2019). This training program is for all healthcare professionals to integrate teamwork principles in any healthcare setting. There are four individual teamwork skills one can gain from TeamSTEPPS training; (1) communication-how to effectively communicate accurate information to members of the team; (2) leadership-ability to maximize team actions and resources, (3) situational monitoring- assess situation and maintain awareness; and (4) mutual support- anticipate and support team members needs (Finkelman, 2019). Research shows if individuals can acquire these basic fundamental skills, it can enhance teamwork outcomes in performance, knowledge, and attitude. (Finkelman, 2019).

A program like TeamSTEPPS is the foundation for efficient teamwork in the healthcare setting. The next step would be to take these newly acquired skills and put them to the test. The use of simulation training is growing in the obstetric world and while TeamSTEPPS focused on developing comprehensive teamwork skills, simulation training focuses on developing skills (Phipps et al., 2012). Simulations recreate clinical scenarios that are considered important to understand, and it is also a safe and controlled environment to learn new skills (Argani et al., 2011). Although simulation training appears to be completely hands-on learning, strong simulation programs include didactic and debriefing sessions (Argani et al., 2011). The didactic portion of the training ensures that all participants have basic knowledge of the situation. The simulation is the hands-on experience. This allows members to practice and make mistakes without the fear of harming a real patient. Simulations not only focus on practical skills, but can also enhance communication and are great team-building exercises (Argani et al., 2011). Debriefing after the simulation allows for all members to reflect back on the situation, discuss the thought processes of those involved and actions taken, and how to improve future performances to enhance patient outcomes (Finkelman, 2019).

Barriers

As beneficial as theses two programs would be to any institution to improve teamwork and collaboration between health care providers, there are some barriers that prevent the implementation of these programs. TeamSTEPPS training program is very time intensive. The training manual is a 4-inch binder filled with paper, DVD’s and handouts (Thomas, 2012). It can take up to two days to complete all of the training. Two days does not seem like a long time, but when you want all employees from both units involved in the training, it is going to take a lot of planning to assure everyone is included. Scheduling would be important because nurse managers would have to accommodate for all shifts. For example, a night shit nurse would not be able to work on the unit for 3-4 days. They cannot be scheduled the night before training starts or the nights coming off of a training day, and doctors would be in the same situation with coverage. This can lead to staff shortages on the unit, which can be unsafe for patients. This would also be a huge financial cost to the facility (Thomas, 2012). You would be paying for the training sessions that would be taught numerous times because there is no way that one of the largest maternity centers in Central New York can shut down for two days so staff can attend teamwork training. Another barrier is TeamSTEPPS is not organization specific, which is important for team training programs (Thomas, 2012). TeamSTEPPS is just the foundation and to build off of and other strategies need to be implemented. This is where simulation comes in, which can also be very expensive and time consuming. The institution needs to develop a program specific to the needs of the trainees and then invest in the simulation equipment that best meets those needs (Argani et al., 2011). Time needs to be taken to properly create these simulations because “poorly constructed and executed simulations can reinforce bad habits”(Argani et al., 2011, p 1), which is the opposite of what you want.

Implementation

Money is an unfortunate barrier that can prevent the implementation of these teamwork-training methods, but programs like TeamSTEPPS are very important. Communication is key in teamwork and these programs really emphasize on that. As stated above, a hospital cannot be shut down for training like this, but with adequate planning and scheduling, it can be done. An institution may seem like spending money on this training is out of reach, but it will pay off in the long run. Similar with simulations, they can be expensive, but what institutions are really investing in are improved patient outcome and a decrease in adverse events. Simulation programs can be beneficial in more ways than just a training method. They can serve as refresher courses and can help health care facilities stay up to date by introducing new technical advances. (Argani et al., 2011). A way to save costs would be to have new staff go through the didactic and simulation training during the orientation period, while seasoned staff participates is a course that has a shorter training time (Phipps et al., 2012). Some teamwork training is better then no training at all, so if money is the reason why theses programs cannot be implemented, looking into less expensive course should be a priority.

Discussion

Teamwork training program should really be a hospital wide course mandatory for all staff. For two units in the maternity center, there should be an emphasis on teamwork, collaboration, and communication. Twice a year, there are mandatory drills that involve nurses, doctors, assistants and unit secretaries. These drills are mini-simulations in which we are given a scenario, run the drill, and then debrief. We have nurse educators and a clinical nurse specialist that have a background in L&D and work specifically with the two units. I can work with them to make a plan to repeat drill scenarios that are most common. On L&D we can focus on shoulder dystocia, eclampsia, and breech deliveries. These events are more likely to happen on L&D but very rarely would a postpartum nurse encounter situations like these. Simulation drills that involve both units would include emergent situations like postpartum hemorrhage or precipitous deliveries. These are scenarios when L&D nurses go to the postpartum unit for assistance. If we all practice together in drills, we will all know how to work together in an emergency. Along with drills, we also have mandatory skills classes twice a year as well. The past few skills classes focused mostly on reading fetal strips and placing fetal scalp electrode, which we as nurses do not even do because we have resident physicians that place them. I could work with the educators to incorporate teamwork exercises into one of the upcoming skills classes.

There are some challenges to trying to incorporate these ideas into drills and skills classes. These educators plan weeks and months ahead of time to assure that the information presented is accurate, meets our educational needs, and that they run efficiently. Even if I bring up these ideas to them tomorrow, they may not be incorporated into these classes for months or even a year. The educators are the ones who are researching best practice scenarios to keep us all up to date and there are greater educational needs than teamwork exercises. If incorporating teamwork exercises into skills class is unlikely, then advocating to create a class focused on teambuilding should be created. It can be once a year and each year can serve as a refresher course. Quick and easy but can reinforce the importance of good teamwork between the two units.

Conclusion

Medical emergencies can happen anywhere at anytime, and staff needs to be properly trained to handle these situations. Training includes not only improving skill set, but proper communication and teamwork as well. Patient outcomes are enhanced when all members of the healthcare team work together. Training programs, like TeamSTEPPS, educates staff on how to adequately work as a team, but this training alone does not improve teamwork. Simulations are a way to practice skills, practical and teamwork, before engaging in a real-life emergency. These two strategies together will enhance patient outcomes. Implementing teamwork-training classes and simulation training into educational requirements can help eliminate the assumption that these two units act as once, because with this combined training, these two units can actually work together as one and provide for safer and more enjoyable birth experience for mother and baby.

Teamwork is a notion that is commonly described as a combined action of a group that is aimed to achieve a collective goal. Tasks are carried out more efficiently, making teamwork one of the essential factors in reaching higher productivity for both planned and unplanned events. The Thai Rescue Mission was an unforeseen event that had occurred in Thailand on Saturday 23rd June 2018 and continued till 10th July 2018. A young coach (25-year-old) and 12 soccer players aged between 11-16 years were trapped in a Thailand cave where exploration had gone wrong as the cave was flooded due to heavy monsoon rain. The fundamental idea that brought success in this unanticipated and highly unprecedented event was based around the idea of teamwork. As Helen Keller stated, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”. The importance and implementation of strong teamwork were highlighted throughout the event as this dramatic international rescue mission achieved ‘dream result’ through a highly recognised team effort that was displayed by professionals from around the world.

This tragic event that was widely publicised unfolded in the Tham Luang Cave in Thailand. The twelve members of the soccer team and their coach entered the cave after football practice. Monsoon flooding that was caused by heavy rains flooded the cave trapping the group 1kms below the service and 2.4 kilometres into the earth. The Thai government took immediate action by getting the Thai navy seals and their diving team to join the search to confirm if all the 13 people were still alive. Volunteers were called upon to assist in pumping the water out of the cave. A major military operation was carried out and four days later when there was no sign of the boys, Thai authorities called for international help. A very diverse crisis management team was formed to face the tragedy that was characterized by high risk, time constraints and high uncertainty (INSERT ROLE VARIABILITY IN TEXT CITE). A self- organising team was formed as Thai soldiers, navy divers, volunteers, Thai military, journalists, media and professional divers from US, British and Australia collaborated together to conduct this miraculous rescue.

Teamwork was crucial in this unfolding event as there was an acute level of time pressure and urgency that could not be dealt by the Thai government alone. International support from experts in various fields was essential as this was a race against time. Oxygen levels were decreasing in the cave and the situation was becoming not manageable as the risk of water levels increasing was seen as a possibility due to forecasted heavy monsoon rains hence adding further risks to this rescue mission. The combined skills, expertise and knowledge was required to ensure groupthink was avoided and detailed planning was executed to avoid errors. The international professionals collaborated together and brainstormed ideas to complete the rescue mission successfully. After the detailed analysis of the cave, the options to rescue the 13 people were to either train the boys to dive underwater, pump the flooded water out of the cave, find and drill a new exit or to leave the team in the cave until the monsoon season was over. This rescue would have been infinitely more dangerous without international help as this was a demanding situation and required composure, skilled expertise and strong risk management skills that could not be provided by the Thai government alone. A collective perspective was required to tackle such a complex problem.

Formation of this ad hoc team consisting of members from different backgrounds, professions and organisational cultures with limited experience in working together prior to this event collaborated and made this rescue possible. International teamwork was made effective as every individual involved in the rescue mission was sharing ideas, knowledge, information, and expertise to locate the best solution possible. After the tragic death of Salman Guana a former Thai Navy volunteer caused due to the low oxygen levels on his return dive, all experts tested the rescue plan in multiple ways to ensure his loss would not be in vain. An operational pause was taken to reassess the risk that was involved. The team’s ability to adapt and continue to have the motivation and strong will power to achieve the most positive result made teamwork effective in this despairing event. Strong conflict management skills were evident as the roles were delegated according to the strengths, skill level and expertise each individual held upon. Cooperation was the key to success as there was one big team and many different responsibilities that had to be carried out.

Team learning is the process of aligning the capacity of a team to create the results its members truly desire. Team learning was apparent throughout the whole rescue mission as there was a relative change in the team’s knowledge after their first attempt ‘failed’ due to the death of a Thai Navy Volunteer. The people involved learned the risks of the plan they were executing and learned from the experts the best way to avoid such a mistake. Team learning had a major contribution to the success of this rescue mission as the professionals acted in a new synergistic way to produce a safe and effective solution. Collective intelligence was brought together to be responsive and choose a ‘decent plan’ which was to dive and rescue the 13 people by dragging them underwater. Team learning was effective as the team played together and coordinated action by dry rehearsing the plan in a pool to ensure the plan would be a success. By functioning as a whole team the plan was executed. Although it was a slow and daunting process a successful outcome was achieved and there was an enormous sense of relief as the 13 involved were safely rescued.

In conclusion, this wide and diverse collaboration shows that nations work best when they work together. This event that shifted from a search to rescue was a remarkable example of international cooperation. Teamwork was necessary as this rescue would not be possible without the professionals and volunteers involved. International teamwork and collaboration resulted in an unrivalled success and miracle rescue.

In April 2000, 50 malaria-afflicted African countries signed the Abuja Declaration, and agreed to achieve the following targets by 2005:

• 60% of those suffering from malaria will have prompt access to appropriate and affordable treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms
• 60% of pregnant women and children under five will sleep under insectide-treated nets or use other appropriate and affordable means of protection from malaria
• 60% of pregnant women at risk of malaria, especially those in their first pregnancies, will access preventive intermittent treatment.

Since then, the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partnership has focused attention on resource mobilization, policy change, research, and health system strengthening. Relatively less attention has been paid to malaria communication. Yet, there is general agreement that, if we are to meet the Abuja targets, communication is key.

This concept paper summarizes some of the communication challenges RBM has experienced in Africa and poses some ways in which strategic communication can help propel countries closer to the Abuja targets.

The Problem of Malaria: Malaria is endemic to the poorest countries in the world, causing 400 to 900 million clinical cases and up to 2.7 million deaths each year (Breman, 2001). More than 90% of malaria deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in an estimated 3,000 deaths each day. Almost all the deaths are among children younger than 5. Other high-risk groups include women during pregnancy, non-immune travelers, refugees and other displaced persons, and people of all ages living in areas of unstable malaria transmission (WHO & UNICEF, 2003).

In highly endemic countries, malaria poses a serious danger to pregnant women and their unborn children. Malaria in pregnancy causes maternal anemia, miscarriage, and low birth weight. In endemic countries, It is the leading cause of maternal mortality and one of the primary causes of neonatal deaths (Breman et al, 2001; WHO & UNICEF, 2003).

Malaria is caused by infection with one of four species of Plasmodium: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae. Plasmodium falciparum causes the most serious disease and is responsible for over 95% of infections in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria parasites are transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito. Malarious mosquitoes bite between sunset and sunrise, usually during the night.

Over the last two decades, morbidity and mortality from malaria have been increasing due to deteriorating health systems, growing drug and insecticide resistance, periodic changes in weather patterns, civil unrest, human migration, and population displacement (WHO & UNICEF, 2003).

The Four RBM Strategies: Roll Back Malaria (RBM) recommends four strategies to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality (RBM website):

1. Rapid, effective treatment of persons with malaria at home or in a health facility within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms: As 60% to 80% of malaria cases are treated in the community, efforts focus on ensuring that correct treatment is available at or near the home, through commercial drug vendors or community-based drug distributors.
2. Widespread use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to limit human-mosquito contact: In areas of Sub-Saharan Africa with high levels of malaria transmission, regular use of an insecticide-treated bednet can reduce mortality in children less than 5 years of age by as much as 30% and has a significant impact on anemia. Similar or greater benefits have been achieved for pregnant women and in other regions.
3. Prevention of malaria in pregnant women living in high transmission areas: In areas in which malaria is highly endemic, the incidence of low birth weight (a leading cause of neonatal mortality) can be reduced by as much as half through use of intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) with drugs such as sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP).
4. Detection and appropriate response to epidemics within two weeks of onset: Detection of epidemics requires timely, complete surveillance of malaria cases and monitoring of weather patterns. Reserve drug stocks, transport, and hospital capacity are needed to mount an appropriate response. In some epidemic zones, well-timed and targeted vector control activities have minimized the impact of epidemics.

RBM Communication Challenges: Strategically designed communication can play a key role in taking RBM to scale. Communication strategies are generally called for whenever there is a need to change awareness, knowledge, attitudes, social norms, skills, or expectations. Certainly, the RBM strategies call for all of these.

Experience in Africa, where malaria communication has typically lagged behind other RBM efforts, highlights communication challenges at individual, family, community, health delivery, and policy levels. Some of the common communication challenges experienced in Africa are described below. While many of these challenges could be partially answered through other types of interventions—service delivery, policy, monitoring and evaluation, or systems strengthening—all demand a communication response. Challenges are presented for each of the four RBM strategies; as well as a few that cut across all four strategies.

1. 1. Rapid, effective treatment of persons with malaria at home or in a health facility within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.

• Poor symptom recognition—a knowledge and skills gap among child caretakers: particularly in young children, caretakers sometimes have difficulty recognizing fever. Symptoms of complicated malaria such as convulsions and coma often are not associated with malaria, and malaria treatment may be withheld for children with these signs.
• Complacency about malaria—a problem of public attitudes: In endemic areas, people get malaria several times each year and usually recover. Sometimes, with mild cases of malaria, fevers resolve without any treatment. As a consequence, parents often delay giving antimalarials or seeking treatment from health facilities when their children have fevers.
• Self-medication and poor treatment compliance—an issue of client and provider knowledge and skills: malaria is often treated at home with herbs and/or drugs purchased from commercial outlets or left over from previous attacks of malaria. Sometimes, health workers and patent drug vendors treat patients with incorrect dosages or inappropriate drugs. In other cases, clients share their medicine with other family members, give the wrong dosages at the wrong times, or discontinue medication when they begin feeling better. Most often, clients do not know the appropriate medicines and dosages to request from vendors.
• Outdated malaria treatment guidelines—an advocacy issue: Despite growing resistance to Chloroquine, policymakers in a number of African countries have not yet revised drug treatment policies for a variety of reasons.
• Poor regulation and quality of antimalarial drugs in the private sector—an advocacy and information issue: In many developing countries, patent medicine vendors sell recommended antimalarials under a variety of brand names with varying efficacy. In some places, fake anti-malarial drugs are manufactured and sold. Clients and vendors have no way of knowing which brand names are effective and which are not. For example, in Kenya only a handful of the SP brands sold over the counter meet government quality standards; but drug sellers and consumers do not have easy access to this information, and the government is unable to stop the importation, manufacture, and sale of ineffective brands.
• Changes in drug policies—an information, attitude and skill issue: To combat growing drug resistance, many countries are changing their malaria treatment policies. All cadres of health workers (including policymakers), patent drug vendors, and clients need to be informed of new policies and reassured of the safety, effectiveness and rationale for the change. As with the introduction of any new drug, rumors and misconceptions can develop in the absence of information and education.

1. 2. Widespread use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to limit human-mosquito contact.

• Knowledge of malaria transmission—an issue for education and information: Although most people know that malaria is spread through mosquitoes, many also believe that malaria can be transmitted in other ways. In many African countries, people believe that malaria can be spread by drinking dirty water, living in unclean surroundings, exposure to the sun, witchcraft, or eating certain foods. Consequently, they do not believe they can prevent malaria by avoiding mosquito bites.
• Complacency about malaria—a problem of public attitudes and information: As discussed earlier, malaria is not considered a serious or deadly disease by many living in endemic areas. Thus, the perceived disadvantages of sleeping under an ITN outweigh the perceived benefit of preventing malaria.
• Poor uptake of insecticide-treated bednets—a need for changes in caretaker and provider knowledge and attitudes, and community norms: The use of ITNs has grown in the past years but is still very low. For many, there are no items available or the cost is considered too expensive. Many people also think that sleeping under a net will be uncomfortable—they will be too hot and will have difficulty breathing. Others worry that the insecticide could be harmful, especially for babies and pregnant women. Many people, including some health workers and opinion leaders, are concerned about the safety of insecticides and are not convinced that ITNs are an effective or feasible way to prevent malaria.
• Treating and retreating mosquito nets—a problem of public information and skills: Less than half of the mosquito nets used in Africa have been treated with insecticides. Many people are unaware of the need for insecticide treatment. Few know how to treat their nets, how often to treat them, or where to get insecticides for treatment.
• Preference for environmental vector control measures—a problem of public and provider attitudes and knowledge: For years health workers have been educating communities to clear bushes and drain standing water for malaria prevention. Many health workers, opinion leaders and community members prefer these often ineffective practices to sleep under ITNs.
• Usage is least likely among the most vulnerable—a need for changes in attitudes and knowledge: In many countries, urban dwellers and higher-income men are most likely to sleep under ITNs. Pregnant women, children under five years of age, and the rural poor are less likely to, although they are more vulnerable to malaria.
• Ineffective advocacy for policy changes by Malaria Control Programmes in Ministries of Health—an issue for advocacy and attitude change: To make it more affordable, governments should reduce tariffs and taxes on importation. Unfortunately, Malaria Control Programmes often sit far down in the Ministry of Health hierarchy and do not have the clout or authority to advocate effectively for such policy changes or to ensure that the government enacts new policies once agreed upon.

1. 3. Prevention of malaria in pregnant women living in high-transmission areas

• IPT is standard policy in only a few countries—a need for advocacy: Not all countries in Africa have policies for IPT during pregnancy. In high-transmission countries without IPT policies, policymakers need to seriously consider the impact of malaria in pregnancy and the benefits and feasibility of IPT.
• Malaria control interventions for pregnant women need to be embedded in antenatal care: To effectively promote IPT and ITN use among pregnant women, Malaria Control and RH/MH programs need to work in close collaboration. Antenatal care needs to include client education about malaria, and women need to be encouraged to attend antenatal care early during pregnancy.
• Worries about the safety of SP during pregnancy—an issue of knowledge and attitudes: In many places, health workers as well as pregnant women are concerned that SP and the insecticides used to treat mosquito nets may harm the woman or her baby.
• Poor appreciation of the rationale for IPT—a problem of information and attitudes: Policy makers, health workers, and clients often do not understand why pregnant women should take SP when they have no symptoms of malaria. Few know that malaria can be asymptomatic; so IPT is sometimes viewed as a waste of medicine that could be better used to treat people who are sick.

1. 4. Detection and appropriate response to epidemics within two weeks of onset

• Over-reporting of epidemics—an advocacy issue: Reports of epidemics are sometimes not properly investigated before responses are initiated, leading to unnecessary wastage of human and material resources. Often, the decision to report epidemics is politically motivated and made without advice from Malaria Control Programmes.
• Need for rapid dissemination of information: Health workers, community leaders, and the general public need to be notified immediately of malaria epidemics, how to prevent malaria, symptom recognition, and how to treat it appropriately.
• Community involvement: In some epidemic-prone areas, indoor residual spraying is initiated to prevent outbreaks. To successfully cover the requisite 80% of households, community leaders need to understand, support, and advocate for the exercise among community members.

1. 5. Cross-cutting challenges

• Ineffective advocacy and communication skills among Malaria Control Programmes: Although malaria programs are generally well-funded, they are sometimes buried deep inside Ministry of Health bureaucracies, with little direct influence over policies and strategic decisions which could improve the control of malaria (eg. home management, prepackaged drugs, treatment guidelines, ITNs, IPT, etc.)
• Often conflicting information and advice about malaria are provided through other health programs: Malaria communication efforts need to be integrated with reproductive, maternal and child health programs, with environmental, school, and community health programs, and with commercial manufacturers and importers of nets, insecticides and drugs. Key messages, information, and communication strategies to support malaria initiatives, policies, and guidelines are best developed and implemented in partnership with a variety of public and private stakeholders. Unfortunately, true collaboration and partnership are often hindered by competition and mistrust.
• Low status and poor appreciation for health communication among malaria experts: Most Malaria Control Programmes (MCPs) are managed by doctors with little or no training in communication. Usually, the health educators posted to MCPs are not doctors and are considered junior to other medical staff. As a result, health educators are often too low in status to effectively coordinate and mobilize support for national malaria communication strategies.
• Strategic communication requires time and resource allocation: Often, communication planning begins after other malaria interventions are advanced. In many cases, Malaria Control Programmes budget inadequate time and financial, human, and material resources for malaria communication.
• Malaria communication is rarely evaluated: Very few studies have looked at the impact of various malaria communication strategies. Thus, there is little evidence showing that communication can effectively influence malaria practices. There is also little known about the relative effectiveness of various communication strategies on malaria control.

The Role of Communication in Malaria Control

To meet the Abuja RBM targets, communication needs to be fully integrated into the broad spectrum of malaria interventions and not seen as an isolated intervention, an after-thought or an add-on. With adequate time and resources, strategically designed communication can play an important role in scaling up prevention and control efforts at the individual/household, community, health delivery, decentralized and national levels.

Malaria communication should be integrated with other health education and communication efforts. Malaria control programs need to balance malaria-focused and integrated communication approaches. For example, after initial introduction through focused communications, malaria control in pregnancy should become an integral part of reproductive and maternal health communication. Likewise, information and education about home management of malaria in children should become part of integrated management of childhood illnesses (IMCI) communication.

Communication efforts should be strategically designed from an audience perspective to address the social and contextual environment as well as individual behaviors and knowledge. The coordinated use of interpersonal communication, community mobilization, advocacy and mass media has been effective in a variety of other public health agendas. Integrating strategic communication approaches and service delivery can enhance the utilization of services and improve client compliance. In fact, the integration of community-based distribution of antimalarials and malaria information and education has been documented to reduce under-five mortality by 41% in one Ethiopian program (Marsh & Kachur, 2002; WHO & UNICEF, 2003).

As with HIV/AIDS, malaria communication will be more effective when a multi-sectoral approach is adopted. Labour, agriculture, education, and gender are all affected by and can play significant roles in malaria control. For example, in places such as Kenya where most school children purchase their own drugs for the treatment of fevers, schools present an excellent venue for teaching children about appropriate and effective malaria treatment (Marsh and Kachur, 2002). Likewise, in places like Uganda, where workers miss an estimated 42 work days each year due to malaria, employers often welcome workplace prevention programs (FUE, 2002).

Communication is essential to advocacy, communicating policy changes, home-based management, improving the quality of health care, creating demand for malaria services and products, changing household practices, and mobilizing communities for malaria control.

Advocating for Malaria Prevention and Control Particularly in the areas of malaria in pregnancy, home management, drug policy, epidemic preparedness, and prevention, there is a need in many countries to introduce policies and programs that are technically sound and feasible. In order to do this, it is essential to reach out to policymakers and other influential people and win their active support for RBM-recommended malaria control strategies. This will require evidence-based and compelling arguments that speak to the interests, concerns and needs of this unique audience.

Effective advocacy among influential individuals and groups can also help address some of the underlying societal and environmental factors that influence individuals’ ability to take action, either in terms of prevention or treatment (eg. exempting ITNs from import taxes; reclassifying anti-malarial drugs so they can be legally dispensed by patent drug vendors and community-based workers, and organizing rotating funds for purchasing ITNs).

Religious, health, political, commercial, traditional, and community leaders, through their positions of power and respect, can make malaria a public issue and support recommended prevention and control practices, helping to overcome barriers to adoption, acting as role models, and changing community norms around treatment seeking and prevention. Advocacy efforts can equip these influential individuals with malaria information and create opportunities for them to address their constituencies, whether through mass media or group forums.

Carefully planned advocacy campaigns can help to make Malaria Control Programmes more effective. Through advocacy, Ministries can be convinced to reposition Malaria Control Programmes so they are better able to influence policy, provide effective guidance for malaria control strategies, and monitor and evaluate implementation. Within Malaria Control Programmes, advocacy can convince medical experts of the need for strategic communication, and appreciation for the communication process can improve time and resource allocations for malaria communication, and can improve the status of health educators.

Communicating Policy Changes

Many countries are adopting new malaria treatment policies. New guidelines need to be communicated to health providers and drug vendors in both the formal and informal sectors. The public also needs to be informed and educated about changes in malaria treatment policies, thus preventing public fears and backlash against new anti-malarial drugs. Well-developed communication strategies can also improve acceptance of and compliance with drug regimens, especially combination therapies, at all levels of official and unofficial healthcare systems, the private sector, and the community.

Information, education and communication for health providers, clients, and influencers is also essential to effectively introduce new initiatives such as home management by community-based providers or patent drug vendors, and IPT for antenatal clients.

Improving the Quality of Client-Provider Interactions

Equipping providers—facility, community-based, and non-formal vendors–with interpersonal communication skills and malaria information so they can effectively interact with their clients is essential. Too often, providers lack guidelines and other job aids, client education materials, and/or the interpersonal skills to do this. While logistics and technical training and supervision are essential ingredients to the safe and effective delivery of malaria-related services, so are the communication tools that support service delivery. It is through effective communication that service providers can best influence treatment compliance and effectiveness.

Communication programs can also contribute to a reduction in anti-malarial drug resistance by changing health workers’ and drug vendors’ prescription practices. This may entail short orientation courses for health workers and simple job aids that serve as reminders of treatment schedules for various age groups.

Creating Demand for Malaria Services and Products

Providing malaria treatment through community-based providers and selling subsidized ITNs through a voucher system will not automatically increase appropriate treatment or ITN use unless such initiatives are coupled with active communication. This may take the form of branding and media promotion; referrals through health services; community mobilization activities; or a combination of the three. Demand creation involves more than informing people about products or services. It involves understanding the audience’s socio-psychological environment and designing messages and materials that inform, educate, and motivate audiences within that context.

Changing Household Practices

Communication through a variety of channels is the best way to change individual and community attitudes and practices that act as barriers to effective malaria control. Through multi-channel communication, including interpersonal, community, electronic and print media, malaria programs can:

• Create a sense of urgency among parents and guardians about fevers in under-five-year-olds so that appropriate treatment is initiated within 24 hours.
• Prepare parents and guardians of young children to recognize and treat fevers promptly and correctly at home.
• Make IPT during pregnancy a normal and safe practice.
• Convince the public of the safety of ITNs for children and pregnant women.

Mobilizing Communities for Malaria Control

By stimulating community dialogue about malaria, communities can assess their own malaria situation and come up with relevant solutions. Communities can be mobilized to establish drug revolving funds; organize periodic net re-treatment; to organize transportation for children with complicated malaria, and select community members for training as drug distributors. Through community education and dialogue, ITN use, IPT, and immediate appropriate treatment of malaria can become social norms. Communities can also take a more active role in regulating the activities of service providers, whether community-based volunteers, non-formal vendors, or health workers.

References

1. Bloland, P. B., Drug resistance to malaria, Malaria Epidemiology Branch, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Chamblee, GA, USA
2. Breman, J.G., Egan, A., Keusch, G.T. Introduction, and Summary: The Intolerable Burden of Malaria: A New Look at the Numbers, Supplement to The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, January/February 2001, Volume 64, Number 1, 2.
3. Breman, J.G., The Ears of the Hippopotamus: Manifestations, Determinants, and Estimates of the Malaria Burden, Supplement to the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, January/February 2001, Volume 64, Number 1, 2.
4. Brieger, W.R., The Role of Patent Medicine Vendors in the Management of Sick Children in the African Region, BASICS II, Arlington, VA, Submitted September 2002, Revised March 2003.
5. Brieger, W.R., Issues for Child Survival in Nigeria: an Annotated Bibliography, prepared for A Strategic Assessment of the USAID/Nigeria Child Survival Programme, November 2002
6. Federation of Ugandan Employers, “Reduce Absenteeism through Controlling Malaria,” in The Employer, Issue No. 1, July – August 2002.
7. Gallup, J.L., Sachs, J.D., The Economic Burden of Malaria, Supplement to the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, January/February 2001, Volume 64, Number 1, 2.
8. Marsh, V. and Kachur, S.P. Malaria Home Care and Management, Policy to Strategy and Implementation Series, Malaria Consortium, December 2002.
9. RBM, Insecticide-treated mosquito net interventions, A manual for national control program managers, Geneva, 2003
10. Regional Office for Africa of the World Health Organisation, Strategic Framework for Malaria Control During Pregnancy in the WHO Africa Region, Final Draft, November 2002.
11. Rietveld, A., Frequently-Asked-Questions about Malaria, from RBM website
12. Roll Back Malaria, Scaling-up insecticide-treated netting programs in Africa, A Strategic Framework for Coordinated National Action, August 2002
13. Root, G., Collins, A., Munguti, K., Sargent, K., Roll Back Malaria Scoping Study, Malaria Consortium, Kampala, Uganda, 25 April 2003.
14. Shuffle, S., Lefore, N., Ishmael-Perkins, N., Communication Assessment for Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Final Report, Radio for Development, prepared for RBM, April 2003
15. WHO and Malaria Consortium UK, Partnerships for Change & Communication, Guidelines for Malaria Control
16. WHO & UNICEF, The Africa Malaria Report 2003, Chapter 3: Prompt and effective treatment, pp 31 – 37
17. Prepared by Cheryl Lettenmaier, Africa Regional Representative, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programmes, P.O. Box 3495, Plot 42 Lumumba Avenue, Kampala, Uganda. Email: clettenmaier@imul.com.

Introduction

It is common knowledge that information is power. This arises due to the fact that access to the right information at the right time is critical for making business decisions (Stair & Reynolds, 2011). For this reason this information needs to be delivered to the right person at the right time with the minimal amount of effort required.

Information systems are widely used around the world in almost all professions to assist in reaching and serving customers around the world. For this reason this paper presents a brief discussion on some of the potential benefits of implementing a new information system within the Party Plates organization.

Usefulness of Data Conversion

It has been reported that the Microsoft office is among the most useful set of applications that can be used in a corporate setting (Schmalz, 2006). This is because apart from the fact that it is easy to use, most of the applications in the suite can work together. Based on this therefore it becomes very easy to transfer data from one application to another. In this regard it has been observed that Microsoft Excel and Access offer the greatest benefits through integration.

Given the above position this proposal suggests the use of Microsoft Access to track all personnel data currently held in Microsoft excel spreadsheets. Apart from the numerous benefits that Access provides this software is deemed most suitable due to the minimal effort required to manage the conversion.

It has already been mentioned that these applications work well together and as such this will ease the transition from one application to the next. This comes in light of the simplicity involved in transferring data contained in Excel worksheets to Access databases.

Benefits of Access

Though the power of Excel is clear and universally accepted, the additional utility that comes with relational databases suggests a need to integrate the applications for improved business performance. The main advantage that the company stands to benefit from through the use of Access comes from its inherent ability to query data (Schmalz, 2006). The application allows the user to define specific datasets and produce results from a database containing various entries.

In addition to queries, the Access application is useful in that it allows the user to generate periodical reports. It has already been mentioned that the main purpose of information systems within an organization is to improve decision making capacity (Stair & Reynolds, 2011).

The use of an Access database to hold personnel data will allow the management of Party Plates improve their decision making capacity based on reports generated. Another advantage with the Access application is based on the ability to create relationships between various data items. This brings the advantage of ease in updating of data in the tables.

Future Proposals

It has been observed that within most successful organizations, effective internal communication plays a major role in overall performance (Breslin, 2010). It has been suggested that access to open internal channels of communication create an atmosphere of respect where co-workers can flourish (Breslin, 2010).

In light of the fact that face to face communication is often too time consuming or difficult over great distances this paper proposes the creation of a corporate weblogs to improve internal communication.

This comes in light of the fact that this approach is likely to overcome complication associated with face to face communication and the use of print which requires space for filing and is slow to retrieve (Breslin, 2010). It is believed the use of an organizational blog can reduce time spent in meetings that involve conveyance of information such as production quantities, work schedules and sales information.

References

Breslin, J. (2010). Recent Trends and Developments in Social Software. Printed in Germany: Springer.

Schmalz, M. (2006). Integrating Excel and Access: Combining Applications to Solve Business Problems. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media Inc.

Stair, R., & Reynolds, G. (2011). Fundamentals of Information Systems. Boston, MA: Course Technology.

Article Summary

This article uses the findings of surveys and interviews conducted on business professionals, government executives, and customers to provide practical ways to prepare for the shift in digital transformation, from the current individual-centered approach to the fast-approaching everyone-to-everyone (E2E) model. The article provides important information on the characteristics of digital transformation (flexibility, holistic integration, customization, and responsiveness) and aspects of the E2E economy (hyper-connectedness and collaboration).

According to the authors, the shift in digital transformation is being triggered by technological disruption (e.g., social media explosion, the mobile revolution, analytics, and cloud enablement), the emergence of new ecosystems that cut across multiple organizations and functions, increased fragmentation of value chains, the convergence of industries, intelligence sharing, and increased connectivity and interactivity (Berman and Marshall 9-13).

The guiding principles for E2E economy formulated by the authors include the ability of organizations to provide optimal customer experiences through the right partnerships, capacity to use contextual and predictive analytics to generate customer value, and capability of organizations to balance their critical intellectual capital with the need to achieve integration into dynamic and flexible business ecosystems (Berman and Marshall 14).

Article Critique

One of the foremost strengths of the article is its capacity to integrate most of the elements associated with digital transformation into easily understandable frameworks and graphs. Additionally, the authors do an excellent job of connecting the various customer-, organization-, and technical-level components of digital transformation (e.g., digital mobilization, collaboration, responsiveness to customer needs, and data analytics) to the ongoing shift in digital transformation.

This connection provides a holistic picture of the major ingredients needed by businesses to adopt and implement the E2E economy. One can agree with these assertions as they are consistent with the findings of other studies showing that digital transformation is influenced by factors such as disruptive technologies, customer experiences and behavior, and big data.

A third strength relates to the clear and coherent nature in which the authors discuss their central arguments on the shift from the customer-centricity paradigm to the E2E economy. Upon reading the article, one is able to clearly understand that factors such as hyper-connectivity, collaboration, adoption of disruptive technology, and reliance on big market data are necessary ingredients in making the needed switch to E2E digital transformation.

This is quite agreeable based on the current trends being witnessed in the business environment, though the authors should have done more to identify which of these factors are most relevant to business organizations. Another key strength is hinged on the use of practical case studies to reinforce their arguments on how supply chains and organizational ecosystems are going to change with the adoption of the E2E economy.

Their argument that supply chains will fragment and new ecosystems will emerge is credible based on the observation that leading global organizations have already started to share supply value chains and develop complex interdependencies with the view to creating and allocating more business value.

In weaknesses, it is evident that the article does not show how the data collected from the field is used to arrive at the practical implications. This deficit may trigger credibility issues related to the authenticity of some of the arguments. Additionally, the methodology section is vaguely described and the authors do not demonstrate how they have used secondary sources of information to back or justify their claims. Such a study, in my view, should clearly define its research design, provide information on how data was collected, and offer a balanced critical analysis of existing literature to justify claims. Lastly, the article lacks logical consistency due to the many headings and subheadings used, making it difficult to follow through.

Works Cited

Berman, Saul and Anthony Marshall. “The Next Digital Transformation: From an Individual-Centered to an Everyone-to-Everyone Economy.” Strategy & Leadership. 42.5 (2014): 9-17. Emerald. Web.

Challenges and Opportunities

On the background information about the problem, the JVIE was first employed in managing complex projects to solve imminent challenges, which are associated with their implementation and exploit the available opportunities. The early purpose of JVIE was to solve the challenges associated with the project and utilize the opportunities, which it brought. The other management software that could be used is KE EMu.

This software also works in enhancing business since it combines several management systems (KE EMu Software Company, 2012). Notably, some projects continued with impractical implementation strategies as expendable ways of platform delivery according to the targets (Campbell, 2006). As software technology improved, it brought challenges and opportunities.

In this regard, JVIE was increasingly employed as a significant asset of reconnaissance and project implementation. It was dispatched on pre-programmed courses, getting back to a designated area where their payload was retrieved to be used in inspecting the project processes (Zofi, 2011).

The employment of current software was initiated to improve the efficiency with which complex projects could be implemented. JVIE is manageable, and the intelligence supervised in actual time.

JVIE is required urgently in various companies implementing different projects, forcing them to rush in its adoption when their programs are started, through to the phases till completion. Its possession is still in a developmental stage to ensure it is capable of serving the purpose it is designed to carry out. Notably, real time project control and the prompt propagation of information has also become a routine when using software (Campbell, 2006). In Global scenario, the application of Project Collaboration Portals to share information is actually on the increase.

Business Solution

The management’s response to the problem has been so useful during the project implementation using JVIE and KE EMu software. The primary solution of the project collaboration portal include making the best strategic choices, taking appropriate strategic position and strategy translation into action.

First, strategic position enables a company to acquaint itself with the use of the software and know the ways it will affect the business operations (Johnson & Scholes, 2008).

The external forces that might affect the software’s operationalization include social, political and legal dynamics that might affect corporate governance. Second, strategic choice involves making decisions. Concerning KE EMu software, it is able to accommodate numerous statistics, which are vital for storing business information and improve its efficiency and management (KE EMu Software Company, 2012).

Strategic choices are made when data collected and information gathered have been analyzed, because they determine the business solution (Johnson & Scholes, 2008). The decision is made by companies, once they have identified the most opportunistic areas to gain a competitive advantage using the software. The areas can be on the product/service, technology and price and ways in which the software will integrate the aspects.

The last component will be transforming strategy into action, which is perceived to be successful in the strategic management process. In this stage, a company’s structure is designed to facilitate a successful implementation of the project (Blaxill & Eckardt, 2009).

To this end, resources are properly allocated to ensure that the project is successfully implemented within the allocated time. Moreover, relationships between business components are well coordinated as outlined in the portal.

Compared to JVIE, KE EMu software is useful due to its ability to handle large data and other administrative systems (KE EMu Software Company, 2012). Some of the systems include natural, cultural and art history of museums, which are vital in getting more information about the people’s cultural heritage.

It could also involve relevant information on herbaria, special collections or archives and botanic gardens, which are either the preserve of society or mere aesthetic features. This software is so dynamic and accommodative to different varieties of information and makes the management of data very simple and easy.

In addition, the EMu software is classified as one of the best in business management due to its flexibility to suit different categories of management aspect. Mostly, it is workable in a multi-facet environment with two or more variables, which are either relating to one another or purely dissociated.

Lessons learned/Business Case

From the case, it provides the learning point in managing projects using latest software solutions. For instance, the case made me aware that a strategy is a way and scope that an organization has in along term basis when implementing a project.

Basically, the application of software helps the project implementers achieves certain advantages for the company and configuration of the resources in a challenging environment (Blaxill & Eckardt, 2009). This is critical to project management and implementation since the use of software improves efficiency and speed at which it could be accomplished. The focus is to anticipate the point at which the business level and development development could be within a given period.

The other important thing to note is that the use of Project Collaboration Portals to participate and share project information could help in making alterations and address the challenge of sharing the information about the program and its processes (Johnson & Scholes, 2008).

The portal also looks into the best way a business can compete in the market and how it can overcome other competitors (Blaxill & Eckardt, 2009). One could also recognize that the strategies exist at different levels of an organization. In addition, good strategic management as a process has three components including analysis, choice and implementation.

Why I Care

The main reason for my concern is the impacts, which the team project portal intends to achieve once its application is complete. For example, I understand that the internal and external factors presented in a project’s matrix form help identify and analize the nature and extent of competition in the market trends.

I am also concerned because I underscored that using competitive analysis, there are human resource challenges, which have also been discussed namely, retention and motivation, attracting the best talent, accepting workplace diversity, and technological related challenges applicable to the project (Zofi, 2011).

Regarding this research, I was able to see and conceptualize the relationship between the software, in terms of their contextual applications and justification. Though both of them are used in facilitating management, the research indicated that they differed significantly due to their varying content and usability.

In this regard, the KE EMu software was more complicated and contained several variables than the JVIE. The research also enlightened me on the application of different software in bossiness to facilitate transaction and increase the general efficiency. Indeed, it increased my knowledge and curiosity about the various types of software that are available in the market, their uses and advantages.

References

Blaxill, M. & Eckardt, R. (2009). Taking your Strategy to the Next Level Using Intellectual property. New York, NY: Penguin Press.

Campbell, A. (2006). The One-Page Project Manager: Communicate and Manage Any Project With a Single Sheet of Paper. San Francisco: Wiley publishers.

Johnson, G. & Scholes, K. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy (8^th Ed). Essex: Prentice Hall.

KE EMu Software Company, (2012). About Us: Our Products. Web.

Zofi, Y. (2011). A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams. New York, NY: AMACOM Publishing.

Mallet’s article Asynchronous Online Collaboration”

Do you think that you could succeed in an online math course?

The online math series offers alternative and versatile learning environments; therefore I have a chance of coping. However, since I am not a Native American, my responses to written and oral communication may be limited and consequently check my success. After such a course, I would be required to present some of the processes in the real world. The challenges experienced in an online means such as system-imposed alterations of the form of questions. As an external student, the online course would not give me the necessary knowledge experience acquired from debates and discussion.

Are there certain types of courses or material that you simply do not believe can be taught to a large population with large success?

A large population significantly translates to the presence of diversified culture. Language barriers and cultural beliefs are some of the associated limitations in a multicultural society. Their teaching and implementation of outlined practices may be challenging to such a community. Attaining these skills of communication is essential to translate some conceptions into practice. It would also be difficult to understand the problems of others.

Factors that Mallet used in measuring success

Success can be measured through tracking the progress of students in their course work, and how they would regard their colleagues at the work area to improve their competence. This, however, would need plenty of resources and time to settle on a comprehensive conclusion. There are other available methods of measuring success including student evaluation responses or assessment of their online partnership.

I agree with the illustrative system which enabled students to understand their errors, and also know how fellow students grasp instructions. The comprehensive method, conversely, brings some contention. I disagree with it in the way that students are allowed to make intentional mistakes, on the condition that they would be corrected and taught how to respond to the questions. Though it may be helpful in teamwork, it may not necessarily measure the success of the individual. The evaluation of the course by filling in documents always entails dishonesty, as students may give responses that suit the administration. The problems, solutions, and general trends method may also be lame, as in much as students may respond appropriately in writing, their oration may be insufficient. Furthermore, when analyzed orally they may not be able to respond as desired hence assumed not to be conversant to the topic.

Van House’s article “Weblogs: Credibility and Collaboration in an Online World”

Weblogs help in creating new conception channels in which individuals can receive responses from the other users. In collective work, credibility is a key essence of confidence. Bloggers expose, back, and modify assessing practices and thus demonstrate their strength within learning communities. The honesty and scope of their sources of information, and whether the data is inclusive, thorough, and impartial determine reliability. Assessing the integrity of a person is thus difficult, and people usually resort to identifying the order the blogger is allied to, whether they have an informal understanding of apposite performance or observations of their intellectual qualifications.

Blogs can be created by anyone within seconds, and Internet users, notwithstanding their experience or academic qualification, will post responses. I would advise scholars and researchers to avoid relying on such sources as their credibility is not confirmed. Any individual with an Internet connection will outlay their opinions, which may not have scientific or academic backing.

Do you think Van House did a sufficient job of describing how to measure the credibility of a blog?

The author did not appropriately address how to measure the integrity of a blog. The popularity of a site cannot be used to calculate its credibility; neither does the idea that unidentified writers do not provide valid information. An argument is offered to state that information on blogs may be more valuable than published works based on the claim that other learned scholars do not have the opportunity to publish their works. Trusting information just because the response comes from a person who has disclosed his details and credentials is dangerous.

Regardless of how you feel, what criteria would you use in examining the credibility of a blog, or for that matter, any online content?

The quality of information must be scrutinized instead of looking at the number of responses. Bloggers who leave links with desired outcomes can be judged as credible, as they provide the intellect to do further research on the topic. Accuracy is important and must be in a way that the presented data reveals the real world and events under consideration. Descriptions that represent reality, accompanied by relevant examples are good methods of examining the feasibility of any online content.

Fischer’s “Group Processes Online”

Do you think that the model presented in Fischer’s “Group Processes Online” followed a typical track?

The model intends to continue the collaborative possibilities for off-campus students, emphasizing more on process rather than quantity. The student’s experience in the group provides a basis for their assessment. Teamwork and collaboration of students and having students lead some of the activities are its other aspects. The model follows a normal track, even though it shows substantial changes in communication facets that affect faction interactions.

Would you change anything if you were in their place about what that they did in their work on moving to a collaborative environment or in addressing the challenges that they encountered?

Some essential changes can progress in the model. Early familiarization of prospective students with online courses is necessary to ensure that they do not experience any technological limitations. The responsibilities of teachers should be intensified so that they can create more space for online monitoring. Improving communication mediums and ensuring the students know how to utilize all the communication mediums is also required. Creating channels to know when group members are available, for example, through instant messaging, which enables students to determine the presence of members is invaluable. This will improve response time, improve interactivity, and hence better relationships between instructors and students.

References

(n.d.). Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education. Web.

PremiumSale.com premium domains. (n.d.). PremiumSale.com Premium Domains. Web.

(n.d.). Test Page for the HTTP Server on Fedora. Web.

The importance of database management systems in organizations cannot be overemphasized. Databases serve as an integral brain of an organization since they contain relevant documentation that is necessary in steering the firm forward. Several departments at Party Places have been relying on an information system for their day to day interaction, both with each other and with clients. Due to the need to streamline some work operations of the sales department and help improve the internal communication system, I offer to improve the current information system to move towards more collaborative software. I also suggest that the company should migrate from a spreadsheets-based interface to a more relational one like Microsoft Access, for example, as far as our database for personnel and sales is concerned.

Spreadsheets are efficient as far as data entry and manipulation are concerned. However, the company will be better off with Microsoft Access as the software can handle a larger amount of data. There is a limit of the number of records that an Excel spreadsheet can handle while Access is virtually limitless. Since the company has ambitious plans in regards to its growing, it is, therefore, advisable to have a database system that is likely to handle huge amounts of data that come with such growth. In addition, it is important to stress out that Microsoft Access allows a more flexible retrieval of data even when the volume of data gets high.

If Party Places wishes to go beyond graphical simulations after crunching numbers, then Microsoft Access would be the programme to adopt due to the fact that Access allows users to seek connection between different sets of data. It will also be easier to reference data in different places which will in turn allow different users to retrieve it. Formation of MS Access’s queries and forms, for instance, can go a long way in ensuring that data is accessible in different forms for easy analysis.

Laudon & laudon (1988) pointed out one drawback of Excel spreadsheets, it consists in the fact that one needs to reset formulas every time he or she adds new data. Microsoft Access overcomes this problem since it generates accurate data irrespective of the additions that are made subsequent to the original data.

The most important aspect of Microsoft Access is its user-friendly nature. It can be accessed by many users simultaneously and can be updated any time without a fuss. Members of personnel department will share the contents of such a database, for example, with Office Access 2010, which enables team members to view data in real time and generate reports directly through a web platform.

In order for members of various departments in Party Plates to communicate more efficiently, there is a need for collaborative software. It will allow persons involved in carrying out similar tasks to share information easily and in real time. Carstensen (1999) coined the term ‘groupware’ in reference to collaborative software due to the way it facilitates teams and groups to work together in order to achieve common goals. For the company to move forward, there is a need to integrate the computer within the communication network of technicians, managers as well as sales teams.

The future of Party Plates is believed to be bright. All that the company needs to do is to work towards migration from a spreadsheet-based data base to a richer platform as shown above. It also needs to invest in collaborative software to improve internal communication and efficiency among different team players. Party Plates will reap benefits exemplified above and surely emerge as an efficient business entity.

References

Carstensen, P.H.; Schmidt, K. (1999). Computer supported cooperative work: new challenges to systems design. Web.

Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P. (1988) Management Information Systems, (2nd edition), London: Macmillan.

The article written by Dizikes focuses on the topic of vehicle automation technology and its potential implementations in the future. The author explores the process of how multiple levels of automation systems are developed at Toyota Research Institute (TRI), described by MIT professors John Leonard and Avinash Balachandran. During the MIT Mobility Forum, they presented the Guardian automation system designed to assist human drivers without fully replacing them. The article also provides insight into presenters’ perceptions of vehicle automation systems and their potential use in the near future.

The article states that Leonard and Balachandran utilize a realistic approach to developing automated vehicle systems. Thus, they deliberately focus on the integration of AI systems for the purpose of providing aid to drivers in cases of a safety hazards. According to Dizikes, Leonard expresses skepticism toward fully automotive systems and a future where humans will not need driver’s licenses because that future is not coming in the nearest time. Therefore, engineers prioritize focusing on amplifying human possibilities through the concept of “human-centric intelligent driving” (Dizikes). The widespread application of the concept is expected to result in a reduced number of traffic fatalities and an increased level of traffic safety.

The article provides a significant argument in favor of multiple levels of automation systems in vehicles. The article also touches on the subject of ethics in technology related-concerns. The perspective of the wide application of fully automotive vehicles raises several ethical concerns about privacy and lack of clarity for ordinary users in AI systems. Moreover, modern society avoids the widespread introduction of fully automated systems because it is uncertain whether mistakes of ai-based decisions are under the responsibility of the manufacturer. The solution proposed by Leonard and Balachandran offers a partial solution to ethical concerns regarding the widespread adoption of automated systems in vehicles as it prioritizes systems with multiple automation for traffic safety.

The second article, written by Chu, focuses on the new technology of remotely controlled telerobotic systems for the treatment of patients with aneurysms or strokes. The technology allows surgeons to control a robotic arm in remote hospitals to perform endovascular intervention operations. The procedure is usually performed with manual intervention, where the surgeon uses a wire to eliminate blood clots. Manual clearing of the blockage performed on a patient experiencing a stroke in a critical time period can save the patient’s life and provide safe preservation of the patient’s brain functioning.

The new technology utilizes a magnetic guidewire and modified joystick to ensure the safe operation of the blood clot removal process. The wide implementation of technology will partially solve the problem of procedure accessibility, as neurovascular surgeons are rare in hospitals in remote locations. Considering the development of a fully automotive robotic system for endovascular interventions, the technology creators commented that robots lack sophistication compared to surgeons; therefore, robotic systems are more useful for assistive purposes (Chu). Thus, the article provides a valuable example of how technology can be used for solutions related to emergency-qualified medical care in remote locations.

The information from the two articles presents significant value for IT professionals as both articles demonstrate extraordinary approaches to technology development and its practical application in daily life. The first article by Dizikes emphasizes that IT professionals must operate in the existing world, and prioritizing problem-solving can be more effective than the development of technologies designed in isolation from reality. The second article clearly demonstrates the difference that remote operation technology can make for the population’s well-being. The combination of knowledge from the two articles will help me develop more unconventional approaches in my practice as an IT professional.

Works Cited

Chu, Jennifer. “Joystick-Operated Robot Could Help Surgeons Treat Stroke Remotely.” MIT News, 2022. Web.

Dizikes, Peter. “Driving a Human-Machine Collaboration.” MIT News, 2022. Web.

This week my Learning Team was performing the task of searching for appropriate sources. The main task was to check credible sources on the topic each one was proposed and to collaborate in that work. It should be mentioned that collective work, even if the tasks are initially different, is more effective than individual work. Moreover, it is proved by the scientists that the collaboration in literature search is really helpful in scientific fields (Creamer, 2001, p. 133). On the one hand, we had different tasks, like information security, human resource information system, decision support systems, learning management systems and learning content management systems, and medical information system. On the other hand, the research was provided in the same online database and the same field of knowledge and if one came across the information useful for another scholar, he/she shared it. We sat in the same room while information was searched and it helped us. Moreover, each student has different searching techniques and we managed to learn other methods with the help of scholarly collaboration.

My field differs greatly from the fields of other team members in the way that my topic is more specified. Therefore, I often came across sources that did not relate to the medical field but were extremely useful for other team members. The same happened when other team members came across a source that was devoted to information systems in the medical field. They kindly provided me with those sources. Thus, it happened that we managed to look through much more sources while working in a group. It was really important for us to communicate while searching for the information. This is the core element for scholarly collaboration in the literature search.

But, when the identification of the resources was completed, and after the analysis of the collaborative work was done, it could be stated that the work could have been provided more effectively. There are a lot of different methods which may increase work productivity is scholarly collaboration while sources search. Firstly, different libraries and databases can be used. This may increase the area of the research. Secondly, we could use World Wide Web as many academic sources may be considered there. It is just necessary to use an appropriate search engine and choose the information which is credible and may be trusted (Chang, 2001). Thirdly, e-mail and even Skype are the tools that are created to make communication on the distance easier. This may be helpful for us as it allows sharing information fast and without much attempt being in different parts of the city. Moreover, the information considered online may be easily delivered to the person who needs it. Finally, it can be useful to divide the information we need on the sections in the future. Searching for literature in one field, we may create a discussion list and identify the information which is common for everybody. This information should be also divided among the members of the team according to some specific characteristics. This technique may help reduce time on information search and increase the number of considered sources. The specific information should be checked separately, still, the scholarly collaboration should remain as there is always a possibility that one may come across the source helpful for others.

Reference List

Chang, G. (2001). Mining the World Wide Web: an information search approach. New York: Springer.

Creamer, E. G. (2001). Working equal: academic couples as collaborators. London: Routledge.