Category: Health & Medicine

Background

The significance of a positive Babinski finding in an adult trauma patient is that indicates a dysfunction within the central nervous system (CNS) of the patient. Specifically, the finding indicates that the problem within the CNS is at the pyramidal track.

Thus, the medical personnel will have an overview of the problem area within the CNS without having to perform other tests especially when the medical practitioner is very sure of the finding. Besides, the medical personnel will be in a position to offer advice to the patient on the best strategies of copying up with this ailment (Singerman and Lee 2008).

Positive Babinski in adults and older children is abnormal. Specifically, when the test indicate asymmetry finding, that is, when the Babinski symptom is detected on only one side of the patient, it is a clear indication of trouble which can focused to the side of the Central Nervous System involved. Reflectively, positive Babinski may only be normal in small children since their CNS is not fully developed.

Patient education

The Babinski condition is characterized by weakness of the muscles, challenges in coordination and control of the muscles and irresponsiveness or abnormal responsiveness to touch. However, it has not been possible to put a figure on the number of human beings suffering from this condition. It has been shown that lack of pre-exposure to the condition could lead to extreme behavior habits and response to stimuli.

This condition is not very frequent but may be causes by secondary disorders that occur in the brain or the nervous system. There is no single cause of this condition though it may be common among the children of less than one year old since their nervous system is not fully developed (Miller and Johnston 2005). In the normal occurrence, the Babinski condition will disappear among the minors after the age of one to two years.

Causes of Babinski

There is no specific cause of this condition. However, it is often occurs a result f disorders in the nervous system. These are some of the disorders which may lead to occurrence of the Babinski condition in adults;

• Brain injury or brain tumor
• Injury in the spinal cord
• The Lou Gehrig disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Occurrence of meningitis
• Stroke

Signs of the Babinski condition

• Loss of sensors in the affected foot or arm
• General weakness within the plantar flexion part
• Absence of the reflex in the ankle jerk

Treatment of the Babinski condition

The behavioral risk factors in relation to Babinski should be identified to combat the condition. The success of this intervention will require the involvement of experts, mainly social anthropologists, and social scientists. The patient should also be empowered in prevention measures, as well as have effective methods, put in place in order to control and prevent the condition. Those who undergo exposure programs should limit the time period between exposure and treatment.

Although there is little treatment related to this ailment, a medical specialist may offer vital assessment and preventive advice to a patient. Basically, the main form of care is precaution to avoid injury. A patient should remain calm and live in an environment that does not promote occurrence of injuries (Purdy 2010). Besides, the patient can be treated for causal ailments such as brain tumor, stroke, meningitis, and nervous system defects.

References

Miller, T., & Johnston, C. (2005). Should the Babinski sing be part of the routine neurologic examination? Neurology, 65(2), 1165-1168.

Purdy, R.A. (2010). The most important neurologic reflex. American Journal of Medicine, 123(2), 793-795

Singerman, J., & Lee, L. (2008). Consistency of the Babinski reflex and its variants. European Journal of Neurology, 15(1), 960-964.

Introduction

The populations health status depends on demographic, socioeconomic, physiological, and environmental factors. One of the leading causes of health disparities is race. The issue of race concerns the physiological basis of difference and the sociopsychological foundations that have formed in society. There is a significant difference in stillbirth rates, maternal mortality, and postpartum complications for women of different ethnicities and races. The reasons for this phenomenon should be considered in detail regarding cultural and historical factors. The analysis of racial inequality and disparity shows intolerant beliefs and prejudices, which, unfortunately, still exist worldwide.

Discussion

Racial disparities have existed for a long time at all levels of social interaction. Speaking about medical indicators among pregnant women and women postpartum, it is worth resorting to a statistics review. Thus, the pregnancy-related mortality rate among women of color is three times higher than among White American women (Hill et al., 2022). Disparities in indicators also relate to morbidity during and after pregnancy, premature births, and births with insufficient birth weight. Maternal mortality is one of the leading indicators of public health in a country, and its level in the USA, unfortunately, is relatively high (Belluz, 2020). Globally speaking, the US scores extremely low on this issue and is on par with countries with low levels of health care.

Investigating the root causes of the above indicators is essential to understand the problems scale. First, disparities in morbidity and mortality among representatives of different races are directly related to unequal access to health care services. However, the root causes of this phenomenon are more profound socioeconomic and cultural-historical differences and the attitudes of society formed on their basis. According to the cumulative inequality theory, health problems depend not on individual factors but on established social systems (Weitz, 2020). Thus, the poverty of the family in which a person grows up, due to a natural sequence of actions and factors, affects all aspects of his future life, significantly worsening his health. This phenomenon describes the concept of cumulative stress burden. Consequently, health problems related to childbirth have their origins in socio-cultural patterns.

When discussing racial root causes of health complications or maternal mortality, it is crucial to understand that it is not about race but racism. Physiologically, women of different ethnicities and races are equally capable of giving birth to a healthy child and restoring their bodies after childbirth. Therefore, complications and cases of mortality are often the consequences of prejudiced attitudes of society both towards women during pregnancy and towards race in a global sense. For example, physicians often dismiss women of colors complaints of pain or fetal concerns (Martin & Montagne, 2017). Interestingly, racial prejudice is so deeply ingrained in peoples minds that even well-educated women of color who belong to a higher socioeconomic class are also victims of racism in health care. Such a trend shows that the portrait of a woman of color as unfathomable, unequal, and inferior still lives in society, despite her achievements and intelligence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is worth saying that racial prejudice is the reason for the insufficient health care for people of color. In particular, the rate of maternal mortality, stillbirth, and complications during childbirth among women of color is many times higher than among White Americans. The cumulative theory of inequality explains the root causes of this trend. Thus, the lack of health care among people of color results from racial prejudice throughout the United States. Without enough resources, the US cannot provide adequate service to all citizens equally because of racism.

References

Belluz, J. (2020). We finally have a new US maternal mortality estimate. Its still terrible. Vox. Web.

Hill, L., Artiga, S., & Ranji, U. (2022). Racial disparities in maternal and infant health: Current status and efforts to address them. Web.

Martin, N., & Montagne, R. (2017). Nothing protects black women from dying in pregnancy and childbirth. ProPublica, 7. [PDF document] Web.

Weitz, R. (2020). The sociology of health, illness, and health care: A critical approach. Boston, Mass. Cengage Learning.

Introduction

Nurses require theoretical and practical training that can enable them to perform their duties in nursing care. Experienced nurses accredited for educational duties provide nursing education to nursing students, and this depends on the relevant areas of nursing, including mental health and physical health (Gormley, 2003). In most countries, the issue of language barrier presents some difficulty in education delivery, and this requires educators in the nursing industry to consider different languages to nurture their students, especially in a multicultural environment.

The language barrier is a challenge in both local and international nursing schools. When nurses are trained to use their native language such as English, they have a hard time attending patients from culturally diverse backgrounds such as those who speak Arabic as their native language. Language barriers can have negative results on a students academic excellence. Many universities in the faculty of nursing have not been able to deliver education on multicultural nursing (Gilchrist & Rector, 2007). However, few colleges which have given students multicultural nursing education have produced graduates who have knowledge, ability and wide understanding of multiculturalism and hence they are capable of attending patients from different cultural backgrounds. This paper focuses on language barriers in nursing education delivery.

In essence, nurses have played a great role in delivering health care in many countries all over the world. Their task entails educating patients as well as the public on how to stay healthy and prevent diseases, provide health care, support in the cure, recuperating and any other assistance. Nurses usually have broad roles as compared to other health care professionals. They teach the patients about the emotional, mental and cultural experiences they come across during the period of illness. They also help patients to live with incurable diseases, manage the illness, and deal with the disease situation (Potter, Perry, 2005). Moreover, nurses have the responsibility of evaluating a patients health and their intense observation skills allows doctors to make clear diagnoses and provide the right treatment. Nurses have saved many lives because of their zeal to prevent diseases such as cardiac arrest through early diagnosis (Kreber, 2005).

Nursing Education

Battin (2007) argues that nurses are still advancing their education to gain more knowledge. As this knowledge increases, nurses help in improving patients lives. There is a need to keep on learning because new diseases continually arise, and nurses have to learn and give the patients up to date treatments while learning to communicate with the patients and understanding their ailments. Attaining more knowledge enables a nurse to be more marketable and they can become specialists in many clinical areas such as oncology. Since the nursing licensing laws are unpredictable and may give licenses to only the bachelors degree holders, there is a need for the students to keep on learning.

Nevertheless, many barriers hinder nursing education, and they are mostly communication-related problems. These barriers include language barriers, ethnic barriers, staffing barriers, distractions, and jargon (Schim et al., 2007). Due to language barriers, the nursing students are not able to communicate well with the patients and this leads to incorrect signals since there are few translators in most cases. Language barriers also hinder communication between different patients with dissimilar cultures who have diverse opinions such as the extent of body exposure. For instance, patients from Arabic countries are very strict on the extent of body exposure because the Islamic religion, which is common in the region, is sensitive to the matter.

Merriam and Simpson (2000) argue that there is a need to overcome the barriers that affect the delivery of nursing education because many people from diverse cultures are migrating from one country to another, especially in the United States. In the United States, there is a large number of upcoming Spanish speakers. These people are either not able to speak English at all or do not speak English well. It is easy to speculate that nurses who are English native speakers are not able to provide efficient nursing care to Hispanic patients. Thus, there is a need for diversity among learning students and lecturers. The value of the students and lecturers interaction in the nursing class is very important because it either helps or hinders the students learning. In light of this, language barriers have hindered the teachers to teach multi-linguistic students.

Similarly, Gormley (2003) affirms that Students have faced many challenges in learning other languages. For instance, English learners in Arabic universities have had many challenges in translating English to Arabic as a second language. This is because the teachers are native Arabic speakers and they might find it difficult to teach other international languages. Nursing students have learned English as a second language, but they are yet to grasp other languages such as Arabic. The nursing students admitted to Arabic universities have low proficiency in the Arabic language. They pursue their careers in nursing but have difficulties communicating in Arabic languages. Inappropriate teaching of foreign languages in schools causes these problems and students find it difficult to arrange their ideas since it is a new language.

For these students to be successful in learning foreign languages, they should have a proper learning environment with both English and Arab translators. For example, nursing schools in Ireland have a large number of international students ever since the government allowed Eastern European to migrate into their country in 2004 (Potempa et al., 2001). Therefore, language and cultural barriers affect the international students performance. Most of them are not able to communicate with the local students because of different accents and hence prefer to keep friends who have from their community.

Davies (2002) reckons that many countries lack qualified or registered nurses and hence, there is a need to promote diversity of nursing students. Diversity of students and teachers as well as the introduction of multilinguistic learning programs will promote learning many languages and dealing with patients cultural differences. In this regard, Australian universities have many strategies for attracting international nursing students. This is evident with the governments provision of universities information in different languages and pictorial advertisement materials, which reflects different cultures (Markey & Tilk, 2007). Other strategies include having groups on career development and international nursing programs. These programs have many events such as visiting elders within different cultural groups, community events, participating in ethnic radio stations and religious groups.

Arabic universities have also facilitated student and teachers exchanges in overseas countries as well as subject exchanges to cater for diverse students. There are many student support centres with advisers. They also give financial support and scholarships. This implies that there is a need to evaluate the expectations of overseas students. Spreading out diversity in the students organization and profession is critical because it benefits the practice discipline and the patients served by the students (Link, Swann, & Bozeman, 2008).

As a point to consider, transforming nursing education entails the elimination of language barriers because there is a need to have well-trained nurses to sustain and have high-quality healthcare. Since there is a serious shortage of nurses, there is a need to encourage the minorities such as men to enrol in nursing colleges to meet the industry demands. According to the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (2002), innovating nursing education is essential for many reasons: one is transforming the learning methods to accommodate languages such as Arabic. The school administrators and other staff in the faculty of nursing must work jointly to see that this transformation takes immediate effect. They must have a passion to learn from other people who speak different languages and with diverse cultures and avoid sanctions against them due to diverse views and unpopular views.

Moreover, Potempa et al. (2001) suggest that students expectations from their teachers have changed and hence, they expect interactions with the faculty heads through electronic mails. Most faculty heads may not meet the students expectations because they might be lacking the necessary skills. They face the challenge of embracing technology and adopting online education. However, those who have adopted the new technology may not be able to respond to online students need due to language barriers. For example, English students may not be able to communicate with Arabic teachers and hence, the teachers are unable to give feedback. Teachers may also have less experience in online teaching since many of them have learnt old skills of observation and imitation, as well as getting feedback. The teachers need to do online research on their own so that they will be able to assist students using web-based technologies.

Online Learning

Online teaching poses some challenges, not only to the teachers but also to the students. Many nursing learners are not proficient with online technology and hence they have difficulties in adapting to it. It is also difficult for some colleges to change their curriculum and adapt to online technology. In a study done by Kozlowski in 2004, many students complained that online work consumed most of their time as compared to face-to-face classes (Billings, 2000). Ali, Hodson-Carlton, and Ryan (2002) argue that colleges should take students through an online orientation to prepare them for online learning. With this orientation, they become familiar with online technology. They also participate in online discussions while being assisted by their facilitators. As the students begin to accept the technology, their instructors allow them to take control of online communication and relations and thus, increasing their dependability in learning.

Billings (2000) affirms that online programs have been of great help to the students and teachers who have adapted to them, although some nurses who speak languages such as Arabic may not be able to access and understand articles written in English. In addition, online programs have helped to overcome the problem of the shortage of professional nurses.

Many faculty members receive rewards for their online research output, but they fail to look at the students results. To them, recognition is important rather than looking at their students needs. In this regard, nursing faculty leaders all over the world have had many challenges such as communication and language. It is essential for them to actively monitor the design of the existing curriculum and adjust it to meet the students needs. Many have very important innovative ideas but are unable to overcome such challenges since faculty development is important for nursing education success (Trautmann, 2008).

Challenges Faced by Nursing Educators

Nurse educators serve as role models and they have the responsibility of putting into practice, evaluating, and revising curriculums and programs for nursing education, which enables the students to get their certificates or degrees (Merriam & Simpson, 2000). They are key players in providing high-quality education that enables the workforce to cope with the dynamic health care environment. The educators work in hospital schools, universities and other organizations with healthcare facilities. They teach the high school graduates and those who want to advance for degrees and other certificates. They also do other tasks such as advising students, doing scholarly work, being involved in nursing associations, presenting lectures for students at conferences, peer reviews, and upholding clinical competence. Nurse educators are few and hence, many countries have faced these shortages; the few available have many responsibilities, which they are not able to handle due to this situation (Battin, 2007).

In this light, Porter and Perry (2005) confirm that nursing educators have had many challenges since they act as teachers and scholars. They must teach and at the same time attend to the patients. They are involved in making it easy for students to learn socialization and act as agents of change. They are required to keep on acquiring knowledge so that they give their students quality learning, and be involved in career growth and change.

According to Trautmann (2008), quality education in nursing is vital to the students because they are tomorrows education providers. Poorly trained students will give poor healthcare, as they become practising nurses. For example, in Cameroon, educators who have less or no proper teaching experience usually teach nursing students. They do not have proper guidelines on how to teach and supervise the students. These educators face many challenges since they cannot supervise, guide or review their performances during field placements, thus becoming ineffective as educators. Since nursing education is a key to the delivery of better nursing services, there is a need for the most qualified and experienced trainers and the nursing faculty in general to address the issues nursing students and trainers face. Proper understanding of the problems will give an outline for their needs and improve their teaching skills.

Language Barrier in Nursing Examinations

Kreber (2005) argues that Language gives people words to convey their messages and expressions to each other. Language barriers can be a threat to foreign nursing students. This is due to the use of foreign languages where communication can be frustrating and in some cases raise conflicts. Unfortunately, students are not familiar with many languages spoken by people in foreign countries. As these students migrate to other countries, say Arabic countries, they face challenges of learning new languages. As they learn these languages, they are unable to understand the dialects and regionalisms used by the people in foreign countries.

Regionalism is a certain way that people phrase and pronounce their words while dialects are unique ways of how various groups speak a language. In this case, some institutions provide interpreters to translate to the students and from the students to the patients, but in most cases, they learn it the hard way. Some of these interpreters may use difficult idioms, slang and street talks and hence, the students do not understand some of the wordings (Schim et al., 2007).

Frankena, Raybeck, and Burbules (2002) delineate that nursing students have failed their exams due to language barriers. For example, in Japan, many foreign students applying for exams fail because questions are in English, which is their second language. The solution to this problem is having those exams translated into their language: this might take time and in many cases, question presentation changes. Similarly, nurses from Indonesia can work in Japan temporarily, but they can stay longer under the condition that they will pass the test written in the Japanese language. Thus, there is a need to simplify the wordings in an exam so that these students get the concepts. Exams have put extra burdens on the students who are supposed to repeat the failed test until they pass (Gilchrist & Rector, 2007).

In the case of Japan, the translators will help the foreign students and applicants to read and understand what the examiner expects. According to Trautmann (2008), Japan is one of the countries that impose strict laws about immigration, but it permits nursing students from countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines due to the high demand for health workers. These students have to learn the Japanese characters as well as medical terms to pass their exams and consequently provide healthcare to Japanese people. Although most of them fail the exams, they still provide healthcare services as they wait to go to other countries where they will learn without language problems, and where they will understand the patients needs better. Language barriers have discouraged many students to immigrate to such countries and there is a need for countries like Japan to develop ways of how to teach foreign students.

Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner (2007) confirm that some countries have developed computer tests for non-native students. These assessments aim at eliminating the language barriers. Foreign students receive instructions in their native language to gauge their knowledge; the students in the classrooms have used computer-based testing. There are also other tools such as computer adaptive assessments to test both the level of students knowledge. The computer-adaptive systems are online tests arranged in a way that allows the student to answer questions correctly before going to the next one. If the student can answer all the questions, it is easy to tell that he has achieved much in class, and if a student fails, it means that they have not achieved much. The computer-adaptive assessment gives the students a summary of their performance. They also provide immediate feedback and personalize each student learning experience.

Other tests for student performance include the performance and achievement series. Performance series is a web-based test that educators use to assess students proficiency levels. It is easy to see each students progress and anticipate his/her overall performance. The achievement series is also a web-based test that educators use to deal with current tests and develop other tests. Achievement tests also give the answer or result instantly (Billings, 2000).

Even though the translators and other online tools assist international nursing students, the language barrier is still a major issue. Other than the language barrier, the classroom atmosphere and relationships with other faculty members stress students. Countries need to be diverse to accommodate nurses and students from different backgrounds (Dubois, Padovano, & Stew, 2006).

Conclusion

Proper and understandable language is essential in nursing education. Both the students and educators must strive to achieve a feasible mode of communication in their educational tasks. There is a need to address the issue of the elimination of language barriers by developing ways to cater for both the students and patients needs. The students need to understand what the patients are saying during their learning processes, attachments, and placements. When both the health care provider and the patient communicate well, there is increased patient satisfaction, following medical instructions, and improving the health care outcome. Therefore, with the elimination of language barriers, the nursing faculty all over the world will be able to accommodate foreign students. There will be diversity in nursing staff who will attend to the needs of patients from diverse cultures. However, the elimination of language barriers will still pose challenges as the curriculum in the nursing profession is still evolving because of emerging diseases and healthcare issues.

References

Ali, N. S., Hodson -Carlton, K., & Ryan, M. (2002). Web-based professional education for advanced practice nursing: A consumer guide for program selection. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 33(1), 33-38.

Battin, L. (2007). The Use of Standards for Peer Review of Nursing Courses. Florida: University of South Florida.

Billings, D. (2000). A Framework for Assessing Outcomes and Practices in Web-based Courses in Nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 39(2), 60-67.

Council for Higher Education Accreditation. (2002). Accreditation and Assuring Quality in Distance Learning. Washington DC: CHEA Monograph Series

Davies, P. (2002). Nursing. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

Dubois, H. F. W., Padovano, G., & Stew, G. (2006). Improving International Nurse Training: An AmericanItalian Case Study. International Nursing Review, 53(2), 110116.

Frankena, W. K., Raybeck, N., & Burbules, N. (2002). Philosophy of Education, Encyclopedia of Education. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan

Gilchrist, K. L. & Rector, C. (2007). Can you keep them? Strategies to attract and retain nursing students from diverse populations: Best practices in nursing education. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 18, 277285.

Gormley, D. (2003). Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction in Nurse Faculty: A Meta Analysis. Journal of Nursing Education, 42(4), 174-178.

Kreber, C. (2005). Reflection on Teaching and Scholarship of Teaching: Focus on Science Instructors. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 50(2), 323-359.

Link, A. N., Swann, C. A., & Bozeman, B. (2008). A time allocation study of university Faculty. Economics of Education Review, 27(4), 363-374.

Markey, K. and Tilki, M. (2007). Racism in Nursing Education: A Reflective Journey. British Journal of Nursing, 16(7), 390393.

Merriam, S. & Simpson, E. (2000). A Guide to Research for Educators and Trainers of Adults. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company.

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, S. R, & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Potempa, K. et al. (2001). Survey of Distance Technology use in AACN Member Schools. Journal of Professional Nursing, 17(1), 7-13.

Potter, P. & Perry, A. (2005). Fundamentals of Nursing. St. Louis MO: Mosby.

Schim, S.M., Doorenbos A., Benkert, R., & Miller, J. (2007). Culturally Congruent Care: Putting the Puzzle Together. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 18, 103110.

Trautmann, N. (2008). Learning to teach: Alternatives to trial by fire. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 40(3), 40-45.

Introduction

The most interesting detail found in the book is about complementary or alternative therapies and their role in health care. The fact that they are not taught in medical schools and have scarce popularity among doctors invites the assumption about their ineffectiveness and even danger when used inappropriately (Weitz, 2020).

Discussion

Moreover, while acupuncture or tai chi is known due to their ancient roots, dishonest doctors may trade on patient unawareness, offering some fictitious therapies or homeopathic medications for high prices. In addition, the ambiguity of complementary practices is in the uncertainty regarding safety since each patient has a unique condition, and the reaction to such therapy is obscure. Therefore, it would be more reasonable to recommend patients view the alternative treatments critically and rely only on evidentiary medicine.

Another point that is worth discussing is the status of nurses from a historical perspective. Earlier, nursing was regarded as a female occupation, which suggested that it was axiomatically the mission of a woman to care for others (Weitz, 2020). This attitude resulted in unpaid labor and poor working conditions (Weitz, 2020). Florence Nightingale contributed to the development of training programs aiming to increase educational and professional requirements for the occupation and thus advance its status (Weitz, 2020).

Conclusion

As some time passed, one could see progress in terms of higher education for nurses, which facilitated a better selection of skilled staff. However, corporatization added new challenges to retaining decent working conditions within the occupation. Fortunately, nursing has developed to the level of a respectable profession that encompasses a substantial responsibility for patient health and safety, as well as provides the opportunity to protect nurses rights.

References

Weitz, R. (2020). The sociology of health, illness, and health care: A critical approach (8^th ed.). Cengage Learning, Inc.

Introduction

Having a proper definition of a job is crucial because it allows identifying key traits of the profession and highlighting the aspects that future nurses should aspire to master through their education and personal development. Over the years, many variations of the definition of this job were offered by individuals, which reflects the transformations of responsibilities and tasks. This paper aims to review different descriptions of nursing and compare them to identify similarities.

Definitions

Firstly, it is necessary to determine the approach to defining nursing that was used by Florence Nightingale as she is the most significant person that affected the development of this profession. Nightingale described the job as doing all at the least expense of vital power to the patient (as cited in Black, 2017, p. 115). This included assessing the environments and factors that contribute to ones health, which is reflective of the modern approach to nursing.

Although the definition of the twentieth century accurately described the primary task that a nurse should do, it lacked the components such as a health assessment and an environment defined by Nightingale. According to Shaw, the focus was on the execution of orders and provision of food and other care for patients (as cited in Black, 2017). However, other authors did include factors such as mental health, comfort, prevention of illnesses, and the contribution of nurses to a persons achievement of good physical health. Therefore, both Nightingale and twentieth-century health professionals understood the importance of different factors that enable proper health management.

The post-World War II period marked a change in the attitudes towards nursing because new technology and altered approaches to education signified the importance of the work that nurses do. Peplau developed the essential definition of that era because the author highlighted interpersonal relationships as a factor that contributes to ones health (as cited in Black, 2017). The assistance is highlighted as the core value of the profession that enables patients to achieve their health-related goals. Rogers stated that nursing diagnosis and promotion of health are core values of the job (as cited in Black, 2017). This enables an understanding that in the post-war period nurses had more responsibilities when compared to other eras, based on the previously discussed definitions.

The modern definition of this profession is provided by the American Nurses Association (ANA). According to the establishment, prevention, minimization of suffering, and promotion of approaches that enable proper health are the core aspects (American Nurses Organization, 2015). When compared to other definitions, it can be concluded that modern nurses have more responsibilities that are reflected in diagnosing individuals, providing guidance, and caring for communities. Thus, the scope of work is more significant that it was, while the core value  providing care has remained.

Common Aspects

The definitions of nursing described above all focus on specific aspects that their authors considered crucial for the profession. However, through a thorough examination, one can conclude that all of them have a similar goal  ensuring that patients can be healthy. This is facilitated through different approaches, for instance, some focus on mental health others on medication or interpersonal interactions that help individuals understand ways to avoid diseases. Thus, one can conclude that these explanations of nursing highlight the various approaches through which a professional can assist his or her patients and help them improve their physical and mental health.

Conclusion

Overall, nursing has many definitions that reflect various components of work. It can be concluded that Florence Nightingale created the most accurate explanation for a nurses job because her words follow the modern approach to nursing. It highlights the importance of different factors that contribute to ones health. Other authors described the profession using a different perspective; however, the general feature is the assistance to patients.

References

American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics with interpretative statements. Silver Spring, MD: Author.

Black, B. P. (2017). Professional nursing: Concepts & challenges (8th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Elsevier.

Bulger defines informed consent as the process by which a fully informed patient or participant can participate in a research project after being informed of its procedures, risks, and benefits (Bulger, 2002). Informed consent is a part of ethical and legal rights that research participants or patients have.

It remains a critical procedure for any research project. Research subjects or patients must understand all issues about the research or procedure before giving their full and conscious consent to the researcher or physician to proceed with the procedure. It is necessary to understand the history of informed consent in research in order to appreciate its importance.

One significant case that influenced the issue of informed consent was the aftermath of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (Deria, 2006). Between 1932 and 1972, the United States Public Health Service conducted a study in order to understand prolonged effects of syphilis among blacks (Deria, 2006).

The subjects had syphilis but were not aware of their conditions. Moreover, researchers withheld important information from them. In the 1950s, those physicians discovered that penicillin effectively treated syphilis. However, the researchers did not reveal the information to the patient about the penicillin cure.

Further, they also prevented research subjects from getting treatment. As a result, many participants died from syphilis related complications (Deria, 2006). However, one researcher who worked at the project revealed the procedure in a newspaper article, which shocked the public.

There were also other cases of unethical practices, which involved the Nazi Germany doctors and their horror experiments on prisoners in concentration camps (Deria, 2006). In addition, there were also cases of unethical studies in the US and the UK after the WW II. Since then, the issue of informed consent has become critical for researchers, legislators, institutions, and the research subjects.

The aim of the informed consent is to ensure that research subjects understand the process, benefits, and risks associated with the study. However, the process has serious challenges in its application. Researchers have failed to obtain a fully informed consent from their subjects. The requirement to obtain informed consent is critical for protecting marginalized groups from taking part in procedures they do not understand.

The informed consent has remained significant in research. It has originated from several laws and declarations like the Nuremberg Code, the Belmont Report, and the Declaration of Helsinki. These documents strive to ensure that researchers and doctors behave ethically throughout their procedures.

The informed consent guarantees and promotes the rights of the subjects as autonomous participants who deserve respect, benefits, and justice and can withdraw from the study at any time. Therefore, participants must understand implications of the study in order to make such informed choices. In most cases, researchers and participants have approached the procedure casually.

However, a well-founded consent requires the subjects to understand the significance of the process. In some cases, negligence of informed consent has led to unethical procedures, loss of subjects rights, and even deaths (see the case of Ellen Roche in the Asthma Study).

The process is prone to misunderstanding between the subject and the researcher. Misunderstandings in obtaining an informed consent may result from both the researcher and the subject. Such barriers contribute to unethical practices or negative outcomes in research procedures. It is the responsibility of the researcher to inform research subjects about the purpose, benefits, and risks of any procedure before such subjects take part in a procedure.

References

Bulger, R. (2002). Research with Human Being. In R. H. Bulger, I. Heitman and J. Reiser (Eds.), The Ethical Dimensions of the Biological and Health Sciences (pp. 117-12). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Deria, M. (2006). Protecting the Vulnerable: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Evolution of Informed Consent in the Twentieth Century. Web.

Introduction

The most fascinating part about this chapter is that it provides a profound outlook on the development of different healthcare organizations. I was surprised to find that the voluntary hospitals were the source of infection spread because the equipment was not sterile and the nurses could be absent throughout the shift. In addition, I found out that private organizations were created as a result of wealthy Americans aspiration to receive better quality services. In general, the chapter is informative in terms of tracing the creation of the healthcare organization system as Americans know it today.

Discussion

The voluntary hospitals appeared due to the need to provide care to the deserving sick  people with severe injuries. They first emerged in the 1700s and started running as total institutions (Weitz, 2020). However, they did not function properly as the specialists were often absent and the mortality rate increased. At that time, the necessity of creating public hospitals took over the government. After the Civil War, the U.S. decided to make the existing healthcare organizations cleaner so as to avoid the spread of infections caused by germs.

The need for better conditional and medical service quality led to the development of modern hospitals as people know them today. More affluent Americans contributed to the rise of private organizations which remain popular today (Weitz, 2020). Financial concerns are associated with modern healthcare since it is still inaccessible and unavailable to multiple population groups.

Conclusion

The costly treatment is a triggering mechanism to advocate for healthcare extension rights (Weitz, 2020). Hospitals today are organizations that not only provide medical services but also participate in policy advocacy in order to make healthcare more accessible.

Reference

Weitz, R. (2020). Healthcare settings and technologies. In R. Weitz, The sociology of health, illness, and health care: A critical approach (8^th ed, pp. 221-245). Cengage Learning.

Introduction

The article concentrates on an examination of three methods of intervention for the regulation of developmental dyslexia. The participants were recruited students from Italy with an average age in the neighborhood of ten years, with an overall diversity of eight to fourteen. The total number of samples was twenty-four, divided into two equal groups of twelve. Thus, participants with developmental dyslexia were randomly assigned to the two groups to maintain the purity of the experiment but with a balanced model (Cancer et al., 2020). This model assumes the approximately equal presence of the same dyslexia subtypes in each group, children of either gender, and an approximate match in mean age.

Discussion

The three main types of intervention discussed in the article and used in the experiment have different features. These are Rhythmic Reading Training, Action VideoGame Training, and Visual Hemisphere-Specific Stimulation (Cancer et al., 2020). The first RRT intervention focused on developing timing and rhythm as key criteria for normalizing reading for children with developmental dyslexia. Thus, clarity and evenness of reading were the main criteria that should affect reading comprehension and practice rhythmicity. AVG involved commercial video games that aimed to improve visual analysis and attention while maintaining the necessary reaction time. Participants played these games to practice reading and in an attempt to realign their cognitive abilities to optimize their reading later on.

On the other hand, the third method of intervention involves some level of diversification of the process. VHSS involves a tachistoscopic presentation of words in the participants visual hemisphere to stimulate the brains opposite hemisphere (Cancer et al., 2020). The right hemisphere, in this context, is responsible for analysis and perception, and the left hemisphere is responsible for linguistic anticipation, and switching between these areas should help reduce dyslexia. It was implemented using rapidly flashing words on the screen and organized by a special computer program (Cancer et al., 2020). The response time was set short enough that the participant did not have time to center his/her gaze and had to use peripheral vision.

The main dependent variables were psycholinguistic and neuropsychological measures of participants performance. They were responsible for the accuracy, including speed and clarity in the context of processed word lists, and considered word length and frequency differences (Cancer et al., 2020). They were related to assessing the speed of access to the childs internal knowledge and recorded in the context of the auxiliary RAN test. Neuropsychological parameters were general parameters and included global reading accuracy, phonological awareness, and reading speed and were assessed in the pre- and post-study context for both groups for control and comparison.

As an outcome of the study, it was evident that there was an increase in the scores of the examinees on all three methods. However, the RRT is rated as the most effective of the methods and can be recommended for use (Cancer et al., 2020). It has the greatest impact on reading speed when focusing the other methods on accuracy. Nevertheless, its effectiveness is higher when necessary to develop phonological awareness, and it has the best result in this indicator in both groups. As for AVG and VHSS, they are much more applicable in helping patients with rapid naming problems.

The discussed study and its limited number of participants indicate the limitations of this experiment. In addition, there were no experimental activities related to testing auditory abilities and correlating them with reading abilities. Moreover, the timing of the experiment in a three- or four-week format may not be sufficient to show the most accurate results. Thus, some variables may have been incorrectly rounded or interpreted.

Conclusion

As a use for practice, however, this study is quite useful. Students with developmental dyslexia may be exposed to RRT as a reasonably effectively validated method. Moreover, it may be possible to take on additional development to incorporate rhythm and timing practices into various disciplines not directly related to reading  for example, math or science. Further research is also needed to help dyslexic students with dyslexia with more sampling and timing to develop the most effective method.

Reference

Cancer, A., Bonacina, S., Antonietti, A., Salandi, A., Molteni, M., & Lorusso, M. L. (2020). The effectiveness of interventions for developmental dyslexia: Rhythmic reading training compared with hemisphere-specific stimulation and action video games. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(1158), 1-15. Web.

Introduction

The most interesting information I learned from Chapter 7 is the relationship between medical and sociological models of mental illness. The chapter tells how one or another model was more prevalent in different historical periods and how they influenced approaches to the therapy of mental disorders (Weitz, 2016).

Discussion

However, in reality, these models do not contradict but complement each other. For effective treatment of mental disorders and improvement of patients lives, it is necessary to provide direct medical care and solve systemic problems that become the causes of the development of mental illnesses. Drug treatment will not have much effect if a decisive sociological factor exists, such as poverty or some other type of inequality. On the other hand, understanding only global factors will not allow effective treatment of a specific patient with his problem.

The medical model considers mental disorders as physiological disorders subject to precise classification, with specific symptoms and solution algorithms. This approach tends to solve the purely physical problem that causes a mental illness with drug therapy. Establishing the problem usually occurs using diagnostic manuals, such as DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). The disadvantage of this model is that mental disorders are very individual. Often the same symptoms can be caused by fundamentally different physiological reasons.

Conclusion

The sociological model focuses on systemic factors, usually of a social and cultural nature, which can contribute to developing mental disorders. The reasons considered by this approach are more general, such as the patients economic situation or social relations. This model emphasizes the need for social interventions to treat relevant disorders. The sociological approach is more comprehensive from the point of view of understanding the problem but less effective in dealing with specific pronounced symptoms.

Reference

Weitz, R. (2016). The Sociology of Health, Illness, and Health Care: A Critical Approach. Cengage Learning.

Introduction

Ratio analysis is one of the tools that can be used to analyze the performance of a Healthcare Institution. One computes the ratios using standard ratios then compares the results with those of the previous year. Results can be compared with similar healthcare institutions too. This paper will apply ratio analysis to the financial statements of The Medical College of Georgia Health-centre. The subject of the analysis is the financial statements of 2006 and 2007. The focus is on two major categories of ratios: asset and revenue ratios (Reijers, 2005).

Asset Ratios

Asset ratios measure the efficiency with which the institution has used its assets over the period in question. The Asset Turnover ratio is the major ratio in this category. The debt to asset ratio focuses on the MCGs debt about its total assets. The final category is the liquidity ratios. This category consists of the current and quick ratios. These measure the ability of MCG to pay up its short-term debts promptly. The short-term debts would include salaries and the purchase of medical supplies.

The Total Debt to Asset ratio expresses MCGs capital structure in percentage form. The debt finance has reduced slightly from 23.6% in 2006 to 23.1% in 2007. This may be because a proportion of the health centers long-term loans were repaid. It could also be that the company acquired more assets in 2007 but retained the same level of debt finance. A lower debt to asset ratio is a good sign for investors.

There was a drop in the current ratio from 3 in 2006 to 2.5 in 2007. This is not a good sign as it shows decreasing ability to meet current liabilities and short-term commitments. The current ratio shows how easily the company can meet such short-term obligations. Failure to do so could result in I liquidity and operational problems. In the case of MCG, it is important to note that the hospital cannot run without supplies. They should therefore be able to purchase them when needed. Management needs to investigate the falling current ratio (Finkler & Ward, 2006).

The Quick Ratio followed the Current Ratios trend. It dropped from 2.8 in 2006 to 2.4 in 2007. This could be due to an increase in current liabilities or a decrease in current assets. Like the current ratio, this is an important indicator of MCGs liquidity and should be investigated further (Finkler & Ward, 2006).

The asset turnover ratio tells of the hospitals efficiency in using its assets. It has been constant in the past two years. This shows that the hospital is using its assets at the same rate to generate profit. The result of 250% shows high efficiency. Management should try to keep that up or improve on their efficiency.

Revenue Ratios

Gross Profit Margin has increased from 38.8% to 40.3%. In this question, the cost of salaries was taken as the cost of goods sold. This is because a hospital is a service organization. It, therefore, means that the salaries decreased in 2007. Alternatively, the hospital might have made more profit while paying the same salaries as in 2006.

The Net Profit Margin also increased slightly from 3.11% to 3.5%. This shows that MCG managed its operating expenses better in 2007. The decrease shows higher efficiency. It could also mean that more revenue was earned with the same level of expenses. Whichever way one looks at it, it is an improvement.

The Non-Operating Revenue ratio indicates what percentage of MCGs revenue was derived from sources other than providing health services. In 2006, it was 11.55% while in 2007 it was 11.02%. This was a slight decrease. It means that the revenue from non-operating activities in proportion to total revenue decreased.

The Operating Revenue ratio is the opposite of the Non-Operating Revenue ratio. It shows the proportion of operating revenue. This ratio increased from 88.5% to 88.9% in 2007. It indicates that MCG is getting more revenue from its core activity. This is the provision of health services.

Conclusion

Ratio analysis can be quite helpful to health facilities. However, several pitfalls need to be avoided. First, it is important to note that ratio analysis is useless without comparative information. Assuming we had only the 2007 financial statements, then ratio analysis would be useless. The figures involved in the analysis are not always accurate. Hence, there may be mistakes in the results. Finally, the results need further explanation, as there may be reasons as to why they are good or bad. However, the usefulness of ratio analysis cannot be understated.

References

Finkler, S., & Ward, D. (2006). Accounting Fundamentals for Health Care Management. Chicago: Jones and Bartlette Publishers.

Reijers, H. (2005). Best practices in business process redesign: an overview and qualitative evaluation of successful redesign heuristics. Omega , 33 (4), 283-306.