What It Means to Be a Blackbelt

Ryan Cloninger Denver Tae Kwon Do Mr. Putnam November 8, 2009 What a Black Belt Means to Me When I was thirteen I started taking Tae Kwon Do. I wanted to learn how to fight and break boards. I have come a long way since my first Tae Kwon Do class. As a candidate for black belt rank, I now have a different perspective of Tae Kwon Do, and different motivation for attending each class. To me a black belt consist of displaying great character, becoming a leader, and reaching your goals, and understanding the history of Tae Kwon Do.To become a true black belt, you have to look back and remember the men who started Tae Kwon Do, and understand their history. Tae Kwon Do means the way of the fist and foot. In Tae Kwon Do you are empty handed. When empty handed you must use your hands and feet. In the early times Korean men used their hands and feet as weapons. Koreans used Tae Kwon Do for self-defense when invaders came to savage their village. Men died fighting to protect their loved ones a nd their homes. What once was a military form of fighting soon became a way of life for the Koreans.The history of Tae Kwon Do has taught me that becoming a black is not about what color material you receive. Tae Kwon Do black belts never quit. They work hard to achieve goals, even when the journey is difficult. I have learned to never retreat in life, and that victory is the goal. Becoming a black belt has always been a goal of mine. The respect and honor you gain from becoming a black belt is priceless. Knowing you worked hard for a black belt makes your accomplishment so much better. I have been taking Tae Kwon Do for over four years and am yet to have earned my black belt.The school I train under believes in working hard for the rank of black belt, and this can take a very long time. I believe the long road will make the destination that much more rewarding. Another goal I have is to attend college at Clemson University, after graduating high school. After college I hope to be a professional chef. My goals of going to college to become a chef have been with me ever since I can remember. Growing up around my grandparents who were always cooking got me interested in becoming a chef.Tae Kwon Do has taught me to stay in pursuit of this goal. In order to be the best college student and the best chef, I know I need to be a leader and not a follower. During the Tae Kwon Do summer camps I had a chance to practice my leadership skills. My instructor, Mr. Cloninger, allowed me to teach the Tae Kwon Do classes to work on and critique my leadership skills. Instructing the students really helped me correct my own mistakes in technique and forms. As I have grown through the ranks, my instructor has allowed me to instruct the classes.Instructing is another way of learning. If you cannot teach the material you truly do not understand it yourself. This is required to perfect your material, as I learned from personal experience. I believe my instructor, Mr. Cloninger, is an example of a great leader. He pushes me to my limit and beyond. He makes me a better person, better in the karate school, and in the community. Mr. Cloninger is dependable, hardworking, and possesses many great character qualities. Displaying good character is essential for being a great leader and a great black belt.Positive characteristics, such as respect for others, self-control, obedience, and humbleness, are the building blocks of a well-trained black belt. Respect is always important when training. Respect is earned. It is not simply given to you. You must work hard and be respectful to your instructor. Self-control is an important characteristic to have, not only in martial arts, but also in life. Self-control is harnessing your actions and emotions. When in training all emotions must leave the room. Your mind should be set on your material and goals.Self-control also applies in every day life, whether it is when you are driving down the road and some one cuts you off, or w hen your peers upset you at school. Obedience is another attribute a black belt must have. Whether it be listening to my parents or my instructor, I need to be able to listen and follow through when something is asked of me. Black belts are portrayed as people that can be trusted, doing what they are told and doing it the first time. Obedience comes easier when you have respect for others and self-control of your own wants and desires.A true black belt should be humbled in his achievement of his rank. Black belts should have respect for the art and not use their rank to show off, bully, or be intimidating. Black belts should not to be portrayed as cocky, arrogant or boastful. This is not being a good leader or representative of martial arts. I continually try to implement respect, self-control, obedience, and other positive characteristics into my life. These characteristics help me learn in school, train in Tae Kwon Do, and be a good member of my family.I am grateful and honored th at I was given the chance to test for my black belt. I received the best training from Mr. Putnam and Mr. Cloninger. These great leaders have taught me to stay strong and to work hard for my goals. If I receive the rank of black belt, one of my many goals will have been accomplished. My journey to becoming a black belt has taught me to display great character, build my leadership skills, reach my goals, and understand the meaning behind Tae Kwon Do. I look forward to continuing my Tae Kwon Do journey for many years to come.

Pro-Forma Statements Essay

B1. Analyze Simulation Results A budget is a financial plan which is expressed in real numbers, typically in monetary units, which set the expectations for the expenses the company will incur to reach its goals, and management objectives. A good budget uses forecasts to determine what amounts should be used to reach desired efficiency and profitability. Budgets can be used to determine whether a not a process is working effectively, whether or not changes in operations need to be made in order to reach goals, and can help solve problems before they occur and help make changes when necessary. Budgets are important because they provide a quantitative measurement to establish goals, coordinate efforts and departments, and help to realize changes are needed before problems occur. Budgets should be broken down into fragments (short term, mid-term, and long term) which will allow for more precise measurement of the success of a project, allow for changes to be made before moving onto new projects, and to expand on goals when appropriate. By setting short term budget goals and reaching them it helps to ensure that the company is on pace to reach its long term objectives. Budgets need to be revised whenever they no longer useful for planning and control purposes. Anytime there are major changes in the processes or operations the budgets will also need to be revised. Budget figures should be measured frequently to ensure they are still reasonable and that the company is still on track to reach its goals. A Pro-Forma Statement is defined as â€Å"a financial statements prepared on the basis of some assumed events and transactions that have not yet occurred.† (Ralph Estes). Unlike Historical Financial Statements which use real scientific information and are based on facts, Pro-Forma Financial Statements use assumptions to help forecast the future and allow for the use of creativity and flexibility. Pro-Forma Financial Statements are similar to Historical Financial Statements in look and content, both use the same major financial statements including the income statement and the balance sheet, but the Pro-Forma Financial Statement allows for changes to be made in the volatile environment. Pro-Forma Statements are important because they provide the needed information to track progress towards goals. They are based on historic figures so they do provide realistic projections while still allowing for adjustments as needed. Typically a long collection of historic data is used to produce a Pro-Forma Income statement; since the company I created was a start up our information was limited there was even more of a reliance on projections to complete my statements. In the first quarter I had start up factory expenses of $430,000 and spent $120,000 on market research. I had gained $3,000 in interest from a small deposit into a short term CD. I had invested $1,100,000 for fixed plant capacity. Of the $2,000,000 of initial capital $547,000 was used for start-up expenses leaving the company with $1,453,000 in current assets. Important decisions had to be made during Quarter 1 in order to make my projections and set my budgets and expectations. First I had to choose what products to manufacture. I wanted to look for two segments which had some similar wants and needs. By developing two products for two segments with similar wants and needs the hope was that I would be pay off later in saving manufacturing costs by utilizing customization of parts, decrease training costs, cut down on salary expense by having a sales force that could be knowledgeable with both products, and would allow the company to provide better service after the sale. The decisions were all based upon the market research which had been done providing the wants and needs of the segments as well as the price willing to pay, the 12 month demand, and the demand per city. By performing some simple calculations (i.e. price willing to pay X Demand / cost to produce) I was able to make an informed decisions on the two products I wanted to deve lop, where I wanted to set up shop, the size of my sales force, as well as the amount of inventory to produce. I decided to manufacture two products which I felt met the needs of two specific groups. The first group was decided upon due to the quantity of the demand. I felt around this product I could better reach my goal of utilizing an employee empowerment strategy, being able to utilize work cells due to less technical processes and needs, be able to take advantage of customization of parts, and also be able to offer better service after the sales due to increased employee knowledge of the product and the service needed. I decided to focus my efforts on the Workhorse and the Traveler markets. Both markets had similar needs and the products would only need to differ in portability. The market was large and although the desired price would be lower, the higher demand would help generate profit. The hope was to build the distinction of being the low price leader while still providing a reliable product and providing excellent service after the sale. By setting proper starting budgets and being able to adjust accordingly by utilizing the pro-forma statements I was able to make sound financial decisions throughout the simulation. I never had to use emergency loans so I was able to avoid that penalty and cost. By using the statements was even able to make small investments and earn some interest off of those funds. Being a startup company I was very conservative with my investments so I could ensure I would not incur those costs. At the end of the 4th quarter my ending cash balance was over 4 million dollars. This allows for great expansion and higher sales as well as the ability to invest more funds and take advantage of additional interest income. Without the use of the statements and the budget it would not have been possible to monitor the spending and make informed decisions. The Pro-Forma statements and budgets were used to make decisions throughout the entire simulation. Each Quarter I began by examining the cash flow statement. This allowed me to make proper decisions based on the Firm’s solvency as well as my company’s potential for growth. At the beginning of Quarter 1 I had $0 in my beginning cash balance. Thus it was necessary to sell common stock. $2 million dollars were raised through the sale of common stock. It was very important to use my income statements, original budgets, and monitoring my balance sheet. $1.1 million of the funds would be used to invest in my fixed plant capacity in order to reach the needed production levels. With the funds on hand I was only able to open 2 sales offices. I chose the locations based on the projected sales demand, the allotted funds in the budget, and the money left in the cash flow. The two offices cost $430,000 to start up and would also cost a total of $220,000 per quarter for lease. After setting up the Plant capacity and the Sales Offices I had $470,000 dollars left. I still needed funds for Research and Development to ensure that I was making proper decisions and to help guide my decisions in future quarters. I decided to spend $120,000 on research and development. This left me $350,000 in excess cash. I decided to invest a portion of it but was careful using my Pro-Forma statements to ensure that I would not run into the cost of emergency cash loans. $200,000 was placed into a conservative short term C.D. which earned me $3,000 in interest income. The $3,000 and the excess $150,000 would be carried over into the next quarter. The same techniques were used every decision every quarter. Any time I made a decision it was based on my cash flow, income statements and demand projections. Lessons were learned from these decisions, more funding into research and development needed to be used early in the simulation. The result of the poor planning led to the expense of products needing to be redesigned. The carry over equipment had to be sold for salvage value and additional funding needed to be raised to develop the new products. With the proper products in place for the market demand the profits would have been much larger for my company. B2a. Just-in-time Just in Time operations is basically a system which helps force problem solving and drives down start-up costs and inventory costs by initiating a pull system driven by consumer demand and reducing inventory to meet the customer’s needs only when the customer has that need. If the product is not available at the time of demand a problem is found and improvements need to be made. This is very important to any company but especially for a start-up company who really need to watch their cash flow to avoid any emergency loans and the cost and fees associated with them. In my projections I had to take into account the demand of the segments in the cities decided to serve and make educated estimates on how much to produce based on those calculations. There were still questions which needed to be answered which led to less aggressive manufacturing; would my advertising efforts convey the right message to my target audience? Would my choices on where to advertise be successful on reaching my target audience? Would my product designs and branding fit the needs of my customers or would new products need to be developed? The answers to these questions could lead to major adjustments to our entire process and if not done well could lead to an excess of unused inventory which would only be able to recover a small part of the cost it took to develop them. Estimates were made based on the projected sales demands of the markets. Fixed capacity, sales force decisions, and of course inventory decisions were made based on these projections. The idea of course was to have the perfect amount of inventory available to my customers at the exact time they needed them, with very little cost from carrying over unused inventory. Proper use of a Just-in-time strategy could have saved me money and helped expand my company’s growth. During the manufacturing process a Just-in-time strategy would’ve have uncovered the need to increase production to meet my customers’ demand as the products were being â€Å"pulled through† the assembly process. The improper use of the JIT strategy resulted in a loss of 278 Venture II customers and 143 customers of Quest II. The result of these lost customers was $578,453 in profit. By properly utilizing the strategy profits could have been even higher and future growth could have increased. Going forward it will be important to utilize the performance of the past year and make better decisions to provide for a better customer experience. Fortunately after the losses occurred decisions were made to make sure it did not happen again throughout the simulation. A good Just-In-Time strategy would have allowed the mistakes to be caught prior to having to absorb the losses and the poor customer experiences. B2b. Lean Operations Lean operations work hand in hand with making J.I.T. effective. By definition lean operations are used to understand customer’s needs and then to stock and prepare appropriately based on said needs. In my project this was done by successful forecasting based on potential demand of the customers in the given areas and based on the chosen products. By basing our inventory on a lean operations focus the company will be able to decrease the costs of waste in it’s operations, both in unused inventory and the cost of storing excess inventory. B3. Applicability of Work Cells versus Traditional Straight Line Method An effective layout design strategy is important because the decision alone can help decide the efficiency of production as well as help to determine a firm’s competitive advantage. How will the firm be looking to set itself apart? Will it be through differentiation, low cost, or response? Will the company’s priorities focus on capacity, processes, flexibility, and/or cost, etc.? In its very basic form an effective layout design will improve efficiency by better utilizing space, people, and machinery, improving communication, improving inspection, and by allowing for flexibility. Work Cells are specially arranged groups of workers and workstations designed to make the production of a single product or group of related products more efficient by allowing workers to have more reach in the work area, allow for immediate inspection of complete product, fewer workers are needed, less work space, and prom otes better communication between workers. Workers often accept the responsibility of building the product from start to finish in a more positive light because of the empowerment it provides and the specialized training and expanded knowledge. Work Cells are often in the shape of a â€Å"U† allowing for better balance and division of work. The U-shape also will take up more space on the floor than the Traditional Straight Line process method. A Traditional Straight Line process method is the old assembly line assembly process. Each worker is responsible for a piece of a product. That piece is then put together with other pieces and the final product is put together in a series of pieces. The assembly line relies on workstations to be balanced in the share of the work to be effective however; the layout alone often leads to an unbalanced division of the workload. The pieces cannot be inspected until the finished product has been fully assembled by the varying teams, and communication and diverse learning is very limite d. The assembly line approach also leads to the possibility of a â€Å"bottleneck† effect where total production can be slowed by slow production from one of the work units. The advantages of the assembly lines are of course a less expensive and quicker training process, more standardization of parts, and lower handling costs. The decision on which method to use was a difficult one. One of the reasons I chose the two products that I did was because of their similarities and the ability to use customizable parts. However another key to the success was the ability to capitalize on efficient inventory management and processing. Another key was employee empowerment through knowledge which would lead to better service and the ability to recognize and fix problems as they occur during the assembly process. With this being said I would implement a work cell assembly approach. B4. Decisions Involving Inventory Management Understanding the relationship between inventory levels and customer needs is a critical part of any company’s success. Too much inventory can lead to extra costs for the company in the form of storage costs of unused inventory and the expense of selling off unused inventory at discount prices. Not having enough inventory can lead to poor customer experiences by not being able to meet the customer’s needs when needed. This leads to fewer repeat sales and poor relationships. In order for a company to have a low cost strategy they must master inventory levels. As discussed earlier I did not do a good job of inventory management and it cost me in the form of profits and customer satisfaction. The idea is to be perfect and I was far from it. I underestimated the increase in demand after improvements were made in product design and marketing. The result was having higher demand than inventory available. The miscalculations of potential demand cost my company through the simulation and it is very important to execute better inventory management decisions in the future to avoid such issues and losses in the future. My growth decisions were made properly in the form of additional markets, additional sales and service staff, and more fixed capacity capabilities. However, I did not make good inventory management decisions to match the growth demands. The idea of inventory management is of course to find the perfect balance of meeting my customers’ needs while limiting my costs in holding costs and excess capacity costs. It was again necessary to utilize my pro-forma statements to monitor these expenses. The inventory needs were based on demand projections, marketing efforts, and the number of sales people hired. Since my company was a start-up company with little or no brand recognition it was important to find a conservative figure which would still fit the customers’ wants and needs. In the initial Quarter I chose to project demand at 100 units per sales person. I had confidence in my product in the first quarter and decided to leave 43 units of Venture and 32 units of Quest as carryover. The hope was not to run into issues of Sales lost and a loss of customers due to poor experiences. The problem I ran into was due to poor research and development the target market did not find either of my products desirable to fit their needs as they were. My confidence quickly turned into an error in Inventory Management. The remaining units had to be sold at a Salvage price ($846.40 for Venture and $870.40 for Quest). The set price on Venture was $2500 and Quest was $3200, the cost to produce Venture was $1667 and Quest was $1698. This was an enormous loss in potential profits for my company and better use of inventory management and of course research and development could have prevented it. The new products were produced that met the customers’ wants and needs and I decided based on the research which was provided and the history of sales I would be more aggressive with my inventory levels. The sales force was increased to 16 people in Quarter 3 with a demand per sales person of 148, and based on the success in Quarter 4 the sales people were increased to 25 people with an estimate of 225 units per sales person. Due to the increase in demand caused by the additional production more inventory would left at the end of the quarter. The recommendation was that inventory levels should be left at a range of 25 to 50 units of each product, but based on the confidence of sales I increased those ranges and decided to have 86 Venture II units and 64 Quest II units in inventory left at the end of each quarter. I had no missed sales because of a lack of inventory and fortunately did not have to sell any unwanted inventory at salvage prices. Costs did increase in Quarter 4 both in holding costs and excess capacity costs but the cash increases were more than enough to justify the additional inventory. B5. Use of Specific Continuous Programs to Achieve Quality Assurance Goals. Having a culture which promotes quality from top to bottom affects the company in many positive ways; if it starts at the top it becomes a culture which then empowers employees and leads to better customer satisfaction. There are several different programs which help to measure quality; 1.) Continuous Improvement, 2.) Six Sigma, 3.) Employee Empowerment, 4.) Benchmarking, 5.) Just in Time (J.I.T.), 6. Taguchi Concepts and 7.) Knowledge of Total Quality Management (T.Q.M.) Tools. Every aspect of operations can be improved and of course the overall goal is perfection. The cost of defective parts and or systems can be dramatic for a company and difficult to recover. Therefore it is very important to have the proper programs in place to measure quality. I believe two Quality Inspection programs would have been beneficial for my company. It was very important to my company as well as my target customers for us to provide a quality reliable product and have the service in place after the sale for my customers. I believe by implementing an Employee Empowerment program I can help develop quality on both the production side as well as on the service side. Employee Empowerment involves expanding the employees’ roles and responsibilities so that empowerment and belief is spread throughout the company from the highest to the lowest level. By including such responsibilities to the lowest level there is a greater chance that defections or needed improvements will be both addressed as well as shared by the employees who are using the machinery and involved in the everyday operations of the company. With high morale and open communication lines the company should be able to reach the desired quality. The desired quality which the company will be seeking will be determined by using a quality program called Benchmarking. That desired quality will be what our products and services will look like at their very best. All other performances will be judged by comparing to this benchmark. A team will need to be assembled, benchmarking partnerships will need to be formed, data will need to be collected and compared, and improvements will need to be to try and reach our benchmarks. Our benchmarking efforts will analyze such important factors as percentage of defects, customer satisfaction rate, cost per unit, return on investment, customer retention, and response time. References 1. Ralph Estes Dictionary of Accounting (MIT, Cambridge, 1981, p. 105)

List of All U.S. Colleges with a Meteorology Major

You might think of meteorologists simply as the people who deliver the weather on TV, but in reality the field has a lot more to offer. In fact, only about 10% of meteorologists are on TV . Meteorology is the study of both short-term weather predictions and long-term climate processes. As climate change becomes an increasingly urgent issue, the need for skilled and educated meteorologists will only increase too. Many colleges offer a meteorology major. If you’re ready to learn about new technology, collect and interpret weather and climate data, and apply your math and science skills to a constantly changing field, meteorology may be a good choice for you. To learn more about applying to meteorology programs and which colleges in the U.S. offer a meteorology degree, keep reading. Like most STEM fields, meteorology is projected to have strong job growth and security over the next decade, with solid earning potential to match. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the field will grow 12% by the year 2026, and notes that the median pay for a meteorologist in 2018 was $94,000. Generally, a student graduating with a degree in meteorology can expect to go straight to work. If you want to go into research, you’ll need to pursue a masters or PhD, but there is no shortage of jobs for meteorologists with a bachelor’s degree. In addition to becoming a weathercaster on TV, students with a degree in meteorology may also work for private companies in businesses like aviation, insurance, energy, or agriculture. Meteorologists can also become federal employees working for the National Weather Service, or similar agencies. If you’re interested in studying climate processes, how and why storms or other weather events occur, how to predict weather patterns, or how weather might influence specific areas or projects, meteorology is a good choice for you. Meteorology is a field of applied science and math, meaning that to be successful in it you’ll need to have knowledge in math and science, and you’ll need to know how to apply this knowledge to new and changing situations. STEM fields can be competitive, so thinking ahead and creating a strong applicant profile is a smart move. Here are some tips for getting started: Take Advanced STEM Classes. You’ll want to show that your academics are up to par for the STEM fields, and taking advanced classes is a simple way of doing this. Take AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and advanced classes in earth science and math. Some of your AP classes may even allow you to place out of required entry level prerequisites when you start your degree. Find a Weather-Related Extracurricular. Meteorology is a niche field so it can be easy to set yourself apart by pursuing it early in your high school career. Find an extracurricular that is related to weather of climate. This could be an independent science project that you progress to higher levels each year, a weather club, your own weather blog, or something else that you start from scratch. Showing that you have a long-term interest in this field can really set you apart from other applicants. Consider Getting Help From Someone Who’s Done It Before. Planning the track to college as a ninth or tenth grader is daunting and sometimes confusing. Three or four years is a long time, and there’s a lot that will change between now and then. Luckily, you don’t have to go into the process alone. ’s Early Advising Program pairs high school ninth and tenth graders with successful students from top-30 schools to provide current high schoolers with advice on everything from selecting classes and extracurriculars to setting and achieving long-term goals. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. California University of Pennsylvania | Cal U Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Florida Institute of Technology | Florida Tech Millersville University of Pennsylvania | MU New Jersey Institute of Technology | NJIT Pennsylvania State University | PSU Rutgers University–New Brunswick | Rutgers State University of New York at Oneonta | SUNY Oneonta State University of New York at Oswego | SUNY Oswego The College at Brockport, State University of New York | SUNY Brockport The State University of New York at Albany | SUNY Albany United States Air Force Academy | Air Force University of Nebraska–Lincoln | UNL University of North Carolina at Charlotte | UNC Charlotte University of Tennessee at Martin | UTM University of the Incarnate Word | UIW Meteorology is a strong career choice with many options and lots of potential for growth. Graduates with a meteorology degree can find employment in many different sectors from federal jobs to private companies and even the entertainment industry. That being said, getting into the meteorology program of your dreams may not be easy, so it’s essential to make sure that you apply to schools that are a good fit for you. Take a careful look at admissions statistics and the freshman class profile to see how your academics and test scores stack up to those of admitted students. Also consider things like geographic location, student resources, cost, and class sizes. For more help, consider the Applications program , which exists to help you optimize your application and ensure that you’re supported through every step of the way. You can trust us to help you gain the tools you’ll need to attend your dream school.

Transnational Corporate Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Transnational Corporate Crime - Essay Example The increasingly globalized nature of crime has made its impact more far reaching than it is conceived in ordinary course of life. The overall nature and sophistication with which white collar crimes are specially committed are considered as simply as amazing by any standards.(Carrabine, Ignaski & Lee, 2004). The corporate scandals that have come out in recent years are showing the level of sophistication and have further complicated the issue. It is also argued that the transnational organizations often tend to involve in activities which often can be classified as illegal in their home countries. Such involvement in potentially illegal acts often results into significant social and economic problems also not only in the host countries of these transnational organizations. F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd – a Swiss Pharmaceutical giant is considered as the leading corporate criminal of 1990s.2 It was fined for approximately $500 million for leading a global conspiracy to artificially fixing prices and market shares for some of the vitamins that were being sold in US and elsewhere. Apart from this, it was also alleged that the company attempted to rig different bids placed by different companies for getting contracts for selling vitamins in US. Most of the investigation for this took place within US i.e. Dallas and the overall period of investigation included the acts committed by the firm over the period of almost ten years. This literature review will provide an analysis of the existing literature on the transnational crimes and will further discuss the case of F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd to assess the regulatory response to such crimes, the investigation of the crime, its impact on the society and any outcome of any investigation that took place. Differential association theory outlines the individual learning process which can typically explain the deviant

Ensuring a Creative and Innovative Workforce Essay

Ensuring a Creative and Innovative Workforce - Essay Example The recent shift from industrial to knowledge economies has been rapid and abrupt, leading to a series of novel discoveries and innovation in various fields across all sectors of the economy, thereby drastically increasing the significance of creating and developing a highly creative workforce. The fact that innovation is the key to human survival, has been reasserted over the years, with a wide range of creative and innovative ideas being generated and applied for human consumption. Companies today rate creativity and innovation as highly essential pre-requisite of strategies, designed to achieve their organizational goals. Various challenges can be overcome and addressed through sheer creativity, which are faced by the 21st century, such as global warming and sustainable economic development to name a few. Organizational creativity is one of the most promising issues, which is now being probed by managers and leaders, and its relevance and significance is acknowledged by the emerge nce in the recent decades. Definitions: Creativity is defined as the development of novel and useful ideas (Hemlin et al., in Mumford, 2011). According to Plucker et al., (2004) the term creativity is defined as "...the interaction among aptitude, process, and environment by which an individual or group produces a perceptible product that is both novel and useful as defined within a social context". According to Ford (1995) "Creativity is a context specific, subjective judgment of the novelty and value of an outcome of an individual's or a collective's behavior (West, 1997, Pp. 2). Innovation in generic terms refers to the development and application of novel ideas, products or services, or technologies in an organization. According to Van de Ven (1986) the process of innovation is defined as "the development and implementation of new ideas by people who over time engage in transactions with others within an institutional context. This definition is sufficiently general to apply to a wide variety of technical, product, process, and administrative kinds of innovations. From a managerial viewpoint, to understand the process of innovation is to understand the factors that facilitate and inhibit the development of innovations" (Sisaye, 2001, Pp. 105). In a nutshell, the concept of creativity entails the application of a mental as well as a social process which is fuelled by an insight regarding the future demands and requirements of consumers, and generating ideas and concepts in response to the meet the requirements of the same. Innovation on the other hand, refers to the successful application of the said ideas and concepts with a view to generate profitable outcomes. In order to successfully create and develop innovative products and ideas, it is essential for the management to hire and recruit a highly creative workforce and develop a highly productive workforce by encouraging creativity and innovation within organizations. Significance and relevance of the co ncepts as applied to organizations: Creativity is the first step or foundation of innovation, which can be achieved through the successful implementation of the creative ideas generated by the talented workforce. Innovation is one of the crucial and inevitable elements of organizational success, more so in the highly advanced society, which is practically driven

Civil Rights Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Civil Rights Movement - Essay Example The two white men arrested in connection with the incident were not judged. At the same time, Henry Huff, a black lady in Chicago, was expected to part with $200,000 in a court in Mississippi so as to see if she can be assisted in finding her kidnapped son. All these obstacles made them to struggle to have quality education, not to be oppressed and eliminate stereotyping. Hence the Black community came together to form the Civil Rights Movement to help in stopping segregation and discrimination against creed, race, gender and color. The community that supported it benefited in realizing equality among all races and an integrated society. After the formation of the social movement, some amendments were performed in America which assisted the blacks to realize their rights later (Vincent, 1989). The black community benefited from the 13th amendment which ended the servitude in the United States of America. It was the 14th amendment that highly benefited the black community. It granted citizenship to the blacks and barred states from cutting their immunities and privileges as prescribed in the constitution. It also prohibited all states from taking an individual’s liberty, life and property and granted equal laws’ protection. ... The black community eventually could access polling booth. The movement caused the Voting Rights Act to be passed in1965. The passage removed several racial barriers. It actually led to the alteration of American cultural, social and political way of life. Transformation in prevailing citizenship rights together with a redefinition of the courts and government’s role in guarding those rights bolstered all the Americans human rights irrespective of their individual color. Civil Rights Movement made many black employees in some organizations to publicize various abuses of civil rights that plagued them. The movement led to the emergence of Black Nationalism in America. In 1960s, many activists that were black started to ask for reforms that would lead to formation of a political system to make blacks to be less politically as well as economically crippled. With the rise of nationalism wave in the movement, some organizations emerged. One of the organization started advocating fo r â€Å"black power†. This term was clear indication racism was forever gone. Question Two Modern feminism movement describes an organized activity that attempts to empower female by revealing the interests and rights of women. Most people have counterfeit assumptions about women’s cultural beliefs, sexual preference and general point of view on life. Even the present daughters do not ever dream of leading the lives their mothers go through. Feminism movement was designed to be an intellectual and social group that inquires about transforming the society and individuals. This society includes changing the world along with changing their fathers. Its aim is to produce a society that is unbiased for all men and women by

Courtly Love Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Courtly Love - Research Paper Example Christianity advocated for real love between two individuals of opposite sex who eventually ended up marrying and establishing a family together, while prohibiting any form of love, passion or desire by the married couples outside of their marriage. On the other hand, the concept of Courtly Love introduced a completely different perception of love, requiring that married ladies could still develop passion and have romance outside of their marriage, as long as they did not violate the rules of chastity and infidelity (Donaldson, 16). The fundamental principle of Courtly Love was that marriages were arranged, and had nothing to do with love, as long as such marriages brought wealth and power, as well as other material benefits to the participants and their families. Nevertheless, while the Courtly Love was a noble idea meant to allow married people, especially ladies to experience love and romance that they did not get out of their marriages which were not based on love, it eventually resulted into illicit and tragic love affairs that did not follow the laid down rules, as exemplified by William Shakespeare’s â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†. ... Most of such ladies were engaged in marriages for the convenience of their families in protecting their material wealth and power, as opposed to marrying out of love, thus living in marriages that had no happiness and where intimacy and romance did not fully exist, because the marriage partners did not have strong feelings for each other (Capellanus, 44). It is through the rise of the concept of Courtly Love, that such ladies were allowed to develop passion for the knights and courtiers who served within the kingly courts, given a leeway by the rule that marriage did not stop them from loving again and engaging in passionate romance with the knights and the courtiers, as long as they adhered to the rules of maintaining chastity and avoiding infidelity (Boase, 31). Nevertheless, with the leeway to engage in passionate romance and to love the knights and the courtiers, it was inevitable for such romances to develop into real feelings of love and lust for sexual engagements, which event ually saw such ladies engage in illicit love affairs with the knights and courtiers, thus breaking the rules of fidelity and chastity, and eventually ending up in tragedies (Jackson, 243). William Shakespeare’s â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† is one of the love literatures that were inspired b the concept of Courtly Love, which depicts the love triangle involving the ruling house and other revered families fighting for the love of 13-year old Juliet (Shakespeare, 23). The literature is motivated by the arranged marriage concept of the middle ages, where Count Paris, who is a member of the ruling family, seeks to marry Juliet out of an agreement reached

Legal Aspects of Health Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Legal Aspects of Health Administration - Essay Example Health care fraud deals with stating falsehoods related to health care to someone who can offer financial benefit. There are false and fraudulent claims to medicinal billing, vehicle expenditure, construction expenditure and much more (Jesilow, et.al, 1995). The health care fraud can be seen at various places associated to the health care division and in all those places, there are chances of health care fraud. The various categories of health care fraud are associated to the health care places as there are hospital frauds, pharmaceutical frauds, nursing home frauds, medical equipment frauds, ambulance services frauds, frauds in terms of provision of not provided services and many more (Jesilow, et.al, 1995). Health care fraud is categorized as misstating the factual data, stroppy amounts for services, needless health treatment, addition of amounts for private usage and inducement (Jesilow, et.al, 1995). It has been reported in ‘The Punishment of "Health Care Fraud"’ by Mastin that AHM (American Healthcare Management) submitted false claims regarding billing related to health care division for which, they paid charges of 1.25 million dollars to resolve the issue (McGuire and Schneider, 2007). It was reported that in spite of taking funds for wrong information related to the health care needs such as improvement of quality of health care, betterment of cleaning and bathing facilities and buying of medicines and other health related things (McGuire and Schneider, 2007). As a punishment, AHM was fined to pay an amount of 1.25 million dollars to the government. The punishment also included the exclusion of nearly three nursing homes and the proprietor has to suffer an exclusion of twenty years because of the fraudulent activity concerning finance (McGuire and Schneider, 2007). Another example related to fraudulent act done by some persons on behalf of health care is related to recreational motor vehicle that used to hang

Supporting Organization Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supporting Organization Strategies - Essay Example The strategies enhance the organization's competitive advantage in the market place. (Pfeffer, 1998).By implementing these strategies the companies can be sure of maintaining a good status in the market and improving in their business in spite of any odds. It is difficult for any organization to enhance or improve the human resources without the help of any specific strategy. The organizations must employ certain unique strategies that will help in the development as well as growth of the company. Human resource management comprises of various functions like recruiting the employees, maintaining the details pertaining to them and conducting training sessions. The other activities include rating of employee's performance, conducting appraisals and resolving their issues. Pfeffer's strategies have become so popular that even a smaller organization implements it to expand their business. The strategies include employment security, selectivity in recruiting and selection, self-managed teams and decentralization, high compensation, extensive training and skill development. The other strategies are information sharing and reduced status distinctions and barriers. The selectivity in recruiting and selection is important for an organization. If the employees are not selected properly it will lead to severe consequences. This can turn the situation of the organization upside down. If the company is going through a bad phase, the selection of a correct candidate can certainly improve the prevailing situation. Instead if right candidate is not chosen, the situation will get even worse and this will eventually affect the improvement of the organization. The selection of a potential candidate can change the fate of the organization. The capable employees can make a considerable difference on the present scenario of the organization. The selection of a candidate can make or break the way to company's reputation.(Pfeffer, 1998). Human resource department is responsible for the recruitment of the candidates. They have the responsibility of selecting the candidates who possess all the abilities. The selection procedure must be decided by the human resource organization. It must be effective enough to select a candidate with the right attitude and talent. The selection procedure must include different types of Recruitment is not an easy task and the organization must be prepared well in advance. The necessary arrangements must be made to select the candidates. The recruitment panel must consist of people who are well equipped and they must have the capability to select the right candidate. This strategy must be implemented in an organization to improve the company's situation. Selecting a right candidate will improve the profits of the company since the employees will work efficiently. This will also help in the improvement of the quality of the company's products. Dynamic workers will contribute to the betterment of the company and this in turn will reflect in the major work of the organization. The human resource department has to select the candidate according to the position. It depends on the requirements of the organizatio

Ethical Delimas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical Delimas - Essay Example BP used its own business analysis about the production resources of its reserves worldwide and their depletion through â€Å"peak oil† theories, and determined that it would be innovative in investing current budgetary surplus and profits into future sectors and alternative energy. This can be seen as evidence of a 20 to 30 year future plan for the company aligned with socially progressive â€Å"Green† ideologies, yet rooted in the profit of the status quo and oil-dominated economies globally. Thus, the Green initiative of BP can be critically questioned as to its veracity of motive or construction as a marketing tool and brand, but few other companies globally have invested so much capital in Green technologies and clean, alternative energy sources. Evidence suggests that this is derived from the influence of socially progressive forces inside the publicly traded company as employees and management as the primary cause for the change in business model, though it is bas ed also in a stark view of the changes required in Western societies economically over the next twenty years. This can be seen in a lecture given by Dominic Emery of BP in London in March of 2011, where he shows how BP’s policy on renewable energy was developed out of its own research into global economic trends: â€Å"Renewables, including biofuels, are projected to account for 18% of the growth in energy to 2030 – compared to 5% of the growth since 1990 - and the rate at which renewables penetrate the global energy market is similar to the emergence of nuclear power in the 1970s and 1980s. The projected shift from higher to lower carbon energy is driven in large part by the anticipated trend of increasing policy support. So even in our base case – what we see as the most likely outcome - we see a change in the fuel mix that projects a strong future for renewables, gas and nuclear. Wind, solar, biofuels and other renewables all look set to grow their share in primary energy, from less than 2% now to over 6% by 2030. The same is true of nuclear and hydropower.The use of renewable energy will grow strongly – we believe at around 8.2% per year to 2030 which is almost four times the 2010 level by 2030.† (Emery, 2011) Focusing on cleantech and renewable energy is not simply a marketing ploy or lip-service for BP to mask its environmental destruction in oil drilling or the inordinate profits, salaries, and benefits of its executives & owners. Rather, BP has actually some of the most highly respected market analysts in the oil and gas industry looking at internal production numbers related to peak oil, and sees the development of cleantech in a society as proceeding at an accelerated rate over the next twenty years. In this business analysis, BP management decided to form a venture capital affiliate (AE Ventures) to invest profits from current operations in future business opportunities in cleantech. â€Å"AE Ventures is the strat egic corporate venture capital arm of BP Alternative Energy. The team is focusing on three investment activities: investing in highly innovative cleantech companies and funds; investing in next generation carbon offsets; incubating proprietary cleantech R&D. The team was set-up in 2006 and has since invested around $100m in 20 different cleantech and carbon ventures and funds. The aim is to invest a total of $150-200m by 2013.† (BP, 2011) An excellent example of this is the company’

Principles infection control Essay Example for Free

Principles infection control Essay Explain employees’ roles and responsibilities in relation to the prevention and control of infection ANSWER As an employee the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 state that I have a duty and responsibility to ensure that I as an employee have a duty to be responsible in showing reasonable care for my own safety. I have the responsibility of my own safety in terms of cleanliness and hygiene observation and practice; I am responsible for cooperating and following the health and safety guidelines and expectations of my employer; I am responsible for maintaining and taking care of all hygiene equipment and materials and to report when there is a faulty; I am responsible for using PPE appropriately and attending the necessary training in health and safety, keeping my skills up to date; I have a responsibility of to monitor the hygiene practices of my staff as a senior care support worker making sure that they observe practices such as wearing appropriate PPE and washing hands appropriately as well as updating their training. I must be of the attitude that when it comes to infection prevention and control that all individuals (including myself) are high risk and practice my control of hygiene accordingly. This means wearing PPE such as gloves and aprons when assisting a service user to toilet or wash; disposing of the PPE appropriately afterwards and washing my hands thoroughly. It includes using new clean PPE between attending to different service users; making sure pads and soiled linen are bagged and disposed correctly; disinfecting and wiping down areas when necessary; storing foods to correct temperatures; preparing foods to correct temperatures before serving; using clean food implements and equipment and following the instructions of the use and storage of substances hazardous to health. I must also keep my personal hygiene up to standards at work by wearing appropriate clean clothing and  keeping my hair tidy and tied away for my face, no jewellery or dangling parts and sensible foot wear. Wearing inappropriate clothing such as clothes with tassels can drop into food and cause cross contamination; shoes that will cause imbalance and cause me to topple over would be dangerous especially if carrying food, waste or assisting a person to manoeuvre. Not wearing appropriate PPE would increase the chance of cross contamination as substances such as bodily fluids, chemicals and other foreign particles such as hair etc can be easily transferred to ingest or inhale in some way. Reporting faulty equipment is essential as if a dish washer or washing machine breaks down then this increases the risk of the items they would process to not be processed properly or sit around harbouring bacteria for longer thus increasing the risk to cross contamination. Updating my knowledge in subjects such as health and safety and food safety is vital as it reinforces knowledge and practice and informs me of any legislation and practices that have changed. If a service user develops an infection then I must record and report this straight away making sure that the home nurse or manager is aware and that it is handed over to the staff team with instructions of how to provide care. The service user must receive medical attention from the home nurse or a GP. These types of infections must also include reporting to necessary bodies such as RIDDOR at the local authority by the GP, especially in circumstances of food poisoning or contagious infections such as Healthcare Associated Infections (e.g. MRSA, MSSA, C. Difficile and E. Coli which are all very contagious bacteria). If a member of staff has an infection and they pose a risk to others of cross contamination then they should seek medical attention and not come into work advising me by phone call of what the issue is so that I can alert the manager or home nurse and we can check for any risk of cross contamination. This staff member (including myself it affected) should not return to work unless the risk had gone and it is medically safe to do so. A certificate from my (or staffs) GP must be provided in these cases. Continue on a separate page if necessary QUESTION- ( 1.2 ) Explain employers’ responsibilities in relation to the prevention and control of infection ANSWER Employers have a great duty to ensure that health and safety regulations (HASAWA 1974) are met in the prevention and control of infections because they also have a duty of care to ensure it is prevented and/ or kept under control and terminated. Health and safety legislation states that employers must protect employees from danger and harm as far as reasonably possible so the work premises that they provide for service users to dwell and staff to work in must be safe and free from danger. In terms of infection control, all substances that are hazardous to health including bodily fluids, chemicals and wastes must have provisions so that they can be stored, handled, cleaned, processed and disposed of safely with minimal risk to individuals. Risk assessments must be carried out in the work place to ensure that any risks are identified, minimised and monitored as a way of limiting and controlling the risk of infection. Risk assessment of stored and used substances including COSHH and biohazard substances and risk assessments of working procedures including risk assessments in serviced users care plans must be carried out and updated. Employers must provide the means for staff to access training so that their employees knowledge and skills are up to date; they must provide the means to PPE so that employees can protect themselves and others whilst they work with hazardous substances and they must ensure that regular health and safety checks are carried out so that any issues can be identified and corrected in the building and in the resources. Employers must also provide the necessary infection prevention and control in policies and procedures so that I and my staff team can access the necessary information on how we carry out our work. The main source of Health Care Associated Infections (HCAIs) are transferred via hand contact therefore it is vital that my employer provides that  adequate resources for myself and staff to wash our hands and dry our hands regularly, appropriately and to procedure. The facilities to wash with warm water and use a WC should be clean and safe (not damaged and kept clean) provided with necessary hand wash, disposable hand towels and pedal bins. Such resources are vital to the control and prevention of infections. Continue on a separate page if necessary QUESTION- ( 2.1 ) Outline current legislation and regulatory body standards which are relevant to the prevention and control of infection ANSWER As well as the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 that stipulates that each employee and employers have a responsibility of showing reasonable care for ourselves and others and to provide a safe place to work respectively; other acts that state more specifically how the prevention and control of infections must be met in my work place and these include Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (2002) or COSHH and the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurences Regulations 1995 or RIDDOR. A hazardous substance is any substance or material with the potential to cause illness or injury to the people whom come into contact with it and are likely to come in the forms of liquids, dust, fumes, gases and living organisms. The control of these substances involve the prevention of accidents and ill health and therefore COSHH stipulates that such hazards must be identified; risk assessed; prevent exposure to or control exposure to and staff should be regularly check if they are continuously working with some high risk substances. COSHH also requires that people at work handling substances should follow the instructions or be trained to handle the substances; know what control measures to take and how to take appropriate action in an emergency In a care home environment the employer must make sure that the storage of any substances is safe and legally adequate i.e. in  correct containers, in suitable room, in suitable temperatures, dry area, off of the floor, locked securely etc; all chemical substances should have their data sheets listing the ingredients; storage rooms sign posted appropriately and have only authorised persons using them etc. The regulation should also explain of how to deal with spillages safely and this would include the spillage of blood and/or urine; how to dispose of sharps and dispose of soiled materials such as pads. RIDDOR (1995) covers the recording and reporting of dangerous occurrences and accidents in the workplace. I must ensure that these reports be kept for 3 years and they must be available for inspection by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as and when required. Work places should have a system of reporting injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences as a result of accidents and incidents. An accident is something that happens that results in an injury or death and an incident is something that almost could have happened that might not have caused harm now but could cause an injury, ill health or a fatality in the future. I must report some incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (via RIDDOR) directly and these include: Death or a major injury Injury resulting in employees being 3 or more Poisoning days off of work Occupational cancers Occupational asthma or lung disease Skin condition such as (from asbestos) skin cancers or dermatitis Musculo-skeletal disorders including fractures Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 a code of practice was established for the prevention and control of Health Care Associated Infections (HCAIs) setting out how the NHS will go about attempting to prevent HCAIs. 1 Systems to manage and monitor the prevention and control of infection. These systems use risk assessments and consider how susceptible service users are and any risks that their environment and other users may pose to them. 2 Provide and maintain a clean and appropriate environment in managed premises that facilitates the prevention and control of infections. 3 Provide suitable accurate information on infections to service users and their visitors. 4 Provide suitable accurate information on infections to any person concerned with providing further support or nursing/ medical care in a timely fashion. 5 Ensure that people who have or develop an infection are identified promptly and receive the appropriate treatment and care to reduce the risk of passing on the infection to other people. 6 Ensure that all staff and those employed to provide care in all settings are fully involved in the process of preventing and controlling infection. 7 Provide or secure adequate isolation facilities. 8 Secure adequate access to laboratory support as appropriate. 9 Have and adhere to policies, designed for the individual’s care and provider organisations that will help to prevent and control infections. 10 Ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that care workers are free of and are protected from exposure to infections that can be caught at work and that all staff are suitably educated in the prevention and control of infection associated with the provision of health and social care. The Department of Health 2010 ‘The Health and Social Care Act 2008: Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance’. My employer has to show how it is implementing these codes as best suited to the organisation and assessed and inspected by the Care Quality Commission. The Public Health Control Of Diseases Act 1984 and the Public Health (infectious Diseases) Regulations provides information about disease which are risks such as Dysentery, cholera, diphtheria and food poisoning etc . It explains how an outbreak should be handled, recorded and reported and the responsibility of informing the environmental health officer of the outbreak so that an investigation can be carried out. Continue on a separate page if necessary QUESTION- ( 2.2 ) Describe local and organisational policies relevant to the prevention and control of infection ANSWER Policies that cover the prevention and control of infection at my work place include those of: Hand washing technique procedure: To wash hands thoroughly after assisting service users (for example after assisting them to use the toilet, change their pad or even after dressing them or feeding them) it is of paramount importance that I (and my staff team) follow the established method of hand washing. Transference of bacteria via hand to hand contact is the most common way of the spread of infections and pathogens that cause them so it is vital that I carry this out throughout my working practice. My work place has this method displayed in appropriate places (i.e. above hand wash basins) so that it is there to guide me and my staff team. It is a process that should take no more than 15 to 30 seconds and it is a process that is carried out frequently, even if disposable or non disposable gloves are used – hand washing technique is still necessary. The facilities must be available and this includes the basin with hot water, soap and disposable towels. My work place has policies and procedures outlining what to do in the event of the outbreak of infection. It will outline a procedure of recording and reporting on the necessary forms not only for our records but also for RIDDOR. It will direct me to report and outbreak or the suspicion of an outbreak to the home manager or nurse so that they can report to the Environmental Health authorities. If needed a GP will be called in to tend to the service user and will also advise to or report to the local  environmental health inspector for RIDDOR of a notifiable disease such as dysentery, cholera, MRSA, MSSA, C, Difficile or E, Coli (to name a few). The policy will outline the various circumstances of which to notify the Environmental Health Authorities because even though sickness like diarrhoea and influenza are quite common and most people can overcome them with over the counter medications, for elderly people these can pose more of a threat an cause pneumonia or even death if they are not supported straight away because of their weakened immune system or if they already have a chest condition. The procedures outline what to do if there is an outbreak in the home depending on what the suspected infection is i.e. best practice in cases of influenza should instruct along the lines of making the conditions present indicate the threat i.e. The signs and symptoms of influenza e.g. Onset of fever, headache, myalgia, cold or runny nose, sore throat etc; symptoms like these in 2 or more individuals in the home within a 3 day period and the preventative treatment that needs to be put into place as a result. Policies of storage and use of substances that are hazardous to health also cover chemical products that are used throughout the work place (i.e. detergents, cleaners, disinfectants, aerosols etc) and the routine and schedule of cleaning areas particularly areas such as bathrooms, wet rooms, toilets and kitchens. Policy and procedure are also provided on how to dispose of items such as sharps and soiled pads; Soiled pads should disposed of in yellow sanitation bags which can be disposed of in the clinical waste bin; needles and other forms of sharps during drug administration or phlebotomy must be disposed of in special sharps containers that are collected and incinerated. Some service user may have to use certain aids to help them in their day to day lives and these can also require care and attention so as to reduce infection and spread of infection. Such items as catheters need to be cleaned and the service user would need to clean or assistance to clean their most intimate areas so as to prevent infections. Procedure advice on how to clean and care for the aids and how to protect ourselves with appropriate PPE before tending to them. All new catheter bags will be  inside of sterile packaging and we must ensure that these are kept sealed and renew according to care plan. Policy and procedure instructing on care of service users stoma bags would also be another example of such aids where infection prevention and control is of great importance. Continue on a separate page if necessary QUESTION- ( 3.1 ) Describe procedures and systems relevant to the prevention and control of infection ANSWER My work place also has guidance in the form of policies of when to use Personal Protective Equipment such as gloves, aprons or gowns, masks and eye protection. These are vital as a protective barrier against transference of pathogens from service user to me (or staff) and from me to service user. These must be worn when assisting the service user to toilet, change pads, wash, dress and a fresh set when preparing food. They should also be worn when changing bins or clearing up spillages, especially of hazardous substances. The gloves and aprons must be disposable as this reduces the harbouring of pathogens and cuts down the spread of infections. The procedures cover how to don and remove such items as carrying out such methods in sequence cuts down the risk of the spread of infections and transference of pathogens e.g. it may outline a process such as: Carry out hand hygiene immediately before and after donning and removing PPE. Don a gown Don a mask (if used) Don eye wear (if used) Don gloves. Such donning of protection must be carried out in this order as to put gloves  on firstly would make it difficult to tie and adjust other garments; also if hands are gloved it may encourage the user to touch things that may carry infection and then they would transfer when donning other PPE. Donning a mask or eye wear firstly would also be impractical as they would get in the way when donning other items. It is best to don the gown firstly as this has to be done up at the back and then the others (where applicable) and gloves lastly. The procedure will also outline how to don each item of PPE e.g. for donning gloves it may say to don them lastly by inserting hands into gloves and then making sure that the gloves also cover the wrists; and also how to (and in what order to) remove each item of PPE in order to cuts down the risk of the spread of infections and transference of pathogens. Cleaning of certain rooms and facilities in the care home require regular cleaning and decontaminating, disinfecting and sterilisation. Toilets, bathrooms, commodes, equipment such as hoists, bath chairs and handle rails all need to be cleansed in line with the procedure of the home. For example procedure in my care home stipulates that the commodes must be generally cleaned and decontaminated and disinfected after each use, as well as the resident’s toilets. Soiling may not be visible to the eye however the bacteria still persists so this must be cleaned and disinfected immediately. Similarly bathrooms and wet rooms must be cleaned and disinfected after each use as residue from the service users body would be left behind causing bacteria to build up, especially in a damp place. According to procedure I ensure that staffs or myself frequently check the resident’s toilets (hourly). A checking schedule is placed in the toilet where we tick off that it has been checked. In addition to this when we assist the service user to use the toilets after their use we used disinfecting wipes to clean down the seat area and a spate wipe to clean the flushing handle whilst applying disinfectant to the toilet bowl. If debris is in the toilet bowl, this must be scrubbed away using the toilet brush. Many service users need our assistance to use the toilet however some are able to use the toilet themselves and may not remember or be able to disinfect the toilet appropriately after use so we check the toilet hourly  for this purpose. After we finish assisting the service user, making sure that they wash their hands and they are made comfortable outside of toilet we change gloves to clean gloves (as to not cross contaminate from assisting them to other surfaces) and use cleaning materials that are stored in a secure cupboard in the toilet firstly applying toilet bowl disinfectant to the bowl and scrub bowl with toilet brush (if required); use a disinfecting wipe to clean top of bowl, a fresh one for the seat and another last wipe during the flush. We clean the flushing handle lastly using the wipe so as to not risk contamination after touching anywhere else. Where wipes are not used or have run out we use colour coded disposable cleaning cloths and liquid detergents (to remove physical debris) then liquid disinfectant to disinfect the surfaces. These are readily made up to the correct solutions (according to manufactures specifications) and are bottled in colour coded plastic bottles and labelled. For cleaning supplies used in toilets the spray bottles containing the detergent and disinfectants, cleaning cloths, mops and mop-buckets are all red. This gives a clear indication that these are the materials and equipment to be used in the toilet areas only and ensures that these are not used elsewhere in the home providing a procedural barrier against cross contamination. When using the liquid cleaners/disinfectants and cloths we clean and disinfect the flush handle firstly and then work our way down to the bowl to spread of infection from toilet bowl to flush handle. If there is a spillage of urine on the floor then we use water and detergent with a designated mop and mop-bucket (colour coded red) to clean away the spillage. After the physical debris has been removed then we use disinfectant to disinfect the area, ensuring that hazard warning signs are put in place whilst cleaning is taking place so as to warn others of slippery floor surfaces. We open the window so as to encourage quicker drying of the floor and monitor it for safety and remove signage when drying is complete. After cleaning these areas and supplies are securely pit away, we discard of our PPE in a specific manner which also acts as a procedural preventative  barrier against the spread of infection: gloves (turned inside out), apron and then hand hygiene. At the end of a residency and once the room has been voided and all belongings have been removed it is the procedure of our workplace that it should be cleaned and decontaminated, disinfected and sterilised. To do this we have a void team who remove any leftover items to throw away at a local authority refuse centre and get ready to refurbish the room. Wearing PPE we clean, disinfect and use a steam steriliser to sterilise the bed frame and commode (a new mattress is always ordered at the beginning of new residencies) and move these temporarily into a storage room. We also strip the windows of curtains and drapes to launder. The void team then remove the lino and sterilise the room walls and ceiling, skirting door and door frame and handles; repaint and lay new lino to flooring. We then replace the window dressings, bed frame and commode. Many other procedures are particular to our home some of which include: Daily, weekly and monthly cleaning of the kitchen and its contents. The storage and maintenance of products and equipment e.g. cleaning chemicals and the required documentation, food stores and the stock rotation, health aids particular to each service user (such as catheters, stoma bags, dressings and pads), hoists, commodes, stand and twists, transfer boards, PPE etc. Disposal of clinical wastes. Safe handling and disposal of sharps. Managing spillages of blood and bodily fluids products. How to report and record and manage occurrences or suspicions of an outbreak. How to report and record accidents and incidents. Best practice of hand hygiene. Handling and laundering of soiled clothes and linen. Continue on a separate page if necessary QUESTION- ( 3.2 ) Explain the potential impact of an outbreak of infection on the individual and the organisation ANSWER The potential impact of an outbreak of infection on the individual can be devastating because it not only means that they have to be cared for in isolation to limit the risk of infection to other service users but it also means that the infection poses great risk to the individual’s life as their immune system is usually compromised and an infection poses a greater threat to their life. The symptoms of having an infection can be very uncomfortable for them in the mean time as their body is trying to fight the infection they can suffer symptoms such as fever and weakened muscle pain. If their skin is fragile and they are bed bound extra care must be taken to make sure that they are cleaned well and turned often to limit the onset of bedsores that can lead to even more complications. In cases of their treatment using some antibiotics (particularly stronger antibiotics that can give risk to the onset of other bacterial infections such as C. Diff because these antibiotics can have the effect of killing the initial infection in the digestive tract but can also kill beneficial, naturally occurring bacteria essential to the health of the digestive system. The resultant imbalance can give rise to C. Diff (which also naturally occurs in the system) to multiply causing an imbalance by over population that is toxic to their system. The resulting symptoms include can give the side effect of diarrhoea and vomiting which in turn create aerosols and risk of airborne transmission. The isolation that follows when the individual needs to be cared for and treated separately from others so as to reduce the risk of spread of infections to others can also affect the individual’s emotional/ mental wellbeing as they may feel more lonely and depressed during this time and this can affect their self esteem. It is therefore essential that myself and members of staff visit the individual often to maintain social contact  with them and ensure support of their mental health. Visits to the individual from friends and relatives must be stopped until the outbreak has cleared so as limit the risk of cross contamination to the visitors and also protect the resident from bacteria the visitors may unwittingly bring with them. The potential difficulties that follow an infection outbreak for the individual are complex and life threatening. The impact of an infection out break on the organisation can also be devastating as it can be costly for the treatment that has to be implemented and the organisations reputation can suffer as if poor practice or negligence was discovered after an investigation of the outbreak then it is within the rights of the HSE to prosecute individuals and this can lead to a fine or imprisonment. QUESTION- ( 4.1 ) Define the term risk ANSWER A risk within a care setting applies to a number of possibilities that can involve the risk posed from use of equipments, the use of substances or the danger of a service user to themselves and others. In terms of infection prevention and control the term risk applies to the level of risk posed from biological hazards or biohazards to people (including service users, staff and visitors). Some biological hazards are those substances that come from living organisms such as people and they can be found in bodily fluids such as blood, vomit, waste matter, saliva etc. Organisms that exist in bodily fluids include HIV, MRSA, influenza, MSSA, C. Difficile, E. Coli and many others. Once a biohazard in my workplace has been identified then I must be able to identify the level of risk that it poses to all people which means at what rate and by what means can the organism spread? Is it likely to spread  without precautions put in place? What level of harm is posed to others if precautions are not implemented? I would need to rate the level of risk to these factors as low, medium or high. QUESTION- ( 4.2 ) Outline potential risks of infection within the workplace ANSWER In a care home setting the potential for the risk of infection greatly increases because the service users are more vulnerable to getting infection then most people. Their susceptibility to infection is increased by a great many factors that affect their immune system, such as their age. Very old people’s immune systems are weaker due to their age and therefore are more susceptible to getting infection. Service user’s may also be suffering from certain terminal illnesses and this may compromise their immune system or they may be receiving medication or treatment for a terminal illness and this may compromise their immune system e.g. chemotherapy for cancer weakens the immune system. When people are ill or are elderly and suffer from degenerative diseases such as dementia their diets can change and they can begin to eat less or not feel like eating at all. For instances if they undergo a major operation like a hip replacement or have part of their digestive tract removed and acquire a stoma then they may have lost their appetite or find it difficult to change their diet risking them of becoming malnourished. Their nutritional status becomes poor as a result hence compromising their immune system. If they have had surgery and have wounds, stitches or some kind of skin trauma as a result, this greatly increases the risk to infection as the skin has been breached and this is the body’s greatest defence barrier against infection. These areas of the skin are undergoing healing and must be kept cleansed regularly to reduce bacteria. Stomas for the exit of excrement via the bowl or urine, catheters for the drainage of urine from the bladder via the urethra and cannulas inserted into the service user’s arm for the administration of intravenously all give a way to entry directly into the body. This increases the risk to the  service user of infection not only as a direct passage but also if the bags, needles or tubing are not sterile when used or if they become blocked and bacteria can then quickly build up. As mentioned before the use of some drugs can increase a service user’s risk to infection e.g. strong antibiotics changing the levels of natural bacteria in the body and causing an imbalance creating C. Diff infection or chemotherapy drugs weakening the immune system exposing the service user to risk of infection. The service user in a weakened state also becomes at greater risk of carrying infections and can spread pathogens themselves. There are highly contagious blood borne diseases such as Hepatitis B, HIV or MRSA that can be transferred to others who have to interact with them such as myself and staff who are providing care. Friends and relatives and other visitors can also be exposed to these infections. Aerosols from air borne pathogens such as the norovirus or influenza can transfer to others from the carriers vomit. The same is true of outside visitors bringing in such pathogens and risking infection to the service users who have weakened immune systems and who would find it more difficult to fight off such pathogens and sometimes fatal. People coming into the care home environment from outside also include myself and the staff team. We must be aware of our own personal hygiene and health as we can also be carriers of air borne viruses such as colds, flu, diarrhoea and vomiting. As care workers staff and myself need to be even more vigilant about our personal hygiene, state of health and our infection control practice. We must be extra vigilant when working within the care home as we are tending to different service users so it is vital that we practice a high standard of infection control procedure and adhere the requirements as set out in our organisations procedures so as to prevent cross contamination and the spread of infections between potentially contagious and vulnerable service users. We must ensure that we are clean and tidy for work and that our personal hygiene and attire does not pose a risk of infection to the service users and we must be responsible for our health and monitor this as if we do have a cold or flu it is best that we do not enter the work place as these illnesses can be detrimental to our  service users. It is therefore vital that we follow our organisations procedure on our fitness for work and take the appropriate action and inform our manager of our state of health as this could save a person’s life. It is therefore essential that I and my staff treat all individuals as high risk in the light of potential risk factors of infection in a care home environment. The equipment that we use with the service users often come into contact with the service users. Equipment such as hoists, stand and turns, banana boards, commodes, walking frames, profiling beds all come into contact with service users who may be carrying infections or pathogens that will cause infections. In addition areas such as toilets, bathrooms, doors and door handles and stand rails are also areas where bacteria and pathogens can sit and survive. Some pathogens are very resistant and can survive in a dormant state until the conditions in their surroundings becomes right then they can multiply e.g. the spores of C. Diff. It is therefore essential that regular cleaning to the schedule is carried out thoroughly as to limit the opportunity for pathogens to harbour.

Hunting song Essay Example for Free

Hunting song Essay This story, â€Å"Hunting Song†, helps us envision the deer hunting tactics of the Navajo people. Although the true moral of this story is terrifying, the author of this poem wrote it in a way that it sounds almost peaceful. He uses beautiful, environmental imagery such as the mountains and dewy flowers to help us picture this scene better in our minds. This story teaches us about the Navajo song writing tradition, their appreciation towards the deer, and their hunting tactics. A major aspect of the Navajo culture is song writing. The people practically wrote songs for most of their activities, such as hunting. They have many, many songs that describe the many different facets of life. The song, Hunting Song is one of the more superior songs out of all the rest. That is because it was said by the Navajo bards, that the deer transformed itself into human. This explains why the hunter of this story was very content with killing this deer. It shows how the hunter may have felt proud to have caught an animal that is so incredible. The tribe’s appreciation for the deer is amazing. This song is basically a sacred verse for killing the deer. It’s incredible how the Navajo people are so thankful. For instance, people nowadays, in Korean society, kill cows and pigs. However, they do not particularly feel appreciative towards them. This song helps us understand how the Navajo are one with nature. It teaches the importance of the animals and helps us value what we receive in life. Although there is insufficient information in this story to figure out how they hunt, we can get a general consensus of it. In the last stanza, the author stated how he killed the deer by the â€Å"luck of (his) chase. † This last part helps me picture a man holding a spear, chasing the deer. However, we do not know if that is how the deer actually died. The fun part of this is that the author left the hunting techniques out so that his audience may imagine many other ways the hunter could have murdered the deer. From evaluating this hunting song, I was convinced that we all should appreciate and take value of our surroundings. I was surprisingly very inspired by the Navajo culture. It made me think of the time when I went hunting with my friend’s family back in the States. Although I didn’t recite a sacred verse to the elk we killed, I now know that I should the next time I go hunting. I feel as though I’ve learned so much about the people of Navajo and their traditions. Hunting Song teaches us about the Navajo song writing tradition, their appreciation toward the deer, and their awesome hunting tactics.

Effect of Alcohol Caffeine Concentration on Daphnia Magna

Effect of Alcohol Caffeine Concentration on Daphnia Magna The Effect of Alcohol and Caffeine Concentrations on Daphnia Magna Abstract The target of this experiment was to study the effects of alcohol and caffeine on the heart, using the Daphnia Magna as the test subject. The hypothesis was: Increasing the concentration of caffeine in which the Daphnia Magna is submerged will cause its heart rate to increase, while increasing the concentration of alcohol in which it is submerged will cause its heart rate to decrease. To test this hypothesis two Daphnia Magna were exposed to either alcohol or caffeine and its heart rate recorded by placing it on a microscope slide and counting the number of heart beats. It was deducted that the alcohol and caffeine had a very notable effect on the heart, with alcohol slowing it down and caffeine speeding it up. At the highest concentration of alcohol, the heart rate slowed and in turn the higher concentration of caffeine affected the heart rate by increasing it. I feel that the same concept of the effect of alcohol and caffeine on Daphnia Magna would be the same concept for its effec t on humans also sense alcohol is a depressant it tends to slow down the body as Caffeine is well known for giving our bodies a boost of energy. Introduction It was obvious to test the effects that alcohol and caffeine have on the human heart. The effects of alcohol and caffeine were a distinct interest sense they are drugs that are consumed on a large scale in society. However, because it is difficult to perform experiments of this nature on humans and get accurate results, we decided to use Daphnia Magna as a substitute for a human. Though humans and Daphnia Magna are different organisms, alcohol and caffeine should have an almost identical effect on them. The effect when both organisms are exposed to the same amounts of alcohol and caffeine should be more noticeable in Daphnia Magna because they are much smaller, so in turn the chemicals will flow through the Daphnia Magna’s form quicker and effect each cell more. There are many explanations why Daphnia Magna are commonly used compared to the use of a human as test subject. Firstly, Daphnia Magna are simple organisms compared to humans thus there are less factors that we have no control over what could likely affect the heart rate. Secondly, the heart of the Daphnia Magna is easy to view and examine because of their transparent body form. Thirdly, it is logical to use a Daphnia Magna because the effects of the drug will be observed much more quickly, within moments compared to around half an hour in humans. Also, to get usable results, it would be necessary to supply a human subject with a reasonable large amounts of alcohol or caffeine, which wouldn’t be good for short term health, as well as unscrupulous. The hypothesis under investigation was developed because depressants, like alcohol tend to decrease the activity of the body’s organs, whilst stimulants like caffeine tend to increase such activity. Methods and Materials Two Daphnia Magna specimen were collected from the habitat container and then placed each in their own hanging drop slide carefully so they would not slide all over like they would a traditional flat slide. This way one slide would have one Daphnia Magna testing the varying concentrations of alcohol and the other Caffeine. In caffeine we readied concentrations of 0.25%, 0.05%, 0.75% and 1.0% levels of concentration. One member held a bottle of distilled water to be used in between concentrations. The water allows the Daphnia Magna to rest a moment that way it doesn’t die to quickly from the various concentrations. One member will begin the experiment by tallying its heart beats per seconds to allow for an average heart rate. The group then subtracted the water from the slide and replaced it with the fist concentration of caffeine counting the heart beat 15 seconds again then quickly taking away the caffeine and replacing it back with distilled water. We repeat this process and collect the data until all concentrations have be used and the data compiled. Alcohol there were 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% of concentrations. Using a Microscope as well as a fresh bottle of water to adjust the Daphnia Magna to the stress of the many concentrations makes the experiment a little easier. As we did with the caffeine the group used a fresh Daphnia Magna collected the average heartbeat and began the process of subjecting the Daphnia Magna to the Alcohol concentrations collecting the heart beat data and observing how it changes with each concentration. Results Results demonstrates the profound effect the alcohol and caffeine both have on the heart. As shown in figure 1 and 3 the higher the concentration of caffeine the faster the heart becomes. In figures 2 and 4 Alcohol seems to have the opposite affect and slows the heart rate down increasingly with each concentration. Within our results it can be determined that when humans consume alcohol that they will experience a slowness and often a more depressed feeling. On the flip side when humans are exposed to caffeine it can be seen that there is a burst of energy â€Å"Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. Your central nervous system includes your brain, spinal cord, and the other nerves in your body. Caffeine’s main effect on your body is to make you feel more awake and alert for a while† (FDA, 2007) Table 1: group data for Caffeine concentrations Caffeine Concentrations and how they affect the heart rate Concentration Heart Rate 15 sec Heart Rate (BPM) 0% 53 216 0.25% 42 168 0.50% 39 156 0.75% 28 112 1.0% 31 124 Figure 1: the graph that shows the group average heart rates when exposed to the different concentrations of caffeine provided that the Daphnia Magna heart rate was counted for 15 seconds then calculated to BPM Table 2: Group data for alcohol concentrations Alcohol concentrations and how they affect the heart rate Concentration Heart Rate 15 sec Heart Rate (BPM) 0% 31 133.33 2% 27 108 4% 24 96 6% 12 68 8% 19 76 10% 14 56 Figure 2: the graph that shows the group average heart rates when exposed to the different concentrations of alcohol provided that the Daphnia Magna heart rate was counted for 15 seconds then calculated to BPM. Table 3: Class data for caffeine concentrations Water Control AVG 0.25% Caf 0.5% Caf 0.75% Caf 1.0% Caf KR 216 168 156 112 124 g1 45.3 56 84 96 88 G2 248 448 452 480 508 Jeep 132 208 164 220 188 G5 133.3 120 112 124 136 Average 154.92 200 193.6 206.4 208.8 Figure 3: the graph that shows the class average heart rates when exposed to the different concentrations of caffeine.   Ã‚   Table 4: Class data for Alcohol concentrations Initials Water Control AVG 2% Alc 4% Alc 6% Alc 8% Alc 10% Alc KR 133.33 108 96 68 76 56 g1 54 248 285 236 188 172 G2 205.3 312 240 180 64 48 Jeep 181 148 152 124 124 108 G5 205.3 240 196 232 212 100 Average 155.8 211.2 193.8 168 132.8 96.8 Figure 4: the graph that shows the class average heart rates when exposed to the different concentrations of alcohol. Discussion â€Å"Alcohol affects every organ in the drinkers body and can damage a developing fetus. Intoxication can impair brain function and motor skills; heavy use can increase risk of certain cancers, stroke, and liver disease.† (Abuse, 2014)

Examine Lord Capulets motivation, attitude and behaviour in three key E

Examine Lord Capulets motivation, attitude and behaviour in three key scenes and suggest how an actor could perform the part so as to convey these motives and attitudes to an audience. The play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† was written in 1589-95 by William Shakespeare. The play is a tragedy which means that it is a serious play and will not end happily for some will die. It was set in 16th century Verona in Italy, which was a patriarchal society. This meant that men had the power and all women were compelled under the control of their husbands and fathers. It was also part of a hierarchical society, which was a structure of class, with Prince Escalus at the top, then the Lords and Ladies, such as Lord Montague and Lord Capulet; rich tradesmen and merchants were under the lords, and at the bottom were the servants such as Juliet’s nurse. The play is about â€Å"a pair of star-crossed lovers† who take their lives because of their families’ feud. The house of Montague and the house of Capulet have been quarrelling for years and years, so Juliet of Capulet and Romeo of Montague fall into a â€Å"death-marked love.† In act one scene two the two houses of Capulet and Montague have just had a fight. Prince Escalus has given Lord Capulet a warning that â€Å"If you ever disturb our streets again, your lives will pay the forfeit of the peace.† So he would now be feeling embarrassed, upset, humiliated and ashamed. To show this to Paris and the audience he would mumble and speak quietly. He would hunch to show that he feels a lack of security. He would be humble towards Paris and his face would look blank. Paris wants to wed Juliet and has come to Capulet to ask if he has his blessing. Capulet comes back to his senses and says, â€Å"My child is yet a stranger in the world† which means that he thinks Juliet is too young to be married off. Paris says that there are younger wives than her. Then Capulet replies with â€Å"And too soon marred are those so early made† which means that those girls were too young to be mothers and their lives were ruined. The audience would now think that Capulet is a good father and that he truly loves his daughter. He even says that â€Å"she is the hopeful lady of my earth,† Which makes the audience think that he is an even better father from when they first thought. Because it was very odd at that time for a father to love his ... ...er, because it was very unusual at that time for a father to love his daughter so much. Then in act 1 scene 5 the audience thought that Capulet was a very good host telling every one to have a good time and enjoy themselves. They thought he was a very jolly person who loves entertaining people and that he had the image of a perfectionist. In Act 3 scene 5 the audience thought that lord Capulet was a horrible father who loses his temper far to quickly and that he was far to harsh toward Juliet and the nurse. Romeo and Juliet’s love for each other was very important in the play because that was the reason for all the complications like the marriage between Paris that was arranged for Juliet, the banishment of Romeo because he would not fight Tybalt, the death of Mercutio, the death of Tybalt, the whole tragedy theme, the deaths of Romeo and Juliet and finally the bringing together of the Capulets and the Montague’s. The bringing together of the Capulets and the Montague’s happened because of Romeo and Juliet’s love and their deaths. Because of these events both of the families realised how silly they had been and called friendship between them instead of war.