Emerging Standards Essay

Diversity is exhibited in many ways, including a multiplicity of upbringing, dress, thought, lifestyle, values, food preferences, family relationships, and in gender, ethnicity, and age. These factors exist throughout the gamut of health care patients and the interactions designed with the nurses who care for them. Diversity in healthcare refers to the cultural setting in how the patient lives and in some measure defining their connection to healing, health, and their own role in the nurse to patient relationship (University of Phoenix, 2012). In many ways, the United States landscape is changing, especially in the health care field. The Baby Boomers are reaching an age where they are going to need and use more health care assistance, Generation Y and the Nexters are entering into the ages to begin working careers, and are bringing different behaviors and value sets with them. In the middle of all of these changes are the nurses and their care. Factors that play an influential role i n the delivery of nursing care to the ever changing landscape are not only the diversity of the patient but the ability of the nurse to provide effective and culturally competent care (University of Phoenix, 2012). Standards of Cultural Competence American nurses are predominately made of white females and does not honestly indicate the diverse population they serve. The push for more minority students to be recruited into the schools of nursing is big, but because of the culture of the profession being made up of middle class, white values, the minority nursing students are facing a barrier; racism. In nursing education, there is an emphasis on cultural competence. Being culturally competent means having the ability to care for patients with different cultures and backgrounds competently. This is otherwise known as transcultural nursing. An essential part of the nursing syllabus, transcultural nursing eliminates the racism shadow that has been portrayed  all these years as normal. Transcultural nursing emphasizes nursing capabilities in providing culturally specific care to a diverse patient population. Cultural competence refers to studying and practicing nursing, focusing on the similarities and differences among the cult ures with respect to nursing care and patient health. Cultural competence can also be defined as â€Å"the ability to provide effective clinical care for a particular ethnic or racial group and is seldom seen as the ability to reach a culturally diverse student population with varying perspectives on health and illness and female roles† (Wilby, 2009, p. 58). Culturally competent standards in healthcare are set as ethnic or racial differences in the quality of care not discriminated against. There are two levels of non-discrimination. The first is within the operation of the healthcare system and the way the system functions following regulatory and legal pathways. The second is at the provider-patient level, or the individual’s levels. Discrimination is described as the way care is given based on prejudices, biases, and stereotyping. Another type of discrimination is on the patient level with the provider. An example, a minority patient refuses service recommendations based on the result of a cultural mismatch between the patient and the care provider. This type of behavior can also result from misuse of clinical services such as when a test is not clinically indicated but given anyway (a pregnancy test on all females over the age of 12 regardless) (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2003). Culturally Competent Care within Memorial Hermann Healthcare Systems Memorial Hermann Healthcare System (MHHS) is dedicated to the purpose of assisting the communities, patients, employees, and physicians they serve in a responsible, legal, and ethical fashion. Furthermore, they are loyal in rendering aid to their community, staying in full conformity with appropriate guidelines, laws, and regulations, in addition to their own procedures, policies, and processes. They are especially aware of the obligations appropriate to federal programs and correct billings submission. MHHS provides culturally competent, holistic care that directs with due respect, the physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs of their patients. The system has high ethical values and expects respect, integrity, and fairness in all their relationships, employer, employee, and patient. MHHS provides culturally competent care with respect to the individual dignity of the patient,  responding to needs, questions, and concerns in a sensitive and timely fashion. They evaluate and monitor on a continuing basis, the way care and any other similar services is being delivered to make sure that their mandated and customary set standards are being met. They take pride in the non-discrimination of the patient for any basis regardless of their ethnicity, race, upbringing, dress, lifestyle, values, gender, disability, or age. These same standards are upheld for the employees also. There is no discrimination when it comes to training, promotion or compensation, and employees are encouraged to frequently evaluate their current methods of care delivery in hopes of learning more effective ways of providing patient care and showing support (M emorial Hermann Healthcare System, 2012). Populations: Served and Vulnerability Cultural minorities have more of a tendency to get an inferior quality of care than the non-minorities, even with controlled access-related factors, such as income and insurance status. There are many sources to this disparity; contemporary and historic inequities, and involving many players; health care systems along with their bureaucratic and administrative processes, case managers or utilization reviewers, the healthcare professional, and the patients themselves. Studies have shown that uncertainty, biases, and stereotyping done by the professional contributes to this unequal treatment. Minorities also experience other barriers to accessing care, even if they carry the same level of insurance as whites, including cultural familiarity, geography, and language barriers. Furthermore, the hospital and clinic financial arrangements of a health care system, as well as the regulatory, policy, and legal environment in which the system operates, may have a negative effect on these vulnerable populations’ ability to acquire quality health care (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2003). Delivery of Nursing Care Nurses need be aware of how barriers such as racial, ethnicity, and gender can be related to health care access, and problems with underutilization are present causing disparities and affecting the communities in which they serve (University of Phoenix, 2012). Transcultural nursing has become a lead role player in the delivery of healthcare and is a necessity for the nurses  of today because of the steadily increasing multicultural trend happening within the American population. One out of three people in the United States make up a portion of various ethnicities other than the average White. Because of this swift growth of the multicultural society, transcultural nursing is vital to nursing care, requiring that nurses are practicing cultural competence in their day-to-day patient care areas. Culturally competent nurses are knowledgeable about other cultural beliefs and ideas and are trained in being able to identify particular patterns in order to formulate a personalized care plan that meets all the needs and goals of the patient. Culturally competent nurses also provide holistic care. This approach focuses on the spiritual, emotional, social, psychological, and physical needs of the patient. Being able to provide holistic care to the individual patient also means that the nurse can also relate to the patient’s cultural differences. In other words, in order for the nurse to perform care for their patient at the optimal level, the nurse must be culturally competent (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). Solutions Multi-level and comprehensive strategies are needed to eliminate barriers of cultural competence. The gap between ethnic and racial groups and healthcare (providers, payors, patients, insurance plans, and society as a whole) must be made known in order to reach a solution. The healthcare workers and their competence to provide superior care to ethnic and racial minorities can be enhanced significantly by expanding the ratio of ethnic and racial minorities among healthcare professionals. Also, both the providers and their patients can profit from education. Patients can profit from culturally and customarily suitable instructional programs to enhance their knowledge of how to obtain competent health care and their capacity to share in their outcome and making decisions. The providers, however, carry the larger educational burden. Cultural competence courses should be incorporated from the beginning of their career, for any upcoming healthcare professional, and case-based, realistic, and meticulously assessed training exercises be offered through continuing education courses. Lastly, monitoring, collecting, and reporting of core measure and meaningful use data to health insurers and state and/or federal entities should be supported as a way to evaluate improvement in eradicating disparities, to  assess mediation attempts, and to gauge conceivable civil rights breaches (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2003). Implementing the Solutions The health care professional who develops a detailed viewpoint of the association between health and culture; values respect for inclusiveness, social justice, equity, and differences; and uses their ability to authorize these standards in their areas of influence, personally and professionally, are capable of improving care for patient diversity (Getzlaf & Osborne, 2010). Studies such as the â€Å"Sullivan Commission’s Report on the Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce suggests that increasing the diversity of healthcare professionals† will rally healthcare equality and quality for racial and ethnic minorities who go through the most disparities in health results (Edwards, 2009, para. 3). As the number of non-white people increase in the United States, the workforce of professional nurses needs to reflect its persons to strengthen quality and access of healthcare for people from culturally diverse upbringings (Edwards, 2009). Conclusion Diversity in healthcare refers to the cultural setting of how the patient lives and in some measure defining their connection to healing, health, and their own role in the nurse to patient relationship. Most nurses are performing in multicultural settings where the patient brings his or her own set of values and beliefs. Being able to understand the nurse’s individual cultural viewpoint of the community, the client, and one’s self is central to giving culturally and suitable care (University of Phoenix, 2012). In collaboration with others, MHHS is committed to assessing and creating health care solutions that meets the needs of the individuals in their diverse communities. This healthcare system believes in treating everyone with the respect and dignity as they themselves want, creating an environment that is unique to each individual who enters their doors, making each patient feel special and well-cared for, no matter what (Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, 2012). Nurses must continue to practice cultural competence daily in their practice in order to impart in each patient the feeling of being cared for and known of as an individual in a multifaceted healthcare system and the culturally diverse society (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). References Edwards, K. (2009, Summer). Promoting quality care by increasing the diversity of the professional nursing workforce. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 16(2), 39. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from University of Phoenix Library, CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Getzlaf, B.A., & Osborne, M. (2010). A journey of critical consciousness: an educational strategy for health care leaders. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 7(34), 1-15. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from University of Phoenix Library, MEDLINE with Full Text. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (2003). Unequal Treatment. Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, D.C. The National Academies Press. Maier-Lorentz, M.M. (2008, Spring). Transcultural nursing: its importance in nursing practice. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 15(1), 37-43. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from University of Phoenix Library, MEDLINE with Full Text. Memorial Hermann Healthcare System. (2012). Standards of con duct. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from http://www.memorialhermann.org University of Phoenix. (2012). Read me first. Retrieved November 6, 2012 from University of Phoenix, NUR/531 website. Wilby, M.L. (2009). When the world was white. International Journal for Human Caring, 13(4), 57-61. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from University of Phoenix Library, CINAHL Plus with Full Text.

Human Health Essay

Health in human beings includes physical, social and psychological well being or fitness. Changing weather patterns, for instance, extreme events affects human health directly or indirectly through changes in air, food quality and quantity, ecosystem agriculture, livelihood and infrastructure. Research on effects of climate change Confalonieri et al provided evidence climate change has; altered distribution of some infectious disease vectors altered the seasonal distribution of allergenic pollen species and increases heat wave-related deaths (2007). Seriousness of the effects of climate change is further manifested by increase in malnutrition and consequence disorders, including disorders related to child growth and development, increase in death, diseases, and body injury from heat waves, storms, fires and drought. As climate change, some infectious disease vector has change too; this has made them more resistant to traditional drugs. The change has also lend to mixed effects on malaria, in some places, the geographical range has contracted while in other places the range has expand and still in others the transmission season has changed. Transmission of water borne diseases like typhoid and cholera increases. The research has also proved an increase in cardio respiratory morbidity and mortality associated with ground level ozone. Non –communicable diseases, such as heart disease diabetes stroke and cancer are estimated to contribute about half of the global burden of all disease at all ages. Despite this, communicable diseases affecting human health are a great threat to public health in many parts of the world. According to the report, almost two million deaths a year are feared to result from diarrheal diseases and other communicable diseases and other conditions that are attributed to unsafe drinking water and lack of basic sanitation. Malaria, a disease whose geographical rage is affected by climate causes an estimated one million deaths annually especially in young children. Mal-nutrition and drought leading to adverse negative effects on human health, is greatly attributed to climate change. In the report, it is estimated that an increase in frequency or intensity of heat waves will increase the risk of mortality and morbidity, especially in old age group and the urban poor. An increase in climate extremes, for instance storm, floods and drought would cause more deaths injuries, population displacement and adverse effects on food production, fresh water availability and an increase in the risk of infectious disease particularly in low income countries. Considering the current trends of emissions to continue, more harm will be done to the environment; air quality will worsen, ozone and other particulate pollutants will increase, increasing mortality and morbidity amongst human beings. From the report, a clear relationship between climate and human health is described, but in it is common knowledge that disease have been here as long as man has existed. It is therefore important to consider and see climate change as a catalyst and not necessary the cause of ill health in human beings. Despite this, more understanding of the extent, rate, limiting forces and major drivers of adaptation of human population to a changing climate is needed. This will reduce the impacts of climate change on human health.

The Coup d'tat of 18 Brumaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Coup d'tat of 18 Brumaire - Essay Example This is due to his great skill during wars and his help during the French revolution. He also contributed to imperial democracy which was widespread in Europe during the French revolution. Since his childhood, he trained and served as an artillery officer in France. Born of a noble Italian, he became famous too fast that he was soon included in the French army. To his success, he led to the success of an invasion in the Italian peninsula. After his leadership and military tactics, he became staged leading to his name as the First Consul. He staged a coup d'etat in 1799 but it did not work in the overthrow of the then present government (Bader 25). Napoleon also led the French to Napoleonic wars in the 19th century. The wars involved all the major leaders and states in Europe. The war took long but in most of the cases, Napoleon helped his army to conquer new states. In his wars, Napoleon worn most of the wars in Europe through improvising on war strategies while were advanced as comp ared to his enemies. Through his wars and victories, he was able to maintain the French as a sphere of influence. Formation of alliances with allies during the wars helped increase his manpower that served the army. Invasion of Russia in 1812 and the peninsular war marked Napoleon’s turning points fortunes and successes. During the Grande Armee, his reputation was badly damaged such that it was not recovered in future. He was later defeated by the Sixth Coalition in 1813. This consecutive attracts led to his exile to Elba. He then decided to get into war again but lost. This led to his return to power and war and was defeated in 1815 at the battle of Waterloo. He found out that he was not ready for most of the French wars due to his deterioration in war tactics. He decided to continue living in confinement at a British island named Saint Helena. After his failed war attempts he gave up and late died of a stomach cancer. However, this information was only available he royal me mbers. Some of scholars and researchers speculate that he was targeted by his enemies in war and was issued with arsenic poison to help terminate his life and leadership in the French military. Napoleon Bonaparte and the Coup d'etat of 18 Brumaire It was a first French consul that aided to terminate the French revolution. The coup was led by Napoleon Bonaparte since he has exposure to advances military and leadership tactics. He also had a great influence to the French where he was able to convince physically fit men to join the army. This led to the creation of a strong army that did not fear any enemy during wars. Some scholars argue that he had charismatic type of leadership style that helps him to obtain a large population of followers. Since he was bright and gifted in tactical situations, he was able to organize the coup of 18 Brumaire without knowledge of the other leaders on 9th November 1799 (Englund 22). The coup had several impacts such as overthrowing the Directory and r eplaced it with the French Consulate which was widespread at the moment. Karl Max in his studies was able to name the coup as the ‘Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon’ which was derived from the 1851 coup by the nephew of Napoleon. However, Napoleon had come up with other coups to come up with the Brumaire coup. General Jean Victor Marie Moreau was an ally to Napoleon and he helped in the coup (Englund 22). Coup of 18 Brumaire and its contributions to the general course of the French revolution The coup led to the crushing of the Directory. However,

Economic Comparison of China and USA Performance Research Paper

Economic Comparison of China and USA Performance - Research Paper Example This paper provides succinct economic comparative analysis of recent growth indicators of China and the United States. The result of economic comparison is essential in identify the right country for investing, as the behavior of the economic factors tends to predict political, social, and economic environment in this countries. The National Bureau of Statistics of China report indicates that from 2011 to 2013 the GDP growth rate averaged at 2 percent. This trend was higher in June 2011 at 2.50% and recorded low in March 2012 at 1.5%. Further, the report indicates that the Chinese economy is the second largest in the world after United States. The economic trends in China have changed in the past thirty years from market-oriented economy to a private sector economy. The Bureau of Economic Analysis report shows that United States is world largest national economy. It has a GDP of USD 16.66trillion, GDP per Capita of USD49, 601. The US A population living below the poverty line 14.8% and has workforce of 155.6 million out of which 11.26 million are unemployed. The GDP growth per sector shows that service industry is leading 79% whereas agriculture and industry trail at 1.2% and 19% respectively. The World Bank report indicates that the China’s economy is $10.1 trillion compared to $14.6 trillion for the U.S. based on the purchasing power parity. It appears that China is narrowing the gap fast and it might overtake U.S in the near future. In the past 10years, the China’s GDP averaged at 10.5% compared to the U.S 1.7%. ... Other factors which illustrate Chinese economic performance includes people living people the poverty line 13.1%, and average gross salary USD 457. USA The Bureau of Economic Analysis report shows that United States is world largest national economy. It has a GDP of USD 16.66trillion, GDP per Capita of USD49, 601. The US A population living below the poverty line 14.8% and has workforce of 155.6 million out of which 11.26 million are unemployed. The GDP growth per sector shows that service industry is leading 79% whereas agriculture and industry trail at 1.2% and 19% respectively (The World Bank, 2013). The average annual gross salary is USD 45, 790. In the year 2012, US spent USD 2.3trillion. The major import partners are China 19%, Canada 14%, Mexico 12%, Japan 6.4%, and Germany 4.7%. Largely, the consumer goods top the list of the US imports. On the other hand, US exports USD 1.56 trillion with the major export partners being Canada 19%, Mexico 14%, China 7%, and Japan 4.5%. Other economic factors defining the economic growth of United States are Education Cost whose GDP is 1%, health or social care 8%, and Federal Government including military spending 5%. Analysis of the Economic Performance The World Bank report indicates that the China’s economy is $10.1 trillion compared to $14.6 trillion for the U.S. based on the purchasing power parity. It appears that China is narrowing the gap fast and it might overtake U.S in the near future. In the past 10years, the China’s GDP averaged at 10.5% compared to the U.S 1.7% (The World Bank, 2013). This trend seems to suggest that China has many emerging opportunities that contribute to its fast economic growth as opposed to United States. A comparison between the US workforce and the China’s

Choose one of the theorists of power discussed in Week 3, and discuss Essay

Choose one of the theorists of power discussed in Week 3, and discuss the extent to which their ideas are relevant to understand the distribution and exercise o - Essay Example Going further it is very clear from the review of the literature that these thinkers were influenced by the events that shaped their world and also by the contribution of the previous generation of philosophers. Thus it is important to remember that their views can be only understood in the context of these experiences. Since, there is a progressive development in their ideas as time progresses, there is no point of comparison. Yet if one is asked to choose which among them is more relevant to understanding the present system of governance or the various leadership models found in the modern world, then there must be no hesitation to choose the classical theorist Max Weber. The following reasons supports this view. Using these three questions as guidelines, it would be beneficial to have an overview of the different theories by the other philosophers to provide a point of comparison. By looking at their respective historical we see a linear development from Medieval period up to the more recent era. Max Weber continued writing even up to the 20th century and undoubtedly his ideas were shaped by the leapfrogging developments in politics and social sciences at the turn of the century. Contrast Webers background and experiences to Niccolo Machiavelli who lived in a period commonly known as the Dark Ages. This is a time before the Reformation, Renaissance and age of scientific progress. His magnum opus, a book entitled The Prince was written in 1515 AD, in the midst of a society where despots and authoritarian rulers are a norm (Wheeler, 2006, par.3, â€Å"The Prince†). Thomas Hobbes on the other hand was born a mere century after Machiavelli and his theory of power was based on the understanding of a world ruled by kings, queens and popes. His ideas supported the necessity of a monarchical government and even assert that order can be attained by following this type of rule. Hobbes was forced to support monarchy only

Reliability, Maintainability, and Supportability of COTS Research Paper

Reliability, Maintainability, and Supportability of COTS - Research Paper Example The use of COTS is wide spread across many business and governmental programs; this is because these products offer significant savings in maintenance, procurement and development. The motivation behind the usage of COTS a component includes reduced maintenance cost in the long run and hopes that the overall system cost and development, this is because components can be licensed or bought instead of developing them. COTS were considered remedies for intractable problems during the 1990s. COTS development came into being with tradeoffs which were not so obvious. An example been initial and development cost and time which not so much a problem can be reduced but at the expense of another. Such as depending on a third party who is to lease components and increase in the integration of software component works. Software specifications are encrypted externally so government agencies view that in the long run when changes are done to the product compatibility will be a hindrance (McKinney 23). COTS reliability can be verified using an analysis and reliability estimation technique applicable to high level designs. The technique is known as Scenario-Based Reliability Estimation (SBRE). SBRE is specific for COTS whose analysis is purely based on executable scenarios. While using scenarios, we construct a probability model known as Component Dependency Graph (CDG). These are graphs which represent component reliability, components, interface and link reliability, transition probabilities, transitions, components average time of execution. In CDG, components link and interface reliabilities are given focus as the first class elements to be put in the model. The reliability of the application is analyzed by an algorithm presented its analysis also include; reliability of its interface and components. The SBRE algorithm identifies critical component interface and critical components by interpolating the sensitivity of the application reliability to changes in the interface and components. To ensure a software application is reliable is a difficult task even if it was commercially pretested therefore, there has been the emergence of several techniques for analysis and estimation of components based application reliability. And they are categorized as: Component Based Reliability Estimation - the reliability of the application is estimated using the individual’s components reliability and interconnection mechanism. System Level Reliability Estimation – applications reliability is estimated as a whole. For example using system level architecture evaluation or system testing (Ammar, H , et al, 2004) Underestimating the technical risk associated with evaluation, integration and selection of software components can result to high maintenance/development cost and long schedule delays. Trends in computer based products, such as mobile phones and vehicles, is shorter lifecycles and shorter. Therefore, time spent on the development of new versions of a product or new products must be reduced. A solution to one of the emerging problems is reusing of solutions and software designs in new versions of products and systems. Properly handling reuse will greatly improve the reliability since the code is executed in a different context and longer time. However, reuse is not trivial; it puts strong demands on the methods of development in order to achieve success. Reuse

Week 3 Discussion Post Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 3 Discussion Post - Assignment Example Marginalization refers to the relegation of people or societies to the fringe preventing meaningful participation (Faizi 29). The examples of marginalized people are many. I have seen many homeless people spending their lives in subways or under some bridge, and their presence always conjures the concept of marginalization. Governments and social care offices have excluded these people; that is what I feel when I see them. Artists need space, and this demand drives them to work and live in marginalized regions. However, other factors motivate artists to marginalize themselves. Some of the factors are pragmatic while others are philosophical. The overriding reason, though, is that artists see assets, possibility, opportunity, and potential for conversion where other people see deficiency and blight (Jackson 5). Cities that are highly connected provide accessibility. One can hop from a bus to another means of transport say an electric train making movement easy. Accessibility invokes feelings of belonging, and it empowers men, women, and young people alike. They can take part in various things that are of economic and social value. Accessibility and empowerment create conditions that conjure self-reliance, confidence, and capacity to make strategic choices in