Nursing Home Administration

Nursing facility is a special environment which has a great impact on employees and their perception of duty and responsibilities. The nursing process is a dynamic and continuous cycle that aims to place the patient as an individual at the heart of the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of nursing care. Researchers states that the satisfaction of helping others and recognition and reward programs are the main factors which motivate employees of a nursing facility. On the one hand, there is a belief that nurses have an influence on patient care and ultimately on health outcomes. Satisfaction of helping others motivates employees to do their best and provide patients with the best services. The nursing process can be described as a merger of decision making skills with caring ability and is influenced by knowledge, research and experience. For the individual employees, satisfaction of helping others begins with a conscious choice to become involved in life beyond the self, not only because of personal reward, but because the activities tie them to the shared efforts, hope, and experiences of the broader community. Satisfaction means that an individual will seek to become fully engaged in the world of the community. Participation in community acknowledges the interdependence of human beings. In the ideal situation, employees seek to be integrated within the self and with helping people whose lives are touched by the mission of the agency. Satisfaction of helping others emphasizes belonging and duty above desires and rights. For nurses, satisfaction places acceptance of duties ahead of consideration of benefits. Work is undertaken not only as a response to a given set of incentives, but more importantly, because of a deep personal attachment to productive participation in the community (Recruitment and Retention 2000). Recognition and reward programs show that work and skills of employees are appraised by administration that value their efforts and knowledge. In many nursing facilities, the foundation of the performance appraisal and merit pay systems assumes that workers are primarily motivated by financial rewards which result from the accomplishment of clearly established and measurable performance goals. The recognition and reward are closely tied to eligibility for salary increases or, in the case of eligible middle managers, for merit pay adjustments. The system provides financial rewards and recognition in return for the achievement of monitored performance goals. The reward system relies on definite goals and expectations which are established and clearly understood between the supervisor and nurses. Theoretically, when these mutually understood conditions are present, employees are motivated; they draw on and apply their energy in appropriate directions to meet organizational objectives and are then appropriately rewarded (Beardwell et al 2004). The recognition and reward system depends on consistent and predictable procedures that can accurately establish and track employee performance. This involvement or attachment is chosen not just with a specific expectation of reward, but more importantly because the activity or attachment is meaningful in itself (Jennings, Murray, 2005). It might be assumed that any changes these employers made to the pay system would introduce a greater degree of individualization of reward. This could be achieved by simply increasing the proportion that was based on merit. The rewards to those who are seen to be outstanding performers are of two kinds: the formal and the informal. Many nursing facilities operated special annual award schemes for employees who made exceptional contributions. The award is a corporate-wide scheme designed to reward outstanding work and motivate employees. In sum, to be effective, an individual performance evaluation and reward system must first have credibility among employees. The pivotal issue in motivating employees to perform in organizationally defined ways is employee confidence that the system can produce the results it promises. The satisfaction of helping others and recognition motivate nursing staff and increase their commitment to work. References Beardwell, I. Holden, L., Claydon, T. (2004). Human Resource Management, London Pitman Publishing. Jennings, B., Murray, T. H. (2005). The Quest to Reform End of Life Care: Rethinking Assumptions and Setting New Directions. The Hastings Center Report, 35 (6), 52 Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Nurses. (2000). Retrieved 12 March 2007 from http://www.va.gov/OCA/testimony/docs/14je01TG2.rtf

17th Century English Theater

This paper discusses playhouses and theaters in England in the 17th century. The paper shows that the English stage during the late 17th century was a time of rebuilding, and also a time of creation. There were many different ideas on what theater should be and it was very common for one person to have an idea, and as soon as it was known, opposing ideas were quickly published, followed by various defenses of the original idea. The paper discusses several people who were well known for their opinions from that time period, including Jeremy Collier, John Dryden, Alexander Pope, William Congreve and William Stubbs. When the Stuart Dynasty returned to the throne of England in 1660, the playhouses were reopened. In August, Charles II issued patents for two companies of players, and performances immediately began. However, theater had evolved a bit. The Royalty and the Nobility, as well as a few independent companies now owned theatrical troupes. Often the ones that had permanent theaters such as Convent Garden, Drury Lane and Dorset Garden had Noble backers to provide for the upkeep. Costumes were often second hand garments that the nobility no longer desired. Slowly the better-kept theaters became places to see and be seen. Often what was going on in the auditorium was just as much, or more interesting then what was on stage. The style of the play writing was of a lesser form then that of the Elizabethan plays. It frequently utilized stereotypes and stock characters.

Pros and cons of outsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Pros and cons of outsourcing - Essay Example Total outsourcing means the decision to transfer IS assets, leases, staff, and management responsibility far delivery of IS services from an internal IS function to a single third party vendor which represents more than 80 per cent of the IS budget. Millar (1994 cited Greaver 1999) defines four basic types of outsourcing arrangements: General outsourcing encompasses three alternatives: (1) selective outsourcing where one particular area of IS activity is chosen to be turned over to a third party, such as data centre operations; (2) value-added outsourcing where an area of IS activity is turned over to a third party who is thought to be able to provide a level of support or service which adds value to the activity that could not be cost-effectively provided by the internal IS group; (3) co-operative outsourcing where some targeted IS activities are jointly performed by a third party provider and the internal IS department. Researchers discovered that many companies investigated outsou rcing as a consequence of IS managers' failure to demonstrate the value of IS to various stakeholders within the organization. Many different stakeholders (senior managers, business unit managers, IS managers, IS staff, and end users) possessed different preferences, expectations, perceptions, and agendas for IS. Form post-modernization point of view, the enthusiasm for IS outsourcing in the trade press is not unique-any new management trend promises to be the panacea to organizational problems. Through radical change, be it business process re-engineering, total quality management, virtual corporations, etc, practitioners are offered yet another utopia. Such positive press tempts many senior executives to jump on the latest bandwagon, and subsequent research shows that many organizations improve radically (Burnett, 1998). Financial Benefits of Outsourcing Many senior managers cite financial reasons for outsourcing. In particular, senior managers view outsourcing as a way to cut costs, improve cost control, and restructure the IS budget. Many companies expect that outsourcing would save them money. They perceive that vendors enjoy economies of scale that enable then to provide IS services at a lower cost than internal IS departments. In particular, senior managers believe that a vendor's unit costs are less expensive due to mass production efficiencies and labor specialization (Greaver 1999). Another financial rationale for outsourcing is gaining control over IS costs. As any IS manager will attest, IS costs are directly related to IS user demands. In most organizations, however, IS costs are controlled through general allocation systems which motivate users to demand and consume resources excessively. General allocation systems are analogous to splitting a restaurant tab--each dinner companion is motivated to order an expensive dinner because the cost will be shared by the other parties. Participants saw outsourcing as a way to control costs because vendors implement cost controls that more directly tie usage to costs. In addition, users no longer call their favorite analysts to request frivolous changes, but instead must submit requests through a formal cost control process. This results in the curtailing of excessive user demands and thus reduces overall IS costs.

Managerial Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Managerial Economics - Essay Example It happens because when the number of firms is few, any change in the price or quality of the products by one company will have an immediate and direct impact on the other companies. When this happens, it is highly likely that the rivals will immediately respond with similar or more aggressive changes. Thus, in oligopoly, companies remain in constant vigil about the actions and reactions of their opponents (Bolotova et al 2005). Also, companies will hesitate to adopt any such tactics to gain market share because the rivals will immediately respond with similar strategies (ibid). When this happens, it seems that most of the companies start giving more attention to advertising and selling costs. As other strategies will not work, companies try to increase their advertisement in order to achieve maximum sale. Similarly, companies will start reducing selling costs so that profits can be maximised. Yet another important feature is price rigidity. In an oligopoly system, prices often remai n rigid because firms are afraid of making changes because of the price-war (Liu & Serfes 2006) Another important point to be mentioned here is the importance of strategy. To illustrate, in oligopoly, it is highly necessary for firms to be careful about their own strategies because they cannot act independently. It is highly necessary for them to decide when to collude with their rivals and when to compete with them. Also, it is highly necessary to be careful while raising or lowering the prices. Admittedly, these features lure the companies to collude in order to reduce uncertainty and also to enjoy monopoly and higher profits. These firms often engage in various forms of collusion, ranging from overt collusion, covert collusion, and tacit collusion. Overt collusion occurs when firms openly engage in agreements like trade associations. Covert collusion is kept hidden in order to hide the results of the collusion. Thirdly, tacit collusion is the result when all firms in an oligopoly act in concert even without the existence of an agreement. One of the most notorious cases of collusion is the lysine price-fixing conspiracy. It took place in the mid 1990s, and various companies from various countries were involved. They were Archer Daniels Midland from the US, Japan companies named Ajinomoto and Kyowa Hakko Kogyo, Korean companies named Sewon America Inc. and Cheil Jedang Ltd. These companies colluded to raise the price of an important animal feed additive called lysine. It is seen that these companies, through the price-fixing, managed to raise the price of the product by 70% (Liski & Montero 2006). Thus, it becomes evident that the cartel helped the companies to raise their profit through gaining monopoly (ibid). It is found that in a perfect market, it is not possible for companies to collude easily because the decisions of a few companies will not impact the market as a whole. However, in an oligopoly market, the collective decision taken by a few companies will have significant impact on the whole market. This will give the companies monopoly and increased profits. Very similar is the case of the beer companies Heineken, Grolsch, and Bavaria, which made a price-fixing deal in Holland, monopolising beer distribution. In fact, these companies collectively controlled 95% of the Holland beer market (Brue & Mcconnell 2006, p. 210). Through collusion, they increased the beer price

The role of nurses in improving hospital quality and efficiency Assignment

The role of nurses in improving hospital quality and efficiency - Assignment Example The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has created a chance for the medically underserved populations to access health care across the United States. The legislation has made health insurance accessible by forming health insurance marketplace where people can access it through the internet. It has also provided civilians with incentives such as reducing insurance cost. Moreover, the legislation has led to the redefining of the health care system by introducing changes that have improved the quality, accountability and efficiency of the health care system; hence, helping reduce costs of providing health care to Americans (Rosenbaum, 2011). The government should play the following roles in the delivery of health care in the United States. Firstly, the government should regulate the health care markets. The health care markets are made up of both private and government hospitals, health care centers, and pharmaceuticals. The government should ensure quality services and medicines are sold to its people. Secondly, the government should play the bigger part of providing health care in the country. This will help protect the people from low-quality services while extending health care access to all Americans in the United States (Tang, Eisenberg, & Meyer, 2004). Nurses can play individual roles in strengthening and improving the health care system in the United States. A nurse can contribute to the quality improvement in the health system by participating in nursing leadership forums in the hospitals.

Essay For Bursary Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

For Bursary - Essay Example I will also articulate the core reason I think that I am eligible and deserve to receive this bursary award to attain my education goals and objectives. Due to discrepancy with my personal income, accessing OSAP assistance has remained a challenge. In addition, lack of compatibility and inconsistency in my income has proved to be an obstacle to be eligible for OSAP initiative. Moreover, having no stable income has been a provocation for in being a beneficiary of the OSAP initiative as other students. Besides the aforementioned obstacles, attending classes without learning materials remains as the most discouraging in my education life. As a major factor for comprehensive learning, it is a challenge to keep up with the pace of teachers and other students when lacking essential learning materials. Lack of adequate learning stationeries has disadvantaged me in effectively doing homework, assignments and preparations of my exams. Due to lack of adequate support to fund my post-secondary education, I established several income generating activities to help meet my educational and personal needs. For instance, I work every day during my free time to enable me raise enough tuition fees and money for personal needs. Consequently, I have lost concentration and performance ability due to inability to have adequate studies time. My class performance has continually worsened over the years mainly because I always prefer to concentrate on accomplishing employment tasks. Normally, having excellent performance at work has enhanced my job security and continued income. However, excellent employment performance has existed at the expense of my educational brilliance. Obtaining the bursary would enable me to pay my tuition fees and adequately find more time to concentrate on studies. I believe in my potential to perform brilliantly if I pay my school fees in time and have adequate studies time. In addition, I would have e nough

Critical Thinking Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Thinking Analysis - Assignment Example They have used nutritious attractive palatable words to our ears that if not verified using high definition quality glasses then the society may consequently end up with skewed information. These vindications should be filtered in the screens of truth with voices of reasons to come up with authentic information rather than assertions without evidences (Bowers & Ramalho, 2010). It is prudent to understand that as much as the graduate programs should be aligned to skills that develop human person holistically, authentic leadership is a vital ingredient to any form of leadership. It spices leadership to unimaginable heights. To inculcate authentic leadership, one needs to examine his or her internal compass (George, Sims & Gergen, 2013).Those intuitions that drive an individual to determine what is wrong and right and despite influence from the external surrounding they stand firm and unshaken in terms their values. True self evaluation pulls individual towards leadership. Furthermore, those who are driven by the desire to propagate the above inclination have always believed that their generation was much better than the succeeding generations. For this reason, they don’t factor in the changes and dynamics of evolution that have taken place from there generations. The climates of trends that are emerging every minute in our society today are clear man ifestation that changes are eminent. Understandable the most startling thing in life is change. They have failed to acknowledge change as time flies at incredible speed (Houser & Oman, 2011). Signature pedagogy is described in the articles as one of the daunting challenges to professional education where if inculcated then one can think with them. As much this is real, it should be noted that this signature deludes professionals who are not welcome to diversity and dynamics of societal issues. They are normally unable to