Abstract In this paper, the writer presents her personal definition of the field of nursing, which includes the four main concepts of nursing, health, the patient, the nurse, and the environment. The paper also notes what personal and professional values are inherent in the writer's definition. In addition, the paper provides examples of how the writer's definition is reflected in practice in the ICU. These values are also looked at in relation to the overall Jesuit mission.
From the Paper "This paper is the statement of my personal definition of nursing. It will first discuss the four concepts of nursing and how I see them. These concepts are: health, the patient, the nurse, and the environment. Next, direct examples will be given that show how my personal definition is applied to actual nursing practice, in my case, in the intensive care unit (ICU). Finally, these ideas will be looked at in light of the overarching Jesuit values and mission. By looking at all of these aspects of my own definition of nursing and application of said idea, an overall picture of caring for others, for their health and their humanity, will be painted. The first concept that makes up my own personal definition of nursing is one of the main tenets of the field: health."
Abstract This paper discusses how there are numerous healthcare crises throughout the world including an ongoing nursing shortage, increase in medical errors and a decrease in patient level of care and satisfaction. The paper further discusses how nursing informatics is a relatively new adjunct to the nursing profession that can solve all of these issues simultaneously. This paper presents a high level examination of how medication administration can be improved with informatics.
Abstract The paper discusses how it is well known that abuse of illegal drugs causes major problems for society. This is reflected by the fact that every country has laws that attempt to minimize such abuse. However, the paper contends that comparatively little attention is paid to the abuse of legal, prescription drugs. Yet these can also cause enormous harm. Millions of people in the USA are addicted to various prescription drugs. Many of these people lose their jobs, their families and even their lives because of this addiction. This paper highlights the problem of addiction to prescription drugs, showing that many people are addicted and that such addiction causes great harm.
Abstract This epidemiological paper represents a brief discussion on the web of causation. Definitions of epidemiology, causation and association are provided, as is a historical retrospective of how the web of causation developed. Model concepts are compared as is their relevance to community health, citing female health issues, coronary heart disease and commenting on "Healthy People 2000." The paper concludes with the web of causation as it relates to nursing practice. The paper cites current literature.
From the Paper "Epidemiology is a unique area of healthcare study in that it does not diagnose. Epidemiology represents the integration between social and natural sciences, but unlike many disciplines places greater emphasis on biological implications for population based findings (Vinels, 2003). This paper will discuss epidemiological implications in light of the web of causation model. After an initial review of relevant definitions, the web of causation conceptual model will be reviewed from an historical perspective. Components of the model will be defined along with a discussion of how this model applies to community health. Finally, the relevance the web of causation holds for nursing will conclude the paper. As appropriate for any technical discussion, definitions of key terms are provided."
Abstract This paper reviews a professional experience in which this writer was witness to an instance of poor patient care by a nursing care facility. The paper briefly outlines the sequence of events and describes the concerns of senior facility staff. Two separate incidents involving the same dereliction of professional duty were discovered. From there, the paper discusses the broader issues which this incident revealed and cites from outside sources to provide an illustration of just how serious health care problems can become if they are not addressed expeditiously.
From the Paper "As the North American population ages, concerns about the nursing care that elderly patients receive have become more pressing in recent years. The following paper explores a professional experience this writer had while assisting a nursing care institution three years ago. In the process of describing this incident, time will be taken to outline how this occurrence relates to the broader issue of quality care in America. As should soon become evident, while the American health care system has many things about which it can be duly proud, it also has many shortcomings which must be resolved as soon as possible. With that in mind, it is to a discussion of an important issue - health care in America - that this paper now turns."
Abstract This paper relates to the issue of why the nursing shortage is occurring. One of the reasons this paper focuses on is the problem associated with the image of nursing and thus the reasons why people are not choosing it as a career option. The paper further discusses factors for perpetuating the mythic perceptions including the media and gender stereotypes. The paper offers a recommendation on how to overcome this issue.
From the Paper "When the nursing shortage evident throughout the country in 1998 (Seago, Spetz, Alvarado, Keane & Grumbach, 2006) came to the attention of nursing associations and other industry professionals, most felt the shortage was a result of a number of factors intersecting: normal attrition, accident and injury, job stress and burnout and reduced numbers of students graduating from nursing schools. One factor rarely mentioned yet gaining in prominence as a major issue is that of image. According to research as far back as 1966 through the present day, researchers have cited healthcare professionals' contention that the public's poor image of nursing and the role of the registered nurse is a major factor preventing students from entering nursing schools."
Abstract This grant proposal discusses the benefits of creating a program to prevent drug abuse among youths and and proposes an exact allocation of the grant money. The proposal also shows a timeline on how and when the author's department plans on spending the grant money and includes a detailed summary of all the costs involved in this kind of a program. The paper concludes that the overall benefits of this program will result in a noticeable reduction in drug abuse among the teenage population by disrupting the illicit drug trafficking organizations within the community, denying street dealers a customer base, reducing the number of emergency room admissions related to drug abuse and overdose, and establishing a strong anti-drug abuse program within all the schools within the community.
Outline:
Why and Where
How and When
Table: Cost Summary
From the Paper "Our department is committed to establishing, creating, and encouraging anti-drug programs such as D.A.R.E. in our communities at public and private schools, to home-school teachers and students, and to the general public. Our outreach program will start in the communities' schools; since a larger impact is imprinted in elementary, junior high, and high schools. We are committed to reaching out to children, teens, and the general public through flyers, pamphlets, meetings, seminars, and D.A.R.E. hotlines. Lastly, we are dedicated to inform children and teens of the dangers of drugs, gangs, and violence (encourage community policing); in addition to encouraging teachers, parents, and students to attend the 21st Annual D.A.R.E. International Training Conference in San Antonio, Texas on August 12-14, 2008 at The Alamo. The training conference teaches officials, schools, teachers, parents, and students on how to be leaders of the war on drugs in order to save the people."
Abstract This paper clarifies the differences between conventional and alternative medicine. The paper first discusses why people in certain cultures opt to use alternative medicine rather then conventional, and then looks at the advantages of alternative medicine and what we can learn from it. Additionally, the paper looks at why a majority of practitioners are now utilizing what can be called contemporary medicine.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Literature Review
From the Paper "The method used by Astin (1998) for testing were mail surveys that gathered information on use of alternative health care, perceived benefits and risks of these therapies, health beliefs and attitudes, views toward and experiences with conventional medicine, political beliefs, and worldview. The results were that relief of symptoms is the main benefit reported a central finding is that users of alternative health care are no more dissatisfied with or distrustful of conventional care than nonusers are (Astin, 1998). Second, the results can help identify and clarify prevailing cultural conceptions about and attitudes toward health and illness and examine the degree to which the growing interest in alternative medicine may represent a type of cultural paradigm shift regarding health beliefs and practices."
Abstract This paper explains that Native Americans disproportionately have a greater occurrence of mental health and substance use disorders than the population as a whole. The author relates that the U.S. government's policy of expansion, containment and non-sanctioned genocide in the 1880s has manifested itself in the Native-American population as poverty, alienation from mainstream public services and education, increased risk for medical and psychological conditions and a fractured sense of tribal and family cohesiveness. The paper points out that alcohol dependence combined with major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder are the most prevalent co-occurring disorders. The author reports that the evolving standard treatment method for Native-American clients is integrated mental health and addiction services using motivational interviewing, which is especially compatible with Native-American values.
From the Paper "Because Native Americans have a long, rich cultural heritage strikingly different from the mainstream of America, and because Native America is segmented into hundreds of tribes, many of which with their own unique cultural systems, providing adequate mental health and chemical dependency services in a culturally sensitive manner is difficult. This very issue serves as a barrier to treatment and outcomes, especially for individuals living off reservations where local community support and tribal customs are not present. Even on reservations, community support is inadequate as funding for mental health services through the Indian Health Services entitlement is woefully under-funded."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that an educational needs assessment identifies the gaps between the knowledge, skills and abilities or competencies people have and those they need to do their work. The writer then discusses a needs assessment that was conducted on registered nurses working for Winthrop University Hospital, on a combined general and intensive care pediatric unit. The writer concludes that a need for mock codes on the pediatric unit at Winthrop Hospital was identified. Direct observation and informal interviews confirmed this need. The writer maintains that there are institutional forces both in favor and acting against this idea and it must meet the approval of those in a certain chain of command within Winthrop's nursing and education departments. The writer concludes that this project will prove beneficial to all those who participate.
Outline:
Introduction
Institution
Sample
Data and Analysis
Institutional Forces
Conclusion
From the Paper "A select sample of six registered nurses, one of whom is an assistant nurse manager, from the pediatric unit was chosen. These six were chosen to be the representative sample of thirty full time registered nurses, two nursing educators and three nursing managers. Of these six, four are new graduates, recently hired for the unit, one is a staff member of seven years who deals strictly with general pediatrics and one is a manager who functioned as a staff nurse for twelve years in both the general pediatric and pediatric critical care setting. After the sample had been chosen, data was collected and analyzed regarding the educational needs of the unit."
From the Paper For some people burial in the ground is repugnant. They do not want to "rot in the grave", they want to live longer and enjoy life. Cryonics could be the answer for these people. Cryonics is the technology of freezing a person to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, -320 degrees F, in a cryogenic capsule to be resurrected in the future. Even though cryonics has not yet been perfected, it will be.
An argument which shows that Needle Exchange Programs reduce the spread of HIV without increasing either the injection of illegal drugs among drug addicts or the number of new initiates to injection drug use.
1,368 words (approx. 5.5 pages), 8 sources, 1999, $ 45.95
From the Paper "AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), is one of the leading killers in the United States of America. HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) attacks and destroys white blood cells while weakening the body's immune system, making it susceptible to common infections and diseases. HIV, which eventually leads to AIDS, is passed through the exchange of blood or semen. There is no cure for AIDS at this time. People that are diagnosed with AIDS are affected for life. AIDS can also be transmitted through needle sharing used by heroin and other drug addicts. By sharing needles, drug addicts have a high risk of passing blood left on the needles from the previous user that might contain the HIV virus. This has made drug addicts one of the fastest?growing groups suffering from HIV infection and AIDS (Siegel 24). Injection of illegal drugs has become a primary source of new HIV infection in the country. AIDS has devastated addicts who inject drugs, due to the high risk of needle contamination and HIV infection. One way to decrease the speed, in which the disease spreads, is to give addicts clean needles in exchange for used ones that can be contaminated. This is the main goal of needle exchange programs. Needle exchange programs reduce the spread of HIV without increasing either the injection of illegal drugs among drug addicts or the number of new initiates to injection drug use."
Abstract This paper discusses the elements uses, abundance, discovery, atomic mass and characteristics of potassium, as well as some common forms and how the body uses it.
From the Paper "Cervical cancer is a very large pubic health problem. It is the third most prevalent gynecological cancer that especially threatens women who are over 30 years old and who have children (Grohs et al, 1994, p. 97). Cervical cancer is a problem for this target population, and as a result, illness in these females impacts the community because of their loss of work time, their inability to perform their occupations, and their inability to care for their families. The financial burden of cervical cancer also impacts the family, the community, and the United States as a whole because this disease is associated with high health costs. Poor women or those without insurance use tax dollars to finance their treatment via county hospitals, Medicare, or Medicaid. If there is no public health program that will give the a woman treatment, if she has no insurance, or if she cannot pay for her treatment, then it is most likely that she will die as a result of the advance of the disease."
Abstract This paper looks at the invention of cochlear implants, which mimic the functioning of the inner ear. The paper explains how it works, its history, and the effectiveness and problems with the operations. Issues are discussed, including the deaf community's fears that the devices will destroy "deaf culture". Benefits and problems with the implants are looked at as well.
From the Paper "An implant mimics the functioning of the cochlea, a seashell-shaped organ in the inner ear lined with 30,000 hair cells. In a normal cochlea, the hair cells turn sound into impulses that are sent to the brain where they are interpreted as speech, music, or other auditory information about the world. In most deaf persons, auditory nerve fibers are intact, but the mechanism to receive the information through the hair cells is absent. Thus, regular hearing aids are ineffective as they typically only boost the amplitude of sound input. The cochlear implant is a wire that replaces a person's missing hair cells ? it wraps inside the cochlea and, attached to a small external computer typically worn on the person's belt, also translates sound into impulses sent to a transmitter that relays it back to the implant, that relays it to the brain. At this time, only one implant is being done per person, as developers of the device have not perfected how to coordinate the operation of two implants to provide accurate information relay to the brain."
