Prison and Asylum Reform in the 19th Century Essay

In early American society, criminals that were held by our government we executed, whipped, and held in a dark cell for a short amount of time. The insane wandered around as a danger to themselves and people around them; and the churches caer took the poor. In the 1820s and 1830s there was a growing number of criminals, lunatics, and the poor people. Reformers wanted to establish an official institute for them. The reformers believed that reform and rehabilitation was possible in a controlled environment. The reformers had a few goals that they wanted to establish. They wanted more separation; the mentally ill children should not be held together with the convicts. They also wanted better prison grounds with better conditions. They wanted the abuse to be reduced; no more whipping and other forms of torture. They wanted change. Dorothea Dix was a Sunday school teacher at the East Cambridge jail. There, she was exposed to the horrible conditions these people had to live with such as no heat, no separation between the criminals, the children and the mentally ill. Dorothea was horrified by this and secured a court order to make improvements. She wondered about other jails in Massachusetts; so she traveled and the conditions were worse. She was so disturbed by what she saw she set out to reform prisons and asylums everywhere. Dorothea was a major factor in the reform. She helped cause awareness to the serious matter and she was responsible for the building of hospitals for the insane. In 1835 The United States had two of the best prisons in Pennsylvania. The two prisons were a product of the on going reform and were both a success. New York and Pennsylvania had the best prisons because they experimented with solitary confinement, where the criminal could reflect on their sins and not be infl uenced by other inmates. Dorothea Dix, in March of 1841, taught a Sunday class for woman at the East Cambridge Jail. This shows that she thinks that even if people are in jail or prison, that they are still people but just need to be world with. The question we are looking for is if prisons were meant for punishment or to help make these people better people for the future; future was a big question at that time. All in all, most of these reformers’ goals were met. They wanted change and they got it. They believed in something so much with such passion that they actually changed American history; and that is why  American justice system is one of the best.

Hosptial Acquired Infection

Propose how would you minimise the occurrence of hospital acquired infection and monitor degree of success of these measures. INTRODUCTION The occurrence and undesirable complications from hospital acquired infections (HAIs) have been well recognized for the last several decades. The occurrence of HAIs continues to escalate at an alarming rate. HAIs originally referred to those infections associated with admission in an acute-care hospital (formerly called a nosocomial infection).These unanticipated infections develop during the course of health care treatment and result in significant patient illnesses and deaths (morbidity and mortality); prolong the duration of hospital stays; and necessitate additional diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, which generate added costs to those already incurred by the patient’s underlying disease (Bauman, 2011). HAIs are considered an undesirable outcome, and as some are preventable, they are considered an indicator of the quality of pati ent care, an adverse event, and a patient safety issue.Patient safety studies published in 1991 reveal the most frequent types of adverse events affecting hospitalized patients are adverse drug events, nosocomial infections, and surgical complications (Aboelela, 2006). Over years there is an alarming increase in HAI, which is influenced by factors such as increasing inpatient acuity of illness, inadequate nurse-patient staffing ratios, unavailability of system resources, and other demands that have challenged health care providers to consistently apply evidence-based recommendations to maximize prevention efforts. Read Chapter 8 Microbial GeneticsDespite these demands on health care workers and resources, reducing preventable HAIs remains an imperative mission and is a continuous opportunity to improve and maximize patient safety. Another factor emerging to motivate health care facilities to maximize HAI prevention efforts is the growing public pressure on State legislators to enact laws requiring hospitals to disclose hospital-specific morbidity and mortality rates.Institute of Medicine report identified HAIs as a patient safety concern and recommends immediate and strong mandatory reporting of other adverse health events, suggesting that public monitoring may hold health care facilities more accountable to improve the quality of medical care and to reduce the incidence of infections. Monitoring both process and outcome measures and assessing their correlation is a model approach to establish that good processes lead to good health care outcomes.Process measures should reflect common practice s, apply to a variety of health care settings, and have appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria. Examples include insertion practices for central intravenous catheters, appropriate timing of antibiotic prophylaxis in surgical patients, and rates of influenza vaccination for health care workers and patients. Outcome measures should be chosen based on the frequency, severity, and preventability of the outcome events. Examples include intravascular catheter-related blood stream infection rates and surgical-site infections in selected operations.Although these occur at relatively low frequency, the severity is high—these infections are associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and excess health care costs—and there are evidence-based prevention strategies available (Filetoth, 2003). PATIENTS RISK FACTORS FOR HEALTH CARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS Transmission of infection within a hospittal requires three elements: a source of infecting microorganisms, a susceptibl e host, and a means of transmission for the microorganism to the host.During the delivery of health care, patients can be exposed to a variety of exogenous microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa) from other patients, health care personnel, or visitors. Other reservoirs include the patient’s endogenous flora (e. g. , residual bacteria residing on the patient’s skin, mucous membranes, gastrointestinal tract, or respiratory tract) which may be difficult to suppress and inanimate environmental surfaces or objects that have become contaminated (e. g. , patient room touch surfaces, equipment, medications).The most common sources of infectious agents causing HAI, described are the individual patient, medical equipment or devices, the hospital environment, the health care personnel, contaminated drugs, contaminated food, and contaminated patient care equipment. Patients have varying susceptibility to develop an infection after exposure to a pathogenic organism. Some people have innate protective mechanisms and will never develop symptomatic disease and others exposed to the same microorganism may establish a commensal relationship and retain the organisms as an asymptomatic carrier (colonization) or develop an active isease process. Intrinsic risk factors predispose patients to HAIs. The higher likelihood of infection is reflected in vulnerable patients who are immunocompromised, underlying diseases, severity of illness, immunosuppressive medications, or medical/surgical treatments (Bauman, 2011). Extrinsic risk factors include surgical or other invasive procedures, diagnostic or therapeutic interventions (e. g. , invasive devices, implanted foreign bodies, organ transplantations, immunosuppressive medications), and personnel exposures.In addition to providing a portal of entry for microbial colonization or infection, they also facilitate transfer of pathogens from one part of the patient’s body to another, from health care worker to patient, or from patient to health care worker to patient. Infection risk associated with these extrinsic factors can be decreased with the knowledge and application of evidence-based infection control practices. Among patients and health care personnel, microorganisms are spread to others through four common routes of transmission: contact (direct and indirect), respiratory droplets, airborne spread, and common vehicle.Contact transmission is the most important and frequent mode of transmission in the health care setting. Organisms are transferred through direct contact between an infected or colonized patient and a susceptible health care worker or another person. Microorganisms that can be spread by contact include those associated with impetigo, abscess, diarrheal diseases, scabies, and antibiotic-resistant organisms (e. g. , methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus [MRSA] and vancomycin-resistant enterococci [VRE]).Droplet-size body fluids containing microorganisms can be generated during coughing, sneezing, talking, suctioning, and bronchoscopy. They are propelled a short distance before settling quickly onto a surface. They can cause infection by being deposited directly onto a susceptible person’s mucosal surface (e. g. , conjunctivae, mouth, or nose) or onto nearby environmental surfaces, which can then be touched by a susceptible person who autoinoculates their own mucosal surface.Examples of diseases where microorganisms can be spread by droplet transmission are pharyngitis, meningitis, and pneumonia. When small-particle-size microorganisms (e. g. , tubercle bacilli, varicella, and rubeola virus) remain suspended in the air for long periods of time, they can spread to other people. The CDC has described an approach to reduce transmission of microorganisms through airborne spread in its Guideline for Isolation Precautions in Hospitals. Proper use of personal protective equipment (e. g. gloves, masks, and gowns), aseptic technique, hand hy giene, and environmental infection control measures are primary methods to protect the patient from transmission of microorganisms from another patient and from the health care worker (Filetoth, 2003). Personal protective equipment also protects the health care worker from exposure to microorganisms in the health care setting. Common vehicle (common source) transmission applies when multiple people are exposed to and become ill from a common inanimate vehicle of contaminated food, water, medications, solutions, devices, or equipment.Bacteria can multiply in a common vehicle but viral replication cannot occur. Examples include improperly processed food items that become contaminated with bacteria, waterborne shigellosis, bacteremia resulting from use of intravenous fluids contaminated with a gram-negative organism, contaminated multi-dose medication vials, or contaminated bronchoscopes. Common vehicle transmission is likely associated with a unique outbreak setting and will not be di scussed further in this document. STEPS TO MINIMISE THE RISKEssential components of effective infection control programs included conducting organized surveillance and control activities, a trained infection control physician, an infection control nurse for every 250 beds, and a process for feedback of infection rates to clinical care staff. These programmatic components have remained consistent over time and are adopted in the infection control standards of the Joint Commission. The evolving responsibility for operating and maintaining a facility-wide effective infection control program lies within many domains.Both hospital administrators and health care workers are tasked to demonstrate effectiveness of infection control programs, assure adequate staff training in infection control, assure that surveillance results are linked to performance measurement improvements, evaluate changing priorities based on ongoing risk assessments, ensure adequate numbers of competent infection cont rol practitioners, and perform program evaluations using quality improvement tools as indicated. a)Infection Control PersonnelIt has been demonstrated that infection control personnel play an important role in preventing patient and health care worker infections and preventing medical errors. An infection control practitioner (ICP) is typically assigned to perform ongoing surveillance of infections for specific wards, calculate infection rates and report these data to essential personnel, perform staff education and training, respond to and implement outbreak control measures, and consult on employee health issues.This specialty practitioner gains expertise through education involving infection surveillance, infection control, and epidemiology from current scientific publications and basic training courses offered by professional organizations or health care institutions. The Certification Board of Infection Control offers certification that an ICP has the standard core set of knowl edge in infection control. Expert review panel recommends 1 full-time ICP for every 100 occupied beds (Filetoth, 2003).To maximize successful strategies for the prevention of infection and other adverse events associated with the delivery of health care in the entire spectrum of health care settings, infection control personnel and departments must be expanded. b)Nursing Responsibilities Clinical care staff and other health care workers are the frontline defense for applying daily infection control practices to prevent infections and transmission of organisms to other patients.Although training in preventing bloodborne pathogen exposures is required annually by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, clinical nurses (registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nursing assistants) and other health care staff should receive additional infection control training and periodic evaluations of aseptic care as a planned patient safety activity. Nurses have the uni que opportunity to directly reduce health care–associated infections through recognizing and applying evidence-based procedures to prevent HAIs among patients and protecting the health of the staff.Clinical care nurses directly prevent infections by performing, monitoring, and assuring compliance with aseptic work practices; providing knowledgeable collaborative oversight on environmental decontamination to prevent transmission of microorganisms from patient to patient; and serve as the primary resource to identify and refer ill visitors or staff. PREVENTION STRATERGIES Multiple factors influence the development of HAIs, including patient variables (e. g. , acuity of illness and overall health status), patient care variables (e. g. antibiotic use, invasive medical device use), administrative variables (e. g. , ratio of nurses to patients, level of nurse education, permanent or temporary/float nurse), and variable use of aseptic techniques by health care staff. Although HAIs a re commonly attributed to patient variables and provider care, researchers have also demonstrated that other institutional influences may contribute to adverse outcomes. To encompass overall prevention efforts, a list of strategies are reviewed that apply to the clinical practice of an individual health care worker as well as institutional supportive measures.Adherence to these principles will demonstrate that you H. E. L. P. C. A. R. E. This acronym is used to introduce the following key concepts to reduce the incidence of health care–associated infections. It emphasizes the compassion and dedication of nurses where their efforts contribute to reduce morbidity and mortality from health care–associated infections. Hand Hygiene For the last 160 years, we have had the scientific knowledge of how to reduce hand contamination and thereby decrease patient infection.Epidemiologic studies continue to demonstrate the favorable cost-benefit ratio and positive effects of simple hand washing for preventing transmission of pathogens in health care facilities. The use of antiseptic hand soaps (i. e. , ones containing chlorhexidine) and alcohol-based hand rubs also effectively reduce bacterial counts on hands when used properly. Although standards for hand hygiene practices have been published with an evidence-based guideline and professional collaborations have produced the How-to-Guide: Improving Hand Hygiene, there is no standardized method or tool for measuring adherence to institutional policy.Key points †¢The practice of appropriate hand hygiene and glove usage is a major contributor to patient safety and reduction in HAIs. It is more cost effective than the treatment costs involved in a health care–associated infection. †¢Joint Commission infection control standards include hand washing and HAI sentinel event review, which are applicable to ambulatory care, behavioral health care, home care, hospitals, laboratories, and long-term care o rganizations accredited by the Joint Commission. Hand hygiene is the responsibility of the individual practitioner and the institution. Developing a patient safety culture backed by administrative support to provide resources and incentives for hand washing is crucial to a successful outcome. †¢Hand hygiene promotion should be an institutional priority. †¢Select methods to promote and monitor improved hand hygiene. Monitor outcomes of adherence to hand hygiene in association with reduced incidence of HAI. †¢Establish an evaluation model to recognize missed opportunities for appropriate hand hygiene.Environmental cleanliness The health care environment surrounding a patient contains a diverse population of pathogenic microorganisms that arise from a patient’s normal, intact skin or from infected wounds. Approximately 106 flat, keratinized, dead squamous epithelium cells containing microorganisms are shed daily from normal skin, and patient gowns, bed linens, and bedside furniture can easily become contaminated with patient flora. Surfaces in the patient care setting can also be contaminated with pathogenic organisms (e. g. from a patient colonized or infected with MRSA, VRE, or Clostridium difficile) and can harbor viable organisms for several days. Contaminated surfaces, such as blood pressure cuffs, nursing uniforms, faucets, and computer keyboards, can serve as reservoirs of health care pathogens and vectors for cross-contamination to patients. It is necessary to consistently perform hand hygiene after routine patient care or contact with environmental surfaces in the immediate vicinity of the patient. Infection control procedures are recommended to reduce cross-contamination under the following situations. . Use EPA-registered chemical germicides for standard cleaning and disinfection of medical equipment that comes into contact with more than one patient. 2. If Clostridium difficile infection has been documented, use hypochlorite-base d products for surface disinfection as no EPA-registered products are specific for inactivating the spore form of the organism. 3. Ensure compliance by housekeeping staff with cleaning and disinfection procedures, particularly high-touch surfaces in patient care areas (e. . , bed rails, carts, charts, bedside commodes, doorknobs, or faucet handles). 4. When contact precautions are indicated for patient care (e. g. , MRSA, VRE, C. difficile, abscess, diarrheal disease), use disposable patient care items (e. g. , blood pressure cuffs) wherever possible to minimize cross-contamination with multiple drug-resistant microorganisms. 5. Advise families, visitors, and patients regarding the importance of hand hygiene to minimize the spread of body substance contamination (e. g. respiratory secretions or fecal matter) to surfaces. A patient safety goal could be to adopt a personal or an institutional pledge, similar to the following: I (or name of health care facility) am committed to ensurin g that proper infection control and environmental disinfection procedures are performed to reduce cross-contamination and transmission so that a person admitted or visiting to this facility shall not become newly colonized or infected with a bacterium derived from another patient or health care worker’s microbial flora.Leadership Health care workers dedicate enormous effort to providing care for complex medical needs of patients, to heal, to continuously follow science to improve the quality of care—all the while consciously performing to the best of their ability to Primum non nocere (First, do no harm). Though medical errors and adverse events do occur, many can be attributed to system problems that have impacted processes used by the health care worker, leading to an undesired outcome.Responsibility for risk reduction involves the institution administrators, directors, and individual practitioners. It is clear that leaders drive values, values drive behaviors, and b ehaviors drive performance of an organization. The collective behaviors of an organization define its culture. The engagement of nursing leaders to collaborate with coworkers and hospital administrators in safety, teamwork, and communication strategies are critical requirements to improve safe and reliable care.Each institution must communicate the evidence-based practices to health care staff, have access to expertise about infection control practices, employ the necessary resources and incentives to implement change, and receive real-time feedback of national and comparative hospital-specific data. Health care institutions simply must expect more reliable performance of essential infection-control practices, such as hand hygiene and proper use of gloves. It is no longer acceptable for hospitals with substandard adherence to these basic interventions to excuse their performance as being no worse than the dismal results in published reports.Institution improvements should focus on p rocess improvements that sustain best practices, using multifactorial approaches, and a commitment from the top administration through all levels of staff and employees to implement best practices. Use of personal protective equipment Infection control practices to reduce HAI include the use of protective barriers (e. g. , gloves, gowns, face mask, protective eyewear, face shield) to reduce occupational transmission of organisms from the patient to the health care worker and from the health care worker to the patient.Personal protective equipment (PPE) is used by health care workers to protect their skin and mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth from exposure to blood or other potentially infectious body fluids or materials and to avoid parenteral contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard states that health care workers should receive education on the use of protective barriers to prevent occupational exposures, be able to identify work-related infection risks, and have access to PPE and vaccinations.Proper usage, wear, and removal of PPE are important to provide maximum protection to the health care worker. Various types of masks, goggles, and face shields are worn alone or in combination to provide barrier protection. A surgical mask protects a patient against microorganisms from the wearer and protects the health care worker from large-particle droplet spatter that may be created from a splash-generating procedure. When a mask becomes wet from exhaled moist air, the resistance to airflow through the mask increases.This causes more airflow to pass around edges of the mask. The mask should be changed between patients, and if at anytime the mask becomes wet, it should be changed as soon as possible. Gowns are worn to prevent contamination of clothing and to protect the skin of health care personnel from blood and body fluid exposures. Gowns specially treated to make them impermeable to liquids, le g coverings, boots, or shoe covers provide greater protection to the skin when splashes or large quantities of potentially infective material are present or anticipated.Gowns are also worn during the care of patients infected with epidemiologically important microorganisms to reduce the opportunity for transmission of pathogens from patients or items in their environment to other patients or environments. When gowns are worn, they must be removed before leaving the patient care area and hand hygiene must be performed. Wise use of antimicrobials Over the last several decades, a shift in the etiology of more easily treated pathogens has increased toward more antimicrobial-resistant pathogens with fewer options for therapy.Infections from antimicrobial-resistant bacteria increase the cost of health care, cause higher morbidity and mortality, and lengthen hospital stays compared to infections from organisms susceptible to common, inexpensive antimicrobials (Aboelela, 2006). Antimicrobia l resistance has continued to emerge as a significant hospital problem affecting patient outcomes by enhancing microbial virulence, causing a delay in the administration of effective antibiotic therapy, and limiting options for available therapeutic agents.Authors of evidence-based guidelines on the increasing occurrence of multidrug-resistant organisms propose these interventions: stewardship of antimicrobial use, an active system of surveillance for patients with antimicrobial-resistant organisms, and an efficient infection control program to minimize secondary spread of resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship includes not only limiting the use of inappropriate agents, but also selecting the appropriate antibiotic, dosage, and duration of therapy to achieve optimal efficacy in managing infections (Aboelela, 2006).Hospital campaigns to prevent antimicrobial resistance include steps to (1) employ programs to prevent infections, (2) use strategies to diagnose and treat infections effec tively, (3) operate and evaluate antimicrobial use guidelines (stop orders, restrictions, and criteria-based clinical practice guidelines), and (4) ensure infection control practices to reduce the likelihood of transmission. Nurse practitioners have a role as part of the health care team diagnosing and treating infections appropriately and should be familiar with strategies to improve antimicrobial use.All health care workers play a critical role in reducing the risk of transmission. Respiratory hygiene Respiratory viruses are easily disseminated in a closed setting such as a health care facility and can cause outbreaks that contribute to the morbidity of patients and health care staff. Personnel and patients with a respiratory illness commonly transmit viruses through droplet spread. Droplets are spread into the air during sneezing, talking, and coughing and can settle on surfaces.Transmission occurs by direct contact with mucous membranes or by touching a contaminated surface and self-inoculating mucous membranes. Respiratory viruses can sometimes have aerosol dissemination. Precautions to prevent the transmission of all respiratory illnesses, including influenza, have been developed. The following infection control measures should be implemented at the first point of contact with a symptomatic or potentially infected person. Occupational health policies should be in place to guide management of symptomatic health care workers. 1.Post visual alerts (in appropriate languages) at the entrance to outpatient facilities instructing patients and escorts (e. g. , family, friends) to notify health care personnel of symptoms of a respiratory infection when they first register for care. 2. Patients and health care staff should consistently practice the following: a. Cover the nose/mouth when coughing or sneezing. b. Use tissues to contain respiratory secretions and dispose of them in the nearest waste receptacle after use. c. Perform hand hygiene after having contact with respiratory secretions and contaminated objects or materials. . During periods of increased respiratory infection activity in the community or year-round, offer masks to persons who are coughing. Either procedure masks (i. e. , with ear loops) or surgical masks (i. e. , with ties) may be used to contain respiratory secretions. Encourage coughing persons to sit at least 3 feet away from others in common waiting areas. 4. Health care personnel should wear a surgical or procedure mask for close contact (and gloves as needed) when examining a patient with symptoms of a respiratory infection.Maintain precautions unless it is determined that the cause of symptoms is not an infectious agent (e. g. , allergies). CONCLUSION It is the responsibility of all health care providers to enact principles of care to prevent hospital acquired infections, though not all infections can be prevented. Certain patient risk factors such as advanced age, underlying disease and severity of illness, and s ometimes the immune status are not modifiable and directly contribute to a patient’s risk of infection.Depending on the patient’s susceptibility, a patient can develop an infection due to the emergence of their own endogenous organisms or by cross-contamination in the health care setting. Nurses can reduce the risk for infection and colonization using evidence-based aseptic work practices that diminish the entry of endogenous or exogenous organisms via invasive medical devices. Proper use of personal protective barriers and proper hand hygiene is paramount to reducing the risk of exogenous transmission to a susceptible patient.Health care workers should be aware that they can pick up environmental contamination of microorganisms on hands or gloves, even without performing direct patient care. Proper use and removal of PPE followed by hand hygiene will reduce the transient microbial load that can be transmitted to self or to others. ? REFERENCE †¢Aboelela S W, Saim an L, Stone P, et al. (2006) Effectiveness of barrier precautions and surveillance cultures to control transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms: a systematic review of the literature. J Infect Control, vol: 34(8):484–94. Bauman W R (2011), Microbiology with disease taxonomy, Pearson International Edition, 4th Edition, Pg no: 430 – 434. †¢Carlos F (2007), Antimicrobial resistance in Bacteria, Horizon Bioscience Publications, Pg no: 7 – 14. †¢Filetoth Z (2003), Hospital Acquired Infection, Whurr publishers, Pg no: 97 – 102, 180 – 196, 220 – 232. †¢I W Fong, Drlica K(2008), Antimicrobial resistance and implication for the 21st century, Springer publications, Pg no: 231- 235. †¢Madigan M, Martinko J, Stahl D (2009), Brock Biology of Microorganisms, Pearsons Publications, 13th Edition, Pg no: 954- 957. Muto C A, Jernigan J A, Ostrowsky BE, et al. (2003) SHEA guideline for preventing nosocomial transmission of multidrug-re sistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus. Infect Cont Hosp Epidem, Vol: 24(5):362–86. †¢Ryan J, Ray C G et al. (2010), Sherris Medical Microbiology, International Edition, 5th Edition, Pg no: 89 – 98. †¢Wyllie D, Connor L, Walker S, Davies J et al (2013), Annual Report of Chief Medical Officier, Chapter 4: Health care associated infections, Pg no: 63-72. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette in healthcare settings. 2010. [Accessed march 2013]. Available at: http://www. cdc. gov/flu/professionals/infectioncontrol/resphygiene. htm. †¢Institute for Healthcare Improvement. How-to guide: improving hand hygiene. a guide for improving practices among health care workers. [Accessed March 2013]. Author. Available at: http://www. ihi. org/IHI/Topics/CriticalCare/IntensiveCare/Tools/HowtoGuideImprovingHandHygiene. htm.

Why were the framers of the Constitution concerned about the central Essay

Why were the framers of the Constitution concerned about the central government having too much power How did they address that issue Include proper in-text citations in APA format to support your answer - Essay Example The government was divided into three arms: the legislative, judicial and executive. Each arm had its specific and separate powers bestowed on it. In order to monitor the powers of these divisions, each arm was granted capacity to monitor the other two arms of the government. This would check that no arms gains excessive power. To make sure that the powers of the national government did not override the powers of the state governments, some powers were delegated to the federal government while some was reserved for the state government. Other power was shared between the two governments. This was termed as federalism. This made kept the balance that the central government did not have extreme powers while the state government powers were not dwarfed (Hames & Ekern,

Professionalism in health care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Professionalism in health care - Essay Example Last month, I worked in a group made up of professionals of several interrelated fields, whereby we all worked on a common project. Despite the qualifications of group members, the project did not go well as planned due to shortcomings related to teamwork. For instance, group members usually digressed and spent project time to discuss their own matters and solve personal issues. This was primarily due to lack of a group leader. Had the members chosen a leader, then the latter would have had the responsibility of keeping the group in order, which could have been beneficial in timely completion of the task. On the other hand, group members succeed in completing part of the project due to some positive teamwork practices. For instance, the group members came up with new approaches to the problem through creative thinking and brainstorming, all of which contributed positively to the team and in turn completion of the

Civil engineeringredevelopment of ratho stationedighburgh Essay

Civil engineeringredevelopment of ratho stationedighburgh - Essay Example Further, the redevelopment project of Ratho station would also be very helpful as it would be capable to support wider choice of tram services and also helps the occupants in the neighbourhood residential area (Edinburgh, n.d.). The entire landscape of the region is expected to be developed by upholding the rich heritage and natural assets in the region (Edinburgh, n.d). Further, necessary precautions are also given to ensure the occupational safety and health of passengers and the employees in the station. Maximum utilization of renewable energy and also using natural means to give maximum comfort conditions would be the core elements in the architectural plan. Providing the right orientation to enhance the heat gain, passive cooling means to reduce the load on HVAC systems are the few essential interventions planned in this exercise. Providing adequate open spaces that would create more comfort for the passengers are the other key concerns addressed in the planning process. The redevelopment project shall also communicate the philosophy of protection of ancient monuments and buildings besides conservation measures adopted at the heritage locations. BREEAM standards would be followed closely in an effort t o promote the sustainable re-development process of the station. In addition the Ratho station shall act as the focal point of generating local employment. Guidelines of BREEAM. BREEAM guidelines gives the proper direction for the sustainable development initiatives that could be adopted in the design of energy efficient and environmentally safe infrastructure components. The major emphasis given is in the design of cycle ways and pedestrian tracks. Strengthening public transport systems with less dependence on private transport are the important options for providing better living conditions. They also take proper attention for effective implementation of the proposed the travel plans like special cycle ride ways. The important design considerations that need to be incorporated in the design of station facilities are as follows As the energy conservation is one the top most priorities in the redevelopment process, all the lighting systems used would be of the high efficiency lighting systems or low energy consuming units. Further, all the signals and related units too would be converted or replaced in these lines. Conversion of the railway station at Ratho into as an energy producing station , such that station is capable of generating its own power is one of the design objectives. The piezoelectric systems that use the mechanical energy from the movement of gate to generate voltage could be implemented. The successful implementation of such type of systems are claimed by East Japan railway Company. Based on the volume of the passengers expected at the Ratho station it is estimated that atleast 1000kW per second could be generated from Ratho station (Schwartz, 2008). The use of energy efficient LED lamps could be used to indicate the tram arrivals at the station which could lead to considerable reduction in the electric bill (Irani,2006). Further, using systems that minimizes the water consumption by implementing water reuse systems to conserve the water used for

LukoilBP Comparison Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

LukoilBP Comparison - Case Study Example Nonetheless, its performance in boosting its market value has been described as hyper in nature as evidenced by the graph below: This ratio is the company's share price at year end divided by basic income per share. Basic earnings per ordinary share amounts are calculated by dividing the profit for the year attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the year. The average number of shares outstanding excludes treasury shares and the shares held by the employee share ownership plans. The following tables detail BP and OAO LUKOIL share price, basic income per share and the price to earnings ratio: BP, having wider operations than LUKOIL, registers a higher P/E ratio. However, computing for the rate of change of the P/E, it is found that LUKOIL is registering much higher growth than BP. The results are shown below: With this information, it can be seen that LUKOIL registers double digits for the P/E ratio. This growth essentially tells the investor that LUKOIL is outperforming BP. Although the investor can expect higher returns for BP, this may not be the case in the future as LUKOIL's P/E growth rate is double that of BP. Basically, the P/E ratio is expected to increase as Basic Earning Per Share are also up with share price also expected to increase because of the good performance of LUKOIL. ... Sample Computation: ( LUKOIL 2005) P/E = Share Price / Basic Earnings Per Share = 59.40 / 7.91 = 7.51 BP, having wider operations than LUKOIL, registers a higher P/E ratio. However, computing for the rate of change of the P/E, it is found that LUKOIL is registering much higher growth than BP. The results are shown below: Table 4. Rate of Change Profile P/E Rate of Change (%) 2003-2004 2004-2005 LUKOIL 13.62 28.60__ BP 6.07 12.36__ The computation for the rate of change was carried on using the following equation: Rate of Change = ( P/E for Year End - P/E for the Previous Year End) * 100% P/E for the Previous Year End With this information, it can be seen that LUKOIL registers double digits for the P/E ratio. This growth essentially tells the investor that LUKOIL is outperforming BP. Although the investor can expect higher returns for BP, this may not be the case in the future as LUKOIL's P/E growth rate is double that of BP. Forecast The most recent available projection for LUKOIL is a 9M 2006 projections and is conveniently compared to 9M 2005. It is shown below: Table 5. Financial Forecast Source: 2006 Financial Results from www.lukoil.ru/ investorcenter Basically, the P/E ratio is expected to increase as Basic Earning Per Share are also up with share price also expected to increase because of the good performance of LUKOIL. The company is currently very aggressive in entering and capturing a major portion of the US market. It has already purchased rights to Getty and its oil distribution facilities in the US. With regards to BP, the P/E ratio is forecasted to increase as well

Railway shipment of hazardous cargo, Safety, and homeland security Essay

Railway shipment of hazardous cargo, Safety, and homeland security - Essay Example The law provided various guidelines on packaging and operational rules safeguarding the shipment of such commodities using the railway line (Downey, 2014). After the 1975 Act, various laws and bills have been adopted to control the conveyance accorded to hazardous products within the country. Through these improvements, there has been reduced number of accidents and spillage of dangerous materials and gases into the atmosphere. These transportations of the materials through railway line are gradually improving and in the future, there will be limited or no cases of accidents or destruction of property through this form of transport. The United States Railway system is used for moving various types of hazardous cargo across the country. The system is responsible for transporting toxic gas cargos across the state. Twenty percent of all of the gases transported in the country are done through the railway system. According to Spraggins (2015), this percentage is equivalent to 1.7 million carloads of toxic gases moved by rail. The perfect example of gas transported by rail is chlorine, which is essential for both the public health and major private laboratories. In addition, chlorine is necessary for purifying water. Due to its importance and its hazardous nature, twenty-two percent of chlorine is transported through railways (Spraggins 2015). It translates to 35000 carloads of chlorine annually. In addition, the railway system is utilised for freight of crude oil across the country. Approximately millions of gallons of highly flammable oil are hauled by rail to various destinations in the country. Reports and statistics by the American Association of roads in 2009 indicated that there were 9500 railcars that moved across the country in 2008 carrying crude oil (Mark, Seely, & Barrett, 2006). The high number crude of oil moved was because of its use

Radiality as a Comprehensive Behavioral Model Essay

Radiality as a Comprehensive Behavioral Model - Essay Example The origins of the radiality as a foundational cultural model in the domain of spatial relationship may be traced to the island nation of Tonga (Bennardo 2009). Tongan language has only 3 linguistic representations of spatial relationships. This makes it a simpler study than languages with many more because correlation interpretation is reduced to fewer permutations. The concept of radiality impacts other realms of understanding within anthropology. It correlates with understandings of religious belief (Bennardo 2009). It explains theories about spatial navigation and material possessions. It also helps in our comprehension of kinship patterns. This method of interpretation contributes no less to our understanding of social relationships. It seems cognitive processes of language production and interpretation manifest in gross behavioral patterns. Methods of radiality modeling result in a broader understanding of social relationships with respect to language (Bennardo 2008). Looking for a cultural model of social relationships in Tongan, investigators collected linguistic, experimental, and social network data. They focused on the core concept of the model where 'Ofa is giving, either giving help from higher to lower or giving duty or respect from lower to higher. Surveys were formulated to study spatial linguistic correlations to cognitive beliefs. Three semi-structured interviews were used (Bennardo 2008). One was about how individuals perceive social relationships between others where participants answered questions about the existence and composition of groups in their village, their island, and country. Another was about individual personal relationships where participants answered questions about their relationships to other people in the village. Still, another was about indirect social relationships where participants told a story that occurred in their village that they thought represented village life. From 60 interviews of about 24 hours of audiovisual recordings verbal coders went to work. They conducted statistical analyses of words to uncover certain obviates. They applied methods of metaphor and keyword analysis to identify specific correlations (Bennardo 2008). Metaphor analysis included certain priorities: first to identify metaphors, second to sort them by type and identify key words, and third to locate organizational principles. Key word analysis included four words that appeared during the metaphor analyses: 'Ofa 'love'; Fatongia 'duty'; Kavenga 'lighter duty'; Faka'apa'apa 'respect.' The results of these tests yielded the following information about Tongan culture. Researchers found a number of relevant cognitive behavioral principles as a result of their statistical analysis. It seems society is hierarchical to the Tongans (Bennardo 2008). Individuals are located at different levels of the society's ladder. 'Ofa 'love' links these individuals to make them a whole. The king and elite are connected with the Divine as evident in the shininess of their bodies. This work has provided a greater understanding of language and relationships in Tongan society. How does radiality impact our understanding of social relationships It does so by providing a method of understanding for describing how language influences cognition and social behavior. Its pragmatic value is evident in its contributions to behavioral

The Harmful Effects of Video Games Vs. The Benefits Essay Example for Free

The Harmful Effects of Video Games Vs. The Benefits Essay There are many questions about video games and how they affect children. I believe that video games are harmful to children in many ways. Many studies have tried to prove that they are harmful, as well that they are also beneficial to children. It is difficult to understand which argument is the truth behind the research. I believe that the harmful effects are greater than the benefits. The benefits that the children can learn through video games can also be taught to them other ways besides just video games. Video games are not the only way to teach the children values and how to live properly. Video games are damaging the way that our children think and act, as well as harming their bodies by teaching them wrong morals about themselves and others. The first way that video games are harming our youth is psychologically. There was a study published in the Journal of personality and Social Psychology that children that were playing video games were reported to be more aggressive than those of children that do not play video games. Previous research has documented that playing violent video games has various negative effects on social behavior in that it causes an increase in aggressive behavior and a decrease in prosocial behavior. In contrast, there has been much less evidence on the effects of prosocial video games. In the present research, 4 experiments examined the hypothesis that playing a prosocial (relative to a neutral) video game increases helping behavior. In fact, participants who had played a prosocial video game were more likely to help after a mishap, were more willing (and devoted more time) to assist in further experiments, and intervened more often in a harassment situation. Results further showed that exposure to prosocial video games activated the accessibility of prosocial thoughts, which in turn promoted prosocial behavior.( Greitemeyer, Tobias; Osswald, Silvia, 2012) The research also found that children that were exposed to the video games were also did have  the ability to control the aggression. The children see the horror and the violence on the games and believe that it is proper to act the same way when they get angry. The children cause fights and can harm other people. Another effect that video games have on children is their ability to pay attention. The children that play the video games are only focused on the games. It can become an addiction to them. They do not feel that anything else is important in life besides the games. The children lose track of everything that is important and feel that the games are the only thing that is important. The children also lose the idea of socializing. They spend some much time playing games and isolating themselves away from other children or people, they do not learn how to socialize and learn to deal with other people. The video games are also harming children physically as well. Children that play video games do not get the exercise than a normal child should. Children sit and play games for many hours a day. A regular child should have 60 minutes or more a day to be healthy. When a child is playing video games, they are not receiving that exercise. When a child does not get the exercise they need, weight gain is a problem. Obesity is already a major problem with children these days, but video games just add to the problem even more. The weight gain can cause many health problems in children. These problems with children can contribute to future health problems. Weight gain also teaches the children unhealthy habits that they will continue as they get older. The children do not see that being healthy is important. They grow up and continue to not worry about their bodies or being healthy. Research has documented negative effects of video games on childrens physical health, including obesity, video-induced seizures, and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders, such as tendonitis, nerve compression, and carpal tunnel syndrome. However, these effects are not likely to occur for most children. The research to date suggests that parents should be most concerned about two things: the amount of time that children play, and the content of the games that they play. (Gentile, PhD, 2000) Eye problems are also a result from video games. A child sits and watches just the game for many hours. The games cause the children to strain their eyes. The eye strain can cause headaches, discomfort, fatigue, and blurry eyes. If a child plays games for a long time, the games can cause eye focusing problems. Playing video games for extended amounts of time can  cause children to experience many of the same symptoms seen in computer vision syndrome in adults. Extensive viewing of the game screen can lead to eye discomfort, fatigue, blurry vision and headaches. Kids seem to become so engrossed in video games that they forget to take breaks. Prolonged game play without significant breaks can cause eye focusing problems, as well as eye irritation. (Bedinghaus, 2008) The children’s eyes are delicate and when playing games for a long time, the eyes tend to not want to focus well on other items. There are ways that people have argued that video games can be beneficial. The first argument that they have is that the video games teach the children about strategic thinking and planning. The games teach the children quests, which the children have to learn to get through by planning out the routine for the game. There are reports that stated that children that played video games, the children’s math, reading, and spelling improved. The games have many side shots that they have to read. The children learn better reading from reading all the shots in the game. The children also learn better spelling by all the reading that they have to do in the game. The math skills are better because the games have many different goals to earn and to count how to get there in the game. Video games also teach a child simulation, adventure, and role-playing. They learn the role-playing from pretending to be other people in the games. They learn adventure from all the different kinds of games and their themes. There are also many career opportunities for when they get older. The children can be game designers and game programmers. So there are some benefits for video games. Even though there are a few reasons to believe that video games can be educational to the children, there are more reasons to believe that the games are harmful to the children. The video games cause psychological and physical problems with children. So as some of the results might say that gaming is beneficial to children. They should be controlled on what they play and how much they are in contact with. Children are learning bad behaviors and harming themselves without even understanding the thought that they are doing anything wrong. Children are children because they need to be taught how to live and do things right. When they have other factors telling and showing them violence, horror, and harmful ways to live, they are going to start using these factors and living them. Video games are harmful to children and  should be considered very closely when letting the children play them by monitoring the types of games that the children are playing, as well as the amount of time that they spend playing the games. References Bedinghaus (2008). Video Games and Vision Video Games May Cause Vision Problems in Kids. About Vision Eyes and Vision Problems Eye Health Vision and Eye Care. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://vision.about.com/od/childrensvision/qt/Video_Games.htm Computer games health issues | Better Health Channel. (2012, September 11). Home | Better Health Channel. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Computer_games_health_issues Dr. Phil.com Advice Children and Violent Video Games. (2012). Dr. Phil.com. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/297 Gentile, PhD, D. A. (2000). Pediatrics for Parents. Pediatrics for Parents. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://www.pedsforparents.com/articles/2791.shtml Greitemeyer, Tobias, Osswald, Silvia (2012). Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behavior. American Psychological Association. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecordid=993617CC-95FF-E099-47CA-8791DAA7640BresultID=1page=1dbTab=pa Iowa State University (2011, May 22). Video game effects on kids: Not all black and white, expert argues. Science Daily. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2011/05/110510101504.htm Why Video Games Are Good for Your Kids. (2012). ReadWriteWeb Web Apps, Web Technology Trends, Social Networking and Social Media. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from

Demand Determination Of Hotel Industry Tourism Essay

Demand Determination Of Hotel Industry Tourism Essay Price of hotel depend upon their services provided and market price of another hotal and thought the hotels will increase their published tariff by 5-10 across the board from October this year. Inflation in food, recession, rupee depreciation which has increased our import cost of products and FB from abroad, and the overall hike in service tax are a few reasons why hotels will hike the published tariff after months. Price provide on the basis of their location and preference of customer. Income of target consumer India occupies the sixty-eighth position among the top tourist destinations in the world for 2011. To encourage the tourism sector, the government in recent times, has taken some measures which will benefit the sector. According to the latest Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) research, released by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the demand for travel and tourism in India is expected to grow by 8.2 % between 2010 and 2019. This will place India at the third position in the world. Indias travel and tourism sector is expected to be the second largest employer in the world. Capital investment in Indias travel and tourism sector is expected to grow at 8.8 % between 2010 and 2019. And services for all income level of people and services for business class people tourist and vesting people Availability of finance The major source of financing to hotel industry tourism finance cooperation of India (TFCI) has been providing specific project-related services to various clients. It has also undertaken appraisal of individual projects for various state government agencies/individual clients. TFCI has also successfully handled projects involving development of viable project concepts around lakes/water bodies , development of a multi-facility amusement park complex etc TFCI has been providing specific project-related services to various clients. Replacement of demand The demand of the hotel industry is directly connected with global and local economic growth and investor confidence. A strong underlying economy is a pre-requisite for sustained recovery. Unfortunately, the year 2011 has not been a year of economic recovery either in India or globally. After two exceptionally bad years, the global hospitality industry was expected to recover in 2011. Despite encouraging signs in the first half of 2011, there was growing uncertainty during the latter part of the year. As a result, recovery has been fragile during 2011. The situation in India mirrors this overall global trend. Indias rapid economic growth has already set the stage for fundamental changes in the countrys population. With more disposable income, the demand for travel and tourism has also grown. Although, currently domestic tourists constitute a very small chuck of the total tourist pie, the segment is growing. Promotion schemes For attracting more foreign and domestic tourists to India, Department of Tourism has taken up several drives. The objectives of this scheme are, The Scheme aims at enlisting the support of NRIs, preferably NROs to promote Orissa as a preferred destination among their friends and acquaintances. They could be Businessmen, Housewives, Students or any other professional who in their spare time motivate their friends to visit Orissa. They shall be disseminating information on Orissa Tourism and market Orissa Tourism products amongst their friends and relatives along with potential tourists visiting the State. They will be enrolled as Special Tourism Promotion Officers, STPO who will be entitled to get some incentives on the business generated through them while the tourists booked through them will get some discount. Their enrollment will be honorary and they will be only entitled for incentives on the business generated through them. They cannot create any lien or liability on behalf of the State Department of Tourism India Ministry of Tourism would also provide financial assistance to tourism service providers approved by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Excise duty structure In recent years government has taken several steps to boost travel tourism which have benefited hotel industry in India. These include the abolishment of the inland air travel tax of 15%; reduction in excise duty on aviation turbine fuel to 8%; and removal of a number of restrictions on outbound chartered flights, including those relating to frequency and size of aircraft. The governments recent decision to treat convention centres as part of core infrastructure, allowing the government to provide critical funding for the large capital investment that may be required has also fuelled the demand for hotel rooms According to a report, Hotel Industry in India currently has supply of 110,000 rooms and there is a shortage of 150,000 rooms fueling hotel room rates across India. According to estimates demand is going to exceed supply by at least 100% over the next 2 years. Five-star hotels in metro cities allot same room, more than once a day to different guests, receiving almost 24-hour rates from both guests against 6-8 hours usage. With demand-supply disparity, hotel rates in India are likely to rise by 25% annually and occupancy by 80%, over the next two years. This will affect the competitiveness of India as a cost-effective tourist destination. Prospects In the long term, the demand-supply gap in India is very real and that there is need for more hotels in most cities. The shortage is especially true within the budget and the mid market segment. There is an urgent need for budget and mid market hotels in the country as travelers look for safe and affordable accommodation. Various domestic and international brands have made significant inroads into this space and more are expected to follow as the potential for this segment of hotels becomes more obvious. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expects growth to continue for the tourism sector in 2012, although at a slower rate. It forecasts international tourist arrivals to grow in the range of 3% to 4% in 2012. WTTC indicates that this growth will be moderate as the bounce-back for tourism destinations that faced specific challenges last year, will be offset by a weaker performance in other countries. Travel tourism in India is expected to perform well in 2012. UNWTO predicts that India will receive 25 million foreign tourists by the year 2015. Despite the economic and political scenarios worldwide, demand for business travel has remained relatively robust. Companies are likely to increase spends and the multiplier effect of healthy salary increases will drive discretionary spending, especially on leisure travel. The affluent segments plan to spend more on travel in 2012, creating opportunities for the hospitality sector in the luxury space Indias room supply pipeline represents 17% of the Asia-Pacific pipeline. It was moving at a CAGR of 10.8% for last 10 years and is now poised to grow at a CAGR of 6% in next 5 years. The intense supply pipeline would be backed by addition of room capacity by all the hotels both in India and Internationally. The supply pipeline would beef up also on account of improved foreign tourist arrivals, corporate travels, etc. International hotels like Carlson, Strawood, Marriot, etc are the ones which have chalked out plans to acquire the sufficient market share, thus, giving a thrust to the Indi an supply pipeline. profile of players in the Industry Best Hotel Chains of India Taj Group of hotels in India: The most popular name that is almost synonymous to hospitality in India is that of the Taj Group. Offering the best hotels across various genres like business hotels, heritage resorts, luxury hotels and even sea resorts, the Taj Group is definitely the best in the field. The Oberoi Group of Hotels in India: One of the most prominent names among the hotel chains of India is the Oberoi Group. It also owns several properties in exotic places like Australia and Mauritius. With its world class facilities and efficient staff to manage and play the perfect Indian hosts, the Oberoi hotels is no doubt a great feather on the grand cap of tourism in India. Hotal leela One of the finest hotel groups in India, with hotels in Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Kovalam, Gurgaon, Udaipur and New Delhi, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts provide the discerning business and leisure travellers with a warm, relaxed and most importantly, memorable stay with an unrivaled fusion of Indian hospitality, world-class service and amenities. Hallmarking the essence of India, at every Leela Hotel, you will find stories that await you at every nook and cranny and the fine line between business hotels and luxury resorts seamlessly merge. The proximity to international airports and central business districts, strategic locations, individuality, and the intrinsic Indian culture and heritage distinguishes the group from the rest.  The Guest is God philosophy truly represents The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. 5. Distribution channel How the customer books his room can make a big difference to a hotels bottom line. Intermediaries can take a good chunk out the gross amount a guest pays for his overnight. A room booked through a travel agent and the GDS (global distribution system) typically costs the hotel 15% of the reservations total. Contrary to popular belief, third-party websites are no bargain either for the hotelier, as they keep about 13% of a bookings value. So-called merchant websites (such as Priceline.com or Hotwire) which basically buy inventory from hotels usually average a 33% mark-up on the rooms they sell. Bookings arriving via the central reservation system of voluntary chains (such as Minotel) can cream over 25% of the clients original payment between travel agent, tour operator and chain fees. Many tour operators working in mass leisure destinations only pay 50%-60% of the normal room price to the hotelier who is lodging their clients. Fortunately for hoteliers, the predominant distribution channel for hotels remains direct contact with the property (via telephone, fax or e-mail), which, according to Horwaths Worldwide Hotel Industry Study, accounted for 34% of all advance reservations in 2002, but which is down from 38% in 1995 . This proportion varies between 27.5% for hotels in Africa and the Middle East and 40.5% for hotels in Europe. Thus, overnights generated by electronic means of distribution still constitute much less than half of the total at about 24% (includes travel agent and GDS in figure 1 below). Although internet distribution has grown rapidly from (0.8% of the total in 1996 to 3.3% currently, according to Horwath), it is still relatively unimportant. Furthermore, this study predicts a rise to a total of 20% of bookings by internet in 2005, split 11% own website and 9%- third party. Jupiter Media Matrix makes a slightly less optimistic prediction, forecasting the percentage to rise from 7% in 2001 to 16% by 2007. Hotel companies use both rate parity and rate integrity while selling their hotel rooms. Rate parity can be defined as maintaining consistent rates for the same product in all online distribution channels regardless of what commission the OTA makes. The concept of rate integrity isnt as clear cut with some arguing it is simply trust in the fair price of a room.   In general though, rate integrity isnt something concrete; it is something the hotelier must have in mind when setting rates. Whether its maintaining integrity through rate parity by justifying price discounts, avoiding price slashes, or a combination of all these practices, it is important for hoteliers to have a consistent rational rate structure, says Mourier. As hotels compete and try to step up their direct online booking share, its important to assess how rate parity and integrity impact their business. According to Vishal Jain, chief products officer at travel technology company Rate Gain, rate parity affects the distribution partners or channels more while rate integrity affects hotels brand value. He argues that parity issues with your brand site (bigger distribution partners having cheaper better-value offers than your own site) will directly affect brand trust and value but can also lead to loss of business from more profitable channels. It can also lead to decreased visibility on other channels. The trend that parity for hotels seems to be having better deals at large OTA sites is something we have uncovered consistently in the parity reports we publish regularly at Rate Gain, says Jain.   One reason for this could be the extensive parity tracking and automated alert systems that OTAs have successfully put in place to keep hotels on their toes; something the corporate office and brand HQ is unable to do with their own hotels. It gets even harder for those hotel companies that do not own and manage the hotels since they have even less control on the properties but the parity anomalies hurt them both financially as well as with their brands value. Assessing Channels Properly   Regarding parity and rate integrity on retail pricing in both direct and indirect channels, Preferred Hotel Groups Brij Bhushan Chachra who is director, revenue account management in India, Middle East Africa, says each channel needs to be measured on its merits and value proposition it brings to the table. Today each channel has different value propositions and cost structures and as businesses it is important to ensure a company maximizes the same for its hotels. When it comes to OTAs, hotel companies need to work out the total value the business gets in terms of marketing and exposure and not to forget the billboard effect. It is important for hoteliers to safeguard their channels and ensure there is value parity across the board. Chachra defines value as this: the benefit a consumer derives from a product in correlation to price paid to satisfy their individual requirements. In this context, one has to make sure that all segments are priced based on the current demand-supply situation which will yield optimal results from all the segments. There is a need to make efforts to get rid of static rates for all segments and move to dynamic pricing across the board.

BBC Adaptation to Convergence

BBC Adaptation to Convergence Examine and evaluate how one media organisation has adapted to convergence: BBC. Across the media, many media organizations have responded and adapted to convergence through welcoming multi-media platforms to help with spreading their content. In this essay I will be discussing how the BBC has adapted to convergence and the outcome of it all. What is convergence? Convergence is when different of forms of media platforms come together to make a huge multi-platform to give the ability to distribute content to many people. Convergence has become both technological as well as social, the audiences play such an important role in making sure that content is distributed widely across the different platforms. The World Wide Web has been one of the most important contributors to the huge phenomenon of media convergence. Over time it has developed so much that is has allowed a huge range of media related platforms such as video, print and audio to be accessible and available from anywhere. The internet has definitely changed a lot about the way that audiences now absorb and access all this information. Moreover, one main aspect of convergence which has become really popular is mobile. It has allowed any information to reach the hands of anyone using a handheld mobile which has internet on it. For example, many companies and organizations such as the BBC and Channel 4 News have started to change the way that they present their content, making sure that they use short and straight to the point headlines which is directed to audiences who are always on the go. This is simply because companies want to make sure that their content is accessible anywhere and at any time to make sure they keep aud ience satisfaction rates high, as well as making sure that audiences are always up to date with headline news that is happening all over the world. However, one thing which has helped things go further is obviously the internet. The internet has allowed the use of visual clips and images to act as the story teller of most of the headlines. Most websites that people visit using their mobiles, the BBC being one of them, they use photographs to tell the story of certain events. The photos usually have a small caption under them to briefly explain the picture, however, the image is the one that does most of the story telling. Photographs are a benefit for audiences who use handheld devices and smart phones because it allows them to see the image clearer and get a feel of what they are going to read about rather than reading through several lines. Also, looking at the videography side, most websites now allow audiences to watch a live stream of the channel. This makes sure that more audiences are able to view the content of the BBC anywhere. The news organizations are not the only ones to take advantage of this, radio stations as wel l as social networking sites have too. Another company which uses convergence in this way is YouTube. YouTube is known to be a huge media platform in which people are able to upload videos accessible to millions of people all around the world. The BBC has a channel on YouTube which uploads videos of headline news for people that have missed the live stream and want to watch it again. This is another example of convergence. Development of multi-media platforms. In order for the BBC to gain full benefits of adapting to convergence, they have to take the advantage of migrating to multi-media platforms. For example, a famous strategy used by the UK television industry is called (360 degree commissioning). This is simply at the early stage of getting all the content together and making sure that there is a potential consumer value, once this is agreed on, the television industries return all the content to their audiences through a variety of media platforms, for example, mobile, online and so on. Another strategy used by television industries is the simple and basic use of websites and many other digital platforms to help put themselves out there. The main question to ask is if media industries are benefitting from being able to spread their content across various platforms. To dissect this question, it is best to look into the development of convergence and to look at audience feedback after convergence was used by the media industry. The benefits of convergence and how the BBC have adapted to it. The clear and obvious benefits of multi-media platforms are simply economic, it helps various companies and organizations in their content being distributed to so many audiences and making sure that the content is consumed across these platforms. Another main benefit is popularity. Organizations depend a lot of multi-platforms to make sure that the name of their company and their credibility is maintained. Considering that so many people now days have smart phones and have easy access to the internet on the go, it is easy for companies to make sure they are recognized through apps, websites etc†¦ The BBC uses multi-media platforms in the sense that they have apps in mobile phones that people can access so easily, they have made mobile friendly websites as well as making it possible for people to get notifications of any news that has just taken place. This is a great example of how the BBC uses convergence to their advantage. Another way in which the BBC uses convergence is through the huge development of devices such as media players and mobiles. The development of these digital platforms, with the internet being the main principle, it means that it has become so easy for content that the BBC has produced to be circulated and consumed by audiences all over the world. With the growth of social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, this makes it even easier for audiences to access information about the BBC and all the news that is up to date. The BBC have both an official twitter account as well as a Facebook account to make sure they are reached by as many people as possible . Mass audiences are able to be reached easier by all these big industries through the use of convergence. Through digitization, it has been very easy to reformat content from several media platforms therefore creating a better economic advantage for industries. The creation of multimedia platforms has allowed a great amount of digital distribution, therefore, more audiences can access a variety of content on the internet. This creates a huge knowledgeable platform for industries because people will know who they are simply because they are able to access their content on the go. An example which shows how the BBC have adapted to convergence is the availability of the BBC iPlayer. The BBC iPlayer is a service that allows audiences to catch up with any content they have missed. The BBC iPlayer was launched and made available to the public in 2007. Since then, it has become very popular and is used a lot by viewers. Another example of convergence of the BBC is simply television. All the adverts that people see on their TVs’ now days all involve social networking in one way or another. Nearly every industry whether it be news or music, they all have some sort of social networking account in which all their audiences/fans, can keep up with all the industries information or simply content they have missed. Furthermore, a key example of how the BBC have adapted to convergence in through the creation of their BBC radio station. By introducing BBC radio, the corporation has undoubtedly increased their audiences in terms of numbers, particularly to include those who are unable to view the television live stream because they are always on the move, as well as those from different socio-economic backgrounds (i.e. lower class families.) Disadvantages of convergence. Another disadvantage of convergence for companies such as the BBC would be cost-effectiveness. This simply means that providing their services and content through different mediums would incur extra costs for the corporation therefore potentially harming their profit margins. Many organizations and companies such as the BBC struggle a lot in making any revenue from putting their content on the internet. Considering that many broadband companies have emerged in recent years, it has made it even easier for people to undertake illegal streaming therefore creating a threat to most television companies and their economy. Moreover, the whole idea of being able to access any content from any industry on the internet has made it economically difficult for companies such as the BBC. The internet has made it hard to place payment schemes on mainstream information. Many of these disadvantages have been discussed in Rupert Murdoch’s article about the newspaper industry and how newspaper organizations should start putting payment schemes in order to gain some sort of revenue from their content. What the BBC could do better. When discussing convergence and how the BBC adapted to it, there are a few improvements that the BBC could make to maximise their potential ratings. A step that the BBC could prosper to take would be payment schemes. This would allow the organization to charge viewers for a service that gives them the option to watch content that they have already missed through the live stream. In doing this, the BBC as an organization would increase their revenue allowing them to expand and offer further content to audiences. Nonetheless, this is merely a suggestion and one of many paths the BBC could take to exploit the use of convergence. Conclusion. Many companies if not most, have thought of going ahead with digitalization initiatives. All industries now have websites and several marketing techniques that do not include social media. Social media is obviously known to be a very important component of any marketing technique, however, digitalization must go further than just social media. Digitalization has changed so fast in such a small period of time that it is believed that in years to come, it will be deemed as a usual strategy to use when thinking about your company. This is critical in order for companies such as the BBC to make sure they are ahead of everyone else and that they are able to learn new things from digitalization. Considering that most things have now become digital, it is clear to see that the world is changing rapidly because of this. It is important for popular companies like the BBC to support the means of digitalization and to accept that it is of a benefit than it is a setback. Saying this, some organi zations may feel that the digital scheme may not work for them, therefore it is smart to check the overall capability of it all before applying the strategy. Overall, the BBC has gained more than it has lost through adapting to convergence because the company now has such a huge platform for people to interact and share their content worldwide and make sure they are recognized by many people. Referencing. unknown. (2011). what is media convergence. Available: https://mconvergence.wordpress.com/about/. Last accessed 02 may 2015. Sanaz Fallahkhair. (unknown). An architecture for iTV and mobile phone based interactive language.. Media convergence. 1 (1), 1-6. Robin Foster Tom Broughton. (2012). PSB prominence in a converged media world. A changing world. 1 (1), 11-19. Henry Jenkins (2004). The cultural logic of media convergence. 7th ed. London New Dehli: SAGE Publications. 34-40. Dwyer, Tim (2010). Media convergence:. United Kingdom: McGraw-Hill education. 24-30. Julia Knight. (2015). The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. Convergence. 21 (1), 1. S Chakaveh. (2007). Media covergence, an introduction. Available: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-73110-8_88. Last accessed 28 Apr 2015. Christy Belden. (2011). Media convergence: Media and marketing. Available: http://www.slideshare.net/cbelden/media-convergence-7376828. Last accessed 28 Apr 2015. Mathew Buckland. (2007). Convergence in the media. Available: http://www.slideshare.net/matthewbuckland/media-convergence?related=1. Last accessed 01 May 2015. Unknown (unknown). Media covergence and the transformed media environment. Australia: unknown. 67-74. H Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (2006), 18 ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã¢â‚¬â€œ19.

war crimes- what the publis should know Essay -- essays research paper

Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The term war crime brings to mind a combination of horrific images, concentration camps, ethnic cleansing, execution of prisoners, rape, and bombardment of cities. These images correspond in many ways to the legal definitions of the term, but international law draws lines that do not in all ways match our sense of the most awful behavior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  War crimes are those violations of the laws of war, or international humanitarian law (IHL) that deserve individual criminal responsibility. While limitations on the conduct of armed conflict date back at least to the Chinese warrior Sun Tzu (sixth century B.C.), the ancient Greeks were among the first to regard such prohibitions as law. The notion of â€Å"war crimes† appeared more fully in the Hindu code of Manu (around 200 B.C.), and eventually made its way into Roman and European law. The first true trial for war crimes is generally considered to be that of Peter von Hagenbach, who was tried in 1474 in Austria and sentenced to death for wartime atrocities. (Gutman and Rieff pg. 374) By World War I, States had accepted that certain violations of the laws of war, much of which had been defined in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, were crimes. The 1945 Charter of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg defined war crimes as â€Å"violations of the laws or customs of war,† including murder, ill-treatment, or deportation of civilians in occupied territory; murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war; killing of hostages; raiding of public or private property; meaningless destruction of towns; and devastation not militarily necessary. (Gutman and Rieff pg. 374) The 1949 Geneva Conventions marked the first inclusion in a humanitarian law treaty of a set of war crimes and the grave breaches of the conventions. Each of the four Geneva Conventions (on wounded and sick on land, wounded and sick at sea, prisoners of war, and civilians) contains its own list of grave breaches. The list in its entirety is: willful killing; torture or inhuman treatment (including medical experiments); willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health; extensive destruction and misuse of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully; forcing a prisoner of war or civilian to serve in the forces o... ...e has been defined over and over by various war conventions over time. Sometimes the laws of war are confusing, because of loopholes that can be used to avoid actually committing these crime. International humanitarian law does not address the causes or beginnings of a particular war, or which side was right and which side was wrong, it can only address the way it was fought. So it is possible for an aggressive country to wage war and be in complete accordance with the Geneva Conventions, and for a defender to commit war crimes even in self defense. The fact that these laws cannot answer every question and determine every moral dilemma does not mean it has no answers and no protection against barbarism and pure evil. The types of war crimes that were touched on, as sad and heartbreaking as they might be are unavoidable. Works Cited Gutman, Roy and Rieff, David. Crimes of War: What The Public Should Know. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999 Jones Adams. â€Å"Care study: Genocide in Rwanda, 1994.† http://www.fatherryan.org./holocaust/rwanda. â€Å"Apartheid South Africa.† www.rebirth.co.za/apartheid.htm www.cs.students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html

Types of Businesses in America Essay -- Business Law

Types of Businesses in America American society has always been optimistic towards their future. The American nation is a capitalistic country. Many individuals are influenced to start up their own businesses with their own ideas. The government helps and regulates all business. There are three types of businesses sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations. A sole proprietorship would be my best choice to start up my own business. This form of business is the easiest to start. In the states a federal license or permit is needed to sell products or serve a service to the public. A license is required in order to begin the business operation. Income or loss the owner is accounted for on the tax return. â€Å"Flow thru taxation† is the term used to state that the owner’s incomes flows through the tax return. I would keep contact daily with my accountant. The business would not be taxed twice as there would be in corporations. It is simply taxed once. I would not need contracts stating two peo ple joining in and making an effort to make a business work as there would be in partnerships. I would just rely on myself. I have better confidence of trusting myself than trusting others in forming a partnership. It is a gamble and a risk to be liable for the entire business. Life is pretty short and taking a risk would either mean it was worth it or you learn from it. Since it’s the easiest form of business to start why not take full advantage. But there are advantages and disadvantages. In a sole proprietorship there is limited capital which means the owner would have trouble getting the supplies and materials needed for. But it would also seem harder to borrow money and loans from the bank. A loan from the bank seems like the ... ...g. Businesses structures and regulations are strong and firm which help businesses around the nation. The rules and regulations from the federal government help and keep the people safe. Starting a business is easy and profitable. It may be easier to start a sole proprietorship rather than a corporation. But many can receive help from family or friend and start a partnership where there is help and support of a partner. There are advantages and disadvantages for all forms of business. There are endless opportunities for the American people. There optimistic attitudes can lead them to great wealth. Works Cited Pride, William M., Hughes Robert J., Kapoor Jack R. Business. Publisher: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 8th edition. â€Å"Sole proprietorship/Partnerships/Corporations.† Wikipedia. 5, August, 2005.7,August, 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Unit 203

Unit 203 Outcome 1: understand the importance of equality and inclusion 1. 1 explain what is meant by: * diversity * equality * inclusion * discrimination DIVERSITY means difference. When it is used together with EQUALITY it means recognizing both individual and group differences, it means treating everyone as an individual and giving value to each and every person. Diversity means allowing people to be different and respecting these differences. In care industry the carer might need to challenge others if necessary and speak up for the individuals they support, who cannot speak for themselves.INCLUSION is the right of every human to have equal access and opportunities, regardless their race, gender, disability, medical or other need, culture, age, religion and sexual orientation. It is about getting rid of discrimination and intolerance. DISCRIMINATION is a preconceived attitude towards the members of a particular group that leads to less favorable or bad treatment of those persons. This kind of attitude is often resistant to change even in the light of new information. 1. describe ways in which discrimination may deliberately or inadvertently occur in the work setting Direct discrimination may happen when individuals are treated less favorable or when they are given lower standard of services because of their gender, race, ethnicity, culture, disability, religion, sexuality, mental health or age. The carer must be aware of its own prejudices and make sure that the support they give is not provided at different standards for certain categories. Indirect discrimination takes place when a rule or policy is more restrictive for people from a certain group, when it should be applied equally to everybody.For example a council procedure for homeless people made only in English would put people whose first language is not English in difficulty, which is an unfair disadvantage and could be taken as indirect discrimination. If the council has a good reason for having a particular policy in place (eg. For health or safety reasons) this would not be consider indirect discrimination. Harassment can take place because of people’s prejudices or because individuals believe it is acceptable to tease people or tell racist jokes. This creates an unpleasant environment where an individual can feel degraded.Victimization takes place when someone is treated less favorable because of doing something that another person disapproves (eg. Someone being treated less favorable because they complained about a service). The care worker duty is to make sure they understand what might be considered as discrimination and to raise any concerns with their supervisor/ manager on behalf of the individuals they support. 1. 3 explain how practices that support equality and inclusion reduce the likelihood of discrimination In providing care and support too individuals, it is our duty to be able to respond appropriately and sensitively to everyone we interact with.The w ay a person approach equality and inclusion shows whether she/ he is able to provide care and support. A way in which employers have responded to the issue of diversity was to develop flexibility in their working practices and services (eg. Employer may allow flexible working pattern to accommodate child care or a GP surgery may offer services during weekends for people that work full time during the week). So a commitment to equality in addition to recognition of diversity means that different can be equal. It is important that employers and their representatives behave ethically and lead by example.The UK framework has 2 elements to it: anti-discriminatory framework gives individuals a route to raise complains of discrimination around employment and service delivery and public duties which place a proactive duty on employers to address institutional discrimination. The anti-discriminatory framework protects gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, religion, age. Public bodies inc luding local authorities, education, police forces, and national health services are bound to z number of duties. The implementation of public duties will identify and address institutional discrimination.Each of the public duties requires employers to: * produce an equality scheme * carry out impact assessments on their functions, policies and practices * carry out equalities monitoring and take action to redress any imbalance * publish the results of any work undertaken Outcome 2: Be able to work in an inclusive way 2. 1 identify which legislation and codes of practice relating to equality, diversity and discrimination apply to own role The Equality Act 2010 ensures consistency in what work places need to do to comply with the law and make working environments fair.The purposes of the Equality Act are: * establish the Commission for Equality and Human Rights * make discrimination unlawful * create a duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity between men and wome n and the prevention of sex discrimination The new Act aims to protect disabled people, prevent disability discrimination and also strengthen particular aspects of equality law. The Act provides legal rights for disabled people in the area of: * employment * education * access to goods, services and facilities including larger private clubs and land based transport services * buying and renting land or property functions of public bodies The Equality Act covers the same groups that were protected by existing equality legislation- age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity- but now extends some protections to groups not previously covered (e. g. care workers or parents of a disabled person). It provides rights for people not to be directly discriminated against or harassed because they have an association with a disabled person, or because they are wrongly perceived to be disabled .The main Acts incorporated into the Equality Act 2010 are: * The Disability Discrimination Act 2005- about removing the discrimination that disabled people experience. It gives them rights in employment, education, access to goods, facilities and services, buying or renting land or property, function of public bodies. * The Equal Pay Act 1970- stops employers to discriminate between men and women by paying them differently and providing different employment terms and conditions if they are doing: the same or similar work, work rated as equivalent in a job evaluation scheme, work of equal value. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and amendments 1982, and 1999- make unlawful the discrimination on grounds of sex, marital status or gender reassignment. It applies when recruiting and when deciding what terms and conditions should be offered to an employee as well as when decisions are made about who should be promoted, transferred or receive training as well as to any decisions about termi nating someone’s employment. The Race Relations Act 1976 and amendments 2000, 2003- which gives public authorities a statutory duty to promote race equality. The aim is to make promoting race equality central to the way public authorities public authorities work, and says they must: eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and promote equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different racial groups. 2. show interaction with individuals that respects their beliefs, culture, values and preferences in order to be sure that a care worker’s work is inclusive and respectful of other people’s social identity, they need to: * recognize that they need to treat everyone they care and support as individuals and respond to them, and their social identity, in an individual manner * Understand that treating people fairly does not mean treating people in the same way.They need to recognize difference and respond appropriately * Respect all individuals they support regardless of their social identity * Try to increase their knowledge and understanding of aspects of social identity that might be different from their own * Avoid stereotyping or making assumptions about individuals based on their social identity * Recognize that their own social identity may impact on individuals in different ways * Avoid using inappropriate and disrespectful language relating to social identity 2. 3 describe how to challenge discrimination in a way that encourages hange If discrimination is challenged effectively, future incidents of discrimination can be prevented, as well as empowering individuals to understand their rights. The care worker should: * Always act fairly and try to see things from the other person’s point of view, considering that there could be different pressures, needs and cultures. * Always use positive language and never use words or phrases that could be disrespectful towards another person * Not allow prejudices and stereoty ping to influence them and not accept any tupe of discriminatory behaviorOutcome 3: Know how to access information, advice and about diversity, equality and inclusion 3. 1 identify a range of sources of information, advice and support about diversity, equality and inclusion http://www. equalityhumanrights. com/ gives information about the Equality and Human Rights Commission which was created to challenge discrimination and promote equality and human rights http://www. scie. org. uk/socialcaretv/search. asp? uery=diversity gives information about working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people with different needs of support https://www. direct. gov. uk/ gives information and guidelines about public services Employer’s policy and procedures regarding equality and diversity 3. 2 describe how and when to access information, advice and support about diversity, equality and inclusion Any belief that someone is a victim of discrimination has to be reported immediately to the manager or supervisor.If a care worker feels that he/ she is a victim of discrimination, they should as well report it straight away to the manager or supervisor. Also a more senior or different manager can be contacted if there is a suspicion that the direct manager or supervisor might be involved. The human resources team is usually qualified to give advice and support on this matter. Support can also be found to a Trade Union if the care worker is a member or to Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (www. acas. org. uk).

The Wholefoods Company

At the wholefoods company most entry level employees make $10. 86 on average. This averages out to about 21,000 a year. This may not seem to be a very comparable pay scale, but their benefits out ways the pay. With a very extensive benefits package wholefoods has effectively been able to entice workers to be a part of the company. The company offers medical, dental, 401k, personal wellness account, health care reimbursement, dependent care reimbursement, life insurance, disability insurance, team member stock option plan, team member stock purchase plan, team member discounts, team member emergency sharing account, and gain sharing.Having all of these benefits outweighs the pay scale for most employees. They give good raises when promoting in the company as well. Most raise within the company are close to 1. 5%. The goal of employees in wholefoods would be to work their way up the chain of command to make more money. Store team leads within this company on average make $60, 171 a yea r. There are many other team lead positions within the organization that all pay close to $14 an hour. Being that there is a team lead position for each department of whole foods there is room for improvement and growth within the company.Wholefoods can turn into a career for any hard working employee. One purposed change that the company could make to their pay structure to increase their marketability to the workforce could to be to increase the raise percentage from 1. 5% annually to 3% annually depending upon productivity. Make the raise structure be based of productivity the more productive employees will earn 3% rises whereas the non-productive employees only get 1%. This change can also prove beneficial to the company as a motivation tool. (Whole foods market, pay scale and benefits ,2013)