Letter to Headteacher

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Dear Mr. Headteacher, While I appreciate the many benefits of our school, I think there are still some problems. A big, the bigger, the biggest problem is school uniform. I will like to present you my case for abolishing school uniform and explain to you why ,as a pupil, I feel school uniform should not be mandatory. Statistics show school uniform is not liked by the majority of the students. Think about those poor children that make the clothes of the uniform.I'm going to make a list with the main points of my letter: 1. We all have the right to individuality, to make personal choices and to express our personality. This right of free expression includes the way we choose to dress. Making everyone wear the same school uniform infringes on our rights and is a misuse of authority. We should have the right to choose what to wear, to express our personalities and ,as a way of learning, to make choices about our lives. 2. In my opinion the uniform costs too mu ch.Even though you need money to come to this school, this doesn't mean that we have to waste money for clothes we can only wear at school because they have the school emblem. 3. Our systems of law and regulation typically punish everyone for the actions of a few. We should take the time needed to solve the problem of the trouble-makers that don't dress decently rather than apply a general rule. 4. There are plenty reasons to avoid uniforms. One of these is that the idea of â€Å"one size fits all† is totally wrong. If our uniform fits to a boy, it doesn't mean it fits even to a girl.We have a different-shaped body so the unisex uniform is useless. 5. What is more, uniforms should be abolished from schools because it only causes more conflict between teachers and students, and why do students only wear uniform? The only differences between a teacher and a student are the age and the spelling. We all have the same rights so ,even though teachers have more authority, we should respect each other and don't abuse of power. 6. Another point is that I find unfair the fact that only we have to wear uniform while bigger boys and girls are free to dress as they like.Would you like it? 7. Finally, wearing a school uniform is not good preparation for our future working lives. Only a few jobs require uniforms. After all, our main role-models at school -the teachers- don't have to wear a uniform, do they? The definitions of school are : 1. a place (institute) where children go to be educated 2. the process of learning in a school 3. the time during the day when children are working in a school Notice the definitions don't include the word â€Å"uniform† anywhere. It clearly states that school is an â€Å"institution for learning†.The only thing we learn from having uniforms is that we are so dumb that we can't choose the clothes for ourselves. To sum up, school uniform is not the perfect solution if you want to avoid people making gangs. There is a bet ter solution: a dress code. While uniforms force all us to wear the same clothes, a dress code give pupils a lot of choice on what to wear. unsuitable dresses can be banned-for example, shirts with vulgar signs, very short skirts, crop tops, bare shoulders†¦ The school in this way could be greatly improved. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter, Yours sincerely, name

Current Trend to Teaching Nutrition in Elementary School Essay

Elementary schools have interesting aspects of putting across nutrition information to students through various methods. For instance, game theory is used to substitute healthier food for unhealthy foods currently consumed in various places including public places. Game theory in nutrition involves changing ones brain which eventually affects the body. This system entails mastering the guidelines of competitive practices mostly in purchasing, preparing or consuming good foods for our bodies. Game theory is used to motivate groups of people on their approaches to eating habits. In this theory, food is used to enable learners make decisions. It also examines the learners’ trust with regard to the fact that the body is molded depending on what one was fed on during his/her childhood and that the body is designed to fight diseases in times of infection. When using game theory, the teacher gives learners different examples of commonly used foods like the use of extra virgin oil by an individual or chicken fat for baking. In this example, the teacher is able to identify the individual who is at risk of developing diabetes (Brenowitz & Tuttle, 2003). In elementary schools, teachers identify the most important nutrition topics and the materials required to teach nutrition. For instance, healthy food choices and food guide pyramid are important topics that ought to be taught in elementary schools. Teachers have got the ability to change dietary behaviors of students. Middle schools use the team nutrition curriculum â€Å"yourself† which has details on food groups, required servings, following USDA food guide pyramid and weight guidelines. It also has guidelines and activities that are employed while choosing snacks (Gutek & Gerald, 1986). Elementary school teachers reward their students for good and presentable behavior. The teachers use food method and non food method to reward them. With food method the teacher chooses the students with good eating habits while with non food method those students with good interactive behavior are rewarded. As a result, most students will try as much as they can, so that they can improve and learn good nutritional habits. References Brenowitz, N. , & Tuttle, C. R. (2003). Development and testing of a nutrition-teaching selfefficacy scale for elementary school teachers. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 35, 308-311. Gutek, B. & Gerald, L. (1986). Education in the United States: An Historical Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

History of enlightenment Essay

(1) Newtonian theory vs. Einstein and Heisenberg The Newtonian theory refers to the work of one of the earliest scientists known as Isaac Newton who stated that, the laws of nature (gravity) controlled the stable movements of objects and also maintained the delicate balance that holds things firmly to the ground. However, since then this theory has been subjected to many conflicting philosophical views and opinions that have either challenged or supported it. The emergence of Albert Einstein and his genius in physics, for instance, gave way for heated debates about the credibility of the Newtonian theory of natural law and gravity. Albert Einstein in his proposed theory of relativism helped to extend Newtonian dynamics to include motion at speeds of approaching than that of light. This new additional clause on the initial theories of gravity saw the revolutionary perception of the effect of motion on gravity. The new findings led to the disputation of the absoluteness of Newtonian theory in that, Einstein discovered some faults that made the Newtonian theory incomplete and questionable. Einstein was able to learn that some elements such as time, mass, energy, space, and even matter are not necessarily absolute in themselves, they can therefore be measured or altered by a person depending on the nature of his/her study variables. [Nick Strobel, 2001] Warner Heisenberg later emerged to add his findings on what he called â€Å"quantum† mechanics that described motion on a subatomic scale. In his findings Heisenberg, asserted that the universe was full of uncertainties that made it not an obvious phenomenon to ever understand. â€Å"The more precisely the position is determined the, the less precisely the momentum is known at this instant, and vice versa† The work of these two scientists heralded the genesis of new studies that sought to provide insights on initially abstract theories, the Newtonian one included. [Mr. Edmondson, 2000] (2) Social Darwinism and Hitler The theories of social Darwinism, provided for a healthy competition among individuals, groups, nations, and the global world as a whole for purposes of achieving social evolution amongst human societies. Social Darwinism is a derivative from the Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Natural selection according to Darwin is the process of speciation in populace that is brought about by competition between individual mortals for limited resources a phenomenon called, â€Å"survival for the fittest†.   [Johnson, D. Paul, 2008] In his book, â€Å"Main Krampf† Hitler expresses acknowledgement of both the principals of social Darwinism and natural selection, this he exhibits by asserting that the world should be classified to people’s ancestry, a classification that will involve with some people being placed on higher classes than others, he quoted the example of Germany Aryans as more superior than the blacks, Jews, and gypsies as belonging to a lesser class. Again, Hitler is seen as acting beyond the dictates of social Darwinism or even the principal of natural selection with his racial attitude towards the Jews whom he accuse of abetting racial dilution tactics in order to bring about equality. His perception of social Darwinism and natural law was about the political, social, and economic struggle between the mainstream Aryans and the minority Jews. His racialism attitudes led him to the gassing and brutal murdering of millions of Jews as a way of satisfying his own â€Å"social Darwinistâ €  theory. [Mein Kampf, 1939] (3) Sigmund Freud vs. John Locke According to john Locke, â€Å"self† is the conscious thinking thing which is in itself reasonable or conscious of pleasure and pain and proficient of cheerfulness or melancholy, and so is concerned for itself, as far as that awareness extends. In other words to him self is a character awareness and self thoughtful awareness that is fixed in the body.   [Locke, Essay, 1997] In his work â€Å"some thoughts concerning Education† he indicates it is education that fills the rather â€Å"empty human mind†, by asserting that out of the ten men he meets with nine of them are what they are, morally upright or morally rotten, useful or not, good or evil, chiefly due to their education. [Locke, Some Thoughts, 1996] Further he argued that little and almost insensible impressions we make when we are young having lasting impacts to ourselves simply due to the fact that they were the foundations of the self. [Locke, Some Thoughts, 1996] On the other hand Sigmund Freud differed vehemently with Lockean theory in that he argued that human beings behavior is controlled largely by their unconscious minds. He argued that the understanding of conscious thoughts and behavior is determined by revisiting the unconscious mind. He developed â€Å"repression† as key factor that determined unconscious, out of belief that far many people repress painful memories into their unconscious minds. He further clarified that the very process of repression took place within an individual’s conscious mind but rather in the unconscious one, and therefore many people are unaware that is happening on them. [Barlow DW, Durand VM, 2005] Finally Freud stubborn stance on the unimportance of both education and treatment to the alleviation of violence or suffering can be attributed to his changing of the system of unconsciousness and modeling it into the concept of Ego, super-ego, and id.   Super ego is ability to psyche ones morals and not taking in to account circumstantial morals situations, while Id was derived from William James early works. It is in light of this that Freud vehemently disputed the notion that the success of the population relied on education.   [Barlow DW, Durand VM, 2005] Freud model of mind has been a great challenge to the enlightenment model of rational agency which then was a core element in modern philosophy.

Surveillance in the Workplace A Violation of Human Rights Essay

Surveillance in the Workplace A Violation of Human Rights - Essay Example The first type used by companies is computer monitoring. â€Å"Computer-based monitoring is the use of computerized systems to automatically collect information about how an employee is performing his or her job" (George 459). For employees doing data entry, some corporations monitor their performance by installing a computer software which can check the keystroke speed and accuracy. Some software can monitor how much time an employee surfs the net and what sites they visit. There are companies which even monitor the emails of their employees without their knowledge. Another type of employee monitoring system is the video surveillance. Turk explains that this type of surveillance is â€Å"used by employers for detecting employee misconduct (particularly theft), monitoring job performance and efficiency, and assuring conformance with safety procedures† (qtd. inMorgan , par 13). Most organizations today install closed -circuit television (CCTV) cameras in various parts of their offices. Outside the office, employees are monitored through the global positioning system (GPS).

Middle East Fashion - Turkey Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Middle East Fashion - Turkey - Research Paper Example The essay "Middle East Fashion - Turkey" analyzes the fashion of Turkey. Turkey is a country where people from different ethnic origins live. People of the cities that border Arab world are like that bordering countries. People of the cities that border European cities are like that European counterparts. Pants, shirts, ties are the main accessories of the Turkish clothing for males, females and children of all ages. On the other hand, the people who like to wear traditional dresses also use accessories like loose pants, long shirts, caps, and scarf. People still use traditional shoes. People also use different types of ornaments. Ornaments are especially used by women. Women in Turkey like to wear gold, platinum and diamond ornaments. Some people also like to wear silver ornaments. Most of the modern people of Turkey do not give important to ornaments. And scarcely use ornaments and additional accessories of clothing. Official dress in offices is pant and shirt. Turkey is located at a geographically most important region of the world. Many countries share borders with Turkey. Greece, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Georgia are some of neighboring countries. Turkey is the only country that has some part land (Istanbul) in Europe and major part (other than Istanbul) of land in Asia. Turkey has always been an important country in the world. During the era of Ottoman Empire, Turkey was one the major powers of the world. Turkey is still a major economy of Asia and the world. Turkey is also part of elite G20.

Effectiveness of Business Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Effectiveness of Business Communication - Essay Example The essay "Effectiveness of Business Communication" paper aims to proffer pertinent issues relating to the analysis of business communication and the strategies to effectively communicate in teams by using the list of "Advantages and Disadvantages of Teams" that provides an example how teams have worked in one’s workplace. Communication is a process which aims to transfer and implement the meaning of symbols from one person, group or organization to another. According to Workplace Communication, â€Å"business communication is defined as the imparting or exchanging of information and the sharing of ideas or feelings. It entails the process of creating meaning†. The current paper aims to proffer pertinent issues relating to the analysis of business communication and the strategies to effectively communicate in teams. The manner by which individuals communicate in the work setting depends on various factors. Using the list of "Advantages and Disadvantages of Teams", the e xamples of how teams have worked effectively incorporated the common elements noted for a successful teamwork that included the following: increased knowledge and information; increased diversity of perspectives and views; increased tendencies to unanimously accept a proposed solution; and manifestation of higher levels of performance. In one’s work setting, for instance, it was clearly imminent and proven that the increased information and knowledge works well. A team has access to more data and share crucial information.

Article analyze Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Article analyze - Essay Example Enterprises are anticipated to follow GAAP guidelines when broadcasting their financial information in their financial statements. The article ‘New mechanisms of FASB and IASB’ discusses on whether to adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards or not. An argument prevails between the Financial Accounting Standard Board and (FASB) and the International accounting standard Board (IASB) over the adoption of such principles. On 10th January 2013, the leaders of the boards mentioned above held a meeting to discuss the formation of joint accounting Principles. IASB seemed not to agree with the mutual setting of the accounting principles. Instead, it seemed to be on the side of single-setting the accounting guidelines without involving FASB (Tysiac, 2013). The indecisiveness of SEC forced Hoogervorst, the chairman of FASB, to declare the harmonization of principle bodies in formulating common and accepted accounting principles. Hoogervorst stated that it was very imperative if the principle bodies moved closer and formed mutual standards (Tysiac, 2013). In the previous definition, it was clear that accounting standards are achieved only when policy Boards come closer to form a common Idea. Thus, the issue of the IASB formulating its rules without involvement of FASB is not classified as ‘the acceptable accounting principles’. As quoted from his speech, Hoogervorst said, ‘As long as there is no decision (by the SEC); the best you can do is try to move as close together as possible.’ I agree with him because for a principle to become accepted, all policy bodies must participate in formulating the standards (Tysiac, 2013). Hoogervorst idea of forming accepted accounting principles is very significant. First and foremost, it improves transformed precision. Secondly, it leads to likely simplification. Third, enhances transparency and finally, it helps to compare between different

What do the freedman's bureau papers tell about african american life Term Paper

What do the freedman's bureau papers tell about african american life in the reconstruction era - Term Paper Example This bureau was established in the year 1865 after a debate was raised against its establishment and it took care of all matters concerning the refugees who lived in the southern states which were mainly under reconstruction following the destruction of property and land after the civil war. The bureau depended on funds and stuff contribution since there were no funds allocated to it by the central government. Commissioner General O.O Howard took control of the freedman bureau after being appointed by President Andrew Johnson and he was assisted by deputy commissioners appointed by the senate of each of the ten states which were undergoing reconstruction. The freedmen’s bureau got its funds from selling and renting the land confiscated in the south during the war though the president returned the lands the initial owners which led to lack of funds to the bureau. This move by the president caused the crisis among the freed slaves since the land was also their source of funding also making the bureau strain in providing the freed slaves with basic necessities due to lack of funds. The freedman’s bureau is believed to have made a great impact during the reconstruction period by helping the freed slaves in reconstructing their livelihoods though it encountered the following difficulties which led to its failure in proving social welfare to the freed slaves.: 1. Lack of funds The main source of funding for the freedman’s bureau was selling and renting of the confiscated land after the civil war. This source of funding was cut short after the president returned the confiscated land to their original owners hence making it difficult for the bureau to provide the freed slaves with basic amenities since they were in the initial stages of reconstructing their livelihoods (Louisa 55–56). 2. Weak organization of the bureaus internal structure The bureau structure was made up of the commissioner who was appointed by the president the assistant co mmissioners appointed by the senate of the states under reconstruction and agents who were appointed by the commissioner and assistant commissioners. This mode of appointment intuited that the bureau was not an independent authority since the commissioners and their assistant depended on decisions made by the authority which appoints them. This prevented them from implementing their decisions, which favored the freedmen welfare (Freedman Bureau NP). 3. Opposition from conservatives The freedman’s bureau faced a lot of opposition especially from the senate members of the northern states. This made it difficult for the bureau to implement most of its projections, which had to be passed through the senate for implementation. Some of these projections included: provision of basic needs to the freedmen and freed women in southern states. Despite many challenges faced by the freeman bureau, it contributed a lot during the reconstruction period in Virginia states, which was among th e ten southern states undergoing reconstruction after the war (Freedman Bureau NP). The bureau helped the freedmen and women during reconstruction in the following ways: 1. Provision of social services During slavery, the African-American community was denied access to social amenities such as schools, hospitals, churches and entertainment. Establishment of schools by the Freemans bureau helped the African-American community to gain access to formal education, which enabled them to learn more of their history and helped them to integrate in the modern American society (Francis Rollin). The black community in America had been denied access to religion during slavery the freeman’s bureau helped to establish churches which gave the African community a sense of belonging to a particular religion

Chevy vs gt500 article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chevy vs gt500 article - Essay Example Ford was faster on the straight and up the hills but Camaro was faster at corners. Although Ford had won by few seconds, Camaro proved to be a better car because of more efficient brake system. (words: 152) Camaro had magnetorheological shock absorbers that kept the chassis under control and smoothed the rough patches on the street. Ford could not take bumps on the road and experienced vertical motions which adversely impacted driving. Camaro’s brake system was better and stopped instantly. It gave confidence to the drivers of Camaro. On the other hand, after first lap, brake got heated up and do not stop fast enough, which could prove fatal on racetrack. The cooling system in Ford was flawed. The brakes being very crucial aspect of driving, driving Ford made drivers nervous. The basic assumption of the writer is that the car which makes every day driver a pleasure is more of a people car. Moreover major features like brake and good shock absorbers are hugely important elements of good car. Thus, along with speed, torque and traction, the performance of the car also evaluated their brake and efficiency of the shock absorbers to smooth rough patches. Relevant factors in the performance evaluation of the two cars were its speed, traction, torque, brake and smoothing of bumps on the roads. While the two cars competed equally on first three factors, Camaro won hands down on superior brake system and better shock absorbers which made driving a great pleasure. The tone of the article is highly technical. It uses technical vocabulary to define parts and functions that give relevance to the high performance of the car. But while the overall tone might be technical, the article is easy to understand and gives readers of all age, a better perspective of the issues that make driving better. Evans, Scott. 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs. 2013 Ford Shelby GT500. Motortrend, 27 June 2012.

Rome and Han Ccot Essay Example for Free

Rome and Han Ccot Essay RomeAncient Rome and Han China are different in the ways how their slaves were treated. Overall, they were ultimately more similar because of the importance of trade and family. Slaves in Ancient Rome were treated very harshly. They were put in gladiator fights to the death against fellow slaves and occasionally lions for the entertainment of the community, although it was against the law for a citizen to kill another citizen’s slave. Also, 10% of the populations of Rome were slaves, which means if one died, they could be easily replaced. RomeAncient Rome and Han China are different in the ways how their slaves were treated. Overall, they were ultimately more similar because of the importance of trade and family. Slaves in Ancient Rome were treated very harshly. They were put in gladiator fights to the death against fellow slaves and occasionally lions for the entertainment of the community, although it was against the law for a citizen to kill another citizen’s slave. Also, 10% of the populations of Rome were slaves, which means if one died, they could be easily replaced. In contrast, only 1% of Han China’s populations were slaves. They were much more valued and thus their owners treated them better. There were two kinds- Privately Owned and State Owned. These slaves could pay for freedom, or be freed by their master or the emperor. It was against the law to kill these slaves at all. Trade in Rome was thought to be beneath the occupation of landholding, although they continue to practice trade throughout Roman history. The Senate was not allowed to participate in commerce because they were too prestigious to be affiliating with it. Similar to Han China, agriculture was a much better occupation than trade. Merchants, however wealthy, were looked down on because they looked like they could surpass social boundaries because of their riches. In Ancient Rome, loyalty to family and state was highly important. The nobles of Rome were constantly reminded to be aware of their fathers and grandfathers successes. We know this because the term pietas; meaning â€Å"dutifulness†; depicts these values. Also, we know of these the importance of family because typically at a Roman funeral, they would exhibit masks’ of their ancestors and their deeds. This regard to ancestors resembles that of Confucianism, which was highly practiced in Han China. The core of Confucianism was known as â€Å"filial piety†, meaning the respect and obedience that children owed their parents.

Sterilization by Saturated Steam Experiment

Sterilization by Saturated Steam Experiment Nurul Aisha Zainal Abidin Introduction Microorganisms are tiny living cells that inhabit our environment. Most of these microorganisms are harmless, where they do not cause any diseases, hence they are known as non-pathogens (Benowit-West et al., 2009). However, there are some that can cause infections which are termed pathogenic. Certain environments make them necessary that the population of these microorganisms are controlled especially health care facilities, laboratories, food industries, pharmaceutical industries, and more (Hoffman et al., 2004). Sterilisation is an important method to control the microbial population, where it is the process of removing or killing viable microorganisms from equipment or substances. Sterilisation process can be done via several means including heat sterilisation, filtration, chemical sterilisation and radiation sterilisation (Schlegel and Zaborosch, 1993). Among these methods, the most commonly used is heat sterilisation in moist (steam) and dry form as others each have their own disadvantages such as toxic residues, risk of radiation, high cost, and capability of causing physical damage to equipment (Rogers, 2005). Other than heat being used as physical agents for sterilisation, ionising radiation and filtration can also be used. Moist heat (steam) sterilisation uses liquid, heat and pressure to form steam which will kill the microorganisms. This process is recognised for its speed of operation, effectiveness, low risk and cost because steam is only pressurised water in gas phase (Block, 1983). It is known that vegetative cells of most bacteria can be killed within 5-10 minutes at a temperature of 60oC however bacterial spores are thermoduric, where they can survive long exposure to high temperature (Bonewit-West et al., 2009). Thus, steam sterilisation is considered to be effective as it destroys viable microorganisms at 121oC for 15 minutes and prevents them from germinating into bacteria. The high temperature applied denatures the proteins within the bacterial endospores, destroying them (Jha and Ghosha, 2005). Dry heat sterilisation also uses heat to denature the proteins of the bacterial cells. This process involves exposing heat stable solid equipment to a temperature of 160oC for 1-2 hours. However, moist heat is more effective in destroying microorganisms compared to dry heat because water vapour can penetrate into microorganisms more readily than dry air. This heat sterilisation method is done in a metal vessel known as autoclave (Jha and Ghosha, 2005). Another method for sterilisation is tyndallisation which is usually for materials that cannot withstand high temperatures in the autoclave. They are exposed to 100oC heat for 30 minutes to inactivate vegetative cells but not the spores. These spores that survive will germinate to form bacterial cells during incubation at 37oC and then the material being sterilised is again subjected to steam at 100 oC for 30 minutes to kill these bacteria. This cycle is repeated for the next 3 days (Talaro and Talaro, 1993). This experiment was done to determine whether there is a difference between efficacy of heat sterilisation (moist heat and dry) and the requirements necessary for this sterilisation process to be adequate. Aims The aims of this experiment were to understand how a steam sterilizer operates, the role and the importance of having to implement moist heat sterilization process, as well as to identify the basic requirements needed for successful steam sterilization. Materials and Methods As per practical manual from page 56-57 Results Two Thermalog strips were each placed in two Schott bottles; one bottle was tightly capped with no water and the other was loosely capped with water present. Five bottles were prepared and spore strips impregnated with B. Stearothermophilus were placed in bottles 1-4. Some water and paraffin oil was added in bottle 2 and 4 respectively. Schott bottles, bottles 2-4 and a Sterikon plus Bioindicator were sterilised in the autoclave. Thermalog strips were observed after the sterilisation process. 3ml of TSB was added into bottles 1, 2, 3, 5 and the spore strip from bottle 4 was transferred to bottle 5. All the bottles were then incubated. The tables below show the observation made from the experiment. Table 1. The observation of the â€Å"Thermalog† strips in the two Schott bottles with different conditions Table 2. The observation of Sterikon vials with one being sterilized and one without being sterilized Table 3. B. Stearothermophilus spore strips in TSB with different conditions after sterilization and incubation Discussion In the first part of the experiment, steam sterilisation indicator, Thermalog strips are placed in two Schott bottles under different conditions. The tightly capped Schott bottle without any water only had a change of colour within the â€Å"unsafe† zone. This is due to the steam from the steriliser that was not able to enter through the tight cap and reach the Thermalog strip. With no water present in the bottle either, steam could not be produced, giving exposure to dry heat. Hence, complete sterilisation was not achieved as direct contact between the steam and the bottle is needed, alongside its temperature and time parameters (121oC and 15 minutes respectively). In comparison, the loosely capped Schott bottle with added water had a change of colour until the â€Å"safe† zone. Because the Thermalog strip was exposed to moist heat in the form of steam during the sterilisation process, complete sterilisation is achieved. In the second part of the experiment, two Sterikon plus Bioindicator vials are used, which could determine the effectiveness of steam sterilisation. These vials have B. stearothermophilus spores along with a pH indicator in a nutrient-filled broth. Both vials were pink at the beginning of the experiment and incubated for several days. The Bioindicator vial that was put in the steriliser showed no colour change while the vial that was not sterilised turned yellow and only slightly turbid. The sterilised vial had no bacterial growth because the spores did not undergo germination to form bacteria due to successful sterilisation which have completely destroyed all bacterial spores. Therefore, the vial retained its pink colour after incubation. However, the colour change from pink to yellow in the other vial indicates that the spores had germinated into bacteria. This is because the vial was not sterilised, thus the spores were able to grow in a favourable condition, whereby they take up nutrients and produce acid which causes the colour change. These findings show that they are vital for monitoring steam steriliser, ensuring that all spores are properly destroyed. If they are not exposed to its temperature and time parameters, some spores might still survive and germinate. In order to determine that sterilisation process is successful, incubation process is implemented to observe whether these spores could still form new bacteria or whether they really have been destroyed. In the experiment which used strips impregnated with spores of B. stearothermophilus in tryptone soy broth (TSB), bottle 1 appeared to be the most turbid among other bottles, which suggests bacterial growth is sustained. Because bottle 1 was not autoclaved, it did not go through proper sterilisation process prior incubation, thus allowing the spores to germinate from the spore strip. Culturing this unexposed spore strip in bottle 1 therefore acts as a control, as it would not have demonstrated that steam sterilisation was actually successful if bacterial growth was not observed because they could have not been able to germinate at all. Bottle 2, however, shows that steam sterilisation was done successfully as the TSB media does not show any turbidity, thus bacterial spore activity was not there. As mentioned, water was added to bottle 2 before it was tightly capped and put into the autoclave, which evaporated into steam (or moist heat) at a 121oC within the steriliser. The steam formed will then kill the spores directly. Apart from that, bottle 3 was tightly capped and had no water added before it was placed in the autoclave. As a consequence, the moist heat could not possibly have direct contact with the spores to be able to kill them. This meant that the spores were only subjected to dry heat sterilization within the bottle, which clearly showed to be a less effective of a method compared to moist heat sterilisation. Because these spores survived the dry heat sterilisation process, they were able to germinate and form bacterial growth under the favourable conditions during incubation, making the TSB media turbid. If dry heat sterilisation was to be implemented to eradicate spores, a higher temperature would suffice. Furthermore, bottle 5 also showed turbidity to almost the same degree as bottle 3. The spore strip in bottle 5 was initially immersed in paraffin oil in bottle 4, before it was transferred into bottle 5. Other than the tightly capped bottle preventing the moist heat from entering, the o il somewhat acts as a protective barrier for the spores, not even allowing dry heat to have direct contact with the spore strip. Based on these findings, it demonstrates to a certain extent to how the biocidal action of moist and dry heat is different and can be compared. Most importantly, the role and the significance of the requirements needed for each sterilisation method. For moist heat sterilisation, a holding time of 121oC for 15 minutes under a pressure of 101kPa is required. In contrast, dry heat sterilisation needs a holding time of 1-2 hours at a temperature of 160oC (Arora, 2003). Therefore, it can be said that moist heat (steam) can perform faster sterilisation, with higher penetrating power as compared to dry heat (Vasanthakumari, 2007). Furthermore, sterilisation using moist heat is more efficient as it uses a lower temperature for the denaturation of protein and the heat in water is also transferred to substances easily (Greenwood et al., 2007). Hence, it is important to note that for steam to be an ideal sterilant, it must be able to have direct contact with the object (external and internal surface) or substance being sterilised. The reason for this is for its stored energy to be transferred to the object through condensation onto all the surfaces which releases its latent heat. As a result, microorganisms are destroyed. Without this direct steam contact, the sterilisation process would be inadequate (Slatter, 1985). Even so, moist heat sterilisation still has a limitation, where it is not capable of destroying prions in the same way as bacteria and spores. Prions, which are stable self-replicating proteins, are highly infective in the central nervous system tissue and they are highly resistant to heat (Hanlon and Hodges, 2013). Therefore, in order to destroy these prions, dry heat sterilisation may be implemented with a temperature of 200oC. Conclusion Successful and complete steam sterilisation can only be achieved if the material being sterilised have physical contact with moist heat (steam) either from the steriliser or from the water inside the material being vaporised. Without the steam, sterilisation process will not be effective because the dry heat cannot destroy the heat-resistant spores. Furthermore, barriers like oils or fats would also prevent the steam from penetrating. Because there are many interruptions or factors that could influence the efficacy of sterilisation, it is necessary to monitor the process. Thermalog strips can be used to determine if the sterilisation process has met its criteria where the material has been exposed to conditions to be safely sterilised. Sterikon plus Bioindicator vials are also used to monitor whether steam sterilisation has occurred. References Arora, D. R. 2003.Textbook of microbiology. New Delhi: CBS Publishers. Block, S. S. 1983.Disinfection, sterilization, and preservation. Philadelphia: Lea Febiger. Bonewit-West, K., Hunt, S. A. and Applegate, E. J. 2009.Todays medical assistant. St. Louis, Mo.: Saunders/Elsevier. Dunn, C. E. and Chennell, S. 2012.Australian master work health and safety guide. North Ryde, N.S.W.: CCH Australia. Greenwood, M., Seymour, R. A. and Meechan, J. G. 2009.Textbook of human disease in dentistry. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell. Hanlon, G. and Hodges, N. A. 2013.Essential microbiology for pharmacy and pharmaceutical science. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: John Wiley Sons. Hoffman, P. N., Bradley, C., Ayliffe, G. A. J. and Ayliffe, G. A. J. 2004.Disinfection in healthcare. Malden, Mass: Blackwell Pub. Jha, T. B. and Ghosha, B. 2005.Plant tissue culture. Hyderabad: Universities Press. Rogers, W. J. 2005.Sterilisation of polymer healthcare products. Shawbury, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Rapra Technology. Schlegel, H. G. and Zaborosch, C. 1993.General microbiology. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press. Slatter, D. H. 1985.Textbook of small animal surgery. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. Talaro, K. P. and Talaro, A. 1993.Foundations in microbiology. Dubuque, Iowa: W.C. Brown. Vasanthakumari, R. 2007.Textbook of Microbiology. New Delhi: BI Publications Pvt Ltd.

Elderly Patient on Psychotic Depression ward

Elderly Patient on Psychotic Depression ward In this assignment I will be carrying out a Critical Incident Analysis on an incident taken from my portfolio that was encountered whilst in practice placement. This type of analysis was first used to analyse flying missions by pilots, as a way of raising their performance (Flanagan, 1954), in more recent years Norman et al. (1992) and Perry (1997) described this type of analysis as being an important and valid tool for use in nurse training, as it allows the student to choose and use an incident that made an impact on them, from their practice placement that was either positive or negative, so that they can analyse, reflect on and learn from it, showing their development as a practitioner and a person whilst linking theory to practice and helping them move from novice to expert, as outlined by Benner (1984) . Model used for reflection For the purpose of this assignment I have selected the Gibbs (1988) reflective framework model which is an iterative model meaning it is cyclical in nature, the six points covered by this model are: Describe the activity or experience in objective detail. Discuss and explore any feelings you were having at the time of the experience. Evaluate the experience: What really happened? What was good about it? What was bad? What factors contributed to the event? Analyse the experience: What can you learn from it? Conclusion: What could you have done differently? Anything you wish you had done? Wish you hadnt done? Action Plan: What can you plan on doing in the future? (Bethann, 2004, p167) This is also the model I use in my portfolio as along with critical incident analysis, it centres on reflective practice, an essential skill in nursing practice allowing situations to be analysed in detail, identifying areas of potential change, Jasper (2003) and reinforcing the need for certain practices by highlighting their benefits. I also find the logical, straightforward structure of this framework allows the reflection to be written clearly, providing opportunities to look at incidents from different perspectives. The Critical Incident Stages one and two of Gibbs model of reflection are covered here, where the incident is described along with my feelings at the time of the incident. I chose this particular incident as it put me in a very challenging position where I had to think on my feet, it made me test my abilities as a communicator and a nurse under stress, whilst highlighting the importance of some of the more basic nursing techniques like non-verbal communication through touch, educating patients to help themselves, looking out for physical signs that can indicate a patient is in distress and how working closely with a patient can earn their trust whilst building up the therapeutic relationship In order to keep the patient and the practice placement confidential, as indicated in the NMC Code of Professional Conduct (2002) and the N.M.C. guide for students (2002), the practice placement is kept anonymous and the patient will be referred to as Tom. The patients consent was also obtained, as it is the patients right to choose whether or not they wish details to be written about them, highlighted by Johnston and Slowther (2003) also outlined in section 3.7 of the N.M.C Code of conduct (2002) with reference to patients who suffer from mental illness. The patient, Tom a 72 year old man, was admitted to my practice placement suffering from Psychotic depression and anxiety, my placement is at a Psychiatric admissions ward, for patients over sixty five years old. On assisting Tom with his activities of daily living (A.D.Ls), (Roper et al, 1980) after, rising one Monday morning, It became apparent when helping Tom dress that his right arm was causing him pain, in the area of his right shoulder, I relayed this to the nursing staff who explained Tom had fallen unobserved on the Friday night and had been seen by the Doctor who on examination felt no other investigations were needed. On further discussion about his arm and the fall, between myself and Tom, he eventually admitted to having also fallen on the Sunday night and had not told anyone about it, once I had explained this to the nursing staff the Doctor was again consulted and felt that Tom should have an X-ray to rule out any broken bones. I accompanied Tom as an escort to the x-ray department where he became increasingly agitated, anxious and was mumbling to himself with delusional content of speech evident, concerning the N.H.S. which had not been known about, as Tom had only recently been admitted, he felt they (the N.H.S) were going to cause him, bodily injury (a persecutory delusion Gamble Brennan, 2003) due to his doing them out of money when he was younger, I did my best to give constant reassurance that I would not let anyone harm him, but when someone holds a delusional belief it can be very firmly maintained and difficult to dissuade from, in particular when they are in a state of high anxiety like Tom, as indicated in Stuart and Laraia (2001). I was quite worried about how the situation was going and that I might be out of my depth as I did not know Tom very well and felt a little awkward trying to reassure someone who was this distressed, feeling I was doing little or no good for him. After he had his x-ray and I was assisting him to get dressed in the x-ray cubicle the Radiologist came in and told us that Toms shoulder was broken and that we would need to go round to casualty to be seen by a Doctor there. This news made Toms level of panic escalate considerably and he began to have a panic attack in the cubicle, most likely a situationally predisposed panic attack, which occurs on exposure to a situational cue or trigger (DSM-4) Tom had become quite pale and began to perspire profusely, along with his breathing becoming very shallow and rapid to the point that he was panting, I found it quite distressing to see Tom in this condition. I had never encountered someone quite as panicked as this and I felt quite concerned. I thought calling out for someone to help might only panic him more, so I decided to try some deep breathing exercises to relax and calm him down first, then if that did not work I would seek help. I knew from reading Toms notes that he did not have a heart condition or other health problem that would have been causing these symptoms and it had been recorded that Tom suffered from panic attacks, although I was still watchful for any change in his symptoms that might indicate an alternative medical reason for his condition. Initially I sat beside Tom with my arm around him, asking him to take slow deep breaths, but with his level of panic and no eye contact meant he was not concentrating on me, so I knelt down on the floor in front of him took his hands, spoke to him gently but firmly using his name and with direct eye contact got him to focus on what we were doing. I explained his symptoms were due to his panic attack and the breathing exercises we were doing would help relax him, calm him down and make him feel better. Tom started to comply and began with my instruction, breathing in slowly through his nose holding it for a moment then breathing out slowly through his mouth. In a relatively short time his breathing began returning to normal and he started to relax, enabling us to go on to the casualty department to see about his shoulder. In the casualty department Tom still required reassurance not only verbally but also with touch as he asked me to hold his hand, bringing home the importance of this simple yet significant form of non-verbal communication and despite needing another brief set of relaxation breathing in the casualty cubicle Tom was notably calmer. I felt privileged that he had put his trust in me and that we had moved on further in our therapeutic relationship, as while waiting in casualty Tom who had hardly spoken to anyone let alone myself, began discussing how scared he had been and talked about some of his delusional beliefs, which helped me empathise with how terrified he must have been. I was also able to discuss what Tom told me with the qualified nurses on return to the ward giving a deeper insight into his condition. Critical Discussion of the Incident For this section of the Critical Incident Analysis stages three and four of Gibbs reflective framework are covered, allowing me to look at what was good and bad about the incident along with contributing factors (Gibbs 1988), I am going to discuss, analyze and reflect upon three key issues: Panic attacks, the relaxation technique of Deep breathing and Touch therapy, that were encountered during the incident and that I felt were of significant importance. Panic attacks I felt this topic was important to the critical incident as it is a common condition closely linked to anxiety which a great number of mental health patients experience often along with their main diagnosis but most commonly alongside depression as in Toms case, Clayton (1990) and Merikangas et al (1996) stated that comorbidity between panic and depression is the single strongest type of anxiety-mood comorbidity found in both treatment and in the general public. Panic attacks are often talked about and appear in patient notes but this critical incident brought home for me how absolutely terrifying and totally debilitating the panic attack was for Tom and how distressing it can be to witness a patient in this condition. Anxiety is a normal healthy reaction to the stresses of everyday life as suggested by Trevor Powel (2001) and even necessary for us to perform at our best as Yerkes-Dodsons Law (1908) explains, illustrated in the graph below. Here levels of anxiety are referred to as arousal and a direct correlation to performance is demonstrated, it tells us that if we have low levels of arousal then our performance becomes decreased (distress, as introduced by Seyle (1956)), at medium levels our performance levels peak (eustress as described by Seyle (1956)) and when our arousal levels become high our performance levels and subsequent ability to function drop again (resulting in distress) as seen in Toms situation. (Yerkes Dodson 1908) Peplau (1963) defined anxiety in four levels: Mild anxiety- everyday life stress. Moderate anxiety- Immediate concerns focused on, with narrowed perceptual field, although able to function when necessary. Severe anxiety- Greatly reduced perceptual with difficulty focusing on anything except what is causing anxiety. Panic- Person feels terror, dread as is unable to reason with the threat causing anxiety blown out of all proportion, making it almost impossible to communicate or function, with little or no control over themselves causing panic attack. Toms anxiety level was clearly at the panic stage which cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely as being in a panic attack state is not compatible with living, as described by Stuart and Laraia (2001), who believe if prolonged can result in total exhaustion or in extreme cases even death. Panic attacks affect between 3 and 5 percent of the population at some point in their lives (Lynch E, 2005). The findings of an American study carried out this year showed that people suffering from panic attacks account for around 25% of those attending casualty departments or G.Ps. (Ham, P. et al, 2005) often having trouble breathing properly as found with Tom, with most people suffering from panic attacks, stating hyperventilation as being one of their main symptoms (Holt and Andrews, 1989), or with patients believing they are having a heart attack. Toms panic attack was mainly evident by the physical symptoms he displayed, described previously, physiological symptoms often being the only visible signs of a panic attack as described by Stuart and Laraia (2001). In this instance, although Toms Psychotic Depression was the likely reason for his anxiety with the resulting panic attack, I felt trying to deescalate his anxiety levels, by getting the panic attack and hyperventilation under control was my main priority, there would have been no point in me trying to deal with his delusional beliefs at this point as this takes time and experience, of which I had neither, plus Toms panic levels were so high it was difficult for him to concentrate. Therefore it seemed logical to concentrate on something which it was perhaps possible to change. I hoped that using the deep breathing technique would be successful in helping return Toms body systems to normal which would stop the hyperventilating making Tom feel a lot better and knew that breathing techniques could be very effective but did not want to put Tom at any risk by doing so, I had to make a judgment call about how I was going to handle the situation and decided I was going to try and deal with it using the breathing exercise. Relaxation Techniques Deep breathing The next topic I am going to cover is Relaxation Techniques and the technique of Deep Breathing in particular, I feel it is important to cover this topic as it was a key factor in the outcome of the incident as by guiding Tom through the breathing technique, enabled him to control his breathing resulting in his panic attack and hyperventilating coming to an end. Toms physical symptoms indicated that he was hyperventilating or overbreathing, the mental health handbook (Trevor Powell, 2001) tells us this is a normal response to threat by our bodies to bring more oxygen to the muscles, preparing us for Fight or Flight, but if the extra O2 is not needed by the muscles, i.e. the situation is only an imagined threat as in Toms case, the normal level of gases in the blood and lungs becomes out of balance, due to breathing in to much oxygen (O2) and pushing out too much carbon dioxide (CO2), this causes the blood to become alkaline which brings on many of the unpleasant symptoms Tom was suffering from. There are several ways of overcoming hyperventilation, possibly the most commonly referred to, is breathing into a paper bag to facilitate the breathing back in of the carbon dioxide being breathed out, as explained in the Nursing Times article, Facts: Panic Attacks (2003), which also acknowledges the importance of controlling the patients breathing, Stuart and Laraia (2001) also agree that relaxation techniques are an accepted therapeutic intervention in the treatment of anxiety. Since I had no paper bag with me, I decided to use the three stage deep breathing technique to retrain Toms breathing which, Risser and Murphy (2005) agree, improves panic symptoms and associated disability, this type of breathing which is commonly used in yoga helped to slow down and control Toms breathing which also stopped him hyperventilating, it is carried out by: Inhaling slowly and deeply through your nose. When youve taken in a full breath, hold it for a moment and thenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Exhale slowly through the nose or mouth, depending on your preference. This action although different to the paper bag technique brings about the same desired effect, in the case of Deep Breathing carbon dioxide is not being re-breathed but the rate it is expelled by is being slowed down along with holding it a little longer in the lungs which results in the levels of carbon dioxide in the blood rising, correcting the acid/alkaline balance in the blood, which relieved Toms unpleasant symptoms, bringing his breathing rate back to normal and making him feel calmer. At the time of the incident I really hoped that the breathing technique would be successful although I was not entirely sure whether to trust my instincts and try it out. On reflection I was very impressed at how effective such a simple procedure could be and was glad not only for Toms sake but also my own that I had decided to try it out, as it gave me more confidence in my abilities as a nurse even though at the time I was carrying it out, although outwardly calm, I had felt quite anxious. Touch Therapy The final key issue I wish to highlight from the critical incident is the benefit of touch as a therapy, which I felt was vital as a way of communicating with Tom during his panic attack along with giving him reassurance that I was there for him, empathising with his situation and helping him focus on what we were trying to do. There are several terms used to describe the different types of touch used in nursing, some of which are: necessary touch which covers task and instrumental touch that is mostly used when a procedure or task needs to be carried out on a patient as opposed to non-necessary touch which is described as spontaneous and emotional physical contact between the nurse and patient, introduced by Routasalo (1996), expressive touch comes under the non-necessary touch umbrella with the same type of nurse patient contact, described by McCann McKenna (1993) which is similar again to caring and protective touch highlighted by Estabrooks (1989) and finally therapeutic touch, which is an alternative therapy similar to reiki, discussed by Meehan (1998). Nesbitt-Blondis and Jackson (1982) agree that touch is probably the most important of all non-verbal communications that we use in nursing and can be particularly useful in cases like Toms panic attack where his ability to understand and communicate was diminished, when patients are unable to communicate verbally or understand verbal communication for reasons such as dementia, those with learning or cognitive difficulties and in panic attack situations like Toms, touch can be an excellent means of communication. Unfortunately, McCann McKenna (1993) reported that in the U.K. there is little use of expressive, non-necessary or caring touch by nurses. Many nurses see touch as just something that is used when a procedure or task needs to be carried out on a patient, but Tutton (1998) suggests that touch in nursing and the powerful expressions it conveys to patients are sadly underutilised. Routasalo (1996) also suggests that non-essential touch although not absolutely essential, can be extremely important and necessary to the patient. The benefits of this type of touch in nursing are strengthened further by Moore Gilbert (1995) who found patients interpreted the use of touch by nurses as a display of affection and attention which they greatly appreciated, with patients interviewed in Routasalo Isolas (1996) study, describing touch by nurses as extremely comforting. Davidhizar Giger (1997) whilst acknowledging the important role that touch can play in the nurse patient relationship, also points out that the value of touch is not appreciated by all health professionals or considered appropriate or desirable by some patients. Bearing this in mind as long as the correct manner of touching is employed, and there is no way it could be seen as being inappropriate with the patients personal and cultural beliefs being taken into account, it is one of our most valuable communication nursing tools. The extent of physical contact carried out in a society is governed by sets of well-defined behavioural norms for whatever circumstance we find ourselves in (Pratt Mason 1981). Jourard (1966) recognised that the incidence of touching within our Western society declines from childhood onwards but Montagu (1986) discovered that the need for touch did not reduce with age. It is felt that the level of touch common in childhood can return in situations of sickness or incapacity (Barnett 1972). This may mean that, the need for touch in illness might be more important than our ideas of proper behaviour. I felt the touch element in this incident: my taking of Toms hands to help him focus, get his attention and convey my empathy, was extremely important and was in fact the turning point in the whole incident which allowed me to gain Toms trust and initiate the breathing technique which stopped him hyperventilating. I feel that without the touch element it would have been almost impossible for me to reach Tom and the outcome of the incident would have been very different. Implications for Professional and Personal Development In this final section of the Critical Incident Analysis, the two final stages of Gibbs model of reflection (1988), five and six are covered, here we look at what was learned from the incident, what could have been carried out differently or should not have been done, along with what was missed out concluding with a plan for future action. I found in utilising the Gibbs (1998) reflection tool, the impact the incident made on my personal and professional development was made much clearer. Through carrying out this Critical Incident Analysis I have been able to see what I have learned through reflection, as the Department of Health (1999) states, reflective practice is necessary in order to further our continued personal and professional development and leads to a greater understanding of our own needs. Described as a form of self discovery by Freshwater (2004) with a deeper understanding of the needs of the patient and improved patent care highlighted by Davies (1995). From this I feel the analysis made me examine my communication skills on a deeper level for although I feel that I am a natural communicator, and have had many years experience working with people suffering from dementia, I had not fully thought about the use of touch or the great importance it has in communicating with patients . Without the use of reflective practice I would not have researched into the concept of touch so fully or really understood its relevance and consequences in my nursing practice. Or recognised the significance touch played in the successful deescalating of Toms panic attack and hyperventilating in this critical incident. This Critical Incident Analysis has definitely taught me to have more faith in my abilities as a nurse but has also taught me I have more to learn as a communicator. Similarly with the topic of panic attacks which I was obviously familiar with and had some knowledge on, having been through the incident with Tom and then carrying out the reflection on the incident, allowed me to see the field of panic and anxiety disorders with a deeper understanding and much more from the patients viewpoint. Having witnessed the real distress and levels of disability it can inflict will enable me to really empathise with patients like Tom going through this type of disorder when I come across them in my future career. The area of relaxation breathing was something which I had used myself in yoga practice and did know of its benefit in anxiety situations, but I had not expected to have to start teaching it to a patient that day in the X-Ray cubicle. I was quite shocked when Tom had began hyperventilating but on reflection I should have perhaps saw it coming with his rising levels of anxiety after our arrival at the hospital, especially after I had read only that morning that he had a history of panic attacks. Again on reflection I could have asked the nursing staff the best way to deal with it should the situation arise. I have learned from this that I could have been better prepared before escorting Tom by asking questions and having a plan of action to use if necessary. I had been worried about putting Tom at risk by trying the breathing technique with him as I stated earlier, and perhaps it was wrong of me to have tried it in the first place, but I had made a judgment in an emergency situation, and I did not make the decision lightly, being aware that help was nearby should it be needed. I did not want to distress Tom further by calling out, resulting in people rushing into the cubicle and in conclusion felt the breathing exercise was worth a try, but I would have called for help quickly if it did not appear to be working. On discussing the incident and my actions back on the ward, my mentor also felt I had made the right choice. This made me think about the fact that as a nurse there are times when it is up to you to make judgment calls regarding patient care and that it is important to remember that you are accountable for your actions. To carry this level of responsibility demands a sound knowledge of practice and an ability to think calmly and clearly even under stress. I was both relived and delighted that the breathing technique worked so well for Tom and felt honoured that he decided to put his faith in me. As stated earlier, this prompted Tom to confide some of his fears to me, which showed trust on Toms part and fostered a deeper understanding of his condition on mine. This advancement of the therapeutic relationship between Tom and I has continued during my placement where I have worked quite closely with him and where I have taught him how to practice the breathing techniques when he feels calm making it easier for him to utilise in panic situations, which he has been doing with good effect. As a follow on from this incident and after seeing the efficacy of relaxation techniques in action, at my practice placement I asked my mentor if it would be possible to carry out some relaxation groups with carefully screened groups of patients who had anxiety problems. My mentor and other nursing staff thought this would be a good idea both for the benefit of the patients and for my personal and professional development. After researching the subject and finding appropriate music along with compiling a script, the groups were initiated with great success and are now regularly used on the ward, which has given me some sense of achievement and helped build my confidence in my abilities as a nurse. Along with being very beneficial in analysing this particular incident the use of reflective analysis has definitely improved my practice in placement, and although I have used this model of reflection in my portfolio for some time now, it has made me re-examine the importance keeping and using a portfolio to further my professional and personal development. I also feel this helps me to benefit more from my placement as I fully understand the concept behind reflection and use it positively as a tool rather than a task I need to perform. When using reflection now I am able to draw more insight from my experiences on placement, while previously I had only skimmed the surface of the subjects when carrying out reflection. This has increased both my self awareness and my ability to link theory and practice together. Overall, I can see clearly how reflection is a useful tool in helping nurses to focus on their skills and behaviour which consequently enables them to provide the best care possible for patients, as discussed by Somerville (2004). Action Plan Preparing and utilising action plans is an important way of improving both our personal and professional development as nurses, whilst building on improved nursing practice. To be prepared for this kind of scenario in the future I have identified the following plan of action: Make sure I know and understand all relevant information regarding patients. Have good communication with other members of staff about patients. Have a plan of action thought out for any incidents that may arise. Remain calm and consider actions carefully. Empathise with the patient by trying to understand what it would be like to be in that situation. Where possible help the patient to help themselves, i.e. by educating them to use breathing techniques so when a panic situation arises they are in a better position to take control themselves.

How To Build Your Own Computer :: Process Essays

Before you start you will need to check if u need all of your pieces together and parts. Then you need to check if you have the right size case for your mother board. The find a bare floor to work on its the best place. Then download latest drivers for your pc so you cannot have headahces later on. Now you are ready to install your motherboard. Lay your case on it's side for installing the motherboard. If your case has a removable motherboard plate then take it out to install the motherboard on it. Match up the motherboard mounting hole with the case or plate. Now use the standoffs and install them to the case or plate where the holes lined up. Then use the screws and screw the motherboard down to the standoffs. Some case use plastic standoffs. These usually have pointed ends you push up through the back of the motherboard and then slide the flat head into the case or plate. Make sure that the motherboard is not touching the case or plate on the back of the motherboard. Now install the plate if your case came with the removable one. Make sure your motherboard is tight but not too tight as to cause it to crack.Next connect the power to the motherboard. If you have an AT motherboard it will use 2 large 6 wire plugs. The black wires have to be together in the middle or you will fry your motherboard and believe me it has happened a lot. They will be hard to install but they will fit just keep trying. The problem is the little tabs placed on 1 side of them. If you have a ATX motherboard then you will have 1 large 20 wire plug. It is made so it can only be installed the right way. If you have a cpu that needs the extra 12 volt hooked to the motherboard then you will need to install it also. It looks different from the other connectors and will install only the right way. You must decide if you want a desktop or tower or one of the new small cases. You will want to allow for expandability unless you are building a small form case. Make sure you get a case that will fit the space where you plan to put it. Make sure the case has at least one intake fan or a place to install one in the front.

Music And Stress Essay -- essays research papers

Music and Stress   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the first week of my self change project I monitored my stress levels and the way music effected the mental and physical aspects of stress. From monitoring this properly, I found that listening to music pleasing to me at the specifically different times I experienced stress did help reduce my internal feelings and physical changes. In carefully studying the various types of stress experienced I concluded that certain types of music more effectively reduced my stress and anxiety levels. The following paragraphs explain further the types of stress felt and the music that assisted in subsiding the symptoms of stress. Stress can be felt in several different forms, included here are the following ways I experienced stress. This step was found to be particularly important in past studies to learn specific Å’stress styles' and most importantly, what music reduced what symptoms of stress. There are six separate forms of stress that can be experienced. These are symptomatic in physical, behavioral, emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and relational aspects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Physical symptoms I personally experienced were: headaches (specifically tension headaches), nausea, dizziness, sleep difficulties, tight neck and shoulders, racing heart, trembling hands, and restlessness. Behavioral symptoms I felt were: a definite excess in smoking, bossiness towards others, compulsive gum chewing, I became critical of others, grinding of my teeth so hard that I am forced to wear a mouthpiece at night, and an inability to finish what I start. Some of the emotional symptoms included: crying, anxiety,nervousness, boredom, edginess, overwhelming sense of pressure, overwhelming anger, being unhappy for no reason, and very testy. Cognitive symptoms that I felt were: trouble thinking clearly, forgetfulness, writers block, long-term memory loss, inability to make decisions, and constant excessive worry. Spiritual aspects of stress that I felt: doubt, unforgiving, apathy, and a strong feeling for the need to prove myself. Examples of relational symptoms included: isolation, intolerance, resentment, clamming up, nagging/whining, distrust,and less contact with friends.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The importance of identifying interpersonal feelings helps with deciding what music would be most effective in reducing stres... ...nderstand that if she/he decided to change, she/he could. Future use of behavior change will most definitely come in handy. I already have a list of things I would like to change on my own time and knowing how and what to do will be more than enough motivation to get me going.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My major goals in this specific self-change project would be the reduction of anxiety and stress through music therapy. Hopefully this will follow me into the rest of my life, including stress in family life and in my chosen career. Secondary goals that I have acquired through study on the topic are actually using music therapy in my future career. To be specific, I would like to turn and use music along with psychodynamic therapy to help heal pediatric oncology patients. At this time in my college career, I feel that I am fulfilling my goals, but certainly not to their best. Hopefully, through this and other self-change projects, I can prepare myself for today and the future. Self-change is, I found, something that can only continue in your life if you use it . If you do follow through, eventually, the change will become a part of you and not a simple Å’behavior you don't like'.

Applied Linguistics Essay

Second language learning has always become an important work-field both in schools and other private sectors dealing with language teaching and learning process especially in the time of global integration. It is a complex activity involving a mix of internal factors such as age, aptitude, motivation, personality, or learning strategies†¦and external factors such as socio-economic and cultural background, learning and teaching contexts†¦ All these factors play a very important role in learners? success in acquiring and using a second language. Thus, learners’ second language achievement can be greatly improved when teachers have a better understanding of the learner, of the learning process and of the variables that may help or hinder learner’s language achievement. Because of the limited size of this article, I am going to discuss some of the most important factors affecting learner’s second language achievement: motivation, age, personality, social and cultural factor in order to analyze what stimulates successful language learning and what places obstacles in the learner’ s path to language proficiency. II. DEVELOPMENT II. 1. Some factors affecting learner’s L2 achievement II. 1. 1. Internal factors II. 1. 1. 1. Motivation It is undeniable that motivation is one of the major factors in deciding the learner’s failure or success in second language achievement. Motivation is a kind of desire for learning. It is very difficult to teach a second language in a learning environment if the learner does not have a desire to learn a language. Reece & Walker (1997) stress that a less able student who is highly motivated can achieve greater success than the more intelligent student who is not well motivated. In this article, we are concerned with motivation related to foreign language teaching and learning. Wilkins (1972) points out that â€Å"motivation is not a general covert term for possibly distinct concept such as energy, interest and enjoyment, but instead, restricted to the degree of willingness to learn which depends largely on the learner’s needs in learning the language. Psychologists have distinguished two major types of motivation which play an important role in determining how willing the learner is to persevere with the task: instrumental and integrative motivation The first motivation will be discussed is instrumental motivation. It is generally characterized by the desire to obtain something practical or concrete from the study of a second language (Hudson 2000). With instrumental motivation, the purpose of language acquisition is more utilitarian, such as meeting the requirements for school or university graduation, applying for a job, requesting higher pay based on language ability, reading technical material, translation work or achieving higher social status. Instrumental motivation is often characteristic of second language acquisition, where little or no social integration of the learner into a community using the target language takes place. According to Richards (1976) simply learning a language to acquire course credits, or to carry out a limited range of tasks that do not involve the learner in close face – to – face interaction ( for example a person learning enough English to sell souvenirs to tourists does not generally lead to a high degree of accomplishment in learning). However, in recent years, according to Brown (1977), he stated that Indian English is one example of a variety of English which can be acquired very successful for instrumental reasons alone. Another motivation will be taken into consideration is integrative motivation. According to Gardner and Lambert (1959), this kind of motivation means learning a language because the learner wishes to identify himself with or become integrated in the society whose language it is. It has generally been thought that integrative motivation is the more powerful of the two because it implies a desire to integrate with speakers of the target language. Instrumentally oriented students would be expected to acquire the second language only to the point where their instrumented goals were satisfied. It is likely that when the learner merely wanted to be able to buy food and take public transportation he could achieve those goals with a very low level of proficiency in the second language and if the learner had to use the target language in his professional life, his level of learning would be much higher. Learners with integrative motivation view the language as a key to social and cultural enrichment through the opportunities to provide for association with members of a different culture. Then their goal in learning the language is to be able to use the language as a means of  communication and also for acceptance by the people who speak the language. Such motivation often leads to high accomplishment. In settings such as Vietnam, learners who learn English for special purposes have a great deal of instrumental motivation to acquire English in order to be able to be applied for a good job with a high salary. They learn English very fast just because they want to communicate orally, in a very simple English with other speakers of English. In Vietnam, English is a compulsory subjects so almost all of students learn English just to pass the exam. Thus, the type of language learned namely forms as mainly for communicative use will be directly affected by the type of examination students need to pass. As a result, it is likely that learners will not achieve a high standard of English. II. 1. 1. 2. Language aptitude As has been discussed in the previous section, success in mastering a foreign language depends very much on the learner’s motivation. Beside the motivation factor, social psychologists have also found out that whether a student can learn a foreign language very successfully or not also depends on his language aptitude. This section is an attempt to discuss an intrinsic factor influencing foreign language learning that is language aptitude. Aptitude for language learning is usually composed of four different types of abilities: the ability to identify and memorize new sounds, the ability to understand the function of particular words in sentences, the ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples, the ability to memorize new words. Many tests of language aptitude have proven extremely effective in predicting which learners will be successful in learning. However, considerable controversy remains about whether language aptitude is properly regarded as a unitary concept, an organic property of the brain, or as a complex of factors including motivation and short-term memory. Research has generally shown that language aptitude is quite distinct from general aptitude or intelligence, as measured by various tests, and is itself fairly consistently measurable by different tests. Language aptitude research is often criticized for being irrelevant to the problems of language learners, who must attempt to learn a language regardless of whether they are gifted for the task or not. This claim is reinforced by research findings that aptitude is largely unchangeable. In addition, traditional language aptitude measures such as the Modern Language Aptitude Test strongly favor decontextualized knowledge of the sort used in taking tests, rather than the sort used in conversation. For this reason little research is carried out on aptitude today. However, operators of selective language programs such as the United States Defense Language Institute continue to use language aptitude testing as part of applicant screening. In my opinion, as a teacher of English, aptitude plays an important role in learner’s language achievement. How is it that some people can learn a foreign language quickly while others, given the same opportunity experience utter failure? Does this depend on how language is taught? Partly this is true as when the teacher is equipped with a better language teaching method, his students can learn faster. But partly it is not true as in the same group there always exists fast and slow learners. Another answer to the question is the problem of â€Å"motivation† but not all students with the same motivation can have the same accomplishment. Another possible answer to the question is that some people have language aptitude while others do not. II. 1. 1. 3. Learner’s age The previous section dealt with the learner’s language aptitude, a factor that influences language acquisition a great deal. This section will take into consideration another factor – age which has received a number of opinions so far. In the past few decades, the comparisons among child, adolescent and adult learners have been made by many researchers, and the different findings as well as explanations have been reported. Traditionally, research in Critical Period Hypothesis and other variables has derived two major aspects of language learning–the younger = the better and the older = the better. However, recently the scholars in the fields of linguistics, psychology and psycholinguistics have reported their study or experiment results continually, resulting in completely different points of view so the argument for or against the Critical Period Hypothesis has never stopped. The question of how developmental stages interact with individual learning differences is still a question of great debate. Is there an optimal age, a critical period or a sensitive period? How does the age factor affect the development of linguistic abilities? Are adults really inferior to children and even to adolescents? There exists a belief that younger learners have certain advantages over older learners in language learning. According to Ellis in 2008; Larsen-Freeman in 2008; Mayberry & Lock in 2003, Robert Dekeyser in 2000, younger children learn L2 easily and quickly in comparison to older children. Larsen-Freeman & Long in 2008 also suggest that there is a period of time, between birth and somewhere around the age when a child enters puberty, exists in which the learning a second language can be accomplished more rapidly and easily than times falling outside of this period (i. e. post puberty). This is because children are in the most flexible condition learning a foreign language. This stage might be strongly impressed on their brain, which can stimulate nervous function system, and the further learning can help them to form language habit and competency easi1y. however Researchers also disagree with withdrawing home language support too soon and suggest that although oral communication skills in a second language may be acquired within 2 or 3 years, it may take 4 to 6 years to acquire the level of proficiency needed for understanding the language in its academic uses (Collier, 1989; Cummins, 1981). So children who are taught L2 intensively too early will damage their L1 acquisition. Another belief reported by Johnson and Newport, Dekeyser, Asher and Price, Politzer and Weiss, Olson and Samuel, Lightbown and Spada (2008) that older learners have a higher level of problem solving and metalinguistics abilities than younger learners.. The young learners are considered fluent in communication of the second language and achieve native like accent. Learners after the age of puberty do not acquire native like accent of a second language but have complex learning pattern. Research suggests that children and adults L2 learners pass through different developmental states in second language learning. Learning depends on the cognitive maturity and neurological factors. Adults’ cerebra nerve network has come into being completely, and their thinking habits have become mature in this period. They can deal with complicated language form and contents easily, because their meta-language consciousnesses, common sense and literary knowledge are better than children. In general, age is important but not everything in second language learning. There are some factors related to the age, for example the learning opportunities, the motivation to learn, individual differences, and learning styles, are also important determining variables that affect the rate of second language learning in various developmental stages of the learners. II. 1. 1. 4. Learner’s personality We have mentioned some important factors influencing learner’s second language achievement such as motivation, language aptitude and age. In this section we continues with some specific personality factors in human behavior in relation to second language acquisition. The psychological factors to be discussed here are self-esteem, inhibition, extroversion/ introversion. Self –esteem is the degree of value, a worthiness which an individual ascribes to himself. According to Schuman in 1978 and Brown in 1980, there are three kinds of self- esteem: global, specific and task self – esteem. How is self –esteem related to second language acquisition? Brown (1980) states that specific self- esteem might refer to second language acquisition in general but task- esteem might approximately refer to one’s self-evaluation of a particular aspect of the language process: speaking, writing†¦ A study by Adelaide Heyde (1979) revealed that all three aspects of self-esteem correlated positively with performance in oral production and student with high self –esteem actually performed better in the foreign language. Inhibition – sets of defences built to protect the ego, a concept closely related to self-esteem and of course has to be considered by teachers. Language learners, children or adults, make progress by learning from making mistakes but at the same time, making mistakes can be viewed as a threat to one’s ego. As a result, the learner tends to build a certain degree of defence to protect himself. Guiora et al†¦ (1972a) produced one of the few studies in inhibition in relation to second language learning, and the experiments have been high-lighted a possibility that the inhibition, the defence which we place between ourselves and others can prevent us from communicating in a foreign language. . Another factor which also needs some examination is extraversion and introversion. Language teachers often assume that the extraverts are better language learner than introverts. In a language class, the teacher tends to prefer to have more students with an outgoing and talkative personality. At an early stage, extroverts seem to speak the language better than the introverts, but this does not mean that the proficiency of a more introverted student will be lower. This depends very much on the goal of learning. It can be argued that the reserved learner may be very quiet but he can be a good language learner in the sense that he is good in aural and reading comprehension even though he cannot speak. Thus, it is not clear then that extraversion or introversion helps or hinders the process of second language acquisition and it is hard to say which is ideal for language learning. II. 1. 2. External factors The previous section examined some aspects of internal factors. This section accounts for some equally important external factors which also affect learner’s second language achievement. As language teachers we are faced with factors such as the social context of learning, the cultural differences between two language involved. The learning environment of the educational context and the teaching method being used. Most of these are largely beyond our control but nevertheless they are important because they can affect, sometimes decide the learner’s internal factors in learning. To improve teaching and stimulate better learning, these factors should be taken into consideration. II. 1. 2. 1.  Social factor The child’s acquisition of his mother tongue is affected by the condition under which it takes place. The same influence is also relevant to learning of a second or foreign language. The classroom itself is a kind of social setting where each student has a role, so his success of learning a foreign language is, to some extent, determined by the teacher- student relationship and the student- student relationship. The teacher’s love for his job is often an encouragement to his students in their learning. According to Cheatain (1976), student is also strongly encouraged to learn the language when his teacher is always hopeful. The student- student relationship is no less important. This instance concerns face- saving. No students likes to let his errors be known to his friends, so correction of errors by the group is helpful when there is non- hostile trusting climate in the classroom. In addition to the classroom features of the learning situation itself, there are factors in the wider social context that influence language learning. Teaching never occurs in a vacuum. Any subject occupies a position in the syllabus in order to meet a need of all part of the school population. Second language or foreign language teaching is not an exception. As the political, economic and historical conditions change, the course objectives are altered. In a great number of countries it so happens that shifting political economic and social conditions often bring about the change in status of a second or foreign language. For example, English was not introduced into the school curriculum in Vietnam until 1971. Nowadays, when Vietnam is a member of WTO, English becomes a compulsory subject as it is an international language of commercial and official communication. Political factors are not the only ones that influence second language learning. Other attitudes towards language learning which are characteristic of the society to which the learner belongs are particularly important to the success of language learners. In Vietnam, the ability of using English fluently is a special qualification for certain favored jobs, but in others like the UK or the USA, learning another language is little more than a hobby. Obviously, all the different attitudes, which actually stem from political, economic or historical causes play an important part in the overall achievement in foreign language learning. II. 1. 2. 2. Cultural factors It is obvious that knowing a second language no longer means merely having acquired some linguistic competence: the ability to construct grammatically correct sentences. It also includes the acquisition of communicative competence: the ability to communicate the second language. To the extent that language is culturally acquired, one can never learn a second language successfully without learning the culture of that language. In the article â€Å"Talking across culture† in 1981, Richards argues that those who are supposed to know a foreign language must have linguistic competence, communicative competence and social competence as well. By social competence, he means that the learner is expected to know how to behave in a speech community of speakers of the target language. In other words, he must be familiar with the culture of the native speakers otherwise, he will be shocked, or fail to understand native speakers even though he is linguistically competent. It can be concluded that anyone decides to learn a certain language properly, culture is something he cannot avoid in the process. In teaching English, we need to be aware of the cultural assumptions that the students already possess. We also need to be aware of the cultural assumptions that surround the use of English. Functions and structures used to be examined for cultural content, it cannot be assumed that they are neutral. II. 2. Language teaching implications. For the reason that motivation plays a very important role in second language achievement, the task of the teacher is to maximize the motivation. Teachers should raise students’ interest in learning English so that they no longer learn English to pass the exam or to fulfill curriculum’s requirement but for the desire to interact and communicate with foreigners†¦ In order to achieve these goals, teachers should vary the activities, tasks and materials, provide students with opportunities for interaction in the target language in and outside the language learning environment through preplanned, and authentic activities. As a result, students will be more interested in learning English. Not many researchers have carried out research about language aptitude because it is something that teachers are powerless to alter. Students vary in terms of aptitude so teachers should categorize them according to their aptitude profiles. For example, one group was identified as having particularly good memory abilities (relative to other abilities), and another group was identified as being high in verbal analytical abilities. It is the duty of teachers to select appropriate teaching approaches and activities based on learners’ aptitude profiles to accommodate their differences in aptitude. If the methodology matches students, they will learn better otherwise it may decrease students’ second language achievement. We all know that different ages have different ways of learning and different ways of achieving language. The differences among the three age groups (children, adolescents and adults) are really existent and the biological L2 learning conditions are unchangeable. Learners of different ages and stages should use different strategies. Thus, the teacher’s duty is different in the three groups and the teaching approaches and strategies should cater for the traits of students. For example, children use strategies unconsciously and their teacher should help them form good learning habits in this period. Some adolescents might be unable to be aware of using learning strategies, and others use too many complex and sophisticated learning strategies in L2 language learning, which might not ensure to achieve high level. Adult learners prefer analytic-style strategies such as comparative and contrastive analysis, generalization rules learning, and dissecting words and phrases. As a result, teachers should manipulate a number of options according to the aim of the teaching and learning, such as different reading materials, the speed of teaching procedures, etc†¦ Suitable approach and strategies for each trait of age will help learners achieve language better, compensate the shortcomings and take good advantage of in three groups. As the results listed in the previous part indicate, learners differ in terms of personality. Some students are very reserved, some are self- confident, some are ready to take a risk but others do not. Understanding each student’s personality is extremely important to every teacher not except for teacher of English. When teacher know students’ characteristics, they can use appropriate methods for each of them. For example, most of Vietnamese students are still basically shy and withdrawn. Then teachers should involve a lot of pair and group work instead of using the teacher- students questions and answers. Teachers should use cooperative rather than competitive goals to create a supportive and non-threatening learning atmosphere. Besides, teachers should encourage and support students all the time especially when they are struggling or lacking confidence in certain areas. Good teachers will know how to adapt their methods of teaching to different learners’ personalities to have best results in second language achievement. It cannot be denied that social context has a big influence on situation of second language teaching and learning of each nation. Thus, in order to create a good learning condition for second language learning to flourish is the duty of everyone: parents, authority of school, community, ministry†¦ For example, parents should give children favorable condition to learn second language, school should be concerned about students’ language learning and teaching to make it better, ministry of education should pay more attention to the quality of language teacher, textbooks and facilities necessary for effective second language teaching and learning to happen. Culture is very important in second language learning so the duty of teachers is to raise students’ awareness of cultural differences between countries. When teaching a foreign language such as English, teachers should teach students language competence along with socio- cultural competence. Both teachers and authorities should bear in mind that learning about other cultures does not mean changing one’s own values and world outlook. On the contrary, by comparing some aspects of cultures in different societies, students may better appreciate their own culture and tradition and avoid false stereotypes which may result in either prejudice against other culture or blind belief that other cultures are superior. A successful language learner is a person who not only knows how to make grammatical and meaningful sentences but also knows how to use them in appropriate situations and a good language teacher is a person who knows how to help them do so successfully. III. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the success in second language acquisition depends largely on many factors but some of the most important factors can be mentioned are motivation, language aptitude, learner’s age and personality, social and cultural context. Thus, knowing these factors and how they influences learners’ second language achievement is very crucial to teachers of foreign languages in general and English in particular. Their language can be greatly improved when teachers have a better understanding of the learner, of the learning process and of the variables that may help or hinder learner’s language achievement. IV. REFERENCE Krishna K.  B , â€Å"Age as an Affective Factor in Second Language Acquisition†, Troy Universityn Press. HIDASI, Judit, (2005) â€Å"The Impact of Culture on Second Language Acquisition†, Annals of the International Business School. Hoan, P. K, (1985), â€Å"Psychological and cultural factors related to methodologies to Hanoi foreign languages Teachers’ college student†, Sydney Zhang . J, (2006) Sociocultural Factors in Second Language Acquisition, Sino-US English Teaching, Volume 3, No. 5 (Serial No. 29) Mehmet, N. G, (2001) â€Å"the effects of age and motivation factors on second language acquisition† F? rat University Journal of Social Science. tic