Triumph over Lifes Challenges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Triumph over Lifes Challenges - Essay Example Currently, she runs an organization that seeks to help other girls from her continent to make it in life. Vanessa’s family was of a humble setting in the African continent. She was her mother’s only child with no siblings. However, she lacked the privilege of meeting her mother who passed on her after birth. She grew up to find herself in the caring hands of her aged grandmother. Growing up was not an easy thing for her, because the economic status in her home country was not easy. Despite all the challenges, the young girl seemed to be coping well in life and making the best out of the little they had. She was an above average student in school, and financial challenges did not stop her from shining. At the end of her primary schooling, she emerged as a top achiever in the final examinations. This was no meager achievement for her because she lacked most of the basic resources but remained resilience, believing that she would excel. Her exemplary performance saw her re ceive an admission into one of the best schools in her country. The grandmother lacked sufficient funds to support her, but Vanessa was an epitome of determination. Nuns owned the school that she joined, a factor that later worked out very well for her. She remained an exemplary student through high school, a factor that earned her a scholarship organized by the nuns. The first two years of high school lacked major events. However, while she was sixteen, she lost her grandmother, the only family that she ever knew. Although devastated, she knew that it was not time to give up her dreams (Georges). Somehow, she managed to get over the loss and focused on her education. At the end of her four years, she emerged top of the country again. Despite the achievement, she experienced immense loneliness because she lacked family.

MSc computer system security 'RFID' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

MSc computer system security 'RFID' - Essay Example The prime advantage of RFID technology is its ease of use and minimalism. RFID replaces barcodes and is a time saving, effective and reliable alternative. That is the reason why it is adopted and deployed in multipurpose applications i.e. Supply Chain Management (SCM), Inventory Tracking, Theft Protection, Location based Services, Electronic Health Monitoring for health care systems, RFID integrated travel documents, payment systems and context-aware applications. In recent years, this technology is flourishing robustly due to its extensive usability in upcoming technologies i.e. Ubiquitous Computing, Pervasive Computing or Ambient Intelligence Solutions. RFID technology comprises of transmitters spreading electromagnetic technology in the environment to send and receive signals. The communication is conducted between two elements, transceiver and transponder. 2. Radio Frequency James Clerk formulated its principles in 19th Century [9]. The radio waves propagation is emitted the form of electromagnetic waves and promulgate in speed of light. The applications of radio waves consist of Radar systems, Fixed Mobile and Satellite Communication, Media Broadcasting and Computer Networks. Radio waves can utilize different band of frequencies measured in Hertz (Hz) which represents the natural process of oscillation in waves. RFID technology utilizes Low Frequency (LF), High Frequency (HF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) from the electromagnetic spectrum. Light waves have certain limitations when passing through objects. On the other hand radio waves travel through solid objects and opaque materials. The range of radio frequency waves which is currently used illustrates the following ranges; 30 KHz and 30 GHz [9]. Table 1 from [9] defines the bands in the electromagnetic spectrum. 3. Barcodes and RFID There is always a logical concept of analyzing RFID as a better substitute for the barcodes systems. However, the consideration of difference between these two technologies is imperative in order to deploy them successfully. Undeniably, RFID technology does not entail a line of sight to read the tags as compared to barcodes, where it is mandatory to identify the tag optically to scan it within a squat distance. Furthermore, in RFID technology, the space for data in a tag can be more than 100 bytes which is far greater than the maximum space available in barcodes. The available storage space provides the freedom to assign identification numbers not only to a brand but also to each item individually. The valuable functionality of identifying multiple tags concurrently enhances the efficiency in any operational environment employing this technology. On the other hand, RFID technology is prone in terms of attenuation and propagation problems hereditary from radio frequency, more specifically in the existence of metal or liquid. It is also a cheaper deployment as compared to barcode technology. Consequently, RFID industry stakeholders are working tirelessl y to minimize the cost of RFID technology. The efforts are making the component prices lower, which are vital in calculating a cost of any RFID solution. As per the report in 2006, the RFID tag price will be around five cents [10]. 4. RFID Privacy and Security The protection related to privacy and security incorporated with RFID technology cannot be rectified without analyzing causes and driving factors. While ease of use and cost are the most significant factors, accumulation of

Leadership theories in the context of healthcare management

Leadership theories in the context of healthcare management Do healthcare mangers need leadership theories? Critically evaluate at least two leadership theories in the context of healthcare management. According to Huczynski and Buchanan (2007), Leadership is defined as the process of influencing the activities of an organised group in its effort towards goal setting and goal achievement. Grint (2005:2) describes leadership as a function of relationship between leaders and followers, rather than simply focused on the person of the leader. According to Bass (1990:19), leadership is an interaction between two or more members of the group that often involves a structuring or restructuring of the situations, perceptions and expectations of the members. Thus it can be said from the above definitions that leadership is enacted through relationships with others i.e. the followers and leadership is widely distributed throughout the organization. Healthcare organisations around the world spend enormous amount of money in infrastructure and renovating facilities in hospitals, but spend a relatively less time or effort for the management of people who work in it. Effective leadership is therefore necessary for the smooth functioning of healthcare organization. According to Gunderman R. (2009), healthcare leaders should understand the nature of the organization where they work and should work in harmony with physicians, nurses, technologists, administrators and other members of organization. The people who work in healthcare organizations as leaders should understand the needs of the people they work with and should motivate them in order to increase their performance. Thus the overall performance of the organization depends upon the behaviour of leaders with their followers. Failure to understand human motivation can result in downfall of the organization. Medical leaders should look at the following questions: Which is more effective way to deal with the workers, benefits such as salary raises and public praise, or sticks, such as threat of termination and reduction in compensation? How can we improve workers performance, through tighter control or by increasing autonomy and empowerment? If the crucial needs of the workers are not fulfill ed it can affect their commitment towards organization and may result in financial instability of the organization. Leadership and management are often compared under the same platform. People are often confused and ask a question, Are managers leaders? The answer is NO, they differ from each other in many ways. Leadership is one of the roles that managers have to play and is therefore a subset of management. According to Gopee and Galloway (2009), management is about measuring and monitoring performance against pre-determined goals, following policies and procedures, controlling and organizing the structure and systems, working within resource allocation and maximizing output and productivity for the organization. Whilst on the other side leadership is about being visionary, anticipating change, motivating and inspiring workers and focusing on development of individuals. Watson (1983), describes seven Ss models to distinguish between leaders and managers. According to Watson (1983), managers mainly rely upon 3 Ss namely strategy, structure and systems, whereas leaders depends on 4 soft Ss called style, staff, skills and shared goals. Hollingsworth (1999) suggests fundamental differences between leaders and managers. According to him managers do things right i.e. they are transactional, while leaders do the right things i.e. transformational, managers administer while leaders innovate, manager focus on systems and structure while leaders focus on people. Thus leadership is a two-way process based on leader-follower relationship while management is based on relationship between the people working in the organization as individuals or teams. (Gopee and Gathway, 2009). Theories of Leadership: Several leadership theories have emerged over the past suggesting practical applications of leadership and its concept. Different leadership theories that are developed since 1920s are listed below: Time period 1920s 1940s Theory Trait or Great man theory Barnard (1938) for prescriptives: Ghiselli and Wald Doty (1954) for the descriptives. Style or behavioural theory Blake and Mouton (1964), Likert (1961) and McGregor (1960) Focus Intelligence, initiative and self-assurance. Participative culture, Represented a more democratic humanistic approach to the use of man in organisations and come at the time of reaction against scientific management. 1960s Contingency theory Fielder (1967), Schein (1980) and Vroom and Yetton (1973) An integrative way of looking at leadership, more specific to task work group and position of leader within that work group. A best fit approach. 1980s Post contingencies theory Bennis (1992), Kotter (1982), Mant (1983) and Peters and Waterman (1982) This theory particularly focused on American Business leaders with some perceptive comments as well as Anglo-Saxon leadership habits. 1990s Transformational leadership Bass and Avolio (1993), Cunningham and Kitson (2000a, 2000b) and Sushter (1994) Four components. 1. Idealised influence; 2. Inspirational motivation; 3. Intellectual stimulation; and 4. Individualised consideration. Late 90s-2000s Contemporary theories. Goleman (1999), Jumaa (2001), Alleyne (2002), Goffee and Jones (2000) Charismatic leadership Connective leadership Servant leadership Transactional leadership Transformational leadership Adapted from- Jasper M. and Jumaa M (2005), Effective Healthcare Leadership,page-25-26 Trait or Great man leadership theory. According to this theory certain persons have inborn leadership traits. Many studies were conducted by the end of 1950s which explored specific characteristics of effective leaders. (Handy 1993). These studies described significant correlation between leadership effectiveness and following traits: Intelligence Self-confidence Knowledge Initiative Supervisory ability Integrity Bass (1990), based on several findings from studies developed a profile of traits that are marked in effective leaders. These are categorised in 3 areas mainly: Intelligence -Judgement -Decisiveness -Knowledge -Fluency Personality -Adaptability -Alertness -integrity -Nonconformity Ability -Cooperativeness Popularity -Tact However the trait theory has certain weakness and problems like; the traits are very difficult to define accurately or to understand fully; many exceptional leaders do not possess all identified leadership traits; it cannot be concluded that a person is better or worse as a manager or leader only by possessing one or two traits. It is still questionable whether an individual could have all the traits for being a leader. However despite of many other leadership theories emerged today, trait theory has not been completely disregarded. For example- Recent research study conducted by kouzes and Posner (2007) concluded that Admired Leaders were likely to draw out specific characteristics, whereas 50% or more respondents selected: Honest (88%), Forward looking (71%), Competent (66%) and inspiring (65%). Around 28-47% of respondents selected intelligent, broad minded, straightforward, co-operative, dependable and imaginative as specific characteristics of effective leaders; while less than 25% of people selected ambitious, caring, mature, courageous, loyal, self controlled and independent. However there is no evidence between the correlation of nature and the essential characteristics of leader nor on what an effective leader is. It can be seen as trait of position, or power or knowledge and wisdom. Kotter (1990) suggested the functional approach and focused on the fact that the performance can be improved can be improved by training and the leadership skills can be developed over a period of time and perfected. He also suggested that organisations should not wait for leaders to come by their own rather grow their own by identifying employees which have certain potential to be a good leader. Transactional and Transformational theories have gained popularity for Leadership in Healthcare Organizations out of the various leadership theories available. Transactional leadership theory. Transactional theory of leadership is based on leading people by the virtue of management position held in the organizational hierarchy. It is seen that in this theory leaders identify the needs of the followers and transact with them. Thus this theory is considered as a social exchange process based on the power and reward system. In healthcare organisations this theory is related to the achievement of organizational goals which also includes attending health of local population.( Gopee and Galloway, 2005) According to Bass and Riggio (2006), the transactional theory is based on the leaders who are successful or effective in such a way that they maintain equilibrium and harmony by fulfilling their roles according to the procedures and policies and use incentives to enhance employee loyalty and performance. The transactional leader sets goals, gives direction and uses rewards to strengthen employees behaviour towards meeting or exceeding established goals (McGuire and Kennerly 2006). Although this theory supports status quo and is more predictable but it has also been criticised by various authors as it is lacking vision for future of the healthcare organisation. Thus the transactional theory of leadership has a very narrow focus and the leader can have a high self interest which may eventually lead to disturbance in the organisational structure.(Gopee and Galloway, 2009) Transformational leadership theory Transformational leadership is widely supported leadership approach for healthcare. According to Burnes (1978), transformational leadership is identified as a process where one or more person engage in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher level of motivation and morality. In transformational leadership leaders motivate their followers by transcending their own self interests, elevating their needs and making them aware of the mission of larger entity of the organisation where they belong. (Bass 1995). Transformational leadership is considered superior to the transactional leadership style as the whole workforce is developed as the part of the process whose main function is delivering organisations objective. This can be achieved by fostering identification, going beyond simple leader-follower transaction and developing and intellectually stimulating employees. (Vandenberghe et al. 2002). According to Murphy (2005), transformational leaders are visionary, self-confident, and self-aware in breaking professional boundaries to develop a multidisciplinary team approach towards patient care. Transformational leaders inspire the followers and motivate them to exercise leadership by encouraging their belief that have the potential to achieve high aims. Thus a transformational leader is the catalyst for creating new innovative organisational paradigms (Murphy 2005 :135). The transformational leadership style is described by Markham (1998) as collaborative, consultative and consensus seeking and attributing power to interpersonal skills and personal contact. Thus the transformational leadership allow the followers to develop ideas and aspirations on how things could be better in healthcare settings. It articulates a vision for betterment of the healthcare services and thus allows one to work for raising the standards of care and treatment. Manley (2001) identifies six transformational leadership processes in practice; Ability to develop a shared vision Inspiring and communicating Valuing others Challenging and stimulating Developing trust Enabling Using these processes, transformational leaders assist the people working with them to become empowered and take responsibility of ownership to practice challenges and solutions (Sashkin and Burke 1990). The impact of transformational leadership does not restrict to development of individuals but it can also produce significant changes in practice settings by influencing the organisational culture. One of the main features of the transformational leaders is that they can inspire other people to follow their clear vision and that they demonstrate self-confidence in their ability to articulate the vision and promote change.'( Mullally 2001). Transformational leadership is also compared to that of a leadership style previously called as charismaticleadership which is now out of fashion. For example, people like Hitler, Churchill, Mussolini, Mao Tse Tung and The Reverend Moon have been perceived as charismatic leaders in the past but in todays modern era it will be difficult to call them as transformational leaders. Charismatic leaders are assumed to use their magnetic personalities to attract the followers. They are usually good orators and share their imaginary ideas with followers to create a common purpose. For example-Barack Obama demonstrated this ability during his election campaign and is believed to demonstrate complex ideas in a comprehensible manner to his followers. The concept of transformational leadership and its applications in complex organisations such as healthcare is based on four central components (Bass 1998), (Plesek and Wilson 2001): Idealised influence (charisma) Inspirational motivation Intellectual stimulation Individualised consideration Transformational leadership topic has been debated since the past three decades because the above four components can reflect the potential for causing organisational harm and destruction if the leader in the framework is supported by emotional intelligence (Goleman 2000a) to guide them through the swampy lowlands of organisational life (Schon 1983). According to Manley (2000) the transformational leadership approach is highly beneficial for the healthcare organisations as it has positive effects in the organisational change. An analysis of transformational leadership style in North America has shown qualities of integrity and honesty all strengthen by strong core of moral and ethical values (Bashor 2000). The key principle required in applying the transformational leadership in healthcare organisation needs much openness and honesty in all interactions (Jasper 2005). The use of personal qualities (such as charisma, influencing skills and communication) needs to be equally balanced by high levels of understanding and personal insight. This can be achieved through self perception and feedback from other colleagues. The ability to inspire and motivate depends upon the process of visioning. The leaders should be able to describe their ideas with clarity and details and should explain about the future consequences. To achieve this vision one should start working for the future vision by learning from the past realities and should show a collective effort where everyone has an opportunity to participate in the creation (Fenton 2003). Intellectual stimulation can be achieved by maintaining mental and intellectual alertness and acuity which can be gained by encouraging open criticism and deba te of wide ranging evidence base thus it helps to form the foundation of substantive change. The development of all individual towards their potential is one of the goals of transformational leadership. This can only be achieved by sharing thoughts of power bases in both organisations and interpersonal relationships. (Jumma and Jasper 2005). Thus it is seen that the two leadership approaches i.e. transformational and transactional approach are different from each other. Transactional leadership mainly involves transaction between the managers and their managed people while transformational leadership mainly focuses on various radical changes that can present challenges and growth for all. Comparison of Transformational and Transactional leadership approaches Transformational leadership Transactional leadership Merges own, followers and the organisations goals, desire values into common goal. Generates employee commitment to the vision. Challenges subordinate Rewards informally and personally Is emotional passionate about existing and new ventures Sees home and work on a continuum Aims to maintain equilibrium and status quo Is task-centred and orderly Coaches and fosters sheltered learning Uses extrinsic rewards High self-interest Sees home and work as separate entities. Adapted from- Gallow and Gopee (2009), Leadership and Management in Healthcare, page-59 Limitations of transformational theory: Although transformational leadership skills are highly desirable for effective functioning of an organisation, many management theorists like Bass, Avoliio and Goodheim (1987) think that transformational leadership alone can cause problem in long time. According to them transformational qualities must be coupled with more transactional qualities of day to day managerial role. According to Bass and colleagues, the transformational leader will fail without the traditional management skills. (Marquis and Huston 2009). They believe both sets of characteristics should be present in same person in different proportion. In Johnsons (2005) research he suggested that highly effective managers require both vision as well as specific plan to carry out their plans for achieving goals. Concept of leadership within the British National Health Service The New Labour Government included leadership as the part of their modernisation of the NHS and has been enshrined in the work of the NHS Leadership Centre, created in 2001as a part of NHS Modernisation Agency (The NHS Plan, DH 2000). The centre launched the NHS Leadership Qualities Framework in 2002 (NHS Leadership centre 2003) the components of this framework contains 15 qualities organised in 3 clusters of setting direction, personal and delivering the service. Components of NHS Leadership Qualities Framework Setting direction Personal qualities Delivering the service Broad scanning Intellectual flexibility Seizing the future Political astuteness Drive for results Self belief Self awareness Self management Drive for achievement Personal integrity Empowering others Holding to account Leading change through people Effective and strategic influencing Collaborative working These qualities reflect the values and beliefs intrinsic within the Governments political stance. Here the emphasis is on personal attributes and qualities as opposed to that of traditional source of authority and power or target driven incentives derived from business culture (Jumaa 2005). These qualities are considered as a set of key characteristics, attitudes and behaviours that a leader must possess in order to deliver the NHS plan; Setting the standard for leadership in NHS Assessing and developing high performance in leadership Integrating leadership across the service and related agency Individual and organisational assessment Adapting leadership to suit changing context. Case studies to demonstrate effectiveness of leadership theories. Case study 1. To measure the effectiveness of the new leadership framework in NHS, healthcare commission (now-Care Quality Commission) conducted a NHS staff survey. It was conducted in October 2003 and is probably the largest workforce survey in world. Total 572 organisations took part and around 203,911 NHS employees responded to the survey questionnaire. (www.cqc.org.uk) Results were produced before Healthcare Commission Executive Anna Walker. According to the survey more than 200,000 staff people told they liked working with NHS. Most of them were satisfied with their jobs but some part of the staff reported poorer work-life balance and higher level of work related stress. Thus healthcare commission urged NHS organisations to investigate and address these issues and try to get solution for it through more effective leadership approach. The fifth annual national survey of NHS staff was conducted between October and December 2007. In this survey 156,000 employees from all 391 NHS trusts in England responded to a questionnaire asking about their views and experience of working with the NHS. The aim of this survey was to look at the attitudes and experience of NHS staff so that the employers can review their own staff and take necessary action. The results of the survey showed that job satisfaction remained high among most of the staff. 75% of staff was satisfied or very satisfied as well as satisfaction with the amount of responsibility. While in terms of staff engagement mixed results were seen. Around only 23% i.e. less than quarter of staff agreed that senior managers involve staff in important decisions and only 22% agreed that communication between staff and senior management is effective. While only 26% of staff were satisfied, or very satisfied with the extent to which trust values their work. This was the sing le most common reason given by those thinking of leaving their jobs. Along with this 8% of staff said they had experienced some discrimination at work in the previous 12 months. About 3% said they had been discriminated against their ethnic background. Thus it can be concluded from the above two studies that the NHS staff were generally satisfied with their jobs. However there were some areas where significant action is needed for improvement. The NHS should also make some effective plans to value staff and engage them successfully in important decisions-making. While NHS should also do more in order to improve the communication between staff and senior management. Case study 2. The Healthcare Commission also conducted 5 surveys in 2004 to find out patients overall experience about the new NHS. The questionnaires and methodology were designed by the NHS Surveys Advice Centre at Picker institute Europe. About 850 eligible people were identified from each trust that took part. A total of 568 NHS organisations and 312,348 patients took part. The response rate for the patients varied from 63% for the adult in patient survey and 42% for the mental health survey. Results were published in first week of august 2004 and the Commission reported that patients gave positive opinions about the high quality care they received at the NHS. Majority of patients said they have trust and confidence in the clinical staff. They are listened to and treated with lot of dignity. Thus a great improvement in communication between the NHS staff and patients was seen and people were allowed to give their own suggestions regarding the facilities they would like to see as an improvement for the organisation. (Jasper and Jumaa 2005) Case study 3. The following case study is based on my experience of working at a Multinational Pharmaceutical company, Zydus-Cadila healthcare limited, India. It is an innovative global pharmaceutical company that discovers, manufacture and markets a wide range of healthcare products. It produces products like Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) to formulations like tablets, capsules, syrups etc Along with this it also manufactures various animal health products and cosmeceuticals. Headquarter of the company is located in Ahmedabad, India. It also has its offices spread across four continents and different countries including USA, Europe, Japan, Brazil, South Africa and 25 other emerging markets. They employ around 10,000 employees worldwide and have one of the best Research and Development centre for drug research. The motto of the group is Improving peoples lives through innovation. I had an opportunity to work there as a trainee for my under graduation internship for a duration of 6 months. My role included looking after the process involved in operation of different departments like production, packaging, storage, marketing and submitting daily report to the manager. The whole company was perfectly organised and the management was distributed in a systematic manner depending on the type of department. There were different mangers according to the department like for Human-Resource department, Production department, Quality-control department, RD (Research and development) department and the Marketing department. Each of the department had a head person above them under whose guidance all mangers used to work. According to me, the leadership approach in this organisation contained both transactional as well as transformational concepts of leadership theories. The manager under whom I used to work was a transactional leader. He was very particular about the work. Right from the first day of my training I found him a bit eccentric. He was not at all friendly with all of us working under him. He used to assign each of us a particular work for a day. For example- On the first day of my training I was told to go and check the ware house of the company where the finished goods were stored and to write the Standard Operating Procedure for dispensing the goods. Following his instructions we all went and did our report writing work. He came for a visit within 3 hours, gathered all of us and started asking questions about what we observed. Those who were unable to answer his question were scolded. He gave us first warning about our work and said those who will complete their work early and accuratel y will have the additional benefit i.e. they will be allowed to go home 1 hour early. This thing worked as an incentive amongst all of us and thus we became more enthusiastic towards our work. Slowly over a time it was realised that the way he was leading us was different from others. For him the sole purpose was getting the work done from us in such a way that each one of us feels excited about work. He was very professional at work while very jovial and friendly at home. He was totally task oriented and orderly person. He never accepted any ideas or suggestions from any of the followers. Thus he was more of a transactional type manager. The other type of manager under whom we were working is completely opposite of the above mentioned manager. He was our marketing department manager. He was a true example of transformational leader. The way he used to lead us was truly inspirational. He used to explain us the complete process before handling any work. He was very supportive at work and had a vision for companys success. His communication and motivation skills were excellent. Right from the first day of my training under him we liked working with him. He always welcomed new ideas and suggestions for marketing. He was very much focused about his vision and always strives hard to achieve it. He had good interactions with everybody in the team and always used to motivate us. He used to look at everybodys work personally and if he will notice any mistake in our work would teach how to correct it on the spot only. He used to ask for the feedback about his new ideas from each of us and correct himself if the feedback was no t satisfactory. This shows his eagerness to work with the team which created positive effects on each of the team members. He was never after rewards from the company. His only aim was taking companys sales to the epitome of success. He was fully dedicated to the company and worked with whole heartedness. Thus all of us used to work with great enthusiasm under his leadership. So he can be described as a perfect example of transformational leader. Hence the company Zydus-Cadila Healthcare limited has a mixture of transformational and transactional leaders which ultimately results in the success of company. Conclusion The essay here explains about various leadership theories in healthcare and its effectiveness by the use of some case studies. Healthcare organizations are complex in nature. It requires a well balanced management and leadership approaches to effectively run the organisation. Each individual in organisation should share their knowledge with others. This synergy among workers is the key part for generation of new ideas and concepts for the organisation. Many leadership theories have been developed since past and still it is continuously adapting a new change for the effective leadership theory. Considering leadership in healthcare it is seen from the example of NHS in the UK that the combination of both transactional and transformational leadership theory may be the most efficacious for an organisation. Thus the healthcare managers require leadership theories and put them in practice to make it work effectively. However, according to Grint (2005:105), one of the top secrets of leaders hip is not a list of innate skills and competences, or how much charisma you havebut whether you have a capacity to learn from you followers.

Karl Swindlehurst Melancholy of the German Hussars :: English Literature

Karl Swindlehurst Melancholy of the German Hussars I have currently been studying three short stories. The first of the three short story’s The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion is one of seven stories from the â€Å"Wessex Tales† . The genre of this story is generally based around love and issues and consequences related to love, and also distresses the complications and coincidences within the love story. The story itself has three main characters in which a love triangle is formed. Phyllis, Humphrey and Mateus are the main characters in which Phyllis was engaged to Humphrey through an agreed marriage arranged by both Humphrey and her father. However that engagement breaks down when Humphrey goes to Bath on a trip which lasted longer than both Phyllis and her father had expected. In this time Phyllis had meet a man named Mateus. Mateus was a corporal in the German Hussars and both Mateus and Phyllis fall in love. The plot is based around the love of Phyllis and Mateus and also how the plan of Mateus going AWOL falling to pieces, and the build up to his death. Mateus and Humphrey are entirely different to each other in a sense of character looks, actions, and general attitude towards Phyllis. We first get a description of Humphrey around line 56, â€Å" Interests within the Court - was one Humphrey Gould a bachelor a personage neither young nor old; neither good-looking nor positively plain† The description is detailed yet vague, it leaves very much to be desired, â€Å" neither young nor old† it’s very bland, imprecise James Hardy is suggesting he is of middle age. In this short description we can devise a brief image of Humphrey. Around line 107 we are introduced with the interesting character of Mateus. â€Å" Her attention was arrested by a solitary figure walking along the path† the introduction that James Hardy has chosen is rather different to Humphrey maybe suggesting in an early stage in the story that he is more important. â€Å" It’s aspect was so striking, so handsome, and his eyes were so blue and sad, abstracted.† The description is of more beauty compared to Humphrey’s suggesting quite obviously Mateus is the better looking man. The acquaintance of Phyllis by both men were distinctively different. Humphrey approached Dr. Grove Phyllis father for her hand in marriage, Humphrey having come from a highly respected family Dr. Grove was overwhelmed, and saw this as an great opportunity for his family. Mateus’ s meeting with Phyllis differed to Humphreys. He was simply walking past and they both noticed each other, on the whole a more romantic meeting.

Сhaucer’s Use Of Biblical Material In ‘The Miller’s Tale’

The biblical references and implications in ‘The Miller's Tale' mockingly inter-relate the tale's sexual and vulgar content and its religious elements. It is a parody on and critique of the Church, mocking all sacred: the stories from the Bible, the saints, even the Holy Family. The ‘dronken' miller commences his tale in ‘Pilates voys', implying that the story will be condemning Christianity, since Pilates, according to the Bible, has condemned Jesus with his words. As the scholar clerk Nicholas and parish clerk Absolon represent St. Nicholas and Absalom, Son of David, miller sinfully compares two saints with two lustful and immoral men, who are concerned more with secular than the spiritual matters. Since carpenter John metaphorically represents Joseph and Noah, and his young wife Alison therefore represents Virgin Mary and Noah's wife, the miller this time immorally correlates Joseph/Noah and Virgin Mary/Noah's wife with a madman and a promiscuous, sly wife, when the Church forbids promiscuous behavior and implies that mad behavior is associated with the Satan. Further religious mocking is portrayed by the actions of Nicholas in the tale, as he does exact the opposite of what St. Nicholas did. While St. Nicholas was very zealous in his efforts to maintain ecclesiastical discipline and honor, especially in relation to the marriage laws, Nicholas the clerk has no concern for honor and respect toward marriage, as he is successfully pursuing a married woman. When one Countess left her husband for a paramour, St. Nicholas commanded that she should be excommunicated unless she returned to her husband. Nicholas in ‘The Miller's Tale', however, is even using religion to break the sanctity of marriage and influencing Alison to commit adultery, a sin. Nicholas, the clerk, invokes and manipulates the biblical story of Noah and the flood to convince the ignorant carpenter John of the impending flood, and further advance his own plan to sleep with Alison. By using his knowledge and religious references to invoke authority, Nicholas is successful in his deception, since the carpenter does not doubt the teaching of the Church. Furthermore, Nicholas hypocritically tells John that he and Alison must abstain from sleeping together because they will be awaiting God's grace. John believes everything Nicholas says; even that Nicholas is so knowledgeable that he knows God's business. John's knowledge, on the other hand, is limited, as he does not know there was no mention of Second Flood in the Bible, or that Noah built only one boat, not an additional one for his wife, nor does he know much about Noah's Arc, as his confusion of ‘Noees flood' and ‘Noweles flood' (line 710) shows. Carpenter John then agrees to make three boats, so that his wife Alison, Nicholas and John himself can be saved from the flood. Although Nicholas presents the story of Noah's flood as very similar to the story in the Bible, frequently calling upon ‘Goddes privetee' and ‘Goddess grace' to validate his reasoning, the story he tells contrasts greatly the story in the Bible. The original story helps to explain the power and compassion of God, since God sent Noah the flood because man had become corrupt and lecherous. These same sins are causing this fake ‘flood', thus strengthening Satan, and this time the plan is Nicholas'. In this way, Nicholas uses the sacredness of religion to pursue his private erotic-aesthetic sensual pleasures, with no sacredness attached; therefore he almost embodies Satan. Bible is degraded, in this way, being portrayed as only a tale book, one of many texts which can be played with and rewritten. Although the carpenter shows genuine fear of the flood and says it's not men's business to know about God's secret affairs, suggesting he respects and fears the power of God, by placing his complete trust in Nicholas, embodiment of Satan, he destroys his own piety. Like a joke on God, Nicholas does know God's secret affairs and what the future will bring. Nicholas further states that his plan will work because a clerk can fool a carpenter any day – a class distinction and condescension in contrast with the teachings of the Church. The entire scene encompasses several sins. First, the whole story is a lie and thus a sin. Lust, another sin, serves as the driving force behind this lie. Finally, Nicholas and Alison's intercourse out-of-wedlock for pleasure serves as the sinful result of the story. The miller therefore contorts the most holy image of Noah into a dreadful satanic scene of the tale. The fact that a man such as Nicholas sings ‘Angelus ad Virgenum' is itself mocking of the Church. Carpenter John's wife Alison portrays promiscuous behavior almost continuously throughout the tale; from the sinful encounter with Nicholas, agreement to deceit her husband to her indulge in adultery. When Nicholas tells her to sleep with him immediately, or he will ‘spille' (l. 170) so ‘God [him] save', it is another pun on religion as this ‘spille' could perhaps mean ‘waste the seed', God forbid, as opposed to depositing it with Alison's ‘mercy' (180). Right after she and Nicholas made a plan how to arrange their next adulterous encounter, Alison goes to church, juxtaposing the profane and the sacred in the same way. She is further sarcastically characterized by her name, as in Old English and German it means ‘honest', ‘noble' and most, or least, of all ‘holy'. After her husband tells her of the evacuation plan, Alison tells John she is his faithful wife – something he accepts and believes as a word of God, and John follows Nicholas' instructions just as Noah obeyed God even though everyone laughed at him. While John sleeps in the boat, Alison and Nicholas are in the bedroom until the morning church bells ring. The reference to the couple's intercourse in the same breath as the church bells is meant to perhaps show that man's plans sometimes unintentionally mirror God's order, or that their time in the bedroom ‘is up'. Their ‘doings' in the bedroom are even compared to ‘revel and melodye', music in God's praise, further mocking the Church. Absolon, who represents Absalom, Son of David, is a parish clerk who spends much time in taverns and looking at and flirting with other women, especially Alison. The miller suggests that this irreverent priest only performs his duties to engage in other secular, sinful practices. As a religious pun, Absolon in the tale has a ‘natural attraction' to women and all things secular, while Absalom, Son of David, was known for his ‘unnatural revolt'. By pursuing Alison, Absolon clearly shows that he has no intention of keeping his vow of chastity. It is emphasized that Absolon is combing his hair before going out, which is an added joke to confirm whom he represents, since Absalom, the Son of David, was also famous for his luxurious hair. Absolon knows that Alison has a husband, for she wears a head covering typical of married women, but he ignores this fact and lusts after her anyway, making his pursuit even more sinful. The head-coverings of the married women were designed to protect their hair, which St. Paul had deemed as holy. However, even this holy image is twisted into that of Satan later on in the tale. Absolon them goes to Alison's house, believing she is alone, and performs a parody of a morning prayer, asking for Alison's grace and mercy instead of God's. When he asks for her kiss, he kisses ‘beard' and realizes it was her pubic hair. In this way, Alison's pubic hair corrupts the holy hair image, because she uses it to conduct a dirty, sexual joke to combat the lustful longings of Absolon. Her ‘beard' is also perpetrated against, so it presents another pun on the holy hair image. Having vowed revenge, Absolon comes back to Alison's house with a hot ‘colter' (plowshare), which is a backward use of the Biblical adage turning swords into plowshares. Nicholas gets his punishment, and as he screams, word ‘water' triggers the double action of John cutting the rope that suspends his tub as he thinks the flood came, and Nicholas acting to soothe his pain. While the Church (Catholic Church, Jewish synagogue, etc. ) teaches respect for authority, ultimately invested in God, the Father, to whom the Jesus, the Son, submits, it regards adultery as a mortal sin, and teaches prudence and severe restraint in sexual matters. ‘The Miller's Tale' is the opposite, as the father figure, John, is overthrown by youth, Nicholas, and ironically, by the invocation of God's authority. From a pious point of view, this story laughs at the belief that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the miller is insinuating that Jesus was conceived by Mary's unfaithfulness to Joseph, not by any Holy Spirit. As an added pun, if Absolon also symbolizes the worshippers, as he worships Alison, then the wind Nicholas passes in Absolon's face is the award for any pilgrim, worshipping ‘true' beliefs in the Holy Tale of Conception and Sanctity. The miller further implies that Church's preaching against greed, blasphemy, gluttony, adultery and all things related to the Satan is hypocritical, as he parodies the sacred discipline and Church by showing characters representing the Church, behaving in all the forbidden and blasphemous manners.

Demand vs Supply Essay

The two main driving forces of the economy are supply and demand. Understanding the basic concepts of supply and demand can help an organization focus on the bottom line. According to Gretzen (2007), demand is the relationship between price and quantity. Supply refers to the amount of a good or service available at any particular price. The principle of supply and demand describes a balance that develops between the supply of an item or service and the demand for it (Kleinman, 2009). Economics plays a major role in the health care industry. As a resource, the health care workforce is a determinant of the balance between supply and demand. The health care workforce consists of nurses, physicians, and other ancillary health care workers such as certified nurses’ aides (CNA’s) and patient care associates (PCA’s). The supply of health care workers directly impacts the demand of quality care rendered to patients. SERVICE OR PRODUCT Health care organizations have specific stated missions and visions to map out their fundamental way of operation. In health care, the workforce is instrumental in assisting with the organizational delivery of services to consumers (patients). The primary issue for all health care workforce personnel is that of inadequate staffing. This paper focuses on the staffing effectiveness of supplemental staffing of health care personnel within the inpatient setting. IMPACT Nursing managers formulate staffing patterns on a daily basis. The staffing of inpatient units requires a knowledge of unit census (total bed capacity),  consideration of patient acuity (level of care required for the patient), and skill mix (nursing hours per patient per day and nurse patient ratio) (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002). Often times, inadequate staffing is due to a high rate of call outs of sickness or other emergencies. Inadequate staffing directly impacts patient safety and quality of care. All health care titles render supplemental staffing coverage in one of two ways, overtime and through per-diem agencies. Overtime employment provides regular full time employees with monies set at a rate of time and half for any extra work completed over the prescribed 40 hours a week. Per-diem agencies are outside contractors capable of providing their own qualified titled personnel to fill vacancies with monies defined at a set rate. Patients are admitted to inpatient setting with varied co-morbidities may or may not indirectly increase the necessity of staff. Patients are often admitted for diagnoses of altered mental status, agitation / combativeness, risk for falls, suicidal ideation, and alcohol or drug intoxication. Many patients require a higher level of skilled care, such as turning and repositioning, and assistance with activities of daily living such as toileting and eating. It requires a higher staff to patient ratio to provide safe, effective quality care. PERSPECTIVE AND RATIONALE According to published reports there are key factors affecting the adequacy of the health care workforce. Some key factors include an aging workforce of where 40 percent of practicing physicians are older than 55, and one-third of the nursing workforce is over 50 with a majority of both professionals seeking to retire within the next 10 years (Alliance for Health Reform, 2011). The largest groups of health professionals in the United States are composed of Registered Nurses. Statistically, there is a huge decline in the numbers of nurses within all regions of the U.S. An estimated 118,000 FTE RNs will exit the workforce within the next five years (Staiger, Auerbac, & Buerhaus, 2012). This potentially leaves a major void in terms of numbers of bodies needed to fill vacated positions. Low staffing levels are associated with higher rates of adverse outcomes that are directly sensitive to nursing attention, such as urinary tract infections, pneumonia, pressure ulcers, and falls (American Federation of Teachers, 2012). Unintended additional costs  associated with the development of complications in patients are greater than labor savings when units are understaffed. Acquiring pressure ulcers are estimated to cost the health care industry $8.5 billion per year (Kleinman, 2009) Overtime costs and per-diem agency costs can’t stand alone to solve the issues of staffing shortage. Their combined usage enables institutions to deliver optimal health care services to consumers/ patients. The supply of overtime and per-diem staff meets the increased demands of patients. It also assists in the delivery of quality care through services rendered. In terms of patient safety, the potentiality of the risk of injury to patients via falls, medication errors, and or sentinel events decreases. CONCLUSION The United States is a great consumer demand for health care services. The supply of such services is affected by varied factors. These factors directly influence the financial stability of health care organizations. Recessional times cause delays in career and retirement plans for health care professionals. In recessional times, there are noted changes in the supply and demand of the health care workforce. The shortage of registered nurses and providers in the workforce may inadvertently lead to a reduction in health care access for consumers. Inadequate staffing levels place heavy burdens on the nursing staff. Adverse events such as falls, hospital acquired infections and medication errors are potentially painful and life threatening events. Adverse events can result in considerable costs to be paid by the understaffed institution. For this reason alone, supplemental staffing via agency and overtime personnel provides a measure of increased patient safety. The future is trending towards the assistance in the recovery of the health care workforce shortage. It will rely heavily on the provisions made by the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Alliance for health reform, 2011). Recruitment and reinvestment in health care professions especially nurses and physicians will assure sufficient supply of workforce personnel to meet the increased demands of health care economy and its’ consumers( Kaiser Foundation (2012). The Joint Commission bolsters workforce infrastructure through in-service and continuing education, supporting nursing education, and the adoption of set staffing levels based on  competency and skill mix relative to patient mix and acuity (Stanton, 2012). It also supports the establishment of financial incentives for health care organizations investing in nursing and workforce services. REFERENCES Alliance for Health Reform. (April, 2011). Health care workforce: Future Supply vs. Demand. Retrieved from http://www.allhealth.org/publications/medicare / health_care_workforce. American Federation of Teachers. (2012). Issues: Healthcare Staffing. Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/issues/healthcare/staffing/index.cfm Changes in Health Care Financing & Organization. (August, 2009). Issue brief: Impact of the economy on health care. Retrieved from http://www.academyhealth.org /files/hvfo/findings0809.pdf Getzen, T.E. (2007). Health economics and financing. (3rd ed.). John Wiley and Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. Kleinman, C. (2009). Health care supply & demand. Retrieved from http://www.community.advanceweb.com Staiger, D. O., Auerbach, D. I., & Buerhaus, P. I. (2012, April). Registered nurse labor supply and the recession- Are we in a bubble? New England Journal of Medicine, (366), 1463-1465. Stanton, M. (2012). Hospital nurse staffing and quality of care. Retrieved from http://www.ahrq.gov/research/nursestaffing/nursestaff.htm U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (July, 2002). Projected supply, demand, and shortages of registered nurses: 2000- 2020. Retrieved from http://hrsa.gov. The Kaiser Foundation. (2012). Nursing workforce: Background brief. Retrieved from http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issues-Modules