Kay Success Factors (KSFs) Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Kay Success Factors (KSFs) - Article Example In terms of social force, Canada is seeing a demographic shift toward living in bigger cities according to the Statistics Canada Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA), 2011 and 2006 censuses (1). This will give Wash-it a better understanding at targeting and segmentation of both the market the consumer base. Canadians are also shifting towards a â€Å"Green Culture† which allows more use of renewable energy and saving resources such as water, these changes align with the Wash-it product ideas and aims. 10 Another force that affects the Wash-it product is the Economic forces. According to The Current State of Canadian Family Finances of Vanier Institute (2) the Canadian economy is in a recovery stage and seeing an increase in gross income as well as an increase of disposable income for households. Using the previous information, Wash-it can reflect its pricing range based on these numbers. 10 The third force that effect Wash-it is the Technological forces. Wash-it is based on a mix of existing technologies. These technologies need to be improved and upgraded in Washit to stay up to date with the fast paced industry of technology. It’s also worth mentioning that more and more people are getting online, this also adds to the effects on the consumer’s base. 10 In order for the product line to be successful it must engage certain Key Success Factors (KSFs) in order to be able to adequately penetrate the market and have the potential ability to turn a profit for the firm. The first of these is the level to which the supply and delivery mechanisms of the given product can help to place the firm at a competitive advantage as compared to its competitors. Without a well planned and highly efficient supply mechanism, the firm’s offering is dead before it can even hope to gain market share. 11 A secondary logistical KSF is the fact that suppliers of the device will need to be lined up and

School Uniforms Essay Example for Free

School Uniforms Essay Uniforms in the School Environment: Can Clothing Really Effect Your Education? Going to public schools all my life, I heard the gossip of fashion and whose wearing what,pretty much everyday; at least in the four years of high school where it seemed that looks mattered the most. As people grow up, the way they present themselves becomes more and more important. Leaving a good mark in high school means a lot to some people, and some are ready to do whatever it takes to make that mark, whether it be putting someone down for their clothing or being an individual and not caring what others think of you or what your wearing. Having friends from middle school that branched out and went the alternative route; private schools, one of the first things that came back to me from them was how much easier it was to having a uniform to wear to school. Going to a school where uniforms are strictly enforced can help to create a better learning environment. Having uniforms would call for a lot less distraction in the classroom, there would be much more time for homework and there would not be as many problems concerning the wear of inappropriate clothing to take away from school time. A quote from the essay, The Achievement of Desire, by Richard Rodriguez fits particularly well in this essay. Get all the education you can, with an education you can do anything. This just doesnt seem like the main idea to many kids anymore and I think that uniforms would help to bring that thought back into a lot of our heads. I know that the idea of wearing a uniform repulses many people, but when broken down, school uniforms really do seem like the way to go. If it was a requirement to wear a uniform to school, there would be many more kids paying attention in classes. Looking around the classroom at what other kids are wearing is a great way to make time fly by. If everyone was wearing the same things, then the distraction of different clothing would be eliminated. Many people worry that uniforms would take away the opportunity for kids to be who they are or who they want to be, but I feel as though wearing uniforms would simply force kids to show their individualism in ways outside of fashion and appearance. When looking at an Opinion Board on the internet I came across the idea that visually uniforms result in a more equal and adult treatment of students, eliminating any idea that one student is being favored over another. Visually, all students were equal. They appeared equal which resulted in more equal treatment from both peers and teachers alike. When a student looks presentable, they will not only be treated as a student, but as an equal, which I feel both students and teachers would benefit from. In the essay, The ? Banking Concept of Education,written by Paulo Freire, there were two types of education discussed. Bankingeducation and Problem-Posing education. Banking education was looked at with the idea that the teacher was the higher power and the student was simply an object where as in Problem-Posing education, the teacher and students both taught and learned the information together. Uniforms would help bring Problem-Posing teaching back into the classrooms of many schools. There would also be a large drop in the amount of teasing that goes on in school. When I asked my old roommate, Maureen Brillante, who attended Sacred Heart Academy about the benefits of going to a school with uniforms, one of the first things she said was that it prevents peoples feelings from being hurt since everyone is wearing the same thing. There is a lot less gossip about clothes and it is much harder to judge people when everyone looks the same. The atmosphere around the whole school just seems brighter that way, she said with a big smile on her face. Having gone to an elementary school that did not have uniforms, Maureen experienced both worlds and found uniforms made high school that much easier to get through. Decisions, Decisions. Should I go home and get my homework done or should I go to the mall and get those new shoes I saw online the other day? Uniforms would help to eliminate one of these decisions. If you had to wear a uniform to school, maybe you would not be in such a rush to go buy the latest clothing, after all, you really cant even wear it to school. This gives a student more time for homework and studying. A great deal of studying and focusing is needed to succeed in school, which Richard Rodriguez emphasizes greatly in his essay The Achievement of Desire. The boy needs to spend more and more time studying, each night enclosing himself in the silence permitted and required by intense concentration. Without this concentration Rodriguez speaks of, a students grades are bound to suffer. Another benefit of uniforms is that you will save money because you wont be buying half the amount of clothes that you normally would be if you did not need to wear a uniform. This idea didnt even cross my mind until my interview with Maureen. In the long run, you really start to save money. A few outfits for the weekends are all you really need, and unless the school changes uniforms while youre there, you can pretty much wear your same uniform for as long as you can fit into it. There is also a lot more time in the mornings to wake up and have a healthy breakfast because you dont have to worry about picking out an outfit to wear. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I can say that there were many occasions where I skipped breakfast simply because I was running late and picking out clothes seemed to be the bigger picture at that time. I know when I was in high school, some girls came to school late or didnt come at all because they couldnt find an outfit they wanted to wear. Ridiculous? I think so. What did the wearing of school uniforms accomplish? It directly interfered with gangs, gang colors, gang associations, gang affiliations that tended to have more control over the students than either teachers or parents . . . School uniforms did away with such extra curricular activities as thievery. It is not uncommon for the police to receive calls from irate parents regarding their childs loss of an expensive clothing article. School uniformity focuses the attention on where it belongs: academics. You can find the important point that uniforms create less of a boundary to cross when it comes to what kids wear to school on the Holden Police Department web page. There are fewer rules at a school with uniforms simply because the section labeled Dress Code is either nonexistent or simply a brief section on how to wear your uniform properly. Gangs are brought into schools by the gangs members wearing their colors or their logos on their clothing. This brings together two worlds that just should never meet. Although I dont hear much about it these days, uniforms would give kids fewer things to want to steal in high school. Whether it be in the locker room or in lost-and-found, kids would be more honest, because who really wants to steal someone elses uniform? There would also be less shoplifting because kids would have enough money to buy the few outfits they need to wear outside of school. Sex-exploitation is another issue that would be eliminated with uniforms. Girls would not be allowed to wear such skimpy outfits to school, distracting less people, and creating better reputations for everyone. Less time would be spent in the schools main office and more time would be put into being in the classroom. Kids would have fewer ways to get detentions or even expulsion because inappropriate clothing would no longer exist. Forcing kids to find other ways to show their individuality would compel kids to think more about whom they are and not so much about what they wear. Although it may look as if its the cool thing to wear all the latest styles and be up on fashion, does it really seem worth it to risk getting simply an ok education? Where are those priorities of school work and studying for a test when you are out shopping at the mall? In the end it really does make the most sense to simply suck up the idea of wearing the same thing as every other girl or boy at your school and leave with a better education, and a better sense of seeing people for what and who they really are; not what they are or arent wearing. Imagining the idea of a school that one does not have to worry about what kids will say about their outfits, about whether or not what they are wearing is appropriate for school grounds or getting to the mall after school to buy that new sweater they saw in the AF catalogue (which means blowing off that tutoring secession they had to help raise their math grade), seems so far from reality and all that I knew in high school, yet at the same time seems like the ideal way to spend those four important years of high school, those four years in which all of your hard work pays off and gets you accepted into the number one college of your choice. That sounds like the perfect four years of high school to me. School Uniforms Essay Example for Free School Uniforms Essay A group of small boys and girls all warring the same colored uniforms assembled in front of a catholic school is what I imagine when thinking about school uniforms. This is probably what most people imagine. They have been attached to students of European and private schools. Such pictures of students dressing in school uniforms have led to stereotyping and a negative attitude towards schools enforcing a uniform policy. Displayed as robots without the ability to express them selves in a society that says you must express yourself and be an individual at all cost. The problem is that the cost to express yourself and be an individual is high in some cases, in Detroit, a 15-year-old boy was killed for his $86 basketball shoes (Tweeters 1997). I believe that cost is to high, it would be better to be laughed at and teased about warring a nerdy uniform, than to be shot by some gang member that did not like the color of the pants Im warring. School uniforms have been the cause of many jokes and harassment to those who wore them. In the past, public schools considered uniforms old and out dated trends, though recently many public schools are starting to implement and enforce a uniform policy. The implementation of a school uniform policy is important if we are still striving to improve our students. The arguments against them are fading while the positive reasons are promoting school uniforms and gaining ground. Some of the possible benefits are safety, cost, uniformity and competition in academics instead of fashions. The main argument against them is the need for students to express their individual selves; this argument is losing ground compared to the benefits of the uniform policy. Today many public schools are mandating and enforcing school uniforms for their students. San Antonio School district requires all 60,000 of its students to wear uniforms; over 60% of Fort Worths elementary schools require their students to ware uniforms (Radcliffe 1999). In 1995, the Texas legislature gave public school districts the authority to require uniforms under Texas State Law 11. 162 of the Texas Education Code. (Appendix A). The law however is a voluntary law; schools are not required to have a uniform policy. A Dallas attorney Domingo Garcia has filed a proposed legislation that would make it mandatory to wear uniforms in Grades k-12 in Texas (Ramos 1997). The first fundamental issue that school board officials and law makers should look at before they make new policies and laws concerning school uniforms is, will these new laws and policies have a positive impact on students overall performance. This would not be limited to academic performances only but should also include other socially learned behavior that will enhance the students ability to conform to the social norms needed to be successful in todays society. People for uniforms say that the academic performance has been and will increase by having the students ware them (Caruso 1996). A lessened degree of attention and concern with fashion will enable a better condition for serious study, as well as lesson the cultural and economic challenges of students and parents. (Cohn 1996, Paliokos 1996) Nathan Minster, a seventh grader at Country Day of Arlington said, Uniforms provide a better educational atmosphere, and symbolize school spirit. If all students dress alike, their attention will not focus on Johnnys new Tommy Hilfiger outfit. (Teeters 1996). Any situation that does not promote the improvement of students in school should be looked at and studied to find ways to change the situation. There are no positive aspects to worrying about not having the money to buy the coolest and newest fashions. Would it not be better to strive and worry about who can get the best grade or do the best science project. Is the reduction of crime going to help improve our students? We must agree that there is no part of our students lives that can be improved by the atmosphere of crime. We need to ask the question, What ought to be? When it comes to school and crime. How to deal with crime is one of the ethical questions all school administrators and lawmakers must address and act on accordingly. The statistics say that schools having a school uniform policy have seen a decrease in crime. Long Beach Unified School District was the first large urban school district in the United States to require school uniforms. They have seen substantial decreases in crime in the past five years since they have required uniforms. One incredible reduction was that sex offenses have decreased 93%. (Appendix B). The cost of implementing a uniform policy must also be looked at closely. The fact that all students have different degrees of economic status requires us to address this matter. If a student cannot afford uniforms would they not be able to go to school. Would it be better to have them spend all their money on uniforms so they could go to school, but because of that they dont have the money to participate in after school sports or social events. Maybe they would spend the money on uniforms instead of nutritious food, which could affect their health. The current Texas law does provide ways of providing uniforms for students who cannot afford to buy them. (Appendix A). The Long Beach Unified School District has privately funded over $160,000 for assistance to disadvantaged students. By doing this they have not put any financial burden on the taxpayers. The cost can be high, as it has been for the San Antonio School district, which has spent about $500,000 to outfit 90% of their students (Radcliffe 1999). Unlike Long Beach School District, San Antonios uniform policy has cost the taxpayers a lot of money. They ought to look at ways of reducing the cost to taxpayers, possible private funding from companies that participate in philanthropic programs. What are the ethical concerns for schools considering school uniforms? The nation has implemented school uniforms in about 25 percent of the public elementary, middle, and junior high schools according to the (California School News March 31,1997). The general improvements of the students who attend schools that requiring them to ware uniforms has shown an improvement. I can conclude from the improvements that we ought to have 100 percent of public schools starting uniform policies. I dont believe that waiting for years of research and study on this issue will change the outcome. Students are moving through school fast and to wait for years to go by before making this a policy can only lesson the improvement chances of the students who are currently in school. The motivation of this issue is not to infringe on students rights or burden parents with extra cost, but to simply improve the students. Do students have rights as part of the American populous? If so, what are there rights? Do they even have the right to choose to go or not to go to school, or is this, the rights of the parents and society? Our society is now more than ever concerned with our rights and feelings. Is a first graders mind able to use these rights for there best interest or is it up to the adult population? Parents are the ones who should teach and mentor the students in the spirit of the rights and how to use them for the good judgment and common sense. The Bible says, For I, too, was once a son, tenderly loved by my mother as an only child, and the companion of my father. He told me never to forget his words. If you follow them, he said, you will have a long and happy life. Learn to be wise, he said, and develop good judgment and common sense! I cannot overemphasize this point. (Proverbs 3: 3-5). Is it more important for us to make a place where the student can improve in the general sense compared to the First amendment claims that the students dont have the right of free expression? Any dress restriction that infringes on a students First Amendment right must be justified by a showing that the students attire materially disrupts school operation, infringes on the rights of others at the school, or otherwise interferes with any basic educational mission of he school (Grantham 1994). The legal aspect of requiring students to ware uniforms is a small matter if the majority of the parents back the policy. However, some will fight with every penny they have so that their kids will not have to ware the uniforms. The biggest legal issue is the First Amendments, right to free expression and the Fourteenth Amendment. They use this to say that the school has violated the students liberty to control his or her personal appearance ( Paliokos 1996). Stakeholders are involved in every part of this issue. Every person is a stakeholder. It will affect, children, adults, and elderly in one way or another, some more than others will. The children will be affected because they will have to ware the uniforms. Primary social stakeholders would be the students, parents, school employees and administrators, taxpayers, people opposed to and people for school uniforms. I dont have children but I am a stakeholder because if the uniform policy is voted on and passed the chances are my local school tax will increase to help pay for the new uniforms. Paying for the uniforms might not seem fair to someone in my position but if I look at the long term benefits of having our public schools improve the students I believe that the chances of a better society in my golden years is more likely to happen compared with the alternative of not improving the students. The improvement of students basic education holds very high stakes for all stakeholders. If a student receives a better education he/she will have a better chance and be better equipped to be part of our adult society in which they will have to abide by our standard. The responsibility of the schools and lawmakers is to improve students. They are also responsible to do this within a budget. This does mean there will be some compromises and restrictions to what and how they accomplish this task of improving the students. They must also stay within the legal aspects of our laws, which has been brought about by society from the past. If the laws are no longer valid they need to be changed for the current situations faced today by schools trying to improve students. Lets look at the stakeholders and what stakes they face. See stakeholder map Appendix C. Students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and the general society are the stakeholders we will look at although there are many more secondary stakeholders involved with this issue. What challenges, threats or opportunities do these stakeholders pose? What economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities do they have? We will start by looking at the students. The challenge they have has been a negative and stressful one, what to wear today? is a question that will no longer have to be asked each morning before school. The desire to have the coolest and newest fashions is no longer a challenge for the students who attend schools with uniform policies. The challenge to not be teased or laughed at is no longer there. Jacqueline Rios, a student at Glencrest Middle School said, The good thing about uniforms is that everybody wears the same color. And having uniforms is a lot better, because people cannot talk about and laugh at your clothes. (Teeter 1997). We do however have the threat that some of the opposing students will not comply which could cause discipline problems or even cause them to drop out of school. The opportunities for the students are all positive ones. Simply put they will have more opportunities to better themselves with academic issues because the priority of fashion standards is gone as Assistant Director of elementary school operations, Frankie Batts, said, Instead of worrying about their clothes or what everyone else is wearing, kids focus on math and reading, (Richardson 1995). Parents will also enjoy the decreasing challenge of keeping their kids in the newest fashions. The money issue will improve for them, Three outfits can run about $130, said Jan Underwood, owner of the U. T. W. Uniforms store in Fort Worth (Teeters 1997). Parents have had to struggle with deciding if what there kids are warring is proper. You might even ask, is it ethical to let my daughter go to school in an almost see-through and skintight outfit? The students being at a school with a uniform policy would now solve this problem. A possible threat from the parents would be from those who feel and believe that kids should be able to do and ware what they want and to force them to ware a uniform is a violation of their kids rights as well as the law. They do however seem to be the minority, most parents seem to support uniforms. The Longview Independent School district says they would support the decision for school uniforms if 75 to 80 percent of the parents were for it (Bell 2000). Teachers will have the challenge of enforcing the new uniform polices but it will be much easier then enforcing the current dress code. At most, schools the guidelines of a dress code can be subjective in determining if they meet the requirements. Lets say, if the school dress policy said that girls must ware skirts that go down to there knees and a student is seen warring one that does meet that requirement but it is see-through and she is not wearing underpants. This could cause a problem because the requirement is subjective. If the uniform policy was in effect this would not be because the see-through skirt would either be part of the uniform and accepted or not, it would now be an objective decision for the teacher to make, either it is a violation or not. One of the great opportunities that it would give the teachers is by having all the students dress alike they would be able to identify students who belong to the school and trespassers who dont. This is a great safety issue in todays times where it is important to regulate who comes on campuses. How about on a school field trip would it not be easier to identify your students in a crowd if you did not have to remember what everyone was warring. Say they were kidnapped would it not be easier to describe them to the police. School administrators have all the issues to deal with. They are the ones who are challenged to improve the students. They have the challenge to implement school policies like uniforms in an effort to improve students. Their decisions go from the smallest detail, what colors, what style, what material, all or which can have either positive or negative effects on other stakeholders. They must accomplish this and be able to stay within the legal, economic and ethical parameters that currently guide their decisions. What a privilege they have with this opportunity to improve students who will in turn improve society and possibly the entire world. Though this is a great opportunity, it is also a great responsibility to have. General society has a stake that is both short term and long term. On the short term, they will have to support the decisions of the uniform policies that are imposed upon the students and parents. Some of the long-term stakes would be requiring paying for some of the uniforms for students who cannot afford them. For the few who oppose the uniforms they will not have to compromise their beliefs so that their kids can get an education. The Texas 1995 law allows some exceptions to the rules with a written request that states a bona fide religious or philosophical objection to the requirement. (Appendix A) Some recommendations that should be looked at by schools before starting a uniform policy could help reduce the problems that occur from putting new policies into effect. They need to be able to justify the actions by demonstrating the link between a kind of dress and disruptive behavior or between a dress and improvements of the students. They should consult with the schools legal advisors to possible legal problems. Determine ways of enforcing the policy as well as what punishment would occur. Finding out what the parents and students think and involving them before the final starting date. They might try to find out what the students favorite color or type of material they want to use. They might even look at having some variety maybe two different colors. This way the students will feel included in the decisions and might not fight the policy, making the discipline problem smaller because they would be less likely to rebel. A financial study should be conducted prior to the policy to determine how much burden is going to be imposed on the school itself, how many students would require financial assistance with the cost of the uniforms. By keeping the primary stakeholders involved with the decisions prior to making the policy, schools have a better chance of success from the uniform policy. Appendix A Sec. 11. 162. School Uniforms. a) The board of trustees of an independent school district may adopt rules that require students at a school in the district to wear school uniforms if the board determines that the requirement would improve the learning environment at the school. (b) The rules the board of trustees adopts must designate a source of funding that shall be used in providing uniforms for students at the school who are educationally disadvantaged. (c) A parent or guardian of a student assigned to attend a school at which students are required to wear school uniforms may choose for the student to be exempted from the requirement or to transfer to a school at which students are not required to wear uniforms and at which space is available if the parent or guardian provides a written statement that, as determined by the board of trustees, states a bona fide religious or philosophical objection to the requirement. (d) Students at a school at which uniforms are required shall wear the uniforms beginning on the 90th day after the date on which the board of trustees adopts the rules that require the uniforms. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg. , ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Appendix B GRADES K-8 SCHOOL CRIME REPORT SUMMARY Since the inception of required school uniforms in all Long Beach Unified School District elementary and middle schools, in September 1994, school crime here has dropped 86% percent. SCHOOL CRIME REDUCED 1993-94 Before Uniforms 1994-95 Uniforms Required 1995-96 2nd Year with Uniforms 1996-97 3rd Year with Uniforms 1997-98 4th Year with Uniforms 1998-99 5th Year With Uniforms Change K-8 Enrollment 57,497 58,376 59,822 62,039 63,602 65,451 +14% Assault/Battery* 319 214 53 47 46 82 Assault w/Deadly Weapon* 6 3 16 11 8 24 Sex Offenses 57 15 5 4 2 4 -93% Robbery/Extortion 34 12 13 5 3 5 -85%. Chemical Substances 71 29 24 20 27 37 -48% Weapons or Look A like 145 78 28 24 12 36 -75% Vandalism** 1,409 1,155 127 93 98 106 Dangerous Devices 46 23 1 2 0 2 -96% TOTAL 2087 1529 267 206 196 296 -86% *The statewide category of assault has been revised because of different interpretations of what constitutes assault. Verbal threats without physical contact were sometimes reported as assaults. There is also a new, expanded definition of assault with a deadly weapon. Reported now is any item that is actually used in an effort to inflict any bodily harm, i. e. a foot, a fist, a pencil or a comb. **Under the new California Safe Schools Assessment School Crime Report, only vandalism over $100 is included. Some prior years incidents were under $100, so the actual reduction is less than this. Appendix C Bibliography Resources Bell, Becky. LISD group focuses on school uniforms Longview News Journal 22 March 2000; Local California Leads nation in Public School Uniform Use. California School News 31 March 1997: 4 Caruso, Peter. Individuality vs. Conformity: The Issue Behind School Uniforms. NASSP Bulletin 8,581 September 1996: 83-88. Chon, Carl A. Mandatory School Uniforms. The School Administrator 53, 2 February 1996: 22-25 Grantham, Kimberly. Restricting Student Dress in Public Schools. School Law Bulletin 25, Winter 1994: 1-10 Long Beach Crime Report Summary. http://www. lbusd. k12. ca. us/ Paliokas, Kathleen L. Trying Uniforms On for Size. The American School Board Journal 183, 5 May 1996: 32-35 Proverbs. The Bible. The Living Bible. 3; 3-5 Radcliffe, Jennifer. Irving joins movement supporting required attire. Star Telegram 25 March 1999 http://netarrant. net/news/doc/1047/1:NEA/1:NEA032599. html Ramos, Cindy. Capitol moves San Antonio Express-News 1 April 1997 Metro- Education Express: 4B Richardson, Ginger. Student uniforms in vogue at schools in Fort Worth Officials report success of voluntary clothing programs. Fort Worth Star Telegram, 16 August 1995; Metro Teeters, Amy. Growing up in uniform style. Fort Worth Star-Telegram 18 February 1997: Class Acts: 9 Texas State Law 11. 162 of the Texas Education Code. http://www. tea. state. tx. us.

Features of Intellectual Disability, and Interventions

Features of Intellectual Disability, and Interventions INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY Intellectual disability (ID), once called mental retardation, is characterized by below-average intelligence or mental ability and a lack of skills necessary for day-to-day living. Mental retardation refers to significantly sub average general intellectual functioning resulting in or associated with concurrent impairment in adaptive behavior and manifested during the development period What is intellectual disability? Intellectual disability has limitations in two areas. These areas are: Intellectual functioning (IQ): this refers to a person’s ability to learn reason, make decisions, and solve problems. Adaptive behaviors: is defined as the degrees with which the individual meets the standards of personal independence and social responsibility expected of his age cultural group. Classification Intelligent quotient is the ratio between Mental Age (MA) and Chronological Age (CA). Intelligence quotient is measured by an IQ test. The average IQ is 100. To measure a child’s adaptive behaviors, a specialist will observe the child’s skills and compare them to other children of the same age. Things that may be observed include how well the child can feed or dress himself or herself; how well the child is able to communicate with and understand others; and how the child interacts with family, friends, and other children of the same age. Intellectual disability is thought to affect about 1% of the population. Of those affected, 85% have mild intellectual disability. This means they are just a little slower than average to learn new information or skills. With the right support, most will be able to live independently as adults. Signs and Symptoms Generally speaking, the symptoms of mental retardation include delays in oral language development, deficits in memory skills, difficulty learning social roles, difficulty with problems solving skills, decreased learning ability or an inability to meet education demands at school, failure to achieve the markers of intellectual development and a lack of social inhibition. However, symptoms of mental retardation will vary depending on the condition’s severity. For instance, while signs of mild retardation (i.e., those with IQs of about 52 to 79) may include a lack of curiosity and quiet behavior, signs of severe mental retardation (i.e., those with IQs of about 20 to 35) may include infant-like behavior throughout the patient’s life, and those with profound mental retardation (i.e., IQs of 19 or below) are likely to have limited motor and communication skills and require lifelong nursing care. The symptoms of mental retardation are broken out by the level of the condition below. Mild intellectual disability: From birth to age six, these children are able to develop social and communication skills, but their motor skills are slightly impaired. In late adolescence, they can usually read at a sixth-grade level. They are typically able to develop appropriate social skills, and adults can often work and support themselves, though some of these individuals may require assistance during times of social or financial stress. Moderate intellectual disability: Children with this condition who are six years old or younger can talk and communicate, but usually have poor social awareness. Their motor coordination is fair, and adolescents can learn some occupational and social skills. Adults can sometimes support themselves and hold down a job, though they often require guidance and assistance during stressful periods. Severe intellectual disability: Young children with this condition have limited speech abilities, though they can usually say a few words. Their motor coordination is mostly poor. While adolescents can communication with others and can learn simple habits, they typically require lifelong guidance and assistance with daily activities. Profound intellectual disability: Young children with this level of mental retardation have very little motor coordination of often require nursing care, which can last a lifetime. Adolescents have limited motor and communication skills. Causes Intellectual disabilityaffects about 1% to3% of the population. In India, 5 out of 1000 children’s are MR (The Indian Express, 13th March 2001) Causes of intellectual disability can include: Infections (present at birth or occurring after birth) Genetic Factors (such as Down syndrome) Environmental (Child Abuse) Metabolic (Wilsons Disease) Nutritional (malnutrition) Trauma (before and after birth) Unexplained (this largest category is for unexplained occurrences) Diagnosis To meet the criteria for the diagnosis of Mental Retardation, three areas must be considered. Onset must occur before 18 years of age.In addition, the person must have Below average general intellectual functioning.General intellectual functioning is defined by the intelligence quotient (IQ) obtained by assessment with one or more of the standardized, individually administered intelligence tests. The choice of testing instrument and interpretation of results should take into account factors that may affect test performance, such as sociocultural background, native language and associated communication, and motor and sensory handicaps. Specialized tests may be used to measure other aspects of development. Intellectual impairment is categorized by four degrees of severity. These classifications suggest the types of interventions that would be appropriate and offer clues as to long-term outcome. Mild retardation:Mild retardation: IQ level 50-55 to approximately 70 (85% of people with mental retardation are in this category) Moderate retardation:IQ level 35-40 to 50-55 (10% of people with mental retardation) Severe retardation:IQ level 20-25 to 35-40 (3 4% of people with mental retardation) Profound retardation:IQ level below 20 or 25 (1 2% of people with mental retardation) Significant limitations in adaptive functioningin at least two of the following skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social/interpersonal skills, use of community resources, self-direction, functional academic skills, work, leisure, health and safety. Prevention Genetic counseling: screening during pregnancy Social Nutrition programs Preventing exposure to lead, mercury, and other toxins reduces the risk of disability. Infectious diseases: For example, rubella syndrome can be prevented through vaccination. Avoiding exposure to catfeces that can cause toxoplasmosis during pregnancy helps reduce disability from this infection. What about School? Early intervention programs are essential to maximize the children’s potential development. This necessitates early recognition and referral. Teachers have opportunity to evaluate children’s in school. Some of these skills include: communicating with others. taking care of personal needs (dressing, bathing, going to the bathroom). health and safety. home living (helping to set the table, cleaning the house, or cooking dinner). social skills (manners, knowing the rules of conversation, getting along in a group, playing a game). reading, writing, and basic math and as they get older, skills that will help them in the workplace. Supports or changes in the classroom (called adaptations) help most students with mental retardation. Some common changes that help students with mental retardation are listed below under â€Å"Tips for Teachers.† The resources below also include ways to help children with mental retardation. Tips for Parents Learn about mental retardation. The more you know, the more you can help yourself and your child. See the list of resources and organizations at the end of this publication. Encourage independence in your child. For example, help your child learn daily care skills, such as dressing, feeding him or herself, using the bathroom, and grooming. Parents are taught behavior modification techniques to decrease to eliminate problematic behavior. Give your child chores. Keep his/her age, attention span, and abilities in mind. Break down jobs into smaller steps. For example, if your child’s job is to set the table, first ask him/her to get the right number of napkins. Then have him/her put one at each family member’s place at the table. Do the same with the utensils, going one at a time. Tell him/her what to do, step by step, until the job is done. Demonstrate how to do the job. Help her when she needs assistance. Give your child frequent feedback. Praise your child when he or she does well. Build your child’s abilities. Find out what skills your child is learning at school. Find ways for your child to apply those skills at home. For example, if the teacher is going over a lesson about money, take your child to the supermarket with you. Help him count out the money to pay for your groceries. Help him count the change. Find opportunities in your community for social activities, such as scouts, recreation center activities, sports, and so on. These will help your child build social skills as well as to have fun. Tips for Teachers There is now an increase use of more specialist teaching and variety of innovative procedures for teaching language and other methods of communication. Hints for successful skill training Give the student immediate feedback. Divide each training activity into small steps and demonstrate. Start the training with what the child already knows and then proceed to the skill that needs to be trained. Reward his effort even if the child attains near success. Give the training regularly and systematically. Use training materials which are attractive, appropriate and locally available. Treatment Environmental supervision Programs that Maximize Speech, language, social, psychomotor, cognitive and occupational skills. Ongoing Evaluation. Parental counseling and supportive psychotherapy. Behavior management. REFERENCES Townsend M, Psychiatric Mental health Nursing, 6th ed. New Delhi: Jaypeee Brother Publications ; 2013:chap 4. The Arc of the United States American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR)

Examining Perspective in Literature Essay example -- A&P Perspective U

Examining Perspective in Literature When writing literature, authors will adapt points of view to mold the perceptions of their readers. Three points of view that authors use to draw readers into their works of fiction are the limited perspective, the first-person perspective, and the objective perspective. Three stories will be examined and critiqued for their use of these narrative techniques. Of the three perspectives that will be examined, the first-person perspective is the most useful for sharing the authors’ vision. Authors employing the first person point of view give readers the broadest exposure to the feeling(s), opinion(s), and position(s) that writers attempt to communicate via their narration. The story, â€Å"A&P† by John Updike related the short story of a teenage employee at the beginning of a period of social upheaval and recharacterization of gender roles. The setting for the story was a sleepy inland coastal town during 1962. Sammy, the teenaged protagonist and narrator, provided a clear lens for the perspective that the author presented. The viewpoint of this narrator related to his adolescent need for romantic nobility and his incipient role defiance. The faux noble protagonist attempted to defend three bikini-clad adolescent girls whom defied the implicit taboo regarding exposure of flesh outside of the prescribed boundaries that was understood to be in effect. The narration accounted by the first-person narrator was well-developed and gave descript...

Chinese Mythology Essay

Mythology is a collection of myths or the study of ancient traditional stories of gods or heroes, giving an explanation to an unexplained event. For Plato, the fist known user of the term, muthologia meant know more than the telling of stories (Kirk 8). Mythology is an important aspect to the world, today. Through the study of myths help us develop an idea of what the cultures were like. It includes hints that exhibit how they lived their lives. Myth is its serious purpose and its importance to the culture (Lansford 1). Every culture has its own myth that explains about the nature of that particular culture. The Chinese culture has been around for many centuries, its myths have accumulated into varies stories of gods and their culture. China is the world’s oldest continuous civilization (Cotterel 9). Evidence show the earliest Chinese civilization to be found around 1650 B. C. The beginnings of Chinese mythology, started around the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Influenced by alchemist ideas, Taoist and Buddhist superstitions, various writers created storied about their enigmatic surroundings. The beginning of the Chinese civilization is based on mythology. One of the creation myths is about the beginning of the world. In it, the world began as an egg and cracking open, the top of the shell grew to be the sky, the lower shell became the Earth, and in the middle stepped a man named P’an-gu. Mythology of the ancient Chinese is apparent through art, music and literature. Since, there is no explanation of how the Chinese civilization began; mythology has been a way of explanation to the Chinese culture and other cultures around the world, today. Chinese mythology, as with many other cultures, has many gods and goddesses that are in charge of various things. In the Ancient Chinese culture, there are gods and goddesses for every important aspect of the people’s life, even things as unlikely as the stove god and the door god. Other deities that were important to the Chinese people were the gods of the elements such as Chu Jung, the fire god, Lei Kun, the thunder god, the wind god, and the lightning goddess. Most of the element gods devoted themselves to punishing criminals and keeping evil spirits away. There were also important gods in charge of fields such as Kuan Ti, the god of war, Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion, T’Shai-shen, the god of wealth and Tsao hsang, god of the hearth. Although there gods were very important to the Chinese people, one of the most important gods was Nu wa, the mother goddess. She was a compassionate goddess who created mankind and bestowed love and creation to them. She helped her people when they were in need, like when she created rice from her own milk and blood in order to feed her people. She was very humble and a modest goddess, not wanting credit for her benevolence. The gods and goddesses of Chinese mythology were basically deities that symbolized the good and just qualities that people should imitate in their everyday life. The basis of Chinese life was a belief in harmony and balance (Williams 20). The Chinese believed in harmony with nature, and sometimes honored the spirits with gifts, feasts, and rituals. The Chinese believed the souls of the dead returned (Williams 20), a concept of Buddhism. The family held Chinese society together (Williams 20). In China, many generations of families lived together, even in the same house, and the children were taught to respect and obey their elders (Williams 20). As in all cultures, men were ? superior’ to women in China. Parents believed they would become gods after they died, if they had a son (Williams 21). This belief was taken fiercely to the point that the parents would kill a newborn female. A custom that the upper-class women followed was of foot binding, which was believed to make the foot appear tiny, since the culture considered small feet feminine and delicate. The most important festival in China was the Chinese New Year, it is held in the spring of each year. During this festival, offerings were given to the sprits. In China, the color white is considered the mourning color and the children showed respect for dead parents by fasting and wearing thick clothes (Williams 21). Most beliefs and customs of the Chinese culture appear from the religions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The Chinese culture has a long history of beliefs and customs, which are used by the generations before and now. It is highly unlikely that the generations to come would not be following the same beliefs and customs of the ancient Chinese. The origin of religion goes back to prehistoric times when the earliest people of China sought answers to the same basic questions that have baffled primitive men over the world: what is the unseen force that brings darkness and light, winter and summer, drought and rain, life and death; what must men do to appease this force? (Schafer 57) Ancient China has three main religions Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Confucius was concerned mostly with laws made by people, and whether people were naturally good or naturally evil. In contrast, the followers of Lao-tzu believed people were guided by universal laws, not human ones. This was the basis of Taoism (Williams 18). Taoists tried to live a life of simplicity and meditation close to nature. Taoism was mystical and influenced by ancient Chinese folk religion. Its followers used magic as well as prayer and diet to seek eternal youth (Williams 19). Taoists were peaceful people who generally lived peaceful lives. Buddhists follow the teachings of Buddha (born 563 B. C. ), a north Indian prince who devoted his life to a search for personal peace, or enlightenment. The name Buddha means â€Å"enlightened one†. He believed that by giving up worldly desires, such as for fine food and clothes, a blissful state called nirvana could be achieved. In nirvana there was freedom from sorrows of the world. Indian belief as that time held that people were reborn many times. Persons who had lived badly in former lives might be born in an animal or insect form. Buddha said that by reaching nirvana, this endless cycle of rebirth could be broken (Cotterell 27). Buddhists follow an â€Å"eight-fold path,† this is like a code by which they live. Confucianism came in earlier than Taoism and Chinese Buddhism. The so-called Confucian classics were, in fact, complied long after the death of Confucius by disciples of his disciples, and were edited and interpreted in Han times by government scribes; but they purport to reflect the views of the great sage of antiquity on history, religious rites, morals, and standards of behavior. The state officers of Han times accepted these interpretations and associated them with the standardized pagan nature worship of state cult as a part of the acceptable way of life for a Han gentleman. We in the west sometimes call this way of life, which includes both reverence for the ? ancient’ books and the ? ancient’ gods, ? Confucianism’ (Schafer 60-61). Confucianism flourished in China as so did the other religions. The Chinese were inquisitive people, always inventing and always wondering how things worked. It is only logical for them to generate religions that explain how life is and how it will be in the afterlife. In Chinese mythology, myths and legends deal with aspects of human nature, human relations and social life (Owens). Chinese myths use human traits, like emotion, to convey lessons. The myth on the creation of man clearly depicts the basics of a Chinese myth. After P’an-gu, creator of the world, died and his body transformed into different elements of the Earth, Nu wa, the dragon goddess, came down from heavens and admired P’an-gu’s creation. In order to honor P’an-gu’s sacrifice to the Earth, Nu wa decided to create humans. She started to make them out of yellow clay, but since it took much of her strength, she dipped a rope into the mud and when she took it out, the drips became people. Her clay and mud people were not alive, so her heart took pity and she breathed her divine breath into them. She also whispered thoughts of love and creation into their ears and told them to reproduce. The people made of yellow clay became the rich and the people Nu wa made of mud became the poor. This myth explains many aspects of human life. It explains how the social classes came to be and also human emotions. Nu wa shows human emotions like honor, when she was determined to let P’an-gu’s death not be in vain; in compassion, she breathed her divine breath into each and every human. This myth represents human relations because Nu wa put ideas of love and procreation into the human race’s mind. These Chinese myths explain how the good and bad came to be and how a person should live a happy a fulfilling life. Mythology is not a subject that should be ignored. It is an important subject that should be learned and understood by all cultures so that as a world, we can come to understand each other better. The first step in hatred is fear. Fear of the unknown can generate more hate than anyone could possibly fathom. If everyone became educated about other culture, there would be little to know unknown, and there would probably be less hate in the world. Mythology, the study of myths, gives people an insight to others dreams, hopes, and their fears. We all have hopes, dreams, and fears. By learning about other cultures’ hopes, dreams, and fears we can feel more connected to each other and reach out. Mythology is a key element in keeping peace without shedding blood. Work Cited Cotterel, Arthur. Ancient China. Kirk, Geoffrey Stephen. Myth: its meaning and functions in ancient and other culture California; University of California Press. 1970 Lansford, Tyler. â€Å"Mythology† Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2002. Microsoft Corporation, 2002 Owens, D. W. â€Å"Ancient Chinese Mythology: Gods and goddess folklore† Google. com. November 5, 2003 Schafer, Edward H. Ancient China. New York; Time Inc. 1967 Williams, Brians. Ancient China. Middlesex, England; Reed Educational and Professional Publishing, Ltd. 1996.

buy custom Evidence-Based Pharmacology

buy custom Evidence-Based Pharmacology The Infectious Disease Tuberculosis (TB) Introduction In this assignment, Tuberculosis (TB) is reviewed. The infectious disease is caused by a bacterium known as Mycobacterium tubercuslosis that mostly affects the lungs (World Health Organization, 2015). The bacterium is transmitted from one person to another through droplets that originate from the throat or lungs of those who have the disease. Healthy people infected by the bacterium do not exhibit symptoms due to active immune system that guards against the disease. Ten percent of those who have latent TB develop active TB at some point in their lives (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Even though many people think that developed countries, such as the United States, do not have cases of TB, this assumption might not be true because the disease still remains a major killer in the world. Nearly one-third of the worlds population or 2 billion people are thought to be suffering from the disease (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010).

Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation for Individuals with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain essays

Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation for Individuals with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain essays This article on the multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of musculoskeletal pain was of particular interest to me. In my practice, I deal with many patients who have chronic pain. Sometimes the pain the experience is an element of physical disease. Sometimes the pain is an element of psychosocial distress. Often times my severely depressed patients present which chronic pain issues. Depending on the patients insight into his or her disease, it may be easy to address the psychological elements of pain. Other times, patients seek relief via escalating doses of narcotic pain medication, whether prescribed or illicit, in an attempt to numb the pain, caring little from where the pain comes. There is often times a disconnect between me and the patients medical provider regarding treatment, so an article which recommended a multidisciplinary approach was of specific interest to me. In this article, it was noted that in more than 90% of the cases of chronic musculoskeletal pain there can be identified no organic reason for the pain. The researchers identified several associated secondary stressors with chronic pain such as unemployment, interpersonal problems, sleep disruption and psychosocial disruption. Depression and anxiety were noted to be the most common psychological problems associated with chronic pain. These mood issues can also effect the patients perception of the disease in their present life. Anxiety related to pain can often be traced to the patients fear that the pain represents an underlying element on ongoing damage to the body. The patient may then limit activity, fearing harming the body further. In this study it was believed that the better the patient was able to understand his or her symptoms and the impact of his or her symptoms on daily life, the better the patient would be able to function and remain healthy as possible physi cally, mentally and spiritually. For ...

The Nature of Psychology essays

The Nature of Psychology essays Psychology, as we know it today, is the science of behavior and mental processes. It helps us to understand why people think, feel, and act the way they do. Psychology is a science just like Biology and Philosophy, both of which have had a major impact on psychology. Psychology is a word that encompasses many aspects, but probably the best way to understand its exact definition is to understand that it focuses solely on being a science of behavior and mental processes. The word psychology itself has a route in Greek language as meaning knowledge about soul life. The symbol for psychology also happens to be a Greek symbol known as psi. Psi is a letter from the Greek alphabet and is from where we get the word Psychology, and other related terms beginning with Psych-. There are many components that make up psychology, and each component has a corresponding face that goes with it. Body of knowledge is one such component and its face is teaching. Another component is the set of investigative methods which has the face of research. Lastly, array of techniques is a component and therapy is its face. Psychology has certain goals for understanding behavior that it tries to accomplish through various methods. The basic, general goals of psychology is to answer what, why when, and how. What is for a description, to describe the behavior. Why is an explanation, to try and explain why the behavior is the way it is. When is a prediction of behavior that predicts a certain time for a particular issue. How is used when we want to modify behavior in behavior modification. There are many specialized sub fields within psychology, being that it is such a broad science. Clinical psychologists are in one sub-field of psychology that I would personally find to be the most interesting. Their job description is more or less working ...

Research proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Research proposal - Essay Example It is generally believed that brands have personalities just as humans do. Brand personality is seen as a valuable factor in creating an attachment and bonding with the product in the same say as human create attachment and bonding. The similar measures of personality attributes and factors are used in the promotion of brands. Since it is commonly used by a wide variety of products, this research would aim to ascertain to what extent having a brand personality increases consumers’ brand loyalty. The definition of brand personality differs and so do the attributes that are applicable across different nations. Literature is available on how a brand owner could use brand personality as a way to build and maintain brands. Literature is also available on the packaging as a means of building brand personality. Brand image differs across goods and services. Very little literature is available on celebrity endorsement enhance the brand image and builds brand personality although it is often seen to be very effective. The researches conducted so far express the need that brand personality represents an extensive field for research. Celebrities like David Beckham are lending their names and the brand owners are capitalizing on this concept. It is essential to determine to what extent celebrity endorsement helps in creating brand image and establish the brand. To what extent is celebrity endorser important in building brand personality and how these influence consumers’ decisions? Because of the diverse literature available, it is important to understand how the consumer perceives the brand. The first questions deals with the different forms in which brand personality is communicated. This includes packaging, advertising, positioning etc. The Big Five personality traits that influence personality traits have to be studied in detail as authors have diverse opinion and priorities in this area. Again, these could

Mitt Romneys economic plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mitt Romneys economic plan - Essay Example America in the recent past experienced an economic crisis that resulted into a severe economic aftermath like loss in jobs, reduced output by industries and wealth reduction by individuals as well. This effect is likely to take economists decades to curb this though they are encouraged to act quickly in terms of scope and costs relayed through relative activism (Ogburn, 2009). Amidst this, Romney comes with a comprehensive and deliberate plan to curb this crisis leading to economic growth and development of the Americans not forgetting their critical welfare. Actual plan Romney’s plan is because Americans as an agile society and world’s economic powerhouse is highly in need of its economy to rapidly come back to its knees. Romney has the target of an annual GDP growth rate of 4% per annum over the period he speculates to be in power to bring back the level of unemployment to its previous level before the crisis (Obama, 2008). This appears to be an uphill task but throug h the aggressiveness of the Americans and Romney’s leadership, it shall be achieved within the specified timelines. The growth and development agenda according t Romney should and must be divided into parts as follows: - First, his regime must focus more on productivity growth through relevant policies to support savings and investments, creativity and innovation, trade activities, education and training. Secondly, the government will have to develop a budget framework that is much friendly to the financial system.

Operating System Simulator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Operating System Simulator - Essay Example It also supports JRE version 1.2. Java as language offers various capabilities including running the application as a Java applet or as a java application. Therefore, this CPU process-scheduling simulator can be run either as a Java applet or as a Java application. This CPU process scheduling algorithm can be used to perform several experiments on different process scheduling algorithms. Tables of data, graphs, and Gantt charts in form of log files in HTML can be produced by the simulator at the end of each experimental run. One experiment can be carried out involving several processes, for instance, the experiment can be based on eight different CPU processes. The tabular data obtained for different CPU process scheduling algorithms can then be analyzed and important conclusions drawn. Graph or Gantt chart data obtained can also be analyzed. Comparison between the various CPU scheduling algorithms can be drawn and explained based on the analysis of such data and the conclusions arri ved at. The statistic to be evaluated and analyzed from the experimental runs includes data on processes throughput, CPU burst times, I/O Burst times, Waiting times, Turn Around time, and the ratio of CPU Burst Times to Time to Ready plus CPU Burst time. As noted earlier, this CPU process-scheduling simulator supports various CPU scheduling algorithms such as First Come, First Served (FCFS), Shortest Job First (SJF), and the Round Robin algorithm (RR). This simulator manual report will aim at reporting on experiments carried on two CPU process scheduling algorithms; the First Come, First Served (FCFS) algorithm, and the Shortest Job First (SJF) CPU scheduling algorithm. The experiment will be carried out on eight processes for both the algorithms and the characteristics of bot the algorithms evaluated based on those processes. Graphs, Gantt charts, and table data for both the CPU scheduling algorithms will be drawn, analyzed, and evaluated. The evaluation and analysis to be carried out is aimed at illustrating the differences between the two CPU process-scheduling algorithms based on the data obtained. Normally, it is expected that, for the Shortest Job First SJF also referred to as the shortest remaining CPU burst time first, the process with the shortest CPU burst time is the one that is executed first. For the First Come, First Served CPU scheduling algorithm, the first job to arrive in the ready queue is the one that is executed first, and it must be executed to completion before any other process takes up the CPU. However, there are scenarios such when there is an I/O request, a process being executed in the First Come, First Served algorithm is returned to the waiting time and a new process in the queue is executed before the other process continues executing. This is known as context switching and they are normally two. In the Shortest Job First CPU scheduling algorithm, there are scenarios where more than one process with the shortest CPU burst time; m ore than one process have the same CPU burst time exist in the ready queue. In such cases, these processes are evaluated depending on the time each job or process arrived in the ready queue, this implies some sort of First Come, First Served CPU scheduling algorithm is implemented, and the job that arrived in the re

Climate change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Climate change - Research Paper Example ï‚ § The intended IMC campaign is educational in its approach and intends to educate the university students about the long term and short term consequences of climate change and what is its long-term prognosis for the Australian environment, economy, and growth.ï‚ § The intended IMC campaign is educational in its approach and intends to educate the university students about the long term and short term consequences of climate change and what is its long-term prognosis for the Australian environment, economy, and growth.ï‚ § It is a salient objective of this media campaign to help the targeted audience understand as to what small steps and lifestyle changes they can resort to, to dilute and mitigate the impact of climate change and to predict and quantify the influence these measures could have in ameliorating the short term and long term impact of climate change.ï‚ § This campaign also intends to augment the overall traffic on the "Be the Change you want" website and to secure at least 75,000 hits during the six-month period over which the campaign spans.ï‚ § There is no denying the fact that this campaign tends to heavily exploit the social networking portals like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. So one important goal is to secure a minimum of 15,000 followers for the "Be the Change you want" page of the Facebook in the six-month period for which the campaign lasts.ï‚ § The overall campaign objective is to solicit the loyalty and commitment of the target audience for the cause of climate change.... This campaign also intends to augment the overall traffic on the â€Å"Be the Change you want† website and to secure at least 75,000 hits during the six month period over which the campaign spans. There is no denying the fact that this campaign tends to heavily exploit the social networking portals like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. So one important goal is to secure a minimum of 15,000 followers for the â€Å"Be the Change you want† page of the Facebook in the six month period for which the campaign lasts. The overall campaign objective is to solicit the loyalty and commitment of the target audience for the cause of climate change3. These young audiences being university students will certainly be the opinion makers of tomorrow. So the pivotal target of the campaign is to make the optimum use of the scarce resources to run an IMC plan that achieves results with a lasting shelf life. Media Plan- A Timeline Sensitive Choice of Media Tools Being subject to a budgetary li mit of 1, 00,000 AUD and extending over a period of six months, the choice of media tools will be such as to blend with the schedule of the target audience4. Based on the assumption that all the universities affiliate to the Curtin academic calendar, the campaign will be initiated in first week of the semester 2012 (Monday February 27). The campaign will last for 6 months and will culminate in week 3 of semester 2. The campaign intends to focus on one university each in 5 states that are VIC, WA, NSW, QLD and SA. At the very start of the campaign, the selected customers and guilds will be emailed pamphlets to get them interested in the awareness drive. Once the campaign is initiated, the customized pamphlets will be

Identifying a Researchable Problem Research Paper

Identifying a Researchable Problem - Research Paper Example During physical activity, the body uses more oxygen than when one is passive. Regular physical activity will therefore lead the body to adapt to providing more and more oxygen into the blood stream. Reports by various scholars point out to the fact that children with reduced mobility have been diagnosed with asthma more than their highly mobile counterparts (Daniels, 2006). This revelation, combined with the fact that sometimes asthma is also common among obese children point out to the possibility that asthma may indeed be controlled through physical activity. This is because physical activity eventually makes the body to adapt to the increased intake of oxygen by developing mechanism which allows increased oxidation of blood. Such mechanism is postulated to be capable of limiting chances of alveoli constriction ad therefore greatly reduce the chances of asthma. Amongst the adolescents, increased physical activity may be seen as one possible way through which asthma may be contained . Statement of General Aims and Objectives The aim of the proposed study is to find out the connection between the role of physical activity and human health. From the fact that the human body usually adapts to conditions around it, this study shall aim at finding out the extent to which teenagers adaption to physical activity may reduce the chances of asthmatic attack for those who are already asthmatic. The paper shall focus on the role of physical activity in treating asthmatic ad related conditions in adolescents. The study shall also focus on what short term benefits physical activity may offer to asthmatic adolescents. The study shall assume that learned physical activity will go a long way to assist adolescents develop healthy lifestyles in their adult lives. Research Questions: Using PICO Model The study shall be conducted based on the guidance from the following research questions: 1. To what extent can asthmatic conditions be attributed to lifestyle? 2. Are adolescents who are less active physically likely to have health complications than their active counterparts? 3. What is the connection between patient diagnosed with asthma and physical mobility? 4. Can increased physical activity reduce the chances of asthmatic attack? 5. Do asthmatic adolescent who are engaged in physical activity show more progress towards recovery from asthmatic attacks? From the research questions, the study shall be conducted under the following hypotheses 1. Asthmatic condition in adolescents are majorly attributed to lifestyles 2. Adolescents who are less active physically are likely to have health complications than their active counterparts 3. Many patients diagnosed with asthma are usually physically inactive 4. Improved physical activity reduces the chances of frequent asthmatic attacks 5. Asthmatic adolescent who are engaged in physical activity are more likely to show more progress towards recovery from asthmatic attacks than those who are passive? Methods The stud y shall aim at working with adolescents. There shall be a need to seek approval from the school and parents from the sample that shall volunteer for the study. Much focus will be based on those adolescents who are already asthmatic. This will especially be so in order that a comparison shall be made possible. For reliability, rather than numbers, the study shall focus on different schools. It is anticipated that the target sample

Language and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Language and Culture - Essay Example Language can affect the  culture  of a society, especially when the  society  borrows, and then modifies  alien  words from other cultures to  fit  in their own. As such this changes the  culture  making it evolve with time. Language use within a text refers to the combination of various forms of the  linguistic  and  grammatical  technique used within the context with the aim of communicating a message to another party. Its uses can  be  in many different ways and purposes; it  is spoken, written, and referred, from visual representations. Language  is used  to  work, play, praise, insult, court and reduce among other reasons. Throughout the use of language,  various  techniques  are applied  to  simplify  its meanings also to  create  interest  and  humor  such as through the use of rhyme and repetition to create a  musical  effect. The use of  language  can be categorized into much broader uses categories which are the  evocative, the expressive, the performative, the evaluative and the informative. This is for  clear  communication of information and there the use of  various  linguistic techniques. ... For instance, throughout the website the  writer  uses terms such as â€Å"you are not alone† in the start of a  sentence  when describing the  occurrence, effects and handling of peer pressure. This is an already constructed  phrase, and it passes information relating with most people within the society; thus, effectively and  immediately  passing the information to the readers. It also reduces the necessity of  grammatical  correction and the  application  of  further  grammatical  techniques within this part of the text. Within the various passage texts in the website, there are  various  words used that are of other and similar linguistic  background.  These are words obtained from other languages, or are a combination of two or more different ancient  language  words that sum up to the meaning of the intended, in the English context.  Words used such as microscope derived from the Greek words "mikros" referring to  puny  and "skopein" referring to look or  see, the two combined in English forms the word microscope meaning an  instrument  used in the viewing and investigations of objects that minute, and cannot be seen by the naked eye. Semantics The  linguistic  statement  semantics developed from the Greek word semantic, and it refers to the study of meaning focusing on the relation between the use of signifiers such as phrases, words, signs and what they  denote  in the text, in linguistics. It tries to  denote  meaning through the understanding of  different  human expressions through language.  This includes the use puns and conations, among others, in an English language  context  to  magnify  the expressed  message  and to ensure the readers' undivided attention.  It also acts as a  way  of reducing monotony, thus,

Climate change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Climate change - Research Paper Example ï‚ § The intended IMC campaign is educational in its approach and intends to educate the university students about the long term and short term consequences of climate change and what is its long-term prognosis for the Australian environment, economy, and growth.ï‚ § The intended IMC campaign is educational in its approach and intends to educate the university students about the long term and short term consequences of climate change and what is its long-term prognosis for the Australian environment, economy, and growth.ï‚ § It is a salient objective of this media campaign to help the targeted audience understand as to what small steps and lifestyle changes they can resort to, to dilute and mitigate the impact of climate change and to predict and quantify the influence these measures could have in ameliorating the short term and long term impact of climate change.ï‚ § This campaign also intends to augment the overall traffic on the "Be the Change you want" website and to secure at least 75,000 hits during the six-month period over which the campaign spans.ï‚ § There is no denying the fact that this campaign tends to heavily exploit the social networking portals like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. So one important goal is to secure a minimum of 15,000 followers for the "Be the Change you want" page of the Facebook in the six-month period for which the campaign lasts.ï‚ § The overall campaign objective is to solicit the loyalty and commitment of the target audience for the cause of climate change.... This campaign also intends to augment the overall traffic on the â€Å"Be the Change you want† website and to secure at least 75,000 hits during the six month period over which the campaign spans. There is no denying the fact that this campaign tends to heavily exploit the social networking portals like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. So one important goal is to secure a minimum of 15,000 followers for the â€Å"Be the Change you want† page of the Facebook in the six month period for which the campaign lasts. The overall campaign objective is to solicit the loyalty and commitment of the target audience for the cause of climate change3. These young audiences being university students will certainly be the opinion makers of tomorrow. So the pivotal target of the campaign is to make the optimum use of the scarce resources to run an IMC plan that achieves results with a lasting shelf life. Media Plan- A Timeline Sensitive Choice of Media Tools Being subject to a budgetary li mit of 1, 00,000 AUD and extending over a period of six months, the choice of media tools will be such as to blend with the schedule of the target audience4. Based on the assumption that all the universities affiliate to the Curtin academic calendar, the campaign will be initiated in first week of the semester 2012 (Monday February 27). The campaign will last for 6 months and will culminate in week 3 of semester 2. The campaign intends to focus on one university each in 5 states that are VIC, WA, NSW, QLD and SA. At the very start of the campaign, the selected customers and guilds will be emailed pamphlets to get them interested in the awareness drive. Once the campaign is initiated, the customized pamphlets will be

Language and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Language and Culture - Essay Example Language can affect the  culture  of a society, especially when the  society  borrows, and then modifies  alien  words from other cultures to  fit  in their own. As such this changes the  culture  making it evolve with time. Language use within a text refers to the combination of various forms of the  linguistic  and  grammatical  technique used within the context with the aim of communicating a message to another party. Its uses can  be  in many different ways and purposes; it  is spoken, written, and referred, from visual representations. Language  is used  to  work, play, praise, insult, court and reduce among other reasons. Throughout the use of language,  various  techniques  are applied  to  simplify  its meanings also to  create  interest  and  humor  such as through the use of rhyme and repetition to create a  musical  effect. The use of  language  can be categorized into much broader uses categories which are the  evocative, the expressive, the performative, the evaluative and the informative. This is for  clear  communication of information and there the use of  various  linguistic techniques. ... For instance, throughout the website the  writer  uses terms such as â€Å"you are not alone† in the start of a  sentence  when describing the  occurrence, effects and handling of peer pressure. This is an already constructed  phrase, and it passes information relating with most people within the society; thus, effectively and  immediately  passing the information to the readers. It also reduces the necessity of  grammatical  correction and the  application  of  further  grammatical  techniques within this part of the text. Within the various passage texts in the website, there are  various  words used that are of other and similar linguistic  background.  These are words obtained from other languages, or are a combination of two or more different ancient  language  words that sum up to the meaning of the intended, in the English context.  Words used such as microscope derived from the Greek words "mikros" referring to  puny  and "skopein" referring to look or  see, the two combined in English forms the word microscope meaning an  instrument  used in the viewing and investigations of objects that minute, and cannot be seen by the naked eye. Semantics The  linguistic  statement  semantics developed from the Greek word semantic, and it refers to the study of meaning focusing on the relation between the use of signifiers such as phrases, words, signs and what they  denote  in the text, in linguistics. It tries to  denote  meaning through the understanding of  different  human expressions through language.  This includes the use puns and conations, among others, in an English language  context  to  magnify  the expressed  message  and to ensure the readers' undivided attention.  It also acts as a  way  of reducing monotony, thus,

Roman Art Essay Example for Free

Roman Art Essay The ancient Greeks and Romans left such artistic treasures in art and architecture that the world is still using them as models. Their sense of style and symmetry was such that everything seemed to fit together perfectly. There was an emphasis on the capture of beauty and perfection so that what is left will always be classic art. The Statue of Meleager and A Grave Marker are perfect examples of how statues from two different empires represent the societies and the artistic periods of their day. Two unknown sculptures produces both The Statue of Meleager and A Grave Marker. Lack of records is a sad fact of much of the artistic works of the ancient periods. Many could not read or write even if they were accomplished artist. The records that were kept have had to constantly battle the test of times. Much of the materials used for writings simply could not stand up to the elements of time. Then of course, many important documents were destroyed each time a different empire would overtake the one before it. So the world is left with incredible pieces of art work yet it will never know whose hands crafted it with such talent. These two statues are no different. It is evident by the craftsmanship that whoever carved them, were not armatures, but talented sculptures. Their works have remained, but the names and lives are lost forever. Since the sculptures’ identities are lost forever, there is no way of knowing who the patrons of these great works of art were. However, there surely would have been a patron of each of the works. The sculpture of a youth from A Grave Marker has been recognized as being from circa three hundred and eighty B. C. Since it is a grave marker, there surely would have been a patron. It would have been commissioned after the death of this young man since the death of one so young would not have been expected. The patron would have been wealthy since many of the graves in ancient Greece were not marked at all. This one proclaims wealth and importance. Even though the Greeks tried hard to not have a social hierarchy, There was a notable social mobility for certain groups, and exception not permitted in ancient Greece. (D’Ambre) The fact that the subject is a youth points toward some kind of family importance because he would not have lived long enough to have established his own life and accomplishments. This grieving patron would have hired the best that Greece offered at the time. The sculpture would have to have known the subject to have created such a life like image. There were no photographs at the time so the work would have had to be done from memory. Therefore the sculpture would have also been in a state of mourning when the work was done. The Stature of Meleager would also most likely been commissioned by a patron. The time and materials that it took to produce a work like this would not have been something that a sculpture would not have had the money to produce. It would have taken a great deal of time to sculpt and the artist would have needed money to live. This could have only been possible if he was paid for his services. This statue was produced during the Hellenistic Period which was a time that Greece was under Roman rule. Since the subject is of a god, there is a possibility that the patron could have even been the government. The subjects and uses of A Grave Marker and the Statue of Meleager were quite different. A Grave Marker had a youth who was robbed of his life while young as the subject. He was obviously a real person, while Meleager was a mythological god. The young man, as stated earlier, would have been from a prominent family and possibly even a family that was involved in a high ranking political official. The purpose of the statue was to mark the grave of this young man. The family would have wanted this statue so that they would not forget him and that family throughout the ages would get to see the magnificence of this young man who died too soon. Not only would family be reminded of him, but the rest of the world as well would know that he existed. It would have also had the purpose to help relieve the grief that this family obviously suffered. There would be an image on which they could focus. This image would have captured this young man when he was at his best and so could the family focus on the best time of the subject’s life. The Statue of Meleager would have had the purpose of illuminating the greatness of the Greek god, son of Althaea and Oeneus. He was married to Cleopatra and produced two children, Parthenopeus and Polydora. However, he was in love with Atalanta, a huntress. It was because of her that he had to kill her two brothers, and this led to his death. The purpose of this statue in society was to keep alive the memory of the gods of Greece. When viewed by a person of that culture, he/she would be reminded of the story of this god. Both statues would have been for public display. A Grave Marker would have been outwardly displayed on the grave and the Statue of Meleager would have been prominently displayed in a public place or the garden or courtyard of a wealthy person to be seen at lavish parties and get togethers. Both statues are made of marble so that they would last for many years. Therefore, they would have been made for display instead of decoration. Most sculptures would have been painted, but the painted exterior of has worn away with time. Romans were nearly exclusive in the mixtures of supplies used both for painting and sculptures because of the cost. A Grave Marker is the oldest of the two sculptures. The sad countenance of the young man whose likeness is portrayed allows the viewer to experience the tragic sadness of a life that has been lost too soon. The lines are delicate and flowing while they create a feel of movement. While the hair seems tight and a little unrealistic, it could symbolize the harsh stiffness that is present in death. The statue only consist of the torso and head of the subject perhaps suggesting that he was cut down in life as he is in the statue. The Statue of Meleager is missing its head. However, the grace that the body can only allow the viewer to imagine the delicacy of what the head would have looked like. Meleager is standing, but instead of seeming harsh and erect, he is leaning slightly onto a stump for support, while a wrap is draped fluidly around his neck and shoulders. There are no harsh lines in this stature, only curves, that while delicate, they do not take away from the masculinity of the subject. Works Cited D’Ambre, Eve. Roman Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998. Ramage, Nancy. Ramage, Andrew. Roman Art. New York: 2008.

Prevention Strategies for the Development of Pressure Ulcers

Prevention Strategies for the Development of Pressure Ulcers This assignment will examine the process and methods used when gathering empirical evidence, for a chosen based care issue, using different search strategies and medical databases. An appraisal and discussion of the chosen evidence will also be made, identifying how the evidence was gathered and its relevance to the chosen based care issue. The process of collecting such evidence and the importance of its use will be reflectedupon using a specific reflective model. The practice based care issue which has been chosen is ‘prevention of pressure ulcers’. A pressure ulcer is an area of localised damage to the skin and underlying tissue (EPUAP, 2009) which develops when there is persisting pressure on a bony site, obstructing healthycapillary flow , leading to tissue necrosis (Lyder, 2003).The rationale for selecting this type of research is due to the high prevalence rate of pressure ulcer among patients and the current lack of knowledge concerning guidelines of pressure ulcer prevention (Moore Price, 2004). I am very interested in this topic and feel a deeper knowledge of pressure ulcer development and risk assessment tools will enable me to provide better clinical practice. According to Davies (2008) health care professionals are striving constantly to improve and develop standards of care which evolves from the integration of research evidence, clinical expertise and patient needs and values (Institute of Medicine, 2001),this is al so known as evidence-based practice. The reflective model that I will be using is Rolfe et al (2001) ‘what’ model which composes of three main areas, what? So what? Now what? This model aims to identify the following; what was I trying to achieve? What is my new knowledge of understanding? What information is needed to face a similar situation again? Ichose this particular model compared to John’s model of reflection (1994) as I found it the easiest model for organisation and meaning to the process of reflection. .Reflection involves accessing previous experience to help in developing tacit and intuitive knowledge (Johnsand Freshwater, 2005) and the main principles of reflection include becoming mindful, understanding and learning from experience. Reflection facilitates an evaluation of one’s own practice, both as individuals and with their teams (Sines, Saunders Burford, 2013). It is vital that Nurses reflect and practice reflectively as it allows them to learn from experience and make better future judgement, becoming critical practitioners and facilitating excellent patient care. The critique model I will be using for the critical appraisal and discussion is the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) as it is a clear tool which identifies the worth of the articles I have found (CASP, 2013). Critical Appraisal After researching for relevant articles, I decided to choose three of the most relevant articles to critically appraise. Each of these three articles involves a study evaluating the effectiveness of prevention strategies for the development of pressure ulcers. The first single blind randomised control study by Webster et al (2011) aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of two pressure-ulcer screening tools against clinical judgement in preventing pressure ulcers. This study had a very clear and focused objective which stimulated the reader to continue reading due to the study avoiding the use of jargon or buzz words (Carr, 2001). This was an experimental and correlation study showing the link between two factors with the aim of producing quantative results. 1231 patients were randomly allocated to either a water low or ramstadius screeningtool or to a clinical judgement group. Randomised Control Trials (RCT) are comparative studies with an intervention group and a control group; the assignment of the subject is assigned through randomisation(Melnick Everitt, 2008). The advantages of using RCT are that it removes potential of bias in the allocation of participants and that randomisation tends to produce comparable groups; that is, measured as well as unknown or unmeasured prognostics factors and characteristics at the time of random allocation will be balanced (Friedman, Furberg Demets, 2010). The researchers ensured that patients allocated were excluded if their hospital stay was expected to be less than 3 days or if they had been in hospital 24 hours prior to the baseline assessment occurring. This is to allow thorough and regular direct observation of the incidence of hospital acquired pressure ulcers, allowing the researcher to attempt to control the studies validity and reliability (Marshall, 2004). In a research study it is vital that the researcher ensures that the subjects are aware of the process of the study and have given informed consent. In the case of this study, for pressure ulcer screening and observation, consent was not required. However, signed consent was sought from any patient who developed a pressure injury in order to validate the assigned pressure ulcer through clinical photography. The researchers also obtained institutional ethics approval which included the right to access the patient’s medical record for audit purposes. The incidences of hospital acquired pressure ulcers were similar between all groups. The authors found no evidence to show that two common pressure ulcers risk assessment tools were superior to clinical judgement to prevent pressure injury. The authors felt that resources associated with the use of these tools might be better spent on careful daily skin inspection and improving management targeted at specific risks. This is supported by the work of Sarabahiand Tiwari (2012) who suggests a regular and rigid schedule of inspection must be followed as part of the patients daily routine. Nurses undertaking the trial were more familiar with the Water low scoring system which could have led to contamination in the clinical judgementgroup. The limitation of this study is that they did not use patients from acute settings who could be at risk and therefore cannot use these results as a representation of all hospital settings. The second randomised controlled study by Nixon et al (2006) aimed to compare whether differences exist between alternating pressure overlays and alternating pressure mattresses in the development of new pressure ulcers. This criterion for this study involved participants aged at least 55 years who had been admitted to vascular, orthopaedic, medical, or care of elderly wards, and had limited mobility. The methodology used for this study was pragmatic, open, multicentre and randomised controlled trial. An open label study is where the investigator and experimental units knows which treatment the experimental unit is to receive. Although this type ofstudy is simple and easy to design, it could cause the individual to favour the type of treatment, leading to possible bias (Ambrosisus, 2007). A multicentre method involves the study being conducted by several institutions. An advantage to conducting a multicenter is that it increases the number of patients available to participate (Bhandari Joensson, 2011), which in the this trial is a large 1972, leading to the findings beinghighly likely to be representative of what would happen in usual clinical practice. The design of this study involved patients beingallocated to either an alternating pressure overlay or an alternating pressure mattress, within 24 hours of hospital admission, with the expected length of stay of at least seven days. Clinical research nurses assessed skin status twice weekly for 30 days and then once a week up to 60 days for the development of pressure ulcers. A limitation of this study is the lack of blinded outcome assessment due to difficulty in disguising or masking the mattresses, however, according to Khan, Kunz, Kleijen Antes (2011) only few observational studies manage to implement appropriate measures to achieve blinding. The researcher tried to combat this through independent skin assessments which were taken by the Nurses to avoid any bias.Ethical approval for this study was approved by theNorth West multicentre research ethics committee and local ethics committees in order to undertake this research. This study had a clear aim to evaluate the effects on p ressure ulcer risk and was able to undertake the study with fairly low rates of ulcer incidence, meaning the patients were subjected to minimal harm.The most important issue arising in the ethical review of scientific research involves preventing human participants, is risk of harm (Smith Waddington, 2013)therefore it was extremely important that the researchers were able to conduct this study with low incidence rates. The results of this study were that the patients allocated to either an alternating pressure overlay or alternating pressure mattress that developed a new pressure ulcer of grade 2 or worse did not differ, highlighting the need for other preventive measures. The final study by Moore et al (2011) aimed to compare the incidence of pressure ulcers among older persons nursed using two different repositioning regimens. The researchers aim is very clear, evaluating the effectiveness of positioning patients 3 hourly and 6hourly at night time. The methodology used was a pragmatic, multi-centre, open label, prospective and cluster-randomised controlled trial, similar to the study above, the findings are highly likely to be representative of what would happen in usual clinical practice due to a multicentre approach being commonly accepted as providing a more representative population (Luchetti Amadio, 2008). Cluster randomised control trial involves randomizing professionals so it is much easier to keep the intervention separate from the control groups but methodological, statistical and ethical issues must be taken into account in making sense of cluster trials(Gilbody Bower, 2010). This study did indeed ensure that ethical approval was received by participants before the study commenced. The results obtained through the research were that repositioning patients with a pressure ulcer every three hours at night, using the 30 degree tilt, reduces the risk of pressure ulcers compared with usual care which issupported by the recommendations of the International pressure ulcer prevention guidelines (2009). Arguably, the research is well written with a good amount of supporting literature, stating clearly the incidence of pressure ulcers with a good rationale for the studies aim. This study included results of other similar researchers who have found similar results of repositioning, giving scope for further research such asDefloor et al (2005). The limitation of this study is that the target of 398 participants was hard to find which caused the variance in the size of the clusters to be different, which could have had a major effect on the research gathered. Another limitation is that most participants were 80 years or older which means it cannot be a representative of mos t patients, as expected. Reflection Using the Rolfe et al (2001) reflective model, I will evaluate the actions in undertaking my searches and what I found. As mentioned above, the stages of the reflective model includes what? So what? Now What? The first stage (what?) involved the process of searching for my articles in relation to the subject issue‘pressure ulcer prevention’. Using the databases,Pubmed, Scopus and JSTOR I searched for articles using key words such as, prevention, pressure ulcer, pressure sore and risk assessment. In order to limit the amount of results gathered I used the Boolean operators ‘and’ and ‘or’ as well as advanced searches such a ‘UK based’ and ‘No older than 2005’; ensuring a realistic amount of hits were gathered, relevant to the subject issue. In order to identify relevant articles, I read through the titles and abstracts, as this gave me an idea of how relevant the articles were. Once I read through a few studies, I was able to choose 3 studies to critically evaluate. The second stage (So what?) involved identifying the difficulties which I encountered when conducting the search. I found the searching quite challenging as many of the results either came back as a large amount of hits or a small number of hits based around irrelevant research to my subject. Using keywords and re wording phrases such as ‘pressure sores’ instead of ‘pressure ulcers’ enabled me to widen my search. The final stage (Now what?) involved reflecting on the search which I had undertaken as well as the results obtained. I had to conduct many different searches and keywords to find effective results. The problem I encountered was that many results obtained were regarding wound care and not prevention; if I was to repeat this search again I would ensure I put ‘NOT wound care’. I feel further exploration of medical databases would be beneficial for future research to give me a better understanding of search terms and criterion available. Prior to carrying out this assignment, I was certain that risk assessment tools played a major part in the role of pressure sore prevention. However, risk assessments such as water low, have been criticised due to its poor validity, particularly for the tool to underestimate the numbers at risk (Pancorbo Fernandez, 2006). Thestudies which I have critically evaluated have made it clear that observation and repositioning is key to pressure sore prevention. As identified by Guyatt et al, (2000) Nurses do not feel sufficiently competent to be able to appraise research findings because they lack the necessary understanding of information retrieval techniques, research design and data analysis and therefore it is important that Nurses are educated in pressure sore management, for clinical practice to be effective. This assignment has expressed the importance of evidence based practice for effective clinical practice,although contradictory findings from different sources and a lack of critical appraisal skills can make interpretation of evidence difficult. It has taught me the value of observation when caring for patients and made me become mindful of reading and evaluating research to learn and improve my clinical practice. I am aware that repositioning and skin integrity checks are a major pressure ulcer prevention and that risk factors such an nutrition also need to be monitored closely, I feel I will confidently use the knowledge I have obtained when in practice. This assignment has put into perspective the importance of identifying all factors when caring for a patient and aiming to prevent pressure sores. For future development I would like to do further research on methodology as I believe this will help me to evaluatethe studies in much more depth, especially seeing ascertain study methodological designs are likely to be more reliable compared to others. Conclusion In conclusion, this essay demonstrates an effective search strategy for research studies on ‘preventing pressure ulcers’ which have each been critically appraised. A reflection on the process of the research was carried out using Rolfe model of reflection (2001) highlighting learning outcomes as well as encouraging me to exploreimprovements for my future practice and search strategies.