The Basic Types Of Theft Offences - 869 Words

From when the United States was first founded, all the way up until now we have seen crime. In a perfect world, there is a small chance that crime would not exist, but then again our established world would not either. According the textbook, chapter ten discusses five of the basic types of theft offenses these include, but are not solely limited to larceny, embezzlement, obtaining of property by fraudulent means, receiving or concealing of stolen property, and identity theft (Chamelin, N. Thomas, A., 2009). When determining the actual form of theft there are some words and their definitions that need to be understood. These words are possession, custody, and control. â€Å"The presence or absence of any or all of these factors largely controls the type of offense committed† (Chamelin, N. Thomas, A., 2009). Larceny can be apprehended through a variety of mischievous actions. One of the original and first forms of theft begins with larceny. In order for larceny to be committe d, one of the five elements of larceny must be committed: taking of someone’s items, carrying something away, taking of personal property, another person, and/or having the intent to permanently deprive (Chamelin, N. Thomas, A., 2009). According to the FindLaw article, â€Å"Larceny is an offense that developed through the common law and encompasses behavior that most people consider common theft: the taking of someone else s property without permission† (â€Å"Theft Overview†, 2015). Within the five elementsShow MoreRelatedComputer Access and Information Storage1730 Words   |  7 Pagesinvestigate such offences. Following this, computer forensic investigators are becoming a necessity for lawyers and barristers as support in both criminal and civil proceedings. â€Æ' What legislation exists in Ireland to handle computer crime? Ireland does not have exclusive law that would deal with computer crime as such, but has two laws that can handle computer crimes. Criminal Damage Act 1991 (the â€Å"1991 Act†) deals with principal offences in section 2 and section 5 while Criminal Justice (Theft and FraudRead MoreThe Concept of White Collar Crime928 Words   |  4 Pagestheories that address crimes such a domestic theft and burglary? The concept of white-collar crime was certainly not invented in order to provide comfort for standard approaches to causation in criminology, (Nelken, 2007, p. 744). White-collar crime is certainly a complex issue to study from a theoretical perspective, not least because of the inherent diversity among the types of white collar crimes, among the types of white collar criminals, and among the types of victims. Certainly, the same theoriesRead MoreEssay about Magistrates Court Research Assignment1776 Words   |  8 Pageshierarchy is a structure or or order of rank of courts within a state or country. The court hierarchy allows each court to deal with specific types of cases according to the seriousness of the crime and the courts jurisdiction. Hence, courts dealing with more serious offences would be higher in the court hierarchy than the courts dealing with less serious offences. In Victoria- the Supreme court is the is the apex of the state court system, with the County court and Magistrates court below. Jurisdiction Read MoreEssay on What is the Purpose of Prison and what Tries to Achieve1308 Words   |  6 Pagesone place away from the society- this is the main opinion shared by the society (Bura, 2012). But, prison system has more functions, it changed own function from just punishing people to actually trying to reduce the number of them coming back. The basic functions of prison today are: - Isolation from the society, offender was sentenced for committing crime, is treated as someone who can be a threat to the society and cause harm to people. As well as this person is not following laws accepted by othersRead MoreSocial deprivation and crime are inextricably linked3474 Words   |  14 Pagesof the biggest factors leading to crime as â€Å"A third of all crimes are alcohol related crimes† â€Å"From approximately 10.30pm to 3.00am the majority of arrests are for alcohol-related offences.† Alcohol can affect a person’s judgement: this means that the effects of alcohol can induce crimes such as assault, violence, theft and driving under the influence. â€Å"(Home Office Minister Charles Clarke) Public drunkenness can give rise to serious problems of disorderly conduct, nuisance, criminal damage and alcohol-relatedRead MorePrison Overcrowding : The United States1535 Words   |  7 PagesMatthew Fuhrman CRIJ 1306 Dr. Peniston April 20, 2017 Prison Overcrowding The United States has the highest number of incarcerated individuals than other countries. Offenders are arrested every day for minor and major offences such as murder. America is hard on crime. When someone breaks the law the criminal justice’s system seeks an eye for an eye. Prison overcrowding has become a major problem in the United States, it is very expensive to house an inmate and there are other methods to punishRead More The Hazard of Bulglarly Essay855 Words   |  4 Pagesthreatens people or property. Burglary is a common, frequently occurring hazard. Burglary is the unauthorised entry into a building as a trespasser in order to steal. An offence of burglary is recorded by the police if a person enters any building as a trespasser with intent to commit an offence of theft, rape, GBH, or unlawful damage. Burglary does not necessarily involve forced entry. The 2001 British Crime Survey (BSC) estimates that there were a total of 1,063,000 burglariesRead MoreIntroduction . There Are Several Different Types Of Crimes1620 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction There are several different types of crimes committed against the elderly. A person is usually defined as elderly when he or she turns sixty-five or retires. The elderly population makes up a significant part of the United States population. Also, the population is expanding as the baby boomer generation began to retire. The baby boomer generation has raised some concern, because it is suspected that the baby boomer generation will be wealthier than in the past. This could leadRead MoreCrime Essay1672 Words   |  7 Pagesat entrances, screens that can be activated and many more ways. Research into crime patterns has shown: * crime is much more likely to occur in certain places or hot spots; * theft is highly concentrated on particular hot products; and * Some repeat victims are more likely to experience crime than other people. An example of situational crime prevention is a few years ago a department store in Coffs Harbour was a victimRead MoreScams Associated With Cybercrime1624 Words   |  6 Pagesfinancially from the enterprise or can simply alter files in order for his or her image to be positively affected. Identity theft is a major form of cybercrime and it is essential for society to acknowledge the gravity of the matter in order to be able to effectively fight against criminals using it. What types of scams are associated with the cybercrime? While identity theft was present in society previous to the appearance of the internet, this medium has provided thieves with an intriguing method

True Grit Free Essays

True Grit: Male Companionship vs. Female Companionship In Charles Portis’ classic western novel, True Grit, Mattie Ross recounts her adventures as a young girl, seeking retribution for her father’s murder. Throughout the novel we see Mattie’s internal development from a young girl to a strong and wise woman. We will write a custom essay sample on True Grit or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is clear by Mattie’s habits, decisions, and personality that she is more masculine, and is more comfortable with the company of men to the company of women. It is evident from the beginning of the novel that Mattie is extremely fond of her father and looks up to him with the highest regards. As her father mounts his horse to set off to Fort Smith with Chaney to purchase ponies, Mattie proclaims that he â€Å"might have been a gallant knight of old† (14). Much like a knight, her father is courageous, thoughtful and kind-hearted, which is shown by his gesture to help Chaney. He is a man virtue, but his views of the world are ‘old’ and outdated and in the end, lead to his demise at the hands of Chaney himself. This would be the last time Mattie would see her father alive again. She was raised mostly by her father, having her morals and values instilled by him; he raised her to be strong-willed, intelligent and independent, much like the men of their time. After the untimely death of her father, Mattie seeks revenge upon Chaney. In order to carry out her quest, she would need help. She sought out the aid of the toughest deputy in the district, U. S. Marshal Reuben J. Rooster† Cogburn, as he is â€Å"a man with true grit† (59). The relationship between Mattie and Rooster starts off rocky, with neither of them truly trusting the other, and Rooster trying to escape her presents several times, they eventually grow a bond between them, though neither of them would ever admit to it. Rooster becomes fond of Mattie when she shows her toughness and determination, she reminds him a little of himself; she has grit. Her true grit is shown when she comments on the robbers’ cabin. Even though it is worn down, dark, dirty and surrounded armed guards, she says they are â€Å"rather cozily fixed† because they have a warm fire and delicious turkey to eat; she sees the bright side despite all the negative things (131). Mattie truly enjoys Roosters company because he does not treat her like a girl but rather, an equal; he does not go easy on her or give her the upper hand, which is just the way she prefers to be treated. He is constantly challenging her to prove herself and makes her stronger. Her trust in Rooster is cemented when he stand up for against LaBeouf by threatening him with his gun, unless he stops whipping Mattie. Rooster becomes somewhat of a father figure for Mattie; he is truly the only man she can rely on. From an early age, Mattie is surrounded by powerful, passionate men and lacks a strong female figure in her life. Although her mother is present throughout her life, she plays a very minimal role, she is more of a background character, Mattie learns almost very thing she knows from her father. She was brought up by a male, instilling masculine traits in her, and after the passing of her father, Mattie migrates to another strong male figure, Rooster. Every female character that Mattie comes across within the novel, her mother, Mrs. Floyd, Victoria, and Grandma Turner, is rather unremarkable. Each is indifferent, uneducated, not respected, and lives to service men in some way or another. But Mattie is the complete opposite, she is predominantly more masculine; she seeks revenge through violence, she can be cold and emotionless, she is strong and independent, she is smart and witty, traits which were uncommon for the women of her time. Mattie was in charge of her family finances, rode horses and shot guns, activities all largely associated with men. She enjoys being a women with her resilient personality that causes the men around her to constantly push her and challenge her; as Mattie sets off for her adventure Lawyer Daggett tells her that â€Å"Fort Smith is no place for a young girl alone, not even a Mattieâ€Å" which inclines her to push forward and prove him wrong, much like any man of that time would have done (26). It is her primal upbringing that makes Mattie possess more male qualities and allows her to communicate better with men. Being surrounded by men who are strong and passionate and important to her, along with her childhood upbringing it is clear that Mattie is much more masculine and audacious. It is because of all these factors that Mattie prefers the company of men over women. In a male dominate world Mattie Ross strives to be drive from the average women; she chooses to be strong, independent, smart and to surround herself with male companionship and those like herself, those with true grit. How to cite True Grit, Essay examples

Communication Plan free essay sample

International Strategic Management amp; HRM, Module 9 Communication Plan Team 2 Skills Communication Plan Module 9 International Strategic Management and HRM Group 2 Authors: Moritz Schelges147192 Loy Nguyen Irina Popkov131482 Gerlof Veltman Michel Ruiz Name Project Supervisor: Mrs. Blokzijl Stenden University of Applied Sciences: International Business and Management Studies Leeuwarden, The Netherlands October, 2012 Contents 1. Background Analysis1 2. Target groups1 3. Communication goals1 4. Message1 5. Strategy amp; Tactics1 5. 1 Channels1 5. 2 Planning1 6. Budget1 1. Background Analysis Syngenta AG (referred to as Syngenta throughout this report) is a company originating from Switzerland, registered as a stock corporation that has issued registered shares to investors, and was formed in the year 2000, when the two companies Novartis and AstraZeneca merged. The main foci of Syngenta are the production and selling of seeds and chemicals to the agricultural sector. Moreover, the company is active in the biotechnological field and genomic research. The markets of this company are very large and diverse, since Syngenta is operating in around 90 countries worldwide. In order to manage those markets better and have a less diverse corporate portfolio, Syngenta has just recently implemented a new strategy. This current strategy consists of the following elements: * corporate level- growth * business level- â€Å"integrate, innovate, outperform†-differentiation, product leadership, product development, and customer intimacy * operational level- centralization Until now, the consultancy team has analyzed the company internally and externally in order to find out what the main problem is with the current strategy and whether it still fits the current developments in the internal and external environments. Using Porter’s Five Forces Framework, the PESTEL analysis, market segmentation, the 7-S analysis and so forth, this is the SWOT analysis that can be drawn up as a result: Strengths * Syngenta’s innovative character * global teams * technical expertise * united production amp; supply * Syngenta Business Services * less staff costs due to centralization * standardized processes * Soybean| Weaknesses * less flexibility due to Syngenta Business Services * centralization * products not properly usable for illiterate farmers| Opportunities * strong agricultural sector- grew by 4. % in 2012 * GM industry is on the rise * a lot of arable land available and not in use yet * most amount of water available in Brazil * low threat of entry, substitutes, amp; suppliers| Threats * criticism from the public about certain pesticides * differing international legal guidelines * competition * certain products are banned in the EU * Berne Declaration * networks against paraquat * high powe r of buyers| Taking the threats and weaknesses into account, the following GAPs become evident: The first GAP results from the centralized way of operating, differing legal guidelines and the competition Syngenta is facing. Currently, Syngenta operates in a very centralized manner. The opinion of local experts is very important and it is crucial to react to changes fast enough. Due to this centralized way of operating, decisions might have to be discussed in the headquarters first and then be reported back to the local experts. That takes time which might not be available in certain situations. In the desired situation, Syngenta is very flexible, able to react to changes in a fast way, be faster than its competitors, and due to more decision-making power in the particular business units, better use of local experts’ knowledge can be made. The second GAP is formed by the fact that illiterate farmers cannot properly use the highly dangerous products and there is a lot of criticism the company is facing from the public and networks like the Berne Declaration. In the current situation, these facts are damaging the reputation and decreasing customer loyalty and sales. In the desired situation, the products are safely applicable for everyone, leading to less criticism from the public, an improved reputation, more customers with a higher loyalty rate, and higher sales. By adding the aspect of product safety to the CSR values and developing a short video or audio tape containing instructions in the farmer’s native language on how to properly use the products, this gap can be overcome quite easily. The third GAP results from the threat that some products of Syngenta are banned in the EU. Currently, certain products of Syngenta have been banned in the EU market due to the high risk when working with these products. Results of this prohibition are losses in sales, a market share loss and again, reputation damages, leading to less customers and disbelief in the practices of Syngenta. The desired situation in this case is having proven that the chemicals are not harmful if used in a the correct way, publicize that there soon will be audio or video instructions to accompany the product, leading to easier and safer usage, an improved reputation and probably the regained bility to sell the products in the EU again. In turn, this will lead to a higher market share, an increase in sales, and customers. After taking the main problems, the SWOT analysis and the GAPs into account, the consultancy team came up with the following new strategy, which will mostly change on business and operational level and ideally, cover all three GAPS mentioned: The figure above visualizes the new strategy on all its levels. The corporate level strategy will stay GROWTH, as it still fits the current trends, which are leaning towards innovation in the technological and agricultural industry. The business level however needs to be changed, in order to overcome the competitors, as well as the critical voices around. The business level strategy should focus on operational excellence as well as one element of the old business level strategy which is product development in order to continue coming up with new and innovative products. This will ensure safer products for both, the farmers and the environment, lead to an improved reputation of Syngenta, and will consequently lead to more market share. Due to the centralization of the company decisions might take longer than they need to be. This can be crucial in some situations. Therefore, on the operational level the effect of the new, decentralized strategy should be a faster, more appropriate, and to the market tailored decisions taken by the experts of that particular market and region. A second effect, which will be created through more transparency and informing the farmers on how to handle the products correctly should be the increase of the human welfare. Through the innovation of new products, that are environmentally friendly, no human being or environment will be affected by any harm. This is something that will also have a positive effect on the critics, which are around the company and will regain a positive reputation and public image of Syngenta. The aspect of product safety will be included in the improved CSR practices of the company in order to further strengthen and improve its image. Product safety could be increased by e. g. including a DVD with audio or visual instructions for illiterate farmers in the developing countries to make sure the product is being used correctly and safely. 2. Target groups Syngenta is a large company active in over 90 countries worldwide, we are focusing on the Latin-American market more specific Brazil. Brazil is already one of the 90 countries Syngenta is active in and economically speaking, Brazil forms a very attractive agricultural market. The agricultural sector grew by 4. 9% in the second quarter of 2012 in contrast to a 2. 5% decline in industrial output (Biller, 2012), showing that there is a lot of confidence in the agricultural sector of Brazil and providing Syngenta with another opportunity. Furthermore Brazil is the country with the most amount of land available (over 400 hectares m) which can be used for agricultural purposes, but not only this. It is also one of the countries where only a small portion of that arable land is being used (see graph 1 below), leading to the conclusion that there is much more potential in that country and making it very attractive to Syngenta. However concerning the strategy change, The customers and other external stakeholders are not the ones whom are initially influenced. The strategy change is internal, that means the line managers and employees are most affected by the strategy change. The consultancy company came up with the new strategy in relation with the board of directors. The board of directors only has to approve the new strategy, they are not concerned with the execution of the new strategy. The middle management has to transfer the message of the board of directors to the line managers. The middle management is responsible for the monthly monitoring of the progress of the execution of the new strategy. The line managers in return have to convey the new strategy to the employees, which have to execute the new strategy. The operational level is accountable for the daily progress of the integration of the new strategy. Because it concerns an internal change of strategy the external stakeholders like the suppliers, environmental organizations, and customers are initially barely influenced by the changes. Therefore they are not the target group, in the first place. When the strategy is entirely implemented, the external stakeholders will benefit from the new strategy. . Communication goals As shown in the GAP- analysis mentioned in the first part of this report, We have came up with three gaps. The first one in the product safety, the second one is the improvement of the reputation and the third and most important one is the decentralization. The first gap is concerning product safety, in the past there has been a lot of criticism on Syngenta. Certain products are already banned in Euro pe, a lot of accidents happened with Syngenta products due to insufficient instructions. By improving the product safety with instructional videos, and special workshops on how to use the Syngenta products, Syngenta is aiming to reduce the accidents related to Syngenta products by 20 percent before the year 2015. Besides the reduction of the accidents, they also want to flourish on the European market which is the second gap. Therefore the ban should be removed, the goal of Syngenta is the operate fully on the European market before 2014. So every Product of Syngenta is allowed to be sold and used in all European countries. The final and most important gap is the decentralization. The opinion of local experts is very important and it is crucial to react to changes fast enough. Due to this centralized way of operating, decisions have to be discussed in the headquarters first and then be reported back to the local experts. That takes time which might not be available in certain situations. Therefore, it might be important and advantageous, to move to a less centralized strategy on the operational level and way of operating in order to be faster than competitors. Syngenta wants to become more decentralized before 2013 by giving the local experts more room to make their own decision. At the end of the year 2013 Syngenta will take a questionnaire amongst the local employees to see how they have experienced the decentralization, and what could have gone better. 4. Message The purpose of our business is to bring plant potential to life, using world-class science and our deep understanding of plants to help our customers feed a growing population (Syngenta AG, 2012). † Also, â€Å"our ambition is to help growers deliver greater food security to an increasingly crowded world in an environmentally sustainable way. That calls for a step change in productivity and resource efficiency – on both the world’s 5 million large farms and its 450 million smallholdings. Every farmer has a part to play (Syngenta AG, 2012, p. 11). † This combined mission statement shows that Syngenta’s customers are growers, whom they want to support by selling them a safe product which was developed with the use of â€Å"world-class science† and the company’s explicit knowledge of plants. Additionally, Syngenta’s products are supposed to help farmers feed a growing population in a sustainable way. The message Syngenta wants its employees to remember is similar to the mission statement, because eventually that is the core of the company. 5. Strategy amp; Tactics The initiative to investigate the current strategy and improve it, came from the consultancy team and neither the organization, nor the company itself. But as mentioned before, only about a year ago did the company implement a new strategy. Therefore, it can be assumed that the company is more than aware of the fact that a strategy needs to be improved from time to time in order to be able to continue growing and stay on a highly competitive level. The formal information about the changes that come with the new strategy will be spread in direct ways via several information meetings organized for the target groups that are affected by the change. This will be a short and powerful champagne on a formal basis, where the message is more important than the relation. Emotional information, giving inside on the company’s passion for what can be achieved for farmers and growers will be spread indirectly, meaning during events that will take place several times on different topics and can be attended on a voluntary basis. Here, the message and the relation are important in order to be able to motivate employees to represent Syngenta’s strategy but also understand the importance of them as the workforce to reach operational excellence as a company. Due to the fact that these are going to be a series of different events, they will be targeted at the whole target group and more than one type of media is necessary to be used. Two main goals will be in the center of the new strategy: reaching operational excellence and becoming less centralized, thus, empowering certain business units and its employees. Further aspects of tactics, such as the different channels and media used and the detailed planning are provided in chapters 5. 1 and 5. 2. 5. 1 Channels There will be different types of channels used in order to successfully imply the importance of understanding the new strategy, to positively motivate the employees, and bring the new strategy of the company across. The media types that will be used are: * Audio visual (power point presentations, and video presentations) * Mass media (leaflets, fliers, and handbooks) interpersonal media (e-mails) * Events * Networks and electronic media The presentations will be done in big groups, it will be held as an informational conference and a way of giving some extra training in the area of improvement of the strategy in order to successfully implement the strategy. The presentations will be held in interesting ways, with e. g. video material and not only speeches in order to not bore the employees, because it is crucial for the success of t he new company that the new strategy is properly understood. The tool of mass media will be a helping tool to better inform about the plans and ideas of the strategy. Also, this is for information which is simple and self-explanatory, in order not to have to hold conferences every time for little changes. The printed information is also handy for when the information is forgotten or to refresh the mind on what it is all about. The advantage of using mass media to spread information which can be easily understood is that a big group of people can be informed while spending little money on it. In Syngenta’s case, the leaflets etc. will be spread on the operational level to staff which is e. g. in the production process due to the fact that they also need to be informed about changes in the strategy and goals of the company. Interpersonal media such as emails will be used to inform the middle management about e. g. conferences, events, meetings and personal updates. Events will take place in order to increase the loyalty of the staff, motivate the staff and help them understand what Syngenta’s passion and goals are. These events will take place several times in order to increase the bond amongst the staff members and also to repeat the mission and objectives of the company to keep it present in the minds of the employees. Networks and electronic media will also be used for short and easily understandable information and updates. For this, the company’s e. g. Facebook and Twitter accounts will be used in order to reach internal and external stakeholders. Electronic media such as the internal database of the company will be used to publish this information for employees only. . 2 Planning In order to distribute the information and knowledge of the improved strategy, a planning of how it will be organized has to be made. First of all, the conferences have to be prepared and knowledge of these conferences has to be provided to the target groups. An invitation will be send out by the company to targeted groups right after the new strategy has been accepted by the board of directors of Syngenta , inviting employees to join the event. To make the events more attractive together with printed information, some samples will be handed out to the people that attend. Also, to make those events more active there will be demonstrations on how to correctly use the products and also what actions to take in case of an emergency with the chemicals. For these events, all the printed information has to be printed, samples have to be packaged and information packages for the attendees have to be prepared. The preparations of the demonstrations have to be done in order for the demonstrations to go smoothly. Employees have to be prepared for the different tasks that have to be done for the events and therefore, informed via networks or emails. Emails to the middle management have to be sent out right away as well, so that they know about how to instruct those employees organizing the events and conferences. They are also the ones who need to be informed first about the content of the flyers and other printed media so they can instruct the responsible employees in order to start preparing those leaflets and so on. All these processes need to be picked up right after the strategy was accepted and the need to run simultaneously in order to have the information present in all channels and basically, surround the employees continuously. Planning and preparations of the events are necessary in order for them to run smoothly and with an attendance of the invited target groups it will be successful. 6. Budget How they communicated their new strategy to their employees in 2011: â€Å"Bringing the strategy to life. In 2011, we enabled our employees to learn more about the new strategy while deepening their understanding of the grower’s world. One example of this is the crop demonstration day events where leaders from each of our crop teams share with employees their knowledge, insights and personal passion for what Syngenta can achieve with growers. More than 1,700 employees have attended demonstration day events since July 2011. Through 2012, demonstration day events will be held in each territory. Employees are also encouraged to complete an interactive e-learning agronomy program, which covers the challenges and decisions growers face before, on and after the farm. † page 35 of the annual report 2011 =not a one time thing used several events to raise awareness etc.

Infection Control Essay free essay sample

This reflective essay is based upon my experience working alongside the Infection Prevention and Control Support Nurses at the general hospital. As part of my learning experience as a 2nd year student nurse is to accompany the infection control nurses when visiting the wards The role of the IPCSN involved teaching, educating and advising all disciplines across the Trust, monitoring outbreaks and daily surveillance. I will structure this essay using Gibbs Model of Reflection (Gibbs 1988). Reflective learning helps practitioners analyse their experiences and how they think and feel about them before deciding whether they would approach the situation in a different way next time. In order to maintain confidentiality at all times for the patient and of any staff members I will adhere to the NMC Code of Professional Conduct (NMC 2008). Therefore any names used in this essay are fictional. The Health Act states: ‘Effective prevention and control of Health Care Associated Infections (HCAIs) have to be embedded into everyday practice and applied consistently by everyone’ (Department of Health [DH], 2006). We will write a custom essay sample on Infection Control Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Hospitals and other care providers are legally required to implement this code of practice within their organisations. Most common infections occur as a result of people taking various antibiotics and being in close contact with each other, such as hospitals and nursing homes (NHS 2010). Attention to good hand hygiene measures should be observed during outbreaks. It is very important that staff and patients wash their hands with soap and water Health Protection Agency (2010). Compliance with hand hygiene is only maintained by constantly reminding staff of it and monitoring their performance. The ayliffe technique is recommended for nursing staff especially after direct contact with patients who are ill (Ayliffe 2000) and the use of wearing protective clothing of disposable apron and gloves making sure they are changed and hands washed between patients. The infection prevention and control protocol’s include the use of protective clothing, environmental cleaning and decontamination and disposal guidelines for items that have been in contact with the patient. Risk assessment is also important (Coia et al 2006). The infection prevention and control team (IPCT) was informed by a medical ward that several patients had had episodes of diarrhoea and vomiting. Norovirus is a common form of viral gastroenteritis that occurs during winter month’s and is highly infectious (NHS 2010). The symptoms of norovirus include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and high fever (NHS 2010). This alerted the IPCT therefore there was a need to investigate and assess the situation fully and a ward visit was required. I went along to the affected ward to observe the assessment with my mentor Helen, where two patients there may have developed norovirus the symptoms they present with diarrhoea and vomiting which has escalated during the last six hours, the IPCSN asked the staff nurse if samples had been obtained for collection of the suspected patient’s faeces and vomit the nurse was not aware of the policy. Patients with norovirus are usually isolated in a single room as they are classed as contagious the incubation period is 24-48 hours. Patients need to remain isolated for 72 hours after symptoms have subsided. Hense, in this case there were no single rooms available therefore the suspected patient’s are nursed in the affected bay and a caution is put on that bay to any new admissions NHS (2010). Following the next episode of diarrhoea and/or vomiting samples are required to detect Norovirus and once collected they must immediately be sent to the virology laboratory for investigation. Helen gave the nurse a norovirus resource pack put together by the IPCT which contains an outbreak action plan and checklist to be implemented and for other staff to read which will advise staff of the isolation precaution and give guidance on managing the infection and the affected patients were given information leaflets about the illness. Staff were advised to encourage fluids especially with the patient’s suspected with nurovirus and commence them on a Bristol stool chart in order to monitor the diarrhoea a food chart and fluid balance chart to keep a record of the input and output. By documenting the information correctly enables nurses adhere to the NMC code for good record keeping (NMC 2009) who recommend that stating the date, time, signing and printing alongside is good practice. On reflection I have learned by being with the IPCT the importance of sending samples off when the first episode of diarrhoea and vomiting occurs leasing with team members. The IPCT emphasises prompt screening of suspecting patients for a norovirus as early detection of the signs can prevent an outbreak on the ward. I have become aware that the mode of transmission of norovirus means it is not always possible to avoid becoming infected (Nursing Times 2011). The trust provides mandatory training to inform nursing staff on the most recent infection control measures in practice. Hence, good hygiene and the isolation of infected individuals can limit the spread. Good communication is important with all visitors and staff, including cleaners. However, everybody who has contact with the patient or the environment is entitled to relevant information that will enable them to reduce the risks of transmission to themselves or others. I can now see that this situation could have been avoided if samples had been sent for screening earlier. However, the results of screening tests take some time becoming available on the database and failure in communication can prevent the results reaching the wards promptly. During my nurse training I have learned about the common hospital acquired infections (HCAI) meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureaus (MRSA), clostridium ifficile  (c-diff) and norovirus, but now I know that there are many more micro-organisms that the IPCT have to record and monitor when arise at times the IPCT have to report the situation to the department of health. I have gained a lot of experience from this placement regarding Infection control and I now have a broad range of knowledge of which I will pass on to future colleagues and junior staff.

Abraham Maslow Essays

Abraham Maslow Essays Abraham Maslow Paper Abraham Maslow Paper Abraham Maslow- Maslows Hierarchy of Needs  Maslows theory mainly revolved around psychology and stated that,  As humans meet basic needs, they seek to satisfy  successively higher needs that occupy a set hierarchy.  This is Maslows hierarchy of needs:  Maslow believes that when the first stage is completely fulfilled only then will an employee be motivated enough to step up to the next level and complete it. For example only when an employee has basic needs such as food drink and sleep will they then be able to progress onto their safety needs such as security, limits and protection. In terms of Burger King Maslows theory wouldnt largely affect them. However for all people to work well certain needs need to be fulfilled such as sleep, food and drink. For Burger King Employees I believe that they only really need to concentrate on the first two stages as many employees do not stay long and are only there for the short term. Burger King does provide good hygiene conditions and security.  Belonging and Love needs arent really met as although they work in teams Burger King do not provide team building activities such as weekends or any social events. This theory mainly addresses the needs of employees.  Frederick Winslow Taylo  Taylors primary idea was that workers are mainly motivated by pay. Therefore his theory was that if you break down production into a set of small tasks and only pay for the amount of product each employee produces, this would motivate staff and increase productivity. At the beginning this seemed like a good idea as productivity increased and workers were only paid for how hard they worked. They began to build specialised skill for the specific area and businesses were more efficient as less staff were needed. However, employees soon became to dislike Taylors approach to motivation as they were given boring, repetitive tasks and were being treated no better than human machines. Certain aspects of this theory do apply to Burger King. Burger King pays their employees hourly, not piece rate, and has set areas in which people work- these can either be tills or kitchen staff. This provides competition between the two areas which can build motivation as to which area can work the best. However Burger King wouldnt realistically be able to pay employees on their productivity as each area has different tasks, some of which cant be measured, such as working on the tills. This theory addresses mainly the performance of employees.  Frederick Herzberg  Herzberg believed in a two-factor theory of motivation.  Job Enlargement- Workers would be given a greater range of tasks to perform (not essentially more challenging) which should make the work more interesting.  Job Enrichment- Involvement of workers being given a wider variety of more intricate, interesting and demanding tasks surrounding a complete unit of work. This should then give a greater sense of achievement. Herzberg used a survey to investigate what people liked and disliked about their jobs and with these results he put them into two categories; motivators and Hygiene Factors. His two factor theorem is shown below:  Working Conditions  For Burger King they need to ensure that all hygiene factors are covered so that workers feel safe and happy to be working in a clean environment. For example clean work surfaces and floors. Burger King does already achieve highly good hygiene factors however theyre not providing the best motivation. With this they dont have any achievement within their working days and simply work for pay. This lacks fun and could mean that employees would work better if they had something to look forward to. This theory addresses both the needs and performance of employees.  In this section I am going to explain how PEST affects the recruitment process in Burger King. From identification of a role to managing change inside the company PEST influences how Burger King plans and responds to these influences as it effects the entire recruitment cycle.  Pest analysis is concerned with the environmental influences on a business.

The Work and the Sadness - Freewrite Store

The Work and the Sadness - Freewrite Store This is a guest post by  Lancelot Schaubert. Schaubert is the author of the forthcoming novelFaceless, and lives in Brooklyn with his wife and attack spaniel.The City of Joplin, Missouri commissioned him to write and direct a photonovel that fictionalized and enchanted the history of their town. He has sold articles to Writer's Digest (one forthcoming and one in the 2016 Poet's Market), the World Series Edition of Poker Pro, McSweeney's, Bernie Sanders' campaign site, and others. His fiction or poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in The Misty Review, Carnival, Encounter (who has purchased a dozen or more) and many others. He loves soup. Send him soup. You can learn more about him athttp://lanceschaubert.org/ orlet him directly send you his best work. ________________________________ Do you believe in writer's block? I don't. But perhaps not for the reason you think. The fantasy writer Patrick Rothfuss has said ten thousand times that plumbers don't get plumbers block. I like that, especially since my plumber was also my sensei for shoto jitsu the man was brilliant at both and invested time heavily in both, both black belt of the year and your local handy man. Ed Daniels. Ed Daniels never got â€Å"blocked.† Rothfuss elaborated on this during one of his Worldbuilders Twitch streams last fall. He believes what some people attribute to writer's block is clinical depression. You could say further that plumbers don’t get plumbers block unless, as a human, they’re clinically depressed. Let’s break that down. Writer's block, in my estimation, comes down to one of two things: laziness or depression. We'll talk about depression first. Rothfuss was right to bring up the number of writers who have committed suicide, passively or actively, in history. A deep sadness runs parallel to the writing gene because we spend so much time in our headspace. Some believe that depression is an evolutionary trait that helps us reevaluate our situation: we go into a quiet place to reassess, to come to a better understanding of our current predicament, and then move forward stronger and more agile. The monks? They might have called it silence and solitude the prayerful posture of one who uses meditation to remain present in â€Å"this, my Father's world.† Wherever you sit on that spectrum, you can't deny that spending so much time imagining other worlds can leave you drained of your happy-happy joy-joy juices. And you get stuck. You're stuck not because you're a writer. You're stuck because you're a human. My buddy T. A. Giltner who teaches religion at St. Louis University says to all of his freshman on the first day of class, â€Å"Raise your hand if you want to be a good doctor. A good lawyer. A good scientist.† They raise their hands. â€Å"Keep your hands up if you think this class is pointless as a means to that end.† They lower their hands. â€Å"This class is not about religion. It's about becoming a decent human being. You want to be doctors and lawyers and scientists but you don't want to be good human beings? Good luck with that.† The phrase â€Å"good doctor† has the assumption of a â€Å"good human† built in. Writers too. Without a healthy, patient, joyful, kind humanity there ain't a one of us who's going to become a good writer. Let alone a great one. And that includes this awful disease that hit even me as a high school student and sometimes hits me even now: depression. To tackle this form of writer's block, you must do what all humans do. You must become whole by seeking help. I have a counselor who has helped me dig my way out of the hellhole that was my 2015 and my writing has improved. But again, that’s not specific to writers. As for laziness, I'm convinced that those who minimize their own depression by glorifying it with labels like â€Å"writer's block† make it easier for sluggards to scoot along. I know, I was one. I was a lazy teenager who had little reason to be lazy, considering the poverty of some of my early years. For one reason or another, perhaps because they follow the exact opposite trajectory of those professional football careers that blossom early and fade as fast, the careers of writers take a long time to marinate, cure, and hibernate. Coupled with wealth and privilege whether you're a trust fund kid or simply whiter than your neighbor writers have invented the most absurd methods of procrastination on the market all the way down to writing about not writing about not writing on social media. And then they hijack this term that has been used to minimize the clinical depression found in the pros or the greats and they say, â€Å"I have writers block.† Are you depressed? If that's the case, seek help and support, but it has nothing to do with being a writer.   If you're not depressed, then you're lazy. I am convinced that most writers need spend their time learning how to write at first. I'm convinced most writers must begin by learning how to work their asses off to survive and then thrive. That probably means some low-wage job or finding a way of generating passive income yourself rather than inheriting it or shoving it off to some future generation through debt. It might mean finding simple joy in trimming the verge or taking out the trash. If this is you, you don't have writer's block, sorry. You have an aversion to hard work. And only through learning how to work, how to enjoy your work, how to thrive even in an environment that's cursed and stacked against you, will you be able to write well. Stephen King has a high output precisely because he worked his ass off in a laundromat, as a teacher, and as a chimney sweep and then applied those skills to writing. Once you’ve learned to work, then apply that work to your study and practice. Then you read the "On Writings" and the "Elements of Style" of the world. Then you literally re-write your drafts over from scratch. Then you tap into the thing you've always wanted to do and bring it to bear upon the Earth. But let's not call it block anymore. If you're depressed, seek help. And if you're lazy, shut up and get to work. I should mention that I wrote the first draft of this on a Freewrite I'm testing it today because I've followed this team from the day they started taking contributions. I've been known to jack out of the matrix more than my peers and head to upstate New York or to Northwest Arkansas to duck into some hobbit hole and type away on my Smith Corona or scribble on whatever scraps I find. Perhaps the Freewrite will help me with that.   But the typing itself? Hell it took thirty minutes hunched over this metal coffee table in the lobby of their offices here in the Flatiron district. My back hurts, I have a headache, and I'll have to revise this before they post it. And yet somehow it wasn’t as bad this time around because for once I wasn’t focused on the machine, the sound, the internet, or the reloading of paper and ribbon. Me and the words, baby, me and the words. Was it worth it? The sky was grey when I began, but the sun's reflecting off of the windows of this high rise next door. And I've taken pleasure in my work. I am not worried about future awards. I have no delusions of grandeur in this moment. In my mind right now, there hides no phantom of any high school sweetheart or bully or hardass teacher I must now impress. There is only the work and the pleasure I take in it.   Lancelot took pleasure not in winning tournaments. Not in the wreath or the prize. It was the virtue he sought, virtue as an end in itself. He took pleasure in drawing back the bow and shooting the arrow, in dehorsing other knights, and in running the gauntlet faster and with fewer bruises than the time before. The discipline itself brings the joy.

Battle of San Jacinto Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Battle of San Jacinto - Essay Example The researcher states that many American immigrants had migrated to Mexican Texas with full backing by the Mexican government near the beginning of the Mexican Independence. These immigrants started to rise up against the Mexican government in 1835 when the government of Santa Anna declared dictatorship rule over the country. Gradually, Texans formed a provisional government and started a movement for independence. This movement for independence was supported by many Americans, who volunteered to help the Texans in this movement. An army was formed by the help of these volunteers. In 1836 Santa Anna entered Texas with his army to take back its territory and put it back under the control of Mexico. Two battles were fought at Alamo and Goliad. Both of these battles were won by the Mexican army and a large number of Texan army was slaughtered brutally. After these two battles general Houston led his army against the army of Santa Anna near the river of San Jacinto in Texas. General Hous ton proved to be a very sharp and far sighted leader. The number of men in the Mexican army was already more than that of the Texan army and Houston did not want to give time to Santa Anna to call for more troops. Due to this reason he decided to execute a surprise attack against the Mexicans. This was a major risk on General Houston’s part because in this plan most of his army would be exposed to the Mexicans. On the other hand a critical mistake was made by the Mexican leader Santa Anna, in his confidence gained by the last two wins; he did not pay much attention to this battle and failed to post lookouts for any surprise attacks by the Texan army. This surprise attack by the Texan army was conducted in the evening of 21st April. The Texan army moved forward without getting caught by the Mexican army because their approach was hidden by trees and the uneven ground. Havoc reigns on the enemy as the Texian cavalry attack their stunned counterparts with slashing sabers (McDona ld, McCord & Haas 2008). This thing worked in the favour of the Texans because Santa Anna had not sent any men for lookouts. The bridge on the river was cut off by the Texans so that no retreats or reinforcements were possible. This was for both the armies because now the only way out of this was the ten feet deep water. The Texan infantry was led by General Houston himself. It was a well planned attack and the Mexican army was completely surrounded by the attackers. The Texan army had two artillery weapons called the twin sisters which were given to them by the city of Cincinnati. These weapons were placed in the battle and were of great help. It was a completely silent attack and the Texan forces did not reveal themselves until they were a few yards away from the Mexican army camps and then charged. They charged while shouting different slogans of â€Å"Remember Goliad† and â€Å"Remember Alamo†. The Texan army started firing at the surprised Mexicans. The Mexican ar my was not prepared for this kind of attack by its opponents and was completely taken by surprise. Most of the Mexican army was resting or asleep after building fortifications. Some of them were gone to gather woods while some of the others were fetching water at the time of the attack. The unarmed Mexicans had no choice but to ran and a complete chaos was created in the Mexican

Learning Needs Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Learning Needs Assessment - Essay Example For example, in areas involving complex surgical procedures, the volume of interventions and procedures is maintained at a high level in order to improve the outcome. In addition, it was observed that most of the activities are channeled towards the large units of the hospital in a bid to improve the quality of healthcare care. The following table shows the volume of activity and outcome. Number Percentage Surgical procedures 179 86.4% Cancer related procedures 84 40.3% Cardiovascular procedures 68 32.5% Orthopaedic procedures 19 8.7% others 11 4.9% In-patient 21 9.7% Traumatology 11 4.9% Cardiology 4 1.5% emergencies 3 1.0% Pneumology 3 0.5% Intensive care 2 0.5% Nephrology 2 0.5% Mixed (all types of care) 2 0.5% Obstetrics 6 2.4% Safe deliveries 2 0.5% High-risk births 1.0% neonatal intensive care 3 1.0% Outpatients 4 1.5% Total 206 100.0% d) Levels of nursing care staff employed Out of all the respondents that participated in the study, approximately 49% tendered their responses, excluding the wrong addresses. The total of the surveys that were completed was 65, which was 27% of the sample size. The survey revealed that the majority of the nurses worked in regular, full-time basis (60%) or regular and part-times basis (30%). The remaining 10% worked on casual contracts. Also, information was collected regarding the employment settings and status of respondents. Most of the nurses (70%) worked in a hospital setting. There was a good representation from other settings including nursing homes / Long Term Care (LTC) (16%), Home Care (14%), Community Health (8%) and other settings (14%). Most nurses worked in regular, full-time employment (67%) or regular, part-time employment (23%) compared to 10% who worked in casual positions. The level of education for the nursing staff that was interviewed was very diverse, of which 81 % of the staff held diplomas and 24 % held post diploma certification. Of these, 10% had oncology certification from different nursing associ ations, in addition to other oncology courses. Another 5% was found to have completed palliative care certificate courses (Bailey & Corner, 2009). More than 30% of the nurses were holding university degrees with specialization in different medical disciplines. Forty two percent were holders of bachelor degrees while 5% were holders of graduate degrees. Eighty one percent were working in the capacity of staff nursing role while another 7% worked in other roles such as nurse education, nurse consultation, nurse coordination, administration, family practice nursing, research coordination and executive directorship. When the level of nursing care was investigated, it was found that 69% cared for chronic patients, 70 % cared for palliative patients and 65% cared for acute patients. It was also found that a few of the nurses who were interviewed cared for emergency (21%), preventative (29%), and intensive care (16%). As shown in figure 2, these nurses were extensively experienced in cance r care. A good proportion (53%) of them had been employed in a cancer care environment for at least 11 years. Figure 2: The amount of cancer care experience A summary of the results of the educational needs assessment and analysis Identification of the highest priority educational need When the nurses were asked to rate their fields of experience in different fields classified into four types,

Free

Free philosophy Essay In philosophy, the â€Å"self† is used to refer to the ultimate locus of personal identity, the agent and the knower involved in each person’s actions and cognitions. The notion of the self has traditionally raised several philosophical questions. First, there are questions about the nature and very existence of the self. Is the self a material or immaterial thing? Is the self even a real thing or rather a merely nominal object? Second, is the self the object of a peculiar form of introspective knowledge, and if so, what does this tell about its ultimate nature? Third, what is the relation between the nature of the self and the linguistic phenomena of self-reference, such as the use of the first-person pronoun ‘I’? In this course, we will investigate these and related questions with a special focus on the issue of the unity of the self. In the first half of the course, particular attention will be devoted to recent works on the relation between the nature of the self, the unity of agency and the process of self-constitution by authors such as Korsgaard, Velleman, Dennett In the second half of the course, we will discuss some of the peculiar features of self-knowledge and consider whether the idea of self-constitution can shed light on them. The self does not really exist as something truly real because: it is not available to introspection (Hume); it is not a thing (Existentialists); it is a soluble fish in a sea of general meanings or representations (postmodernists); and/or it cannot be found in the brain or its activity (neurophilosophers). There are many other lines of attack but these examples are sufficient to illustrate what is wrong with these autocides: they are looking for the wrong kind of entity or in the wrong place or both.

Lee Harvey Oswald: Killer or Scapegoat? :: history

Lee Harvey Oswald: Killer or Scapegoat? On November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, "the Crime of the Century" took place. President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dealey Plaza while touring through the city in his open-roof limousine. After the shots were fired, police began looking for suspects. One hour after the shooting, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for murdering a police officer. One hour after that he was charged with killing the President. Was Lee Harvey Oswald the real killer, or was he merely the scapegoat hired by some agency outside of the United States, to take the blame. There are a lot of known and unknown facts about this case. Many people believe that there were more people than Lee Harvey Oswald firing the shots even though the Warren Commission will deny any possibility that there was more than one assassin. The purpose of this paper is to state the facts about this case and let you decide for yourself whether or not Lee Harvey Oswald was quilty. Early in the morning, on November 22, 1963, Julia Ann Mercer was driving past the Texas School Book Depository on her way to work. Just past the Depository, about half-way from the railway overpass, she saw a green truck parked illegally on the side of the road. Because it was blocking traffic, she had to stop and wait for the other lane to clear before she could go. She noticed that there were two men in the truck. The back of the truck said "Air-conditioning. The passenger of the truck got out and pulled out of the toolbox, located on the back of the truck, what appeared to be a gun case. The many pulled the gun case out and started walking towards the grassy knoll just up the hill. As she drove on, she noticed three policemen standing a little ways down the road talking apparently not seeing the man with the gun case. Miss Mercer wrote out a full report on what she saw and gave it to the Warren Commission, however, none of it was spoken of or even mentioned in the Warren Commission's Report. There is the possibility that the gun case was empty, but the policemen should have taken more precaution considering that they know the President would be visiting the city that day. That same day, a Mr. Lee Bowers Jr., a railroad tower man for the Union Terminal Company, was on duty and had the best view of the area directly behind the fence on the grassy knoll. Lee Harvey Oswald: Killer or Scapegoat? :: history Lee Harvey Oswald: Killer or Scapegoat? On November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, "the Crime of the Century" took place. President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dealey Plaza while touring through the city in his open-roof limousine. After the shots were fired, police began looking for suspects. One hour after the shooting, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for murdering a police officer. One hour after that he was charged with killing the President. Was Lee Harvey Oswald the real killer, or was he merely the scapegoat hired by some agency outside of the United States, to take the blame. There are a lot of known and unknown facts about this case. Many people believe that there were more people than Lee Harvey Oswald firing the shots even though the Warren Commission will deny any possibility that there was more than one assassin. The purpose of this paper is to state the facts about this case and let you decide for yourself whether or not Lee Harvey Oswald was quilty. Early in the morning, on November 22, 1963, Julia Ann Mercer was driving past the Texas School Book Depository on her way to work. Just past the Depository, about half-way from the railway overpass, she saw a green truck parked illegally on the side of the road. Because it was blocking traffic, she had to stop and wait for the other lane to clear before she could go. She noticed that there were two men in the truck. The back of the truck said "Air-conditioning. The passenger of the truck got out and pulled out of the toolbox, located on the back of the truck, what appeared to be a gun case. The many pulled the gun case out and started walking towards the grassy knoll just up the hill. As she drove on, she noticed three policemen standing a little ways down the road talking apparently not seeing the man with the gun case. Miss Mercer wrote out a full report on what she saw and gave it to the Warren Commission, however, none of it was spoken of or even mentioned in the Warren Commission's Report. There is the possibility that the gun case was empty, but the policemen should have taken more precaution considering that they know the President would be visiting the city that day. That same day, a Mr. Lee Bowers Jr., a railroad tower man for the Union Terminal Company, was on duty and had the best view of the area directly behind the fence on the grassy knoll.

Developing Communication and Interpersonal Skills: Continuing Professional Development ?

Introduction The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has set out at least four domains of competencies for entry to the register in Adult Nursing. In this brief, I will focus on the second domain of communication and interpersonal skills. Communication plays a crucial role in addressing the needs of the patients. Adult nurses are expected to communicate effectively, listen with empathy and advocate for their patients (Department of Health, 2012a, 2012b). Specifically, the Department of Health (Commissioning Board Chief Nursing Officer and DH Chief Nursing Adviser, 2012) has introduced the 6 Cs of nursing, which encompasses compassion in nursing practice. Compassion in care is only possible when patients feel that their nurses understand their feelings and show empathy (Chambers and Ryder, 2009). Communication is essential in helping patients articulate their needs (Hall, 2005). Similarly, poor communication could result to misunderstanding, anxiety for the patients and poor quality of care (Chamb ers and Ryder, 2009). In this brief I will focus on the domain of communication and interpersonal skills since these form the foundation of my relationships with my patients. Developing my competency in this domain would help me identify both verbal and non-verbal messages of the patients and address their needs accordingly. Meanwhile, effective communication is needed when I communicate with my colleagues and other healthcare practitioners. A focus on my communication skills with my patients will be made in this reflective brief. Communicating effectively with my patients and other health and social care professionals would help improve the care received by my patients. Benner’s (1984) stages of clinical competence would be used to underpin my development from novice to competent. Gibb’s (1988) reflective model will be utilised to reflect on my experiences in the last three years from novice to competent. Professional Development from Novice to Competent Level Reflective practice (Gibbs, 1988) allows healthcare practitioners to improve current practice by learning from incidents and one’s own experiences. Pearson et al. (2009) explains that one’s own experiences are another form of evidence in healthcare. With the focus on patient-centred care, the NHS (Department of Health, 2012b) has encouraged evidence-based care when addressing the needs of the patients. I will use Gibbs (1988) model in reflecting on my communication experiences in years 1 to 3. This model starts with a description of an incident followed by analysis, evaluation, conclusion and action plan. An incident during my year 1 exemplifies how I developed my communication and interpersonal skills as a novice. I was assigned to the mental health ward and assisted an elderly patient with dementia who was admitted for pneumonia. During his first day in the hospital, my senior nurse performed a nutritional assessment and informed me that I should assist the patient during feeding time. This was consistent with the Patient Mealtime Initiative (PMI) (NHS, 2007) implemented in our ward. As a student nurse, I would be assist the patient to self-feed and make his environment comfortable and uncluttered. During mealtime, I talked to the patient and informed him that I would assist him in eating his food. He stared at the wall and did not respond. I gently asked him if he was ready to eat. When he turned to me, I informed him that he could now start eating. He only stared at his food and did not seem to understand my instructions. I placed the utensils near his hand so he could grab it and eat. When he did not respond, I asked him if he wanted me to help him eat. After a few minutes, he got his spoon and held it for a few minutes. I began to realise that he did not seem to understand my instructions so I started to place the spoon with food in his mouth and gently touched his chin to remind him to chew his food. My senior nurse passed by and informed that I have to put some pressure on the patient’s chin and make some chewing motions to help remind him that he needs to chew his food. It took me an hour to feed my patient. On reflection, communicating with older patients with dementia could be a challenge. Most of these patients suffer from cognitive impairments, which make it difficult for them to communicate their feelings and concerns (NICE, 2006). A significant number of older patients with dementia who are admitted in hospital wards are underweight (World Health Organization, 2014). Jensen et al. (2010) explain that many of these patients have forgotten how to eat and chew their food while others lack cognitive abilities in understanding instructions on feeding. Hence, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE, 2006) guideline on nutrition for older patients highlights the importance of assisting the patients during feeding. For patients in the advanced stages of dementia, the main aim of nutrition is to maintain hydration and comfort feeding. Meanwhile, some patients could also suffer from swallowing problems, making it more difficult to ingest food (Lin et al., 2010). The hospital ward environment is also new to older patients with dementia and might trigger anxiety and fear (Lin et al., 2010). Since patients are in unfamiliar surroundings with unfamiliar people, they might express their fears and anxieties through aversive behaviours (NICE, 2006). It is shown that nurses react negatively to aversive behaviours of older patients with dementia (Jensen et al., 2010). On reflection, the incident taught me to be more patient and to understand both verbal and non-verbal messages. It took some time for me to realise that I have to feed the patient since he appeared confused. I was also unprepared on how to communicate with an older patient with dementia. As a novice nurse, my feelings and apprehensions are normal and are also shared by other nurses (Cole, 2012; Murray, 2006). Best and Evans (2013) have shown that nurses feel unprepared to communicate and care for older patients with dementia. On reflection, I should continue with my professional develop ment by joining training and seminar on how to communicate with older patients with dementia and address their nutritional needs. When faced with a similar situation in the future, I am better prepared and would not need more supervision from senior nurses on how to communicate with older patients with dementia and address their needs. For instance, I am now aware that these patients have difficulty verbalising their needs and I have to be sensitive of non-verbal cues and interpret aversive behaviour as possible signs of distress, anxiety or fear (Best and Evans, 2013). The second incident occurred during year 2 in my placement in the Urology Department. At this stage, I already considered myself as an advanced beginner (Benner, 1984). I was assigned to care for a 45-year old male patient who was admitted due to testicular pain. I introduced myself to the patient and informed him that I was part of a team that would be caring for him during his hospital admission. I noticed that he was uncomfortable communicating with a student nurse and asked for a more senior nurse. I gently informed him that my senior nurse was supervising other student nurses and he was left to my care. I tried to communicate and noticed that he had difficulty with the English language. I asked him if he needed a language interpreter. Once an interpreter was identified and assisted me with communicating with my patient, I noticed a change in his behaviour. He began to open up and was willing to take his prescribed medications. I slowly understood that he was anxious about his co ndition and wanted a male nurse with the same ethnic background to be his nurse. When he realised that most of the nursing staff are composed of female nurses, he began to accept me as his nurse. On reflection, this incident illustrates the importance of taking into account individual differences and using communication strategies to understand the patient’s needs. Specifically, I became aware that he had difficulty with the English language. The act of getting an interpreter greatly improved our communication. One of the competencies stated under communication states that nurses should be able to use different communication strategies in order to identify and address the patient’s needs (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2010; National Patient Safety Association, 2009). It was apparent that the patient was self-conscious that a female nurse was addressing his needs. It is shown that a patient’s perception about his condition is also influenced by their cultural beliefs and ethnicity (Department of Health, 2012b). He was uncomfortable that a female nurse was providing care when he was suffering from testicular pain. However, the patient shares similar ethnic background as the interpreter and only became comfortable when the interpreter assured him that he could trust me. I realised that patients with different cultural background could be anxious about their treatment and might have difficulty communicating. On evaluation, I felt that I was able to address the immediate language barrier gap by getting an interpreter to help me communicate with the patient. My experiences during my first year in placement with patients who have different ethnic backgrounds and have difficulty expressing themselves in English helped me prepare for this situation. As Benner (1984) stated, nurses develop competency through experiences. I felt that I have improved on my communication skills and have achieved the advanced beginner level during year 2. Being sensitive to the communication needs of my patient is also consistent with the 6 Cs of nursing (Commissioning Board Chief Nursing Officer and DH Chief Nursing Adviser). In this policy paper, nurses are encouraged to show compassion in caring through effective communication. On analysis, I could have improved my communication skills by learning how to communicate with patients with different cultural beliefs about human sexuality. The patient was shy that a female nurse is part of the healthcare team managing his testicular pain. As part of my professional development and action plan, I will participate in training and seminars on how to communicate about health issues, such as testicular pain, that are considered sensitive and may carry some cultural taboo. The third incident happened during year 3, in my placement in the surgical ward for orthopaedic patients. At this stage, my previous experiences in communicating with patients during year 1 and 2 have helped me develop important communication skills. These included recognising non-verbal messages, understanding how culture influences my patients’ perceptions of nurses and the care they receive. Culture plays a crucial role in how patients place meanings on the words and symbols I use when communicating (Funnell et al., 2009). Apart from culture, I realised that the patient’s own perceptions of the illness and pain they are experiencing could also influence the quality of our communication. In the incident, I was assigned to assess the level of post-operative pain of a patient after surgical operation. He was a 32-year old male and was unable to communicate even after four hours of surgery. I tried to communicate with him to help assess his level of pain. Since he could not verbalise his level of pain, I used the visual analogue scale (VAS) to identify the level of pain. On analysis, I felt that I have done the right thing and have fulfilled one of the competencies under the domain of communication. Specifically, the NMC (2010) states that nurses should be able to use different communication strategies to support patient-centred care. The use of the VAS helped the patient articulate his level of pain. The VAS is often used as a tool in healthcare practice when assessing the patient’s level of pain. This tool is reliable and has been validated in different settings (Fadaizadeh et al., 2009). On analysis, my personal experiences in the last three years helped me be come acquainted with current guidelines on pain assessment. It also helped me identify a simple but valid and reliable tool in assessing patient’s level of pain. Pain perception in post-operative patients is highly subjective and could be influenced by several factors (Gagliese and Katz, 2003). These include age, gender, prior pain experience, medications and culture (Lavernia et al., 2011; Grinstein-Cohen et al., 2009; Gagliese and Katz, 2003). Regardless of the factors that influence pain, nurses should be able to assess the patient’s pain accurately and communicate with the patient strategies on how to control pain (Clancy et al., 2005). Hence, communication is crucial in ensuring quality post-operative care. On reflection, I was aware that the patient has difficulty communicating. Hence, choosing a more complex tool in assessing pain could add to more distress and anxiety for the patient (Gagliese and Katz, 2003). I realised that choosing a simple assessment tool helped calm down the patient since I was able to deliver care appropriately. On reflection, I would follow similar procedures in the future. However, I would improve my knowledge on pain assessment by participating in pain education nursing classes in university or in the hospital where I am assigned. This would form part of my continuing professional development and action plan. Abdalrahim et al. (2011) argue that nurses with high knowledge on patient education are more likely to accurately assess patient pain, leading to earlier relief and management of the patient’s pain. However, Francis and Fitzpatrick (2013) express that despite high levels of knowledge on pain management, there are some nurses who have difficulty translating this knowledge into actual practice. One of my roles as a nurse in an orthopaedic surgical ward is to manage post-operative pain of my patients. Failing to manage pain could lead to chronic pain, longer hospital stays and poorer health outcomes (Grinstein-Cohen et al., 2009). I also realised that effective communication with patients is needed to ensure that the patient’s needs are addressed. Conclusion In conclusion, the three incidents portrayed in this reflective brief demonstrate how I evolved as a nurse practitioner from novice to competent. Specifically, my communication skills have developed from year 1 until Year 3. In the first incident, I had difficulty communicating with older patients with dementia. Beginner nurse practitioners have no experience in the situations they find themselves in. This was true in my experience with the older patient with dementia. It was my first time at communicating with a patient with cognitive impairment and feeding him. I lacked confidence in carrying out the task and only improved after several meetings with the client. However, in year 2, my communication skills improved. For instance, I was able to immediately identify the needs of the patients by depending on verbal cues and non-verbal messages of the client. I was able to get an interpreter and communicate with him. However, I also realised that I still need to improve by participating in classes and training on how to communicate effectively with patients with different ethnic background. Finally, in year 3, I was now more competent in communicating with patients. Even when the patient in post-operative care could not communicate, I was aware that he was in pain. I was also able to use an appropriate assessment tool that is consistent with the guidelines in our hospital. I realised that I possess more confidence in communicating with the patient and identifying his needs. My previous experiences in communicating with different groups of patients helped me become competent in identifying the needs of the patients. Importantly, care was delivered promptly since I was able to appropriately assess the level of pain of the patient. All these three experiences show that I could hone my skills in communication. My communication experiences in nursing will help me become more competent and ready as a future nurse registrant. References Abdalrahim, M., Majali, S., Stomberg, M. & Bergbom, I. (2011) ‘The effect of postoperative pain management program on improving nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward pain’, Nurse Education in Practice, 11(4), pp. 250-255. Benner, P. (1984) From Novice to Expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice, Menlo Park: Addison-Wesley. Best, C. & Evans, L. (2013) ‘Identification and management of patients’ nutritional needs’, Nursing Older People, 25(3), pp. 303-6. Chambers, C. & Ryder, E. (2009) Compassion and caring in nursing, London: Radcliffe Publishing. Clancy, C., Farquhar, M. & Sharp, B. (2005) ‘Patient safety in nursing practice’, Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 20(3), pp. 193-197. Cole, D. (2012) ‘Optimising nutrition for older people with dementia’, Nursing Standard, 26(20), pp. 41-48. Commissioning Board Chief Nursing Officer and DH Chief Nursing Adviser (2012) Compassion in Practice, London: Department of Health. Department of Health (2012a) The Power of Information, London: Department of Health. Department of Health (2012b) Bringing clarity to quality in care and support, London: Department of Health. Fadaizadeh, L., Emami, H. & Samii, K. (2009) ‘Comparison of visual analogue scale and faces rating in measuring acute postoperative pain’, Archives of Iranian Medicine, 12(1), pp. 73-75. Francis, L. and Fitzpatrick, J. (2013) ‘Postoperative pain: Nurses’ knowledge and patients’ experiences’, Pain Management Nursing, 14(4), pp. 351-357. Funnell, R., Koutoukidis, G., and Lawrence, K. (2009) Tabbner’s nursing care: Theory and practice, 5th Edition, Chatswood, London: Elsevier. Gagliese, L. and Katz, J. (2003) ‘Age differences in postoperative pain are scale dependent: a comparison of measures of pain intensity and quality in younger and older surgical patients’, Pain, 103(1-2), pp.11-20. Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods, Oxford: Further Educational Unit, Oxford Polytechnic. Grinstein-Cohen, O., Sarid, O., Attar, D., Pilpel, D. and Elhayany, E. (2009) ‘Improvements and Difficulties in Postoperative Pain Management’, Orthopaedic Nursing, 28(5), pp. 232-239. Hall, L. (2005) Quality work environments for nurse and patient safety, London: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Jensen, G., Mirtallo, J., Compher, C., Dhaliwal, R., Forbes, A., Grijalba, R., Hardy, G., Kondrup, J., Labadarios, D., Nyulasi, I., Castillo Pineda, J. & Waitzberg, D. (2010) ‘Adult starvation and disease-related malnutrition: a proposal for etiology-based diagnosis in the clinical practice setting from the International Consensus Guideline Committee’, Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 34(2), pp. 156-159. Lavernia, C., Alcerro, J., Contreras, J. & Rossi, M. (2011) ‘Ethnic and racial factors influencing well-being, perceived pain, and physical function after primary total joint arthroplasty’, Clinical Orthopaedic and Related Research, 469(7), pp. 1838-1845. Lin, L., Watson, R. & Wu, S. (2010) ‘What is associated with low food intake in older people with dementia?’, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19(1-2), pp. 53-59. Murray, C. (2006) ‘Improving nutrition for older people’, Nursing Older People, Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 18-22. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2006) Nutrition support in adults: oral nutrition support, enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition. London: NICE. National Patient Safety Association (2009) Being open: communicating patient safety incident with patients, their families and carers, London: NPSA. NHS (2007) Protected mealtimes review: Findings and recommendations report, London: NHS. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2010) Standards for pre-registration Nursing education, London: NMC. Pearson, A., Field, J., Jordan, Z. (2009) Evidence-Based Clinical Practice in Nursing and health Care. Assimilating Research, Experience and Expertise. Oxford. Blackwell Publishing. World Health Organization (2014) Nutrition for older persons [Online]. Available from: http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/ageing/en/index1.html (Accessed: 1 February, 2014).

Review of Anxiety Scales for Children and Adults Essay

Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Psychology testing is very abstract form of testing.   It needs to be based on good research and solid evidence in order to be considered effective.   This review goes in depth to examine the use of this test and how valid it is at proving the existence and level of anxiety in children and adults.   There are many items and aspects of the test reviewed herein, including, the normative sample group, the construction of the test and the overall effectiveness of the test to come to a plausible conclusion and diagnosis.  Ã‚  Ã‚   This review should serve as a good guide in how to best use this test and what aspects may need to be revised in order to provide a more efficient and useful test. Test Name: Anxiety Scales for Children and Adults. Author: Battle, James Publication Date: 1993 Publisher Information: PRO-ED, Inc., 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78758-6897 Prices as of 1994: $84 per complete kit including examiner’s manual, 50 Forms Q, 50 Forms M, scoring acetate, and administration audiocassette $31 per examiner’s manual $19 per 50 Forms Q or 50 Forms M $6 per scoring acetate $14 per administration audiocassette. Online Availability:   This test is only available in written form or a tape recorded form. The test, ‘Anxiety Scales for Children and Adults’, is intended to show if a person has anxiety and, if so, at what level they have anxiety.   It seeks to show the presence and level of anxiety through a series of questions that relate to symptoms of anxiety.   The test is only arranged based upon age with one group for grade nine and under and the second group being grade 10 and above.   There is a different test form for each group.  Ã‚   However, the test does not separate out by gender or using any other factors except the two age groups.   The test could be described as being both unidimensional and multidimensional.   This is based upon the fact that the only differential is the basic age group. â€Å"No factor analyses, internal consistency coefficients, or empirical-criterion keying (item scores for anxious versus non-anxious persons or treatment effects studies) are reported. No controls for faking are indicated. Although developmental differences between elementary (second through sixth grades) and junior high (seventh through ninth grades) students were reported, no other age changes are indicated. Particularly important would be an examination of high school students versus adults and age changes through each elementary grade. A face/content examination indicates the majority of items relate to generalized anxiety and physiological symptoms, with some attention to setting and stimulus triggers. up. â€Å" (Oehler-Stinnett,2007)   There are no distinguishing points made for gender, race or even specific age, as mentioned in this quote from the Oehler-Stinnett review of the test.   As far as theoretical and empirical foundations, this test is very limited.   The test development was not sufficiently reported to allow for any hypothesis to be made.   Additionally, the lack of sub-scales and any rationale support for the procedure is a great default for deciding if the test has any clinical application. There is also a problem with the actual use of information in the test.   The questions are not properly defined as to what, if anything, makes them an anxiety trigger and worthy of being used to determine if a person suffers from anxiety.   Ã‚  It is only stated that they are symptoms commonly reported by people with anxiety.   As this analysis of the test reports, this leads to questions about the validity of the test:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The specific sources of the item pools from which the author selected the items are unknown. It is merely stated the items represent symptoms typically reported by individuals experiencing anxiety. The final items that appear on the scales apparently have never been subjected to item analysis, internal consistency analysis, and factor analysis, all of which are standard scale construction procedures.† (Merenda,2007) The test manual does not caution nor imply that such limitations exist and the catalog actually reports erroneous information as to the size of the sample group.   The test is intended to be used for the diagnosis, treatment and research of anxiety.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The test is in two different formats.   The children’s, Form Q, and the adult’s, Form M are both designed to reach the same outcome, however, they are designed to be easy to complete for the different age groups.   Form Q is a simple yes or no choice test and has 25 questions.   Form M is a rating system test where individuals will choose from one to five, with one being always and five being never, and is comprised of 40 questions. There are no subscales to this test.   The only scale for the test was constructed without analysis of item, internal consistency and factor.   Each test has its own scale.   The scales are both pretty basic with the only outcome being if the individual has anxiety and if so, the intensity of the anxiety.   There is no allowance for faking or the possibility of conditions of a similar nature, such as depression.   The total testing time is ten to fifteen minutes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The administration procedure is straightforward in nature with instructions for Form Q to be answered with a yes or no answer and Form M is to be based upon the 5 point scale given.   The tests are in written, paper and pencil format with the questions to be read by the individual taking the test.   There is an allowance for oral administration and other modifications, if necessary to assist the administration of the test.   The test can be given individually or in a group setting.  Ã‚   The test administrator is expected to have knowledge and familiarity with psychometrics and understand the standards of good test evaluation and use.    The manual specifically points out that the administrator should have knowledge of the American Psychological Association’s published standards of good test development and use from 1954.   There is no reference to special circumstance or any special considerations that should be made in the test administration.   There is the recommendation that the test interpretation should be conducted under the supervision and assistance of a psychologist or other professionally trained individual. The type of scoring for Form Q is based upon the amount of yes or no answers.   Form M scoring is based upon the rating given to each question.   The raw scores are totaled and used to determine the level of anxiety based upon a classification table that goes from very low to very high.     There are tables to help convert the percentile ranks and T-scores. The actual instructions for interpretation of the raw score, classification, percentile rank and T-score is very limited.   In fact, the conversion tables for each type of score are not in complete agreement with each other.   This insinuates that only one type of score should be used to score the test, not a combination of the different scoring options.   There is also a question as the reliability of the scoring system used for this test. â€Å"†¦ for the scale to be acceptable as a measure of treatment effects, all coefficients should be in the .90s. As noted, no internal consistency coefficients (alpha) were reported; therefore consistency of the scales in measuring the construct of anxiety cannot be examined. Standard error of measurement was also not reported in the reliability, scoring, or interpretation sections.† (Oehler-Stinnett,2007) The tables and scoring instructions are included in the manual. The technical evaluation of this test reveals numerous flaws.   The manual does not give a full explanation of the normative sample.   The description is rather simplified and gives the overview that the normative groups and reliability/validity groups overlap.   The data was collected in 1987 or 1988 and consisted of 247 adults for Form M, ages 15 to 63, and for Form Q it was based on 365 children of elementary school age and 433 children of junior high school age.   Both groups were from the Midwest. The children group was equal in the ratio of males to females.   The adult group had about twice the number of females as males.   There is no information given as to the demographics of the groups in terms of minorities and no representation of SES levels, clinical populations or the exact ages of participants.   There was distinction given for gender.   The limited information makes it difficult to fully evaluate the sample groups effectiveness in standardizing this test. The reliability of the test is based upon two testing, the original test and then a 2 week retest.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The retest rate was at .84 for elementary age, .86 for junior high age and .96 for adults, which are all acceptable rates.   The short retest period, however, does not allow for sufficient confirmation of a hypothesis and does not meet standards that are acceptable for the measuring of treatment effectiveness.   Additionally, there is not enough consistency in the scales to allow for an accurate measurement of anxiety levels between the original test and retest. The validity of the test, Form Q, is given based upon comparison to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children and the Nervous Systems subtest of the California Test of Personality.  Ã‚   The scale, however, is compared to the North American Depression Inventory for Children and the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory.   Form M is compared to the Taylor Anxiety Scale for Adults and the Nervous Symptoms subscale of the California Test of Personality.   Constructs were as high or higher in correlation.   However, this is not discussed in detail in the manual.   The validity coefficients according to gender showed similar patterns. The T-tests showed no major difference in the scores of Form Q, according to gender. For M showed a higher score for females than males, but there must be consideration for the fact that there were twice as many females as males taking this test.   When looking at the mean, the difference was not major.   The lack of validity evidence can not be overlooked.   There are no studies that indicate the scale can accurately prove the difference between someone who is experiencing anxiety and someone who is not.   Additionally, there is a lack of supporting evidence for the use of this test in diagnosis and treatment of anxiety. A practical evaluation of this test shows no major indications of a problem.   The use of two separate forms for different age groups allows for the test to be easy to use and understand for each group.   Additionally, the availability of oral administration ensures those with limited reading abilities will be able to take the test and understand it.   The actual image of the test is rather plain and simple. It is presented in a straight forward, non-confusing manner. Form Q is presented in a yes or no format and Form M gives a scale that allows a rating from one to five with one clearly labeled as always and five as never.   There is nothing that stands out about the appearance of the test.   It is acceptable in terms that it is easy to use and understand for the participant. The straightforward nature of the test makes it easy to comprehend.   Form Q is a choice of two answers, which is well suited for the intended age group.   Form M gives a scale that allows for a more descriptive analysis of answers.   The test is intended to be taken by the participant reading and answering on their own, but the availability of oral administration allows for the test to be easy to take for all levels of comprehension.   The administration directions are quite clear and leave no room for question as to how it is to be done.   The test is to be given in a ten to fifteen minute time period.   It is manually administered, taken and scored.   Scoring is based upon the scales given in the manual.   It is advised that scoring be done under the supervision of a professional trained in psychology. This test has many weaknesses.   It is not fully backed by research and is not completely validated.   It lacks major aspects of an acceptable test, including the fact that scoring results are often inconsistent.   The scoring scales are not consistent with each other and there are no sub-tests to give an in depth look into the results.   Additionally, the lack of a reliable normative sample group is very concerning to a professional who is in need of a test that is reliable and valid.   The major strengths of the test is the actual make up of the test.   It is easy to understand and easy to score. This test would be best used for a general idea of a person state of anxiety.   It should be used in combination with other diagnostic measures and not as a sole source of diagnosis.   In order to make this test more effective and useful to a professional, it should be updated with more normative sample group tests, a better scoring system and more definition as to the age levels for each test.   Additionally, it would be helpful to include more differentiating information based upon specific age and race.   If updated, it should also be closely examined to fit into standards for tests of this nature. Reference Merenda, Peter F. (2004). Review of the anxiety scales for children and adults. University of Rhode Island. Oehler-Stinnett, Judy. (2004). Review of the anxiety scales for children and adults. Oklahoma State University. Wood, Richard J. and Zalaquett, Carlos P.(ED). (1998). Evaluating Stress: A book of resources, Volume I. Scarecrow Press.

Wedding Blessings and Quotations for Newlyweds

Wedding Blessings and Quotations for Newlyweds Till death do us part. This section  of the wedding vows, or something like it, is the highlight of many wedding ceremonies. As you exchange rings with your beloved, you feel a sense of oneness, a union of souls. For the newlyweds, the journey has just begun. If you want to bless the young couple with a lifetime of happiness, here are some special wedding blessings. John Lennon: 1940-1980; English singer-songwriterwith the Beatles and solo Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear. Oscar Wilde: 1854-1900, Irish poet and playwright Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring. Antoine de Saint-Exupry: 1900-1944, French poet, journalist, and aviator Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction. Aristotle: 384 B.C.-322 B.C., Greek philosopher and scientist Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.: 1809-1894, American physician, writer, and humorist Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness. Helen Keller: 1880-1968,American author, political activist, and lecturer. The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. Leo Buscaglia: 1924-1998, Americanprofessor, author, andmotivational speaker The life and love we create is the life and love we live. Mignon McLaughlin: 1913-1983, American journalist and author Love is the silent saying and saying of a single name. Andre Maurois: 1885-1967, French author A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day. Amy Grant: 1960- present, American singer-songwriter The more you invest in a marriage, the more valuable it becomes.