Bsn vs Associate Degree in Nursing Essay

Nursing is a knowledge based discipline, which focuses on the wholeness of human being. (Faucett, 1933. ) As per definition nurses are playing great role in modern medicine, either with an associate degree or as bachelor of nursing degree. Both, with the same licensure, the Registered Nurse. Nurse. The Associate dDegree nNurse(ADN) takes a shorter path of two years where the BSN takes longer one with 4 years of education to complete the degree. When we compare the data collected by various groups of nursing professionals, it is evident that the mortality rate, medication errors and patient outcomes are largely improved with high number of BSN onboard. The ADNAssociate degree nurse program was introduced to minimize the nursing shortage during post, second world warSecond World War. Even though The Goldmark report in 1923 recommended that the entry level of education for professional practice as a registered nurse should be a bachelorBachelor of Science in nursing (BSN), the new Associate degree nurse programs, gained much popularity among health care settings, and continuesprograms, gained much popularity among health care settings, and continue even today. Associate degree nursing programs are more to task oriented, where BSN program is based on theory and research. The needs of patients are changing on a daily basis, the need for higher education for nurses is in great demand.. Nurses are advocates of patient population, so be prepared to have the knowledge to help them, in preventive medicine, risk reduction, disease management, public health and over all provide a safe environment as per Nightingales theory of environment. When you compare work of an associate degree nurse with a BSN on a daily basis you could see the differences of approaches between associate degree nurse and a BSN. In this author’s experience, an associate degree nurse is well oriented to practical side of nursing, which is well evidenced. When comes to a patient with MRSA infection of an amputated limp site, the Associate degree nurse, is quick to get the patient pain meds, help with positioning, dressing changes, and maintains a clean environment, maintains contact isolation and provided emotional support. Whereas the BSN is there to teach the patient and family about prevention of infection, promotion of healing by correct diet choices, increasing activity and maintain the previous activity level, and prevent progression of infection and further loss. Also coordinated the care with dietary, physical therapy, occupational therapy, social services and case management services etc, thus provided the patient a smooth transition to the new life as a right above knee amputee. The BSN did investigate about the support groups, prosthesis options, family dynamics, and so on. In this situation one could clearly see the different ways of an associate nurse in their scope of practice vsvs. BSN performed through evidence based nursing practices. The expectation to the future of nursing is that, nurse should be capable of maintaining a patient’s over all well being, mentally, physically, socially and emotionally. One could obtain those qualities through proper education and adapting multiple ways of thinking. The ability of clinical reasoning is very important. The clinical picture of patient is changing, always ask yourself, why, what and how. Why the clinical picture is changing, what are the causes, and how can we correct that. For this we have to understand the metaparadigm of nursing, explained by the founders of nursing. A nurse also should have the clinical imagination, scientific and creative reasoning. The new age of nursing is characterized by a synthesis of facts and ideas that generate principles and theories. (Rogers,1994) . One could only achieve that by advancing one’s education to a higher level. Once you reach that level, the horizon is wide; you could further advance your studies to masters programs, nurse practitioner in various disciplines, go for doctorate programs etc. etc. In a study report from International Jjournal of nursingof Nursing sStudies, June 2009, headed by Dr. Kkoen Van den Heede found a major link between the number of BSN on cardiac care units and hospital mortality. Data analyzed from different countries including Canada, Belgium, Netherlands and USA. The result showed there were 4. 9 percentages fewer deaths per 1000 patients on intensive care units with higher number of nurses with BSN degree. Linda Aiken and her associates, in their Landmark study in 2003 showed a strong connection between the educational level of registered nurses and patient outcomes. Substantial survival advantage noted specially in surgical patient population. , Even as little as 10% increase in the BSN degree holders make a difference in patient death and failure to rescue by 5%. A highly educated nursing work force is essential to the future of nursing. In short, the medial world is changing, so as the patient. So it is imperative that, the nursing work force should change to meet the needs of future health care. So here the transition from associate degree nurse to BSN is much more appreciated and welcomed. Reference: -The reference page is a separate page. This is not APA format. Creating a more highly qualified nursing workforce (fact Sheet) Retrieved from http//www. aacn. nche. edu/media/factsheets/nursingwrkf. htm: Retrieved on 01/06/2012 from Creasia & Friberge, The Bridge to Professional Practice, Conceptual foundations 5th edition.

Plantation Society in the Caribbean today Essay

There is still evidence of the plantation society within the modern Caribbean Society. This evidence can be seen from first analyzing various aspects of the plantation system or society, such as the; lifestyle, mentality, social structure and economic model associated with this social system. Then a comparison will be made between the plantation and modern Caribbean societies in relation to these aspects, to show their relevance in the modern Caribbean society. The era of slavery which occurred in the Caribbean during the 16th to 19th centuries put into place a social and political order which formed the social structure and class related lifestyles of the plantation system. The social structure of the plantation society was static and pyramidal in design. At the top of the social pyramid was the white ruling class or the planter class which consisted of the white plantation owners and those who were closely associated with them. Directly under the white ruling class was the mixed or mullatto population along with the poor whites and free people of colour, who still contributed to social fabric of the society despite not having much political power. At the very bottom of the social pyramid was the Black and non-white labour class and within this class itself existed racial divisions and a labour hierarchy. Therefore, it can be seen from examining the various classes within the plantations system’s social structure that the plantation society was composed of various ethnicities. For the most part a major portion of the labourers were African, but due to the various racial groupings within the plantation societies across the Caribbean, these societies were considered to be culturally plural. This population mix influenced the character of society in many ways such as in the way that certain cultural groups would only be seen together when there was an economic related activity. It was therefore not uncommon to find on a plantation society two or more racial and cultural groups living side by side but also having minimal social or cultural intercourse. Another example  of how the character of the society was influenced by the population mix can be seen from the fact that during this time whoever was the owner of the plantation was automatically deemed the super-ordinate group in the wider society and the plantation workers were of the subordinate group. Social and economic power was concentrated with the super-ordinate group, and thus real political and legislative power had only resided with them. Before examining the political development or lack thereof ,we must first consider the social construct and its relevance to today, during the plantation era the society was made of a majority of unskilled workers, large areas of land devote to production and the working class was excluded from majorly centralized decision making due to the rigid social hierarchy. Today we can still see evidence of the working class being excluded in this way and now to a lesser but still significant extent due to a somewhat rigid social hierarchy, where evidence of this can be seen by the difficulty present to move up the social ladder and relatively minor effort needed to maintain ones social standing. Bearing in mind the description of the social construct of the past, let’s consider the changes which ensued leading to the present day model, the social hierarchy moved from a rigid to a forcefully mobile structure which was brought on by the changes caused by emancipation and the mass immigration that followed, the criteria for bettering ones social standing moved from the color of one’s skin to a less rigid even though still difficult criteria to include educational, occupational and economic status, another change which allowed for the differences in the post emancipation period was the bankruptcy and consequent migration of the whites back to Europe making space for the upward movement of both colored as well as black individuals not only in the social scheme of things but also in the political arena leading to an increase of colored individuals in power and a decrease in white control at least directly. By the latter part of the twentieth century, these middle cla sses (mostly the black and brown educated and professional elite) controlled the leadership positions of political parties and states throughout the region. The evolution of the colored middle class to power lead to many serious struggles with the white powers, these struggles included the struggle for greater democratic participation for the majority  black population and the struggle for political independence from European control which was eventually achieved at least physically even though it is quite arguable that mentally the European control persist, the realization of political power and independence by the national black and brown elite did not necessarily shatter the foundations of white domination throughout the region. Although it can be said that politically there has been great changes leading to the physical political emancipation of today’s society from that of the plantation society the economic power was still in the hands of the expatriate white ownership classes even after political independence was won in the 1960s, and the Caribbean racial formations spawned by slavery and colonialism are still intact. From an economic standpoint we can also say that the plantation is still with us. During the era of the plantation we saw two distinct developments, one was the clearly distinct stagnant economical hierarchy which eventually evolved in the times of emancipation to a slightly mobile economical hierarchy however in both forms the separating factor was clear race and type of education, placing the white planter class at the top and the freed or slaved blacks at the bottom, the other characteristic was the clear goal of the economy not to better the masses but to improve or maximize the profit for the plantation, these two main characteristics of the economic plantation society is still seen today, although because of hierarchy mobility blacks have been allowed to rise in status they are still clear restrictions to this such as the need for a European education to make it in society meaning that although black the top tier blacks are deep within the influence of the European mentality. That being said the majority of the top tier economically standing people are still white and the majority of the lower class are black which is still in keeping with the economic stratification of the plantation society. the second characteristic of the plantation society which was the profit of the plantation which today would be the profit of the organization can still be seen and is explain in various theories where we can see that the working class is still exploited for the profit of the higher class and is allowed by the political power in order to make the rich richer and the poor poorer which can be said to also contribute to the clear differences and difficulty associated with  economical hierarchy. the persistence of these traits as well as the seeming acceptance of them as normal is clear evidence of the persistence of the economical plantation society today. Caribbean societies today can still be seen as plural societies, some more than others. Present day plural societies can be seen on islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname. The actual pluralities of the modern Caribbean societies can be characterized by divisions of race, ethnicity, religion and cultural differences, to mention a few major elements while others like economic disparities and political membership can also be seen to form division. In societies today there still exist a hierarchy of social class; the upper class, middle class and the lower class. The upper class is an elite group of people who occupy the highest position in the social hierarchy. The members of this social group are wealthy and may have great social and political power and influence. The middle class is socio-economically located between the upper class and the lower class and comprises of a group of people of the contemporary society. The lower class also called the working class is mad e up of the socio economic groups who are often working for low wages and would include the skilled and unskilled workers. The middle and working classes make up the masses while the upper class is seen as the minority but the upper class still holds most of the polical and social power within the society as was with the plantation society where the hierarchy was divided in the super-ordinate and the subordinates. People are born into a class structure and it is difficult to leave the social bracket on an upward movement. For example people born in the upper class structure will be more than likely to stay in that structure for their entire lives and in the middle and lower classes while there still is a slight chance of changing their social status. The hierarchy that embodies the plantation society is evident in the today’s society in housing, jobs, lifestyles, prestige, colour of skin, image, wealth, opportunities, education and background to mention a few factors. Housing is an example of class separation embodies the hierarchy of class. Some neighborhoods are just exclusive to members of the upper class. For example the gated communities where in that neighbourhood there is a gate separating that neighbourhood from the surrounding neighbourhoods. Also  there are neighbourhoods that are exclusive to the working class, for examples developments and housing areas. Racism still exists in society today but to a lesser extent where some People are still denied jobs and positions because of the colour of their skin and also hired for jobs based on the colour of their skin. In many organizations the owners are whites who are of the upper social class and their subordinates are persons from the working classes and middle classes. It can be said therefore that from a social structure and an economical standpoint there are remnants of the plantation society in the Caribbean today however there has also been many changes including social mobility and political control which makes today’s society different is some ways but similar in many from that of a plantation society Criticism of the plantation society model The plantation model/theory in identifying the characteristics of the social and political structure of plantation societies has provided from critical errors; Theory does not provide a direction for moving forward or combating the negative remnants of the plantation society. Does not consider in its analysis the effects of the injection of other racial/cultural groups such as the Chinese into these plantation societies. Again the assumption of the theory is that plantation societies are homogenous. Does not take into account the effects of migration on the demographic, economic and cultural patterns which emerge in the post-emancipation era. Does not take into consideration the activities to combat racial, political and economic discrimination mounted by local community based organizations such as the, land cooperatives, the UNIA and the labour movement of the 1930s. Does not account for the development of a large-scale afro and indo-peasantries which existed in the post emancipation period which saw land moving into the hands of black and other non-white groups. a crucial group within the matrix of the said society and economy was ignored; that is the poor whites and the free people of colour. It therefore implicitly argues that this group did not contribute to the social, political and economic organization of the plantation society. By ignoring this group the analysis of the plantation societies as it existed under slavery is skewed toward the small white elite  and large African/East Indian labour force; which were not the only. References Sidney W. Mintz: â€Å"Caribbean Society.† c. 1968 Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. David Watts 1987 The West Indies: Patterns of Development†¦ Beckford, George.The Plantation Model in Christine Barrow and Rhoda Reddock (eds.) Caribbean Sociology: Introductory Readings. Ian Randle Publishers; Kingston Jamaica, 2001. Best, Lloyd.â€Å"The Contribution of George Beckford.† Social and Economic Studies. Vol. 41, No. 3, September 12 ISSN: 0037-7651. ————-â€Å"Models of a Pure Plantation Economy.† Social and Economic Studies. Vol. 17, No. 3, September 168. Thomas, C.Plantations, Peasants and State, ISER, U.W.I, Mona, 1984.

Conducting an Organizational Assessment Essay

The success of an organization depends heavily on its structure, strategies, and culture. In this assignment, you will develop an understanding of the importance of these elements in the success/failure of an enterprise. This assignment is the first of the two LASA assignments you will complete in this course. Using the Argosy University online library resources and the Internet, research methods of conducting internal and external environment analyses. Select at least three (3) scholarly sources to support the information in your report. Description of LASA: In this assignment, you will assess an organization’s current position in the internal and external environment. Scenario: You have been hired as a consultant to evaluate the performance of a manufacturing or service organization. As part of your function, you need to assess the organization’s current position with regard to their business operations, strategy, and organizational structure, as well as identify potential ethical issues management may face. The executive management team has asked you to submit a report of your findings. Instructions: Choose a publicly traded manufacturing or service organization to be the subject of your work for LASA 1 and LASA 2. (You should choose a different organization than you have used for previous assignments.) Select an organization about which there is an abundance of information made readily available to the public (via the corporate website, industry publications,  business journals, etc.). In preparation for your report, conduct your review of the organization using the following approach: †¢Evaluate the company’s business strategy and global competitiveness plan. †¢Conduct an internal assessment using SWOT analysis. †¢Assess the external environment via an external scenario evaluation. †¢Sketch the company’s organizational structure. †¢Using the tools of business process design, define the organization’s business process. †¢Identify any potential ethical issues that may impact the traditional management functions of the company and recommend preventative measures. Utilize at least three sources in your research. Your document should be written in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Write an 8–10-page report in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M3_A2.doc. By Wednesday, July 2, 2014, deliver your assignment to the M3: Assignment 2 LASA 1 Dropbox. LASA 1 Grading Criteria and Rubric Assignment Components Proficient Max Points Evaluate the company’s business strategy and global competitiveness plan. Evaluation of the business strategy and global competitiveness plan is  logical and reflects research of the company. Conduct an internal assessment using SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis provides an accurate account of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. All elements of the SWOT analysis are complete. Assess the external environment via an external scenario evaluation. External scenario evaluation is complete. Response reflects understanding of the organization and its place within the external environment. Diagram the company’s organizational structure. Organizational structure diagram is complete and accurate. Using the tools of business process design, define the organization’s business process. The organization’s business process is accurately defined. Response reflects an accurate understanding of business processes. Academic Writing Write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in appropriate and accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e., APA); and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Use of scholarly sources aligns with specified assignment requirements. Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in appropriate and accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Use of scholarly sources aligns with specified assignment requirements.

Active Listening in 4 Steps Essay

Active listening in 4 steps: The best managers make the best listeners Managers spend a good part of their workday listening to other people. But bear in mind, there’s a big difference between â€Å"passive† and â€Å"active† listening. Effective listening includes a four-step process to ensure understanding: 1. Listen to the total message.  2. Prove your understanding by using nonverbal signals. 3. Use open-ended probes. 4. Paraphrase what you hear. Motivating employees through realistic deadlines: 4 do’s and don’ts Without deadlines, employees flounder. They can’t be aware of the urgency or priorities of a project unless their supervisors tell them. Following are four tips on motivating employees by setting realistic deadlines: 1. Do be specific  Name the target day and time. And mean what you say. If you ask for completion â€Å"next week,† don’t complain on Friday that you really needed it on Wednesday. 2. Do clarify priorities Let people know if this assignment takes precedence over any other projects they’re working on now. Avoid the old, favorite deadline â€Å"ASAP,† which usually translates in an employee’s mind as â€Å"whenever it gets done.† 3. Don’t set false deadlines  Setting a deadline earlier than necessary (because you don’t trust your employees to meet the real deadline) creates more problems than it solves. Your staff will soon learn that’s how you operate and will assume there’s always air in the schedule. As a result, they’ll always miss that first deadline, just as you knew they would. 4. Do establish an update schedule  The best-laid plans can go astray, and so can deadlines. You’ll minimize the chance of this occurring by setting up a progress report schedule when you assign the project. This is especially important for long-term projects. Motivating employees to do their best each day: 6 office communication techniques Here are six tips for motivating employees to stay on task and work together toward the common goal, according to a report by OnPoint Consulting: 1. Clarify, clarify, clarify.  2. Establish clear expectations. 3. Don’t micromanage your entrepreneurial-minded employees. But do monitor them. 4. Encourage employees to share bad news with you. 5. Solve problems quickly, but not too quickly. 6. Encourage informal and spontaneous interaction. Managing employee retention: Listen for subtle whispers of employee turnover Most good employees don’t stand up one day and quit out of the blue. They send off subtle hints that, if you’re listening, you can act on before the good employee walks out the door. That’s why it’s important to listen to statements like these that can act as an â€Å"advance warning system† for employee turnover: * â€Å"This job isn’t what I thought it would be.† Rather than exploring what the employee was originally told or trying to defend miscommunication, focus on the present. Ask, â€Å"How do you want your job to be?† * â€Å"I’m at a plateau. I can’t grow here.† Consider that a plea for job stimulation. Provide the employee with new responsibilities, cross-training opportunities or exposure to influential mentors. * â€Å"I don’t get any feedback.† Most employees crave regular input from their supervisors. Don’t leave them in the dark. Plan regular sessions to discuss ongoing projects and performance. * â€Å"This place has too much politics.† While you may not be able to eliminate all dissension and politics in the organization, you can level with the employee. If someone makes this complaint, address rumors head-on, and don’t play favorites. Maintaining workplace productivity: 7 common employee gripes (and how to silence them) A recent study says that 40% of managers in the United States are considered â€Å"bad bosses† by their employees. Yet most managers assume that their relationships with their employees are running smoothly. Obviously, some of those bosses are wrong †¦ and that can create major problems for workplace productivity. A Gallup Poll says organizations are 50% less productive—and 44% less profitable—when serious boss-employee conflicts exist. Employee retention strategies: 8 little things managers can do to retain the best When good employees leave for greener pastures, it makes a manager’s job much more difficult. Managers can prevent this syndrome by doing what they can to make their own pasture the greenest. While compensation helps, it’s not always cash that makes pastures greener. When salaries are equal with the marketplace, other factors take priority. Here are eight easy-to-plant â€Å"seeds† that help keep employees growing and content, according to a KEYGroup report: 1. Keep them engaged. Consider ways to provide opportunities for employees to improve on their skills or learn new skills they can use in their jobs. 2. Give praise where praise is due. Recognizing a job well done isn’t an expensive proposition, but it will mean the world to your employee. 3. Be aware of employees’ changing needs. By recognizing their changing needs, you show sensitivity to what’s going on in their lives. This builds loyalty and helps bring stability to their personal lives, which means they can focus better at work. 4. Realize that great employees thrive under great leaders. Employees won’t leave for greener pastures unless you drive them. The buck starts and stops with their leaders. 5. Conduct regular â€Å"stay† interviews. Rather than exit interviews, use regular â€Å"stay† interviews to provide an opportunity to compliment high performers on their work and inspire them to do more. 6. Create an environment where people can do their best work. By allowing employees to develop and implement their own ideas, you’ll keep them passionate about their work. 7. Create an environment of trust. Employees are happier and work harder when they trust their leaders. They decide which leaders they can trust based on how their fellow employees, company vendors and customers are treated. 8. Rid your pasture of weeds. The weeds are those poor performers and negative employees who stifle the good attitudes and high performance of their co-workers. The bottom line: Striving to keep employees happy and engaged is not just a â€Å"nice† thing to do — it’s the only way to maximize workplace productivity. Thoughtful employee retention strategies are useful not just for retaining people to avoid the high cost of recruitment. Engaged employees are creative, productive, motivated and brimming with good ideas

Impact of Thomas Jefferson on John Adams based on David McCullough's Essay

Impact of Thomas Jefferson on John Adams based on David McCullough's bioigraphy - Essay Example Both men reveal an ongoing influence upon the other. In the later years, the author hints of a vilification of Jefferson to Adams in the mind of the popular press, yet the text itself implies otherwise, describing situations with a latent sympathy to the old comrades. Specifically, this paper will examine several key comparisons of the text which impart a moral description of Adams through ertain excesses of Jefferson. Jefferson is first introduced at the gathering of the Second Continental Congress, an opportunity the author uses to make a physical comparison with Adams, for where Adams was "stout, Jefferson was lean Where Adams was bald, Jefferson had a full head of thick coppery hair" (111). McCullough lists a number of other comparisons, of which the two most important ones were Adams hailing from Massachusetts while Jefferson came from a financially well-off Virginian aristocracy, thus, while both were extremely practiced in law, "Jefferson had never relished the practice of law as Adams had, nor felt the financial need to keep at it." (114). Jefferson is portrayed as speaking very little at this Congress, being deferential to Adams in almost all matters, although the gentlemen in general held a mutual respect and admiration for the other. Jefferson's assignment to write the Declaration of Independence is addressed by both men many years later. Jefferson recalls that he was asked and agreed, Adams claims that Jefferson tried to pass the work onto him (Adams), but that Adams refused for three reasons: 1) because that a Virginian representative should be involved in the forefront of the endeavor, 2) Adams saw himself as obnoxious and unpopular (a self-deprecation otherwise non-existent) and Jefferson the opposite, and 3) that Jefferson was the better writer. Despite Adams and the rest of the drafting committee, making minor changes, Adams promoting the skill of Jefferson's writing has proven to be a boon to successive American generations. When Jefferson was chosen as an ambassador to France in 1782 and sent to join Adams and Benjamin Franklin, who were already posted in Paris, Adams lauds the selection, claiming no one else compares to Jefferson character "in point of power or virtues." (318). This warmth is wholly absent from an earlier letter Jefferson had sent to James Madison, saying Adams's "vanity is a lineament in his character (and) his want of taste I had observed" (318). Despite some waffling, however, Jefferson does admit to Adams's integrity and usefulness in the position. To be fair, Jefferson was just leaving an unwelcome stint as governor of Virginia, a tenure culminating in his narrow escape from British invasion. Perhaps his vehemence in describing Adams is therefore related to an attempt to inflate his own worthiness, a latent desperation to receive the posting himself. For upon his arrival in Paris, Jefferson resumed very close relations with the entire Adams family. McCullough does point out a dis tinct difference in lifestyle here, for Jefferson, rather than assuming the modest lifestyle of the Adamses and living on the outskirts of the city, instead takes an apartment in the heart of the city and goes on wild shopping sprees. He lives in such a constant state of

Reasons for homelessness in New York City Essay

Reasons for homelessness in New York City - Essay Example Social and economic factors that have been associated with homelessness include poverty, reduction in the number of available low-income housing units, real dollar decreases in public assistance to low-income families, and reductions in demand for unskilled labor. 'Homelessness' is usually defined not exactly clearly, and the determining criterion is usually the absence of 'safe' or 'permanent' dwelling, but even this is ambiguous. "Many people live in intermediate or marginally secure accommodation, such as hostels or hotels" (Homelessness factfile, 2003,par.2), and in the homes of their friends and relatives as guests or lodgers. When all of them are satisfied with the state of affairs, the dwelling is reliable. If there happen any disagreements, the 'guest' might be forced to leave the accomodation. Identifying whether an individual in dwelling is housed or homeless is related to the permanence of the state of affeirs and on the control and rights this individual had over this dwelling. In general, it is accepted that those who sleep in the streets or stay in hostels or 'bad and breakfast' hotels are homeless, but this is a final point of agreement. Furthermore, other categories of people who have no stable housing (for instance, asylum se ekers, imprisoned people, those who have to stay at the hospital, those, who live in overcrowded household, women, who have fled domestic violence) are extremelydifficult to define the housing status. A single definition is hardly possible, so it was accepted that homeless people would be divided into two groups: 1. Statutory homeless people. Local administrations are obliged to examine applicants for housing according to homelessness legislation and to determine whether they are homeless deliberately or unintentionally; and whether they fit the standard for 'priority housing need'. The authorities are obliged to divide them into following groups: 'statutory' and 'nonstatutory' homeless citizens. All involuntarily homeless citizens who have dependent children or dependent relatives with serious ailments are to be given priority status for housing, as they are viewed as an extremely vulnerable group. 2. Non-statutory homeless people, who are 'not recognised by local authorities as homeless and in priority need of housing. Some have not applied to be rehoused, while others have had their application refused. Most are single and without dependent children, and so have come to be known as 'single homeless people' (Homelessness factfile, 2003,par.2). The 2003 survey undertaken in New York City was planned to find out reasons for homelessness most important to respondents at the time of the study. The questionnaire did not purposely ask about larger social problems, even though some respondents considered it necessary to refer to those in the verbatim explanations. The survey did identify a wide range of possible causes, including a lot of sensitive individual matters; on the empirically based hypothesis that individual usually react to direct questions with direct and sincere responses. As a result, the answers demonstrated a picture of the multifaceted and numerous layers of personal problems and experiences that may call for supporting services. These results should improve, not substitute, nationwide research (New York City Report, 2004, par.3) and decision-making on

Joint attention in autism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Joint attention in autism - Essay Example The expression ‘’far-away’’, with which the child is characterized, describes perfectly the lack of social interaction that people have with autism. This is one of the reasons why children with autism may be referred to as ‘aloof’ or ‘withdrawn’ as they appear disinterested in the world around them (Wall, 2004, 5). Other behavioural aspects that show the existence of autism are avoidance of eye contact, lack of desire to interact or play with other children or adults, lack of desire to establish relationships and friendships, inability to interpret people’s feelings and emotions, lack of verbal and non-verbal social communication as well as some restricted repertoire activities. One of the factors that prove to be problematic while handling social behaviour of children with autism is ‘joint attention’. It can be described as the process by which one alerts another about any observation via nonverbal means such a s gazing or pointing (Wikipedia). Impairment in joint attention is common in every person with autism and thus it is considered as a fundamental area that needs to be studied in depth. Joint attention in typical development In the early years of their lives, infants of typical development are capable only of involuntary signals; a thing that is similar to what other animals do that have limited social behaviour themselves. From an evolutionary point of view, behaviour exists for communication purposes as the older, more mature and cognitively developed people are able to interpret them correctly and therefore understand the children’s needs. But unlike other animals, human infants’ communication skills improve very quickly. They tend to develop new cognitive capacities that enable them to extract socially relevant information from the voices, faces and gestures of other people (Slater, Lewis, 2002, 264). After the first year of their lives, the infants develop rapidly in a cognitive level while leaving behind the limited capacities he used to have. He gets one step closer to a fully developed human being who is able to understand the intentions of others through their behaviour. During this period, the infants quickly learn the procedure of understanding other people’s mind through specific procedures. First they look into their mother’s eyes with delight and follow the direction of her gaze for information. Then, it has been observed that the children smile in response to their mother’s voice in order to get her attention. Finally, the infants babble syllables; using words symbolically to get people’s attention and influence their behaviour. Not after the first year will the ability of understanding other’s thoughts develop in the child. The mind reading ability, which distinguishes humans from other animals, develops gradually over the first year. This ability is spotted first within the non-verbal communicati on (gaze, gesture- in other words joint attention) of the children and then, it is manifested more clearly in the child’s ability to speak and understand language. Joint attention in autism Recent studies have shown that children with autism cannot initiate joint attention skills; a thing that is called ‘joint attention deficit’. It is described as ‘a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests or achievements with other people’ (American Psychiatric Association, 1995, p.72). Specifically, there are two different functions that joint attention behaviours seem to serve;