Educational Preparation Essay Example for Free

Educational Preparation Essay Difference in Competencies Between Associate and Baccalaureate Degree Nurses There is much controversy surrounding the issue of the difference in competencies between nurses educated at the Associate (ADN) and Baccalaureate (BSN) level. This paper will discuss those differences in relation to Professional values, and risk-taking propensity. This paper will discuss how, even though numerous studies have been done that show there is little difference between the competencies of ADNs and BSNs, there is, in fact, a distinct difference. No one can deny that the health care industry has come a long way. This does not exclude the nursing field. There is a huge push by the Magnet hospitals to maintain that 80% of their nursing staff carry baccalaureate degrees by the year 2020. This is due to changes in the healthcare delivery system, as well as cost-containment (Masters, 1989). While baccalaureate prepared nurses have better access to jobs as new graduates and are looked at as being better prepared for the clinical workforce, until they have been working in the clinical sector there is really no difference between the experience level of an associate or baccalaureate prepared nurse. There is also a gray area, because graduates of both levels of education take the same licensing exam, and also have the same legal responsibilities (Masters, 1989). In the article â€Å"Analysis of Differences in Entry-Level RN Practice by Educational Preparation†, June E. Smith states that there was a very close relationship in pattern of practice between recently graduated Associate and Baccalaureate nurses (2002). She also wrote that â€Å"Within the first 6 months of practice, ADN and BSN graduates performed activities with remarkably similar frequencies† (Smith, 2002, p. 494). It is shown in the article â€Å"Professional Values Held by Baccalaureate and Associate Degree Nursing Students†, that there have been â€Å"no significant differences found between the two groups† (Martin, 2003, P. 292). This particular study was done out of a random selection of graduating students from a number of baccalaureate and associate degree programs in the state of Texas. These nurses rated their professional values using the Nurses Professional Values Scale (NPVS), as taken from the 1985 American Nurses Association Code of Nursing (Martin, 2003). Findings of this study concluded that â€Å"senior nursing students in ADN programs did not differ significantly from their counterparts in BSN programs† (Martin, 2003, p. 293). According to Marcia L Masters, role differentiation between ADNs and BSNs is not â€Å"clearly defined in terms of decision making responsibility† (1989, p. 391). In this same article, Masters quotes W. Weiss (1985), â€Å"Taking risks means different things to different people.† One person may look at a situation as a challenge for success, where another will look at it as a threat of failure. Through the course of this study, it was found that nurses had a higher risk taking propensity than the normal population, but there were no significant differences in risk taking propensity noted between the ADNs and BSNs studied. This includes both education and experience. â€Å"Although in practice, BSNs may be given more opportunities for decision making, this study indicated the willingness to take the risk in making decisions is fairly evenly distributed between ADNs and BSNs† (Masters, 1989, p. 394). Contrary to what these studies have shown, there is a distinct difference in the competencies of ADNs and BSNs. According to the National League of Nursing (NLN, 2011), a baccalaureate degree expands on the knowledge and capabilities acquired in an associate program. Where associate programs focus on the patient and their family, baccalaureate programs tend to focus more on community nursing and leadership. There is a broader context of nursing that is learned in a baccalaureate program. In the article â€Å"The Differences Between Associate Degree Nurses and the Baccalaureate Degree Nurses†, The author states â€Å"a nurse with a BSN has more opportunities to work in a variety of health care settings that offer an extensive array of op portunities for professional growth. Baccalaureate-prepared nurses can be bedside nurses, educators, case managers, discharge planners, administrators, and work in public health, home health, and community clinics† (Moore, 2009). She continues to explain how associate prepared nurses are focused more on the technical aspects of care, where Baccalaureate prepared nurses are focused more on â€Å"evidenced-based clinical practice and leadership† (Moore, 2009). Moore also agrees that in skill competency, there is not much difference between ADNs and BSNs, but that â€Å"BSN nurses show greater critical thinking skills, better problem solving, and the development of clinical judgment; three skills of increasing importance for the increase in acuity of patients in hospitals and other health care settings† (2009). As a new graduate ADN, the author of this paper has insufficient experience to identify a specific patient care situation in which approaches to decision making may differ between associate and baccalaureate prepared nurses. It comes to light from research, however, that a baccalaureate prepared nurse is more competent in thinking on the fly. As stated earlier, baccalaureate prepared nurses have improved clinical judgement and problem solving skills, which are crucial in an emergency or trauma situation, where the patients have a higher acuity level. It seems that as far as newly graduated nurses are concerned, there is not much of a difference in bedside skill competencies between ADNs and BSNs. A baccalaureate degree, however, better prepares the newly graduated nurse for critical thinking, problem solving and better judgment in emergency situations. A baccalaureate degree gives the nurse more opportunities for advancement and movement within the nursing field, and also prepares the BSN for graduate study. This is important especially when it comes to the nation’s hospitals movement toward Magnet Status. References 1. Martin, P., Yarbrough, S., Alfred, D. (2003). Professional Values Held by Baccalaureate and Associate Degree Nursing Students. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Third Quarter, 291-296. Retrieved January 19, 2013, from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=cmedmAN=14562499site=eds-livescope=site 2. Masters, M., Masters, R. (1989). Risk-Taking Propensity of Nurses: ADN and BSN. Journal of Nursing Education, 28(9), 391-396. Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=rzhAN=1990100566site=eds-livescope=site 3. Moore, D. S., PhD., RN., CNM., MN., MPH. (n.d.). West Coast University: Deans Corner The Differences Between Associate Degree Nurses and the Baccalaureate Degree Nurses. West Coast University Nursing Programs Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire. Retrieved January 20, 2013, from http://www.westcoastuniversity.net/deanscorner/print.php?article=22 4. Ridley, R. (2008). The Relationship Between Nurse Education Level and Patient Safety: An Integrative Review. Journal of Nursing Education, 47(4), 149-156. Retrieved January 15, 2013, from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=rzhAN=2009885996site=eds-livescope=site 5. Smith, J. (2002). Analysis of Differences in Entry-Level RN Practice by Educational Preparation. Journal of Nursing Education, 41(11), 491-494. Retrieved January 18, 2013, from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=rzhAN=2003013823site=eds-livescope=site

Nurses in Works Progress Administration Memories :: Nursing Careers Professions Medical Essays

Nurses in Works Progress Administration Memories Evidence from American Life Histories: The Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 American nursing transformed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century from a family and community duty performed largely by untrained women in family homes, to paid labor performed by both trained and untrained women and men in a variety of settings. Distinctions between types of nurses increased in this transition. Life histories of nurses taken by Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) writers in the late 1930s provide valuable insight into the experience of some of these nurses. Enthusiast historians within the leadership of professional organizations have commonly focused on the accomplishments of notable nurses and professional organizations in what became a narrative of professional and societal progress. This narrative, whole providing much rich historical data and analysis, ignores the vast majority of nurses’ experience and voices. In the mid nineteen eighties, as nursing was increasingly embattled in a growing health care industry, historians, some from outside the nursing profession, began to examine this history. Barbara Melosh examined written and oral accounts of nurses in American from 1920 and through the Second World War in The Physician’s Hand: Work Culture and Conflict in American Nursing. She found that while the reform aim for nurse leaders in this period was professionalization, other nurses resisted or were distant from this process. For these nurses, the shared experience of the changing of the demands and rewards of nursing shaped their work and thinking. [1] Melosh attempts to place nursing within the context of women’s, labor and medical history. She proposes that the growing divisions within nursing itself arose from nurses’ position in the medical hierarchy, and the fight for both legitimate authority and control over the work process itself. She also posits that nurses developed an â€Å"occupational culture† that placed manual skill and direct patient contact over theoretical training at the same time that nursing elites were successfully winn ing a battle for degrees and credentialing over the apprenticeship model of the nineteenth century. [2] Lastly, she finds that while stratification of nursing as paid labor mirrored societal relations of gender, race and class, the experience of both apprenticeship and professionalization contributed to the separation of nursing from pre modern roots.[3] Susan Reverby in Ordered to Care: The Dilemma of American Nursing, 1850-1945, finds that the story of American nursing revolved around the women and an obligation to care†¦in a society that refuses to value caring.

The essay is about the game of baseball

The essay is about the game of baseball. It covers basic rules and terms applied in baseball. Each paragraph of the paper describes a particular issue of a game such a field structure, the process of the game itself, the role of each team-player, and the general goal of the game.The essay is structured in such a way that gives a comprehensive and consequent picture of what is baseball about.This work is a definition essay on a team game baseball. Americans had played bat-and-ball games for decades when, in 1845, Alexander Cartwright of New York devised the rules that created modern baseball. Cartwright’s game quickly became popular with young clerks and urban craftsmen. By 1860, baseball had spread throughout the Northeast, and by 1870 to the rest of the nation. Now, baseball is a game made up of two teams of nine players each on a baseball field.There are four bases – points which must be touched by a runner in order to score a run. Numbered counter-clockwise, first, s econd and third bases are cushions, sometimes informally referred to as bags, shaped as 15  in (38  cm) squares which are raised a short distance above the ground; together with home plate, the fourth â€Å"base†, they form a square with sides of 90  ft (27.4  m) called the diamond. Home base (plate) is a pentagonal rubber slab known as simply home. The playing field is divided into three main sections:(a)  Ã‚  Ã‚   The infield, containing the four bases, is for general defensive purposes bounded by the foul lines and within the grass line.(b)  Ã‚   The outfield is the grassed area beyond the infield grass line between the foul lines, and bounded by a wall or fence.(c)  Ã‚  Ã‚   Foul territory is the entire area outside the foul lines.The game is played in nine innings in which each team gets one turn to bat and try to score runs while the other pitches and defends in the field. An inning is broken up into two halves in which the away team bats in the top (first ) half, and the home team bats in the bottom (second) half.In baseball, the defense always has the ball — a fact that differentiates it from most other team sports. The teams switch every time the defending team gets three players of the batting team out.The winner is the team with the most runs after nine innings. If the home team is ahead after the top of the ninth, play does not continue into the bottom half. In the case of a tie, additional innings are played until one team comes out ahead at the end of an inning. If the home team takes the lead anytime during the bottom of the ninth or of any inning thereafter, play stops and the home team is declared the winner.The basic contest is always between the pitcher for the fielding team, and a batter. The pitcher throws — pitches —the ball towards home plate, where the catcher for the fielding team waits (in a crouched stance) to receive it. Behind the catcher stands the home plate umpire.The batter stands in one of the batter’s boxes and tries to hit the ball with a bat. The pitcher must keep one foot in contact with the top or front of the pitcher’s rubber — a 24†³ x 6†³ (~ 61 cm x 15 cm) plate located atop the pitcher’s mound — during the entire pitch, so he can only take one step backward and one forward in delivering the ball.The catcher’s job is to receive any pitches that the batter does not hit and to ‘call’ the game by a series of hand movements that signal to the pitcher what pitch to throw and where. If the pitcher disagrees with the call, he will ‘shake off’ the catcher by shaking his head; he accepts the sign by nodding. Each team has a different set of signals, though the number 1 is almost universal as a fast ball.The catcher’s role becomes more crucial depending on how the game is going, and how the pitcher responds to a given situation. Each pitch begins a new play, which might consist of n othing more than the pitch itself.Each half-inning, the goal of the defending team is to get three members of the other team out. A player who is out must leave the field and wait for his next turn at bat. There are many ways to get batters and baserunners out; some of the most common are catching a batted ball in the air, tag outs, force outs, and strikeouts.After the fielding team has put out three players from the opposing team, that half of the inning is over and the team in the field and the team at bat switch places; there is no upper limit to the number that may bat in rotation before three outs are recorded. Going through the entire order in an inning is referred to as â€Å"batting around†. It is indicative of a high scoring inning. A complete inning consists of each opposing side having a turn (three outs) on offense.The goal of the team at bat is to score more runs than the opposition; a player may do so only by batting, then becoming a base runner, touching all th e bases in order (via one or more plays), and finally touching home plate. To that end, the goal of each batter is to enable baserunners to score or to become a baserunner himself.The batter attempts to hit the ball into fair territory — between the baselines — in such a way that the defending players cannot get them or the baserunners out. In general, the pitcher attempts to prevent this by pitching the ball in such a way that the batter cannot hit it cleanly or, ideally, at all.A baserunner who successfully touches home plate after touching all previous bases in order scores a run. In an enclosed field, a fair ball hit over the fence on the fly is normally an automatic home run, which entitles the batter and all runners to touch all the bases and score. A home run hit with all bases occupied (‘bases loaded’) is called a grand slam.Referencesâ€Å"Baseball† Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball Accessed 25 April 2007.â€Å"Baseball rulles† Available from www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2003/baseball_rules.pdf Accessed 25 April 2007.

Accounting Standards And Its Effect On The Development Of...

History Accounting standards has been around for thousands and thousands of years. Statements and loss and statements of balance emerged in about 1600. The reason behind the financial statements was to obtain information regarding capital. In the nineteenth century, it became necessary to develop accounting records and reports that reflected capital employed in various ways. When the industrial revolution emerged in the United States it brought a need for more standard accounting principles. In 1934, Securities and Exchange Commission was created to prescribe accounting principles and reporting practices. In 1936 AICPA American Institute of Certified Public Accountants was created to have a large influence on the development of accounting theory. In 1973 FASB Financial Accounting Standard Board was created to show how accounting principal should be established and issued accounting standards. FASB mission is to establish and improve accounting and reporting standards for the guidanc e and education of the public. Financial Accounting Standard Boards was just born in 1973, and the rules for revenue recognition was just focusing on how income was earned. In 2003 the Securities of Exchange Commission (SEC) released SAB no. 104 it created four elements of recognizing revenue (SEC 2007, 2007). Importance of Revenue Recognition Revenue is very important because it is used by investors in assessing a company’s financial performance of the company and to see if that investorShow MoreRelatedCritical Review : Determination Of Accounting Standards1678 Words   |  7 PagesCritical Review Determination of Accounting Standards Ross L Watts Jerold L Zimmerman have put together this article on accounting standards and on the basis of moderately relative accounting theories and interpretations- tried exploring various factors that persuade business entities in lobbying on accounting standards. The size of the companies is also researched and concluded upon their approach towards certain accounting standards. The Data used in the article is derived from FASB’s discussionRead MoreThe Predictions And Effects Of Financial Accounting981 Words   |  4 Pageswill describe the predictions and effects of financial accounting reports to discuss the statement based on the previous answer. In the conclusion, the essay will explain how the question helps to understand the importance of learning about accounting in its context. Main Analysis Predictions of Financial Reporting There are four preconditions of financial accounting reporting. Firstly, there are debates that upheld and against the regulation of financial accounting. The supporters of the ‘free-market’Read MoreWhy Is Positive Accounting Standards?1162 Words   |  5 Pagestitled as â€Å"Towards a Positive Theory of Determination of Accounting Standards† published by American Accounting Association. It explores the factors that have been influencing management’s attitudes in lobbying on accounting standards. It describes an attempt made by two in evolution and development of the Positive Accounting Theory by reasoning, factors like taxes, regulations, management compensation plans, book keeping cots, etc. The results concerned with the theory are consistent. 2. SummaryRead MoreFinancial Management1486 Words   |  6 PagesContents Introduction 2 Summary of the Article 2 Overview of Positive Accounting 2 Research Question 3 Theoretical Framework: 3 The Significance and Limitations of the Article: 4 Findings of Article 4 Conclusions 5 Bibliography 5 References 6 Introduction The main purpose of this report is to focus the positive accounting theory â€Å"Towards a Positive Theory of the Determination of Accounting Standards† and written by (Watts Zimmerman, 1978) Ross L. Watts and Jerold L. ZimmermanRead MorePositive Accounting Theory Perspective And Examining A Case Study Foster s : Less Goodwill, Higher Earnings1561 Words   |  7 Pagescontemporary studies, it can be seen that the new accounting standard significantly impacts on profits of the firm. Simultaneously, the value of the firm is also affected by the new accounting standard. Secondly, when it is taken to account of the imposition of a particular accounting method, this imposition provides implications for the efficiency of the organization. This essay will clarify those two issues by using a Positive Accounting Theory perspective and examining a case study ‘Foster’s:Read MoreThe Impact of Contingencies on Management Accounting System Development.1725 Words   |  7 P agesTABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 2.0 Contingency Theory on Management Accounting SYSTEM 1 3.0 THE IMPACT OF CONTINGENCIES ON MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT 2 ( i ) Environment 2 ( ii ) Strategies and mission 3 ( iii ) Technology 4 ( iv ) Firm interdependence 4 ( v ) Business unit, firm, and industry variables 5 ( vi ) Knowledge and observables factors 5 ( vii ) Culture 6 4.0 Summary and Conclusions 6 5.0 REFERENCERead MoreThe Impact Of Accounting And Information Technology1704 Words   |  7 PagesIMPACT OF ACCOUNTING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Application of basic accounting theory is based on financial accounting practices used in the formation of a series of methods of the theory, mainly the development and implementation of accounting practice norms, is to guide and constrain accounting standards, the basis for evaluation of accounting. The development of accounting and information technology has given an impact to the accounting objectives, accounting assumptions and accounting informationRead MoreEssay on Bus310 Accounting Theory and Accountability954 Words   |  4 PagesBUS310 ACCOUNTING THEORY AND ACCOUNTABILITY WORKSHOP 1 SOLUTIONS 1) GHHT: Chapter 1: Theory in Action 1.1 The article describes how a particular theoretical approach has been replaced by another. Explain why one theory replaces another, and who, or what, determines whether an existing theory survives. A theory is primarily meant to explain or predict an event, behaviour or outcome. Proponents of a theory look for evidence to support the theory. This evidence should be independently observedRead MoreAccounting Analysis On Accounting Standards1740 Words   |  7 PagesAccounting regulation is a complete set of theories that identified the economic, social and political factors that are related with the development of accounting principles and standards and to serve the best interest of societies. In 1930 and 1972 GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and SSAP2 were introduced to reduce the accounting scandal and control and regulate the accounting. Later in the year, FASB (Federal Accounting Standard Board) introduced conceptual framework to provideRead MoreFinancial Accounting Theory the Reporting Environment1578 Words   |  7 PagesWeek 2: Topic 1: Financial Accounting Theory the Reporting Environment GHTHH Chapter 2 5. Researchers who develop positive theories and researchers who develop normative theories often do not share the same views about the roles of their respective approaches to theory construction. (a) How do positive and normative theories differ? (b) Can positive theories assist normative theories, or vice versa? If yes, give an example. If not, why not? Normative accounting research makes policy recommendations