My Favorite Season of the Year

My favorite season of the year is autumn. There are three main reasons why it is my favorite of the four seasons. During this season nature is an absolute wonder to see, Thanksgiving holiday occurs at this time, and the weather is perfect for many outdoor activities. The first reason I enjoy autumn so much, especially down here in the South, is because nature is such an absolute wonder to see during this time of the year. There are many animals that are preparing for the cold winter. A good way for me to get out in the wilderness and watch these spectacular events take place in nature is to go hunting.It really is a great experience for me. While hunting in the woods, I am enjoying listening to the different sounds that the birds are making. Then, out of nowhere, I hear the sound of dead leaves rustling all around me. I look around to see what is making the noise, and then I see them. Two squirrels are digging around for food. Then, all of a sudden they begin running, and they shoot straight up a tree one behind the other. After they get close to the top, they begin jumping from limb to limb and from tree to tree, one still following the other.Then they eventually disappear. I have seen this happen quite often with both chipmunks and squirrels. They like to sneak and hop around on top of the dead leaves, quickly searching and competing to gather the most nuts and acorns for their families for the winter. Something else I get to see in nature while hunting in the woods is the different beautiful colors of the leaves both up in the treetops and down on the floor of the woods. Some of the leaves are variations of red, golden yellow, or maybe even a combination of the two.Another way I like to see the beautiful leaves that autumn has to offer is to just ride around and take in all the wonderful sights. Seeing the different colors of the leaves is my favorite part of nature during autumn. The leaves really are quite a sight to see. The second reason autumn is my fav orite season is because Thanksgiving occurs during this time. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. It is the holiday for giving thanks to all of those in my life whom I love and care for. There are many things I like about the Thanksgiving holiday.One thing I like is the road trip my family and I take every year to visit our families. My family includes me, my dad and stepmom, my two younger brothers who are seventeen and twelve, my little sister who is nine, and my cousin who is fourteen. On the way traveling to Madisonville, Tennessee, we get to see nature at its prettiest. The treetops are absolutely beautiful with their different shades of red and yellow. It takes us about two hours to get to where we are going, so we have to figure out things to do to entertain ourselves while enjoying the beautiful scenery.One way to spend the time is to talk. We all discuss what has been going on in our lives, such as school, work, politics, and many other areas of life. Something else we do along the way is to play different games like I Spy. We see who can spot the most cars of a certain brand or color, or we play trivia games. Another favorite activity we like to do is to sing songs and just have a grand ole time. For me a road trip like this is a great way to spend quality time with the family. The second reason why Thanksgiving is so appealing to me is because of our great family reunion we have every year.It is a very good time for family members who have not seen one another in a year or more to reunite for Thanksgiving. Some family members who usually show up are the following: of course my great aunts and uncles and my cousins and their sides of the family who live there in Tennessee where we have our reunion, my family from Georgia, including my grandfather and my aunt and uncle, and my aunt and uncle and their children who travel all the way from Texas. It is quite a pleasure for me to see everybody talking and laughing and just having a great tim e enjoying one another’s company.Third, and probably my favorite part about Thanksgiving, is the massive amount of deliciously fulfilling food I get to eat on this wonderful holiday. I probably gain around ten to fifteen pounds throughout the Thanksgiving weekend! Let’s start with appetizers. We have nice, juicy, mouth-watering turkey and chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob, those sweet English peas that just dissolve in my mouth, homemade macaroni and cheese, all different kinds of pastas and veggies, and one of my favorites, the freshly baked, sweet-smelling, buttered rolls. Mmmmm!I am becoming hungry just thinking about them. Then there are the delicious desserts. My favorites are that creamy banana pudding my aunt makes, pineapple upside down cake, and the sweet, moist strawberry shortcake. But do not be mistaken. We have brownies, different kinds of cakes such as red velvet, German chocolate, regular chocolate, and cheesecake. Oh, and w e have many varieties of tasty pie. So those are some good reasons I enjoy Thanksgiving so much, making autumn my favorite season. The third reason autumn is such an awesome season is that it provides excellent weather for several outdoor activities.I really can appreciate the perfect weather fall brings along with it. Taking a weekend hiking and camping trip with my friends or family out in the wilderness of the mountains is always fun. This is especially true when the sun is out, the temperature stays around fifty to sixty degrees, and the winds are calm throughout the day. On this trip I spend with my friends, we fish from the ice cold river or creek to catch lunch and dinner with the warmth of the sun on our backs. Later, during the evening when the temperature drops, we get the fire started and everybody sits around it and sings, talks, tells stories, and just has a grand ole time.Sitting next to the hot fire, I can feel the heat from the flames warming my face, and my nose bec omes filled with the sweet smell of wood burning. There are other things I like to do as well. I like to go cycling or running and feel the nice cool air blow over my skin to cool my body down. These two activities have three advantages to them. It is good exercise, I can do it almost anywhere, and it is a good way to enjoy those cool days fall has to offer. It’s a three for one deal, baby! All of these are enjoyable activities for me to do with my friends or family, but sometimes I like to do them alone.Mainly, these are some activities that bring people closer together and are enjoyable to do during the fall because the weather is perfect. Autumn is neither too hot nor too cold. It is a season that keeps me active. In conclusion, these are three positive traits about the season of autumn I enjoy the most. Nature is an absolute wonder to see during the season of autumn, Thanksgiving occurs, and the weather during this season is perfect for many outdoor activities. All in all , autumn is the best season of the year and my favorite for these three reasons.

Plato and Socrates Paper

Writing Assignment #1 Philosophy consists of an intellectual battle of differing opinions between the ideal reality and factual thinking. Our own opinions are a way in which were explaining physical or fantastical terms. This intellectual battle rivals between Plato’s philosophy, which consists of a more abstract thinking process versus more scientific philosophers as Thales, who was a more practical thinker attempting to disentangle science and magic, and dared to think about the world without first thinking of God. Osborne, p 5) If you look deeper into this battle you see how it deals with the function of human beings. Plato and Socrates saw many of these scientific thinkers and Sophists as being scatter-brained because of their lack of aesthetic order. The Sophists were more interested in man himself and how he behaved. In this case the basic mechanics in man doing things for himself. While Socrates was left as the opponent to this Sophist way of thinking, he was more conce rned with morality, discovering the just, true, and good.Philosophy to Socrates was more then just a profession of what man can do, rather a way of life in examining ones self. By even using his method of dialect and use of irony Socrates would expose false claims of wisdom to move towards knowledge of man’s own nature, only convinced that it could be achieved through hard work. Like Socrates, Plato’s philosophy had the same intake that man had more to think about then just himself, rather the aim to use reasoning in thinking for themselves. Plato discusses how ideas are real, and the particular is only apparent through his idea about the word ‘horse’.Plato is referring to when said something, as he said a horse, does not necessarily mean the physical animal of a horse, but more then that, more or less the idea of a horse through space and time. This theory of ideas of Plato apparently caused many philosophers to be come scatter-brained, in the sense that at that time many people could not look beyond the physical idea or reality of something or someone. Now though, philosophers like Plato or Socrates for instance, are looking beyond the physical reality and opening the doors to looking at a deeper meaning of life and man himself.We are starting to look at patterns of thought even beyond the physical studies, a frustration with our minds, because we are so dependent on physical studies in the physical world. Everything changes in time and the physical does not allow us to have a universal, or consistency, even with the way we recollect experiences. Knowledge is remembering or anamnesis, the soul or mind has passed through a series of embodied and disembodied states, and the knowledge from these previous cycles needs merely to be awakened. Osborne, p 14) Plato insists that perception and experiences retain a realm of their own. Meaning, if you have an experience in the ideal world then you bring that experience back into the physical real world of objects, and that physical world of objects changes over time. Plato distinguished the difference between appearance and reality in his famous simile of the cave; where a man was prisoner in a cave and saw reality as what he saw in the cave, the furthest being the shadows on the walls.Once he escapes though, he sees the real world beyond the world he saw within the shadows of the caves. Although after returning back to the cave, he sees that he is more stupid then before. That man after being exposed to the real world, beyond what he knew around him, was then overwhelmed by his surroundings, then knowing he had to revert back to his simple reality world of the cave. In order to fully understand knowledge and appearances, Plato improved the theory of hypothesis, showing that if a fact didn’t square with a hypothesis then a new hypothesis was needed. Osborne, p 15) There was always that constant search for a more general hypothesis, ultimately striving for univers al truth, which explains the good. In the Republic, Plato outlines what he believes as his ideal city-state; taking three classes: the elite guardians, the soldiers, and the masses, and three structures: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy, and puts an emphasis on social mobility amongst these groups. The individual soul is divided into three, which this structure repeats itself in the state. Osborne, p 15) Plato takes his knowledge of the structure and classes within society and applies it to the individual. In order to show where in his mind people stood based on their standing in society, regarding reason, courage, and appetites. Through Plato’s philosophy of moving towards the abstract ideal world of thought, he attempted to solve the issue of being scatter-brained, or lack of aesthetic order. By opening up the door to looking deeper amongst the physical reality of what we know to be and into a whole new dimension into an ideal world utside of space and time, Plato gives u s the ability to enable ourselves to think in the light of reason. Solving the scatter-brained lack of aesthetic order, bringing each one of us to harmony. Bibliography – Osborne, Richard, and Ralph Edney. Philosophy for Beginners. New York: Writers and Readers Pub. , 1992. Print. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Osborne, Richard, Philosophy for Beginners, page 5. [ 2 ]. Osborne, Richard, Philosophy for Beginners, page 14. [ 3 ]. Osborne, Richard, Philosophy for Beginners, page 15. [ 4 ]. Osborne, Richard, Philosophy for Beginners, page 15.

Hosptial Acquired Infection

Propose how would you minimise the occurrence of hospital acquired infection and monitor degree of success of these measures. INTRODUCTION The occurrence and undesirable complications from hospital acquired infections (HAIs) have been well recognized for the last several decades. The occurrence of HAIs continues to escalate at an alarming rate. HAIs originally referred to those infections associated with admission in an acute-care hospital (formerly called a nosocomial infection).These unanticipated infections develop during the course of health care treatment and result in significant patient illnesses and deaths (morbidity and mortality); prolong the duration of hospital stays; and necessitate additional diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, which generate added costs to those already incurred by the patient’s underlying disease (Bauman, 2011). HAIs are considered an undesirable outcome, and as some are preventable, they are considered an indicator of the quality of pati ent care, an adverse event, and a patient safety issue.Patient safety studies published in 1991 reveal the most frequent types of adverse events affecting hospitalized patients are adverse drug events, nosocomial infections, and surgical complications (Aboelela, 2006). Over years there is an alarming increase in HAI, which is influenced by factors such as increasing inpatient acuity of illness, inadequate nurse-patient staffing ratios, unavailability of system resources, and other demands that have challenged health care providers to consistently apply evidence-based recommendations to maximize prevention efforts. Read Chapter 8 Microbial GeneticsDespite these demands on health care workers and resources, reducing preventable HAIs remains an imperative mission and is a continuous opportunity to improve and maximize patient safety. Another factor emerging to motivate health care facilities to maximize HAI prevention efforts is the growing public pressure on State legislators to enact laws requiring hospitals to disclose hospital-specific morbidity and mortality rates.Institute of Medicine report identified HAIs as a patient safety concern and recommends immediate and strong mandatory reporting of other adverse health events, suggesting that public monitoring may hold health care facilities more accountable to improve the quality of medical care and to reduce the incidence of infections. Monitoring both process and outcome measures and assessing their correlation is a model approach to establish that good processes lead to good health care outcomes.Process measures should reflect common practice s, apply to a variety of health care settings, and have appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria. Examples include insertion practices for central intravenous catheters, appropriate timing of antibiotic prophylaxis in surgical patients, and rates of influenza vaccination for health care workers and patients. Outcome measures should be chosen based on the frequency, severity, and preventability of the outcome events. Examples include intravascular catheter-related blood stream infection rates and surgical-site infections in selected operations.Although these occur at relatively low frequency, the severity is high—these infections are associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and excess health care costs—and there are evidence-based prevention strategies available (Filetoth, 2003). PATIENTS RISK FACTORS FOR HEALTH CARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS Transmission of infection within a hospittal requires three elements: a source of infecting microorganisms, a susceptibl e host, and a means of transmission for the microorganism to the host.During the delivery of health care, patients can be exposed to a variety of exogenous microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa) from other patients, health care personnel, or visitors. Other reservoirs include the patient’s endogenous flora (e. g. , residual bacteria residing on the patient’s skin, mucous membranes, gastrointestinal tract, or respiratory tract) which may be difficult to suppress and inanimate environmental surfaces or objects that have become contaminated (e. g. , patient room touch surfaces, equipment, medications).The most common sources of infectious agents causing HAI, described are the individual patient, medical equipment or devices, the hospital environment, the health care personnel, contaminated drugs, contaminated food, and contaminated patient care equipment. Patients have varying susceptibility to develop an infection after exposure to a pathogenic organism. Some people have innate protective mechanisms and will never develop symptomatic disease and others exposed to the same microorganism may establish a commensal relationship and retain the organisms as an asymptomatic carrier (colonization) or develop an active isease process. Intrinsic risk factors predispose patients to HAIs. The higher likelihood of infection is reflected in vulnerable patients who are immunocompromised, underlying diseases, severity of illness, immunosuppressive medications, or medical/surgical treatments (Bauman, 2011). Extrinsic risk factors include surgical or other invasive procedures, diagnostic or therapeutic interventions (e. g. , invasive devices, implanted foreign bodies, organ transplantations, immunosuppressive medications), and personnel exposures.In addition to providing a portal of entry for microbial colonization or infection, they also facilitate transfer of pathogens from one part of the patient’s body to another, from health care worker to patient, or from patient to health care worker to patient. Infection risk associated with these extrinsic factors can be decreased with the knowledge and application of evidence-based infection control practices. Among patients and health care personnel, microorganisms are spread to others through four common routes of transmission: contact (direct and indirect), respiratory droplets, airborne spread, and common vehicle.Contact transmission is the most important and frequent mode of transmission in the health care setting. Organisms are transferred through direct contact between an infected or colonized patient and a susceptible health care worker or another person. Microorganisms that can be spread by contact include those associated with impetigo, abscess, diarrheal diseases, scabies, and antibiotic-resistant organisms (e. g. , methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus [MRSA] and vancomycin-resistant enterococci [VRE]).Droplet-size body fluids containing microorganisms can be generated during coughing, sneezing, talking, suctioning, and bronchoscopy. They are propelled a short distance before settling quickly onto a surface. They can cause infection by being deposited directly onto a susceptible person’s mucosal surface (e. g. , conjunctivae, mouth, or nose) or onto nearby environmental surfaces, which can then be touched by a susceptible person who autoinoculates their own mucosal surface.Examples of diseases where microorganisms can be spread by droplet transmission are pharyngitis, meningitis, and pneumonia. When small-particle-size microorganisms (e. g. , tubercle bacilli, varicella, and rubeola virus) remain suspended in the air for long periods of time, they can spread to other people. The CDC has described an approach to reduce transmission of microorganisms through airborne spread in its Guideline for Isolation Precautions in Hospitals. Proper use of personal protective equipment (e. g. gloves, masks, and gowns), aseptic technique, hand hy giene, and environmental infection control measures are primary methods to protect the patient from transmission of microorganisms from another patient and from the health care worker (Filetoth, 2003). Personal protective equipment also protects the health care worker from exposure to microorganisms in the health care setting. Common vehicle (common source) transmission applies when multiple people are exposed to and become ill from a common inanimate vehicle of contaminated food, water, medications, solutions, devices, or equipment.Bacteria can multiply in a common vehicle but viral replication cannot occur. Examples include improperly processed food items that become contaminated with bacteria, waterborne shigellosis, bacteremia resulting from use of intravenous fluids contaminated with a gram-negative organism, contaminated multi-dose medication vials, or contaminated bronchoscopes. Common vehicle transmission is likely associated with a unique outbreak setting and will not be di scussed further in this document. STEPS TO MINIMISE THE RISKEssential components of effective infection control programs included conducting organized surveillance and control activities, a trained infection control physician, an infection control nurse for every 250 beds, and a process for feedback of infection rates to clinical care staff. These programmatic components have remained consistent over time and are adopted in the infection control standards of the Joint Commission. The evolving responsibility for operating and maintaining a facility-wide effective infection control program lies within many domains.Both hospital administrators and health care workers are tasked to demonstrate effectiveness of infection control programs, assure adequate staff training in infection control, assure that surveillance results are linked to performance measurement improvements, evaluate changing priorities based on ongoing risk assessments, ensure adequate numbers of competent infection cont rol practitioners, and perform program evaluations using quality improvement tools as indicated. a)Infection Control PersonnelIt has been demonstrated that infection control personnel play an important role in preventing patient and health care worker infections and preventing medical errors. An infection control practitioner (ICP) is typically assigned to perform ongoing surveillance of infections for specific wards, calculate infection rates and report these data to essential personnel, perform staff education and training, respond to and implement outbreak control measures, and consult on employee health issues.This specialty practitioner gains expertise through education involving infection surveillance, infection control, and epidemiology from current scientific publications and basic training courses offered by professional organizations or health care institutions. The Certification Board of Infection Control offers certification that an ICP has the standard core set of knowl edge in infection control. Expert review panel recommends 1 full-time ICP for every 100 occupied beds (Filetoth, 2003).To maximize successful strategies for the prevention of infection and other adverse events associated with the delivery of health care in the entire spectrum of health care settings, infection control personnel and departments must be expanded. b)Nursing Responsibilities Clinical care staff and other health care workers are the frontline defense for applying daily infection control practices to prevent infections and transmission of organisms to other patients.Although training in preventing bloodborne pathogen exposures is required annually by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, clinical nurses (registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nursing assistants) and other health care staff should receive additional infection control training and periodic evaluations of aseptic care as a planned patient safety activity. Nurses have the uni que opportunity to directly reduce health care–associated infections through recognizing and applying evidence-based procedures to prevent HAIs among patients and protecting the health of the staff.Clinical care nurses directly prevent infections by performing, monitoring, and assuring compliance with aseptic work practices; providing knowledgeable collaborative oversight on environmental decontamination to prevent transmission of microorganisms from patient to patient; and serve as the primary resource to identify and refer ill visitors or staff. PREVENTION STRATERGIES Multiple factors influence the development of HAIs, including patient variables (e. g. , acuity of illness and overall health status), patient care variables (e. g. antibiotic use, invasive medical device use), administrative variables (e. g. , ratio of nurses to patients, level of nurse education, permanent or temporary/float nurse), and variable use of aseptic techniques by health care staff. Although HAIs a re commonly attributed to patient variables and provider care, researchers have also demonstrated that other institutional influences may contribute to adverse outcomes. To encompass overall prevention efforts, a list of strategies are reviewed that apply to the clinical practice of an individual health care worker as well as institutional supportive measures.Adherence to these principles will demonstrate that you H. E. L. P. C. A. R. E. This acronym is used to introduce the following key concepts to reduce the incidence of health care–associated infections. It emphasizes the compassion and dedication of nurses where their efforts contribute to reduce morbidity and mortality from health care–associated infections. Hand Hygiene For the last 160 years, we have had the scientific knowledge of how to reduce hand contamination and thereby decrease patient infection.Epidemiologic studies continue to demonstrate the favorable cost-benefit ratio and positive effects of simple hand washing for preventing transmission of pathogens in health care facilities. The use of antiseptic hand soaps (i. e. , ones containing chlorhexidine) and alcohol-based hand rubs also effectively reduce bacterial counts on hands when used properly. Although standards for hand hygiene practices have been published with an evidence-based guideline and professional collaborations have produced the How-to-Guide: Improving Hand Hygiene, there is no standardized method or tool for measuring adherence to institutional policy.Key points †¢The practice of appropriate hand hygiene and glove usage is a major contributor to patient safety and reduction in HAIs. It is more cost effective than the treatment costs involved in a health care–associated infection. †¢Joint Commission infection control standards include hand washing and HAI sentinel event review, which are applicable to ambulatory care, behavioral health care, home care, hospitals, laboratories, and long-term care o rganizations accredited by the Joint Commission. Hand hygiene is the responsibility of the individual practitioner and the institution. Developing a patient safety culture backed by administrative support to provide resources and incentives for hand washing is crucial to a successful outcome. †¢Hand hygiene promotion should be an institutional priority. †¢Select methods to promote and monitor improved hand hygiene. Monitor outcomes of adherence to hand hygiene in association with reduced incidence of HAI. †¢Establish an evaluation model to recognize missed opportunities for appropriate hand hygiene.Environmental cleanliness The health care environment surrounding a patient contains a diverse population of pathogenic microorganisms that arise from a patient’s normal, intact skin or from infected wounds. Approximately 106 flat, keratinized, dead squamous epithelium cells containing microorganisms are shed daily from normal skin, and patient gowns, bed linens, and bedside furniture can easily become contaminated with patient flora. Surfaces in the patient care setting can also be contaminated with pathogenic organisms (e. g. from a patient colonized or infected with MRSA, VRE, or Clostridium difficile) and can harbor viable organisms for several days. Contaminated surfaces, such as blood pressure cuffs, nursing uniforms, faucets, and computer keyboards, can serve as reservoirs of health care pathogens and vectors for cross-contamination to patients. It is necessary to consistently perform hand hygiene after routine patient care or contact with environmental surfaces in the immediate vicinity of the patient. Infection control procedures are recommended to reduce cross-contamination under the following situations. . Use EPA-registered chemical germicides for standard cleaning and disinfection of medical equipment that comes into contact with more than one patient. 2. If Clostridium difficile infection has been documented, use hypochlorite-base d products for surface disinfection as no EPA-registered products are specific for inactivating the spore form of the organism. 3. Ensure compliance by housekeeping staff with cleaning and disinfection procedures, particularly high-touch surfaces in patient care areas (e. . , bed rails, carts, charts, bedside commodes, doorknobs, or faucet handles). 4. When contact precautions are indicated for patient care (e. g. , MRSA, VRE, C. difficile, abscess, diarrheal disease), use disposable patient care items (e. g. , blood pressure cuffs) wherever possible to minimize cross-contamination with multiple drug-resistant microorganisms. 5. Advise families, visitors, and patients regarding the importance of hand hygiene to minimize the spread of body substance contamination (e. g. respiratory secretions or fecal matter) to surfaces. A patient safety goal could be to adopt a personal or an institutional pledge, similar to the following: I (or name of health care facility) am committed to ensurin g that proper infection control and environmental disinfection procedures are performed to reduce cross-contamination and transmission so that a person admitted or visiting to this facility shall not become newly colonized or infected with a bacterium derived from another patient or health care worker’s microbial flora.Leadership Health care workers dedicate enormous effort to providing care for complex medical needs of patients, to heal, to continuously follow science to improve the quality of care—all the while consciously performing to the best of their ability to Primum non nocere (First, do no harm). Though medical errors and adverse events do occur, many can be attributed to system problems that have impacted processes used by the health care worker, leading to an undesired outcome.Responsibility for risk reduction involves the institution administrators, directors, and individual practitioners. It is clear that leaders drive values, values drive behaviors, and b ehaviors drive performance of an organization. The collective behaviors of an organization define its culture. The engagement of nursing leaders to collaborate with coworkers and hospital administrators in safety, teamwork, and communication strategies are critical requirements to improve safe and reliable care.Each institution must communicate the evidence-based practices to health care staff, have access to expertise about infection control practices, employ the necessary resources and incentives to implement change, and receive real-time feedback of national and comparative hospital-specific data. Health care institutions simply must expect more reliable performance of essential infection-control practices, such as hand hygiene and proper use of gloves. It is no longer acceptable for hospitals with substandard adherence to these basic interventions to excuse their performance as being no worse than the dismal results in published reports.Institution improvements should focus on p rocess improvements that sustain best practices, using multifactorial approaches, and a commitment from the top administration through all levels of staff and employees to implement best practices. Use of personal protective equipment Infection control practices to reduce HAI include the use of protective barriers (e. g. , gloves, gowns, face mask, protective eyewear, face shield) to reduce occupational transmission of organisms from the patient to the health care worker and from the health care worker to the patient.Personal protective equipment (PPE) is used by health care workers to protect their skin and mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth from exposure to blood or other potentially infectious body fluids or materials and to avoid parenteral contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard states that health care workers should receive education on the use of protective barriers to prevent occupational exposures, be able to identify work-related infection risks, and have access to PPE and vaccinations.Proper usage, wear, and removal of PPE are important to provide maximum protection to the health care worker. Various types of masks, goggles, and face shields are worn alone or in combination to provide barrier protection. A surgical mask protects a patient against microorganisms from the wearer and protects the health care worker from large-particle droplet spatter that may be created from a splash-generating procedure. When a mask becomes wet from exhaled moist air, the resistance to airflow through the mask increases.This causes more airflow to pass around edges of the mask. The mask should be changed between patients, and if at anytime the mask becomes wet, it should be changed as soon as possible. Gowns are worn to prevent contamination of clothing and to protect the skin of health care personnel from blood and body fluid exposures. Gowns specially treated to make them impermeable to liquids, le g coverings, boots, or shoe covers provide greater protection to the skin when splashes or large quantities of potentially infective material are present or anticipated.Gowns are also worn during the care of patients infected with epidemiologically important microorganisms to reduce the opportunity for transmission of pathogens from patients or items in their environment to other patients or environments. When gowns are worn, they must be removed before leaving the patient care area and hand hygiene must be performed. Wise use of antimicrobials Over the last several decades, a shift in the etiology of more easily treated pathogens has increased toward more antimicrobial-resistant pathogens with fewer options for therapy.Infections from antimicrobial-resistant bacteria increase the cost of health care, cause higher morbidity and mortality, and lengthen hospital stays compared to infections from organisms susceptible to common, inexpensive antimicrobials (Aboelela, 2006). Antimicrobia l resistance has continued to emerge as a significant hospital problem affecting patient outcomes by enhancing microbial virulence, causing a delay in the administration of effective antibiotic therapy, and limiting options for available therapeutic agents.Authors of evidence-based guidelines on the increasing occurrence of multidrug-resistant organisms propose these interventions: stewardship of antimicrobial use, an active system of surveillance for patients with antimicrobial-resistant organisms, and an efficient infection control program to minimize secondary spread of resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship includes not only limiting the use of inappropriate agents, but also selecting the appropriate antibiotic, dosage, and duration of therapy to achieve optimal efficacy in managing infections (Aboelela, 2006).Hospital campaigns to prevent antimicrobial resistance include steps to (1) employ programs to prevent infections, (2) use strategies to diagnose and treat infections effec tively, (3) operate and evaluate antimicrobial use guidelines (stop orders, restrictions, and criteria-based clinical practice guidelines), and (4) ensure infection control practices to reduce the likelihood of transmission. Nurse practitioners have a role as part of the health care team diagnosing and treating infections appropriately and should be familiar with strategies to improve antimicrobial use.All health care workers play a critical role in reducing the risk of transmission. Respiratory hygiene Respiratory viruses are easily disseminated in a closed setting such as a health care facility and can cause outbreaks that contribute to the morbidity of patients and health care staff. Personnel and patients with a respiratory illness commonly transmit viruses through droplet spread. Droplets are spread into the air during sneezing, talking, and coughing and can settle on surfaces.Transmission occurs by direct contact with mucous membranes or by touching a contaminated surface and self-inoculating mucous membranes. Respiratory viruses can sometimes have aerosol dissemination. Precautions to prevent the transmission of all respiratory illnesses, including influenza, have been developed. The following infection control measures should be implemented at the first point of contact with a symptomatic or potentially infected person. Occupational health policies should be in place to guide management of symptomatic health care workers. 1.Post visual alerts (in appropriate languages) at the entrance to outpatient facilities instructing patients and escorts (e. g. , family, friends) to notify health care personnel of symptoms of a respiratory infection when they first register for care. 2. Patients and health care staff should consistently practice the following: a. Cover the nose/mouth when coughing or sneezing. b. Use tissues to contain respiratory secretions and dispose of them in the nearest waste receptacle after use. c. Perform hand hygiene after having contact with respiratory secretions and contaminated objects or materials. . During periods of increased respiratory infection activity in the community or year-round, offer masks to persons who are coughing. Either procedure masks (i. e. , with ear loops) or surgical masks (i. e. , with ties) may be used to contain respiratory secretions. Encourage coughing persons to sit at least 3 feet away from others in common waiting areas. 4. Health care personnel should wear a surgical or procedure mask for close contact (and gloves as needed) when examining a patient with symptoms of a respiratory infection.Maintain precautions unless it is determined that the cause of symptoms is not an infectious agent (e. g. , allergies). CONCLUSION It is the responsibility of all health care providers to enact principles of care to prevent hospital acquired infections, though not all infections can be prevented. Certain patient risk factors such as advanced age, underlying disease and severity of illness, and s ometimes the immune status are not modifiable and directly contribute to a patient’s risk of infection.Depending on the patient’s susceptibility, a patient can develop an infection due to the emergence of their own endogenous organisms or by cross-contamination in the health care setting. Nurses can reduce the risk for infection and colonization using evidence-based aseptic work practices that diminish the entry of endogenous or exogenous organisms via invasive medical devices. Proper use of personal protective barriers and proper hand hygiene is paramount to reducing the risk of exogenous transmission to a susceptible patient.Health care workers should be aware that they can pick up environmental contamination of microorganisms on hands or gloves, even without performing direct patient care. Proper use and removal of PPE followed by hand hygiene will reduce the transient microbial load that can be transmitted to self or to others. ? REFERENCE †¢Aboelela S W, Saim an L, Stone P, et al. (2006) Effectiveness of barrier precautions and surveillance cultures to control transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms: a systematic review of the literature. J Infect Control, vol: 34(8):484–94. Bauman W R (2011), Microbiology with disease taxonomy, Pearson International Edition, 4th Edition, Pg no: 430 – 434. †¢Carlos F (2007), Antimicrobial resistance in Bacteria, Horizon Bioscience Publications, Pg no: 7 – 14. †¢Filetoth Z (2003), Hospital Acquired Infection, Whurr publishers, Pg no: 97 – 102, 180 – 196, 220 – 232. †¢I W Fong, Drlica K(2008), Antimicrobial resistance and implication for the 21st century, Springer publications, Pg no: 231- 235. †¢Madigan M, Martinko J, Stahl D (2009), Brock Biology of Microorganisms, Pearsons Publications, 13th Edition, Pg no: 954- 957. Muto C A, Jernigan J A, Ostrowsky BE, et al. (2003) SHEA guideline for preventing nosocomial transmission of multidrug-re sistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus. Infect Cont Hosp Epidem, Vol: 24(5):362–86. †¢Ryan J, Ray C G et al. (2010), Sherris Medical Microbiology, International Edition, 5th Edition, Pg no: 89 – 98. †¢Wyllie D, Connor L, Walker S, Davies J et al (2013), Annual Report of Chief Medical Officier, Chapter 4: Health care associated infections, Pg no: 63-72. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette in healthcare settings. 2010. [Accessed march 2013]. Available at: http://www. cdc. gov/flu/professionals/infectioncontrol/resphygiene. htm. †¢Institute for Healthcare Improvement. How-to guide: improving hand hygiene. a guide for improving practices among health care workers. [Accessed March 2013]. Author. Available at: http://www. ihi. org/IHI/Topics/CriticalCare/IntensiveCare/Tools/HowtoGuideImprovingHandHygiene. htm.

Education in Germany vs Education in China Essay

Education in Germany vs Education in China - Essay Example This has allowed every individual to get educated and encourage others to join educational institutions so as to acquire knowledge and skills. Education enlightens thoughts and beliefs of individuals, making them eligible for this competitive world. So, education is encouraged by every developing and developed country since they require highly educated workface for its industries in order to add value to the economy (Li, 2013; KPMG, 2010). Germany and China forms two different systems and follow individual traditions. Both the countries are approaching globalisation and have already encountered a number of challenges, which have strengthened their determination towards overcoming any further issues. China is identified as a booming market for future generation and Germany as the driving force of economy in Europe (KPMG, 2010; Rudolph, 2014). The countries in order to maintain this position try to employ the best and modern technology, which provides them the support to stay ahead of other nations. For maintaining best technology and apply most apt process, efficient employees are required. The employees are basically residents of the countries who give in their full effort for contributing to companies wherein they work as well as development of the economy (KPMG, 2010). The famous slogan â€Å"Education needs modernization and modernization needs education† (KPMG, 2010) highlights the problems encountered by China. The country is experiencing stages of rapid transformation from an agrarian society to modern and globalised economy. However, it is observed that education has always been given high priority in China. Globalization and invention of advanced technology have escalated the procedure, which had commenced in 1979 with Third Conference of the Eleventh Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party (KPMG, 2010). Modernization is highly dependent on development of economy, which basically concentrates on

Productivity Growth and Real Wages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Productivity Growth and Real Wages - Essay Example The common man is actually not getting the benefits from the productivity growth 1. An appreciable rise in both productivity and wage structure was witnessed through the 1950s and 1960s, which slowed down in the 70s and 80s 5. However, the 1990’s saw a good and steady rise in productivity and therefore the benefits of the growth were seen by the increase in the wages 1. In the US, the real wage growth was weak in the early 1990s, but it rose from 1994, in response to the accelerating productivity, up to 2004 after which it showed a downward trend mainly attributed to increasing energy costs 3. The recession witnessed in the early 2000s resulted in a downward trend with respect to wages, even though the productivity was high 1. According to a report the median real wages for all workers increased by 1.4% per year between 1995 and 2003, which was less than half the rate of productivity growth 2. Another news article published in a website quotes a 2% decline in the median hourly wages for American workers since 2003, despite the steady rise in productivity 5.This inequality in wage distribution can be attributed chiefly to the bargaining power of workers in case of high productivity. Employee unions play a vital role this bargain. However, the workers ability to bargain has considerable diminished, thus preventing them from enjoying the fruits of the ir own labor 1. Some reasons cited for this reduced bargaining power include global trade, immigration, layoffs and technology 5. Inflation shares an inverse relationship with wage distribution and so does fringe benefits such as health care 1, 5. Education status and working skills of workers also plays a vital role in determining the wages 4. Another point made is that only the top 10% enjoyed the real benefits of productivity growth leaving the rest of the 90% with very less growth in terms of wages 3, 4.According to the Baumols Law, mobility in labor will result in an increase in wages so

TARGET CORPORATION FINANCIAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Essay - 2

TARGET CORPORATION FINANCIAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION - Essay Example This refers to how fruitful a company is in using assets. Liquidity and efficiency are significant and complement each other. To calculate a company’s short term liquidity (requirement) we need to figure out the current ratio and working capital. Working capital is the current assets less the current liabilities. To calculate the current ratio we divide the current assets by current liabilities. In looking at the objective organization’s financials for years 2004, 2005 and 2006 we can see how sound they performed over the years. 4,638 was its working capital in 2004. We got this by subtraction of current liabilities of 8,134 from current assets of 12,952. 5702 and 4817 was the working capital in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Now we have to look for the current ratio for these same periods. In 2004 current ratio for Target Company is 1.56. We got this number by dividing 12,952, which are current assets, by its current liabilities, 8,314. In 2005 and 2006 the current ratio is 1.69 and 1.50 respectively. It reflects the company’s ability how use assets to create sales. It is an important aspect in a company’s working efficiency. To calculate this we divide net sales by average total assets. Target Company the asset turnover for 2004 is 0.20. It can be determined by its net sales of 3,198 and divided by average of total assets of 15,708. The asset turnover rate was 0.15 for 2005. In years 2004, 2005 and 2006 we can see that from 2004 and 2005 there was an increase in liquidity and efficiency but in 2006 there was a fall. Although there was a fall, Targets results are not that unusual from other companies, in fact some had even bigger decreases and struggled more within the same time period. I would like to invest in the Target Corporation; with the drop from 2005 to 2006 at the overall picture the drop is not that

Hewlett-Packard Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hewlett-Packard Article - Essay Example The business thrived and expanded during the leadership of Bill Hewlett at the helms but later on, under successive CEOs like John Young and then Lew Platt in 1993, it started stagnating and losing profits. The printer business was hugely successful but the company faced lot of competition from Dell which was selling customized computers at much lower prices. From 1993 to 1999, computer and printer businesses grew at compound rate of 20% and in 1999, HP formed its spin-off company Agilent Technologies comprising of its instruments and related businesses. Platt lacked strategic necessary leadership that needed to be flexible and visionary to encompass the environmental changes and adopt more aggressive creative inputs. Carly Fiorina, the dynamic young executive who had played critical role in turning the fortunes of new spinoff company of AT&T, Lucent Technologies, was made CEO of the company in 1999. Fiorina brought with a new culture of aggressive selling, merger, incentive based performance that lacked commitment and loyalty towards company. She made sweeping changes within the organization. Her motto was ‘preserve the best and reinvent the rest’. The company’s name was shortened to ‘HP’ and reduced the advertising agencies to only 2 from 43. 80 autonomous product based operating divisions into two front-end sales and marketing organization and two back-end R&D and manufacturing organizations. Revenue over profit and incentive based remuneration over salary based employment became major focus areas. Retrenchment and cost cutting was justified as means to tackle general financial downturn. During her first year, sales increased by 15% but it could not be maintained. The acquisition of Compaq computers in 2002 by HP was primarily to strengthen the capabilities in computer division which later backfired. While initially the merger was successful and it was able to maintain flagship position in computer segment but could

Designing a Twin tip kiteboard Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Designing a Twin tip kiteboard - Research Paper Example th determines the surface area the kite is edging water against and how much power a kiteboard can generates, thus a centimetre of width is more significant than a centimetre of length. Narrow tip and centre boards with longer lengths are easier from edge to edge, though not quick to plane, unlike shorter and wider boards (Boyce, 2004). Generally, Twin tip kiteboard with dimensions: 145cm length, 41cm width are for bigger riders. Top sheet: Is made from PBT which is a thin piece of plastic with two specific functions. The first function is to provide a place to print or graphics and the second function is to provide a protective layer for the laminates. Laminates: The inner laminates are a combination of fibre glass and carbon, though there are other kinds of laminations that are used. Fibre glass is measured in both in the direction of the weave and in the weight of the fabric. The most common weaves are triaxial glass, biaxial glass and unidirectional glass. Triaxial glass provides a stiffer flex, biaxial glass is more flexible while the unidirectional glass is used in combination with either triaxial glass or biaxial glass to get specific flat panels. Carbon provides stiffness and is of light weight with more reflex properties than fibre glass. Cores: Are usually made of wood and some are made of dense closed cell foam. The most common type of wood used are Paulownia, Birch, Poplar due to their longetivity, weight, price and their speed of regeneration (Boyce, 2004). The rails: They are typically acrylonitrile, butadiene, styrene (ABS) or urethane which are used for their good flexibility, shaping and strength characteristics. ABS not only offers a great surface for ageing, but also a protective layer for the kiteboard. The sides are planed to remove the rough marks made by the saw. The planks are then clamped and glued for about 24 hours for them to fit into each other. The type of glue used is marine grade glue or a plumbers glue. This is also used in

The Appealing Nature of Formulating and Practical Strategies Personal Statement - 3

The Appealing Nature of Formulating and Practical Strategies - Personal Statement Example My profound interest in Business and economics dates back to my teenage years. My father was an Economists. In the course of trying to understand his field of work, I was fascinated by the complex security exchange trading systems in which he spotlighted on. Also, I was fascinated by intricate economic platforms such as online investment hedge funds that were coming up at the time. Owing to my fascination with the subject, Economics as a discipline will equip me with adequate knowledge to master market functionality and enable me to develop skills inherent in my personal endeavors in the business world. The problem-solving aspect of effective management strategies further triggers my concealed curiosity in this course. I have gained a lot from my involvement in various student supporting programs. During my final year in intermediate school, I was fortunate enough to secure an internship at a giant high-tech company in China last summer. All through my internship period, I served in both finance and administration departments. The opportunity provided me with a chance to understand how various systems work together within an organization to effectively enhance its overall performance. My attention climaxed during my field days where I got an opportunity to carry out financial modeling with some experts in the field. I was able to familiarize with policy formulation, an essential component of any institution. My school is described best as welcoming as its environment enabled me to participate actively in all school activities, and I also organized and participated in various functions. As a part of the student council, I represented my faculty in most recreational and sporting activities. I was a member of the school track team and during that period, I managed to secure several trophies.

Molecular Identification of DMS-Producing Bacteria Isolated from Dissertation

Molecular Identification of DMS-Producing Bacteria Isolated from Marine Algae - Dissertation Example Michael Steinke, for his unfailing and relentless support, and insightful remarks. His guidance in the conception and interpretation of this study granted me the confidence and multiplied my abilities for the successful execution of this project. I am grateful to the University, especially to the Department of Biosciences for enabling me in bringing this study to realization by providing me with all the necessary resources and support. I am greatly indebted to the University, my supervisor and colleagues, without whom the completion of this dissertation would have been a highly daunting task if not totally impossible. Contents Abbreviations 8 Abstract 10 1. Introduction 11 1.1 Distribution of DMSP in upper and lower photic zones 12 1.2 Microbial breakdown of DMSP and production of DMS 12 1.2.1 Microbes involved in DMSP breakdown 12 1.2.2 Mechanism of conversion of DMSP to DMS 16 1.2.3 Genes, proteins, promoters and gene regulation 18 1.3 Environmental significance of DMS and its role in global climate 25 1.4 Importance of identification, characterisation and phylogenetic analysis of DMS producing bacteria 26 2. Materials and methods 28 2.1 Isolation and growth of DMS producing bacteria 28 2.2.1 Preparation of growth media 28 2.2.2.1 Chemicals and reagents required 29 2.2.2.2 Preparation of M9 media of normal salinity with glucose as a carbon source 29 Rami Abdullah Aldagrer September 9th, 2011 Contents UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX 1 DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 1 MSc. DEGREE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY 1 Acknowledgements 2 Contents 2 Abbreviations 8 Abstract 10 1. Introduction 11 1.1 Distribution of DMSP in upper and lower photic zones 12 1.2 Microbial breakdown of DMSP and production of DMS 13 1.2.1 Microbes involved in DMSP breakdown 13 1.2.2 Mechanism of conversion of DMSP to DMS 16 1.2.3 Genes, proteins, promoters and gene regulation 18 1.3 Environmental significance of DMS and its role in global climate 24 1.4 Importance of identification, characterisation and phylogenetic analysis of DMS producing bacteria 26 2. Materials and methods 28 2.1 Isolation and growth of DMS producing bacteria 28 2.2.1 Preparation of growth media 28 2.2.2.1 Chemicals and reagents required 29 2.2.2.2 Preparation of M9 media of normal salinity with glucose as a carbon source 29 2.2.2.3 Preparation of M9 media of normal salinity with DMSP as a carbon source 29 2.2. 2.4 Preparation of M9 media without any carbon source of normal salinity 29 2.2.2.5 Preparation of M9 media of high (32 N) salinity 30 2.2.3 Inoculation into three different media to identify DMSP utilizing bacteria 30 2.2.4 Gram staining 31 2.2.5 Spectrophotometric analysis of growth and calculation of specific growth rate and doubling time 31 2.2 Extraction of DNA 31 2.2.1 Chemicals and materials required for the CTAB method of DNA extraction: 32 2.2.2 Preparation of reagents 32 2.2.3 Methodology of DNA extraction 33 2.2.4 Verification of extracted DNA 34 2.3 Amplification of 16s rRNA using PCR 34 2.4 Purification of PCR products 35 2.5 Identification of bacteria and phylogenetic analysis 35 3. Results 37 3.1 Observation of growth in different media 37 3.1.1 Growth in M9 media with DMSP 37 3.1.2 Growth in M9 media with glucose 38 3.1.3 Growth in M9 media without any carbon source 39 3.2 Results of gram staining 40 3.3 Plotting of growth curve 41 3.4 Calculation of specific growth rate and doubling time 44 3.4.1 Specific growth rate of bacteria in M9 media with glucose 45 3.4.1.1 Specific growth rate of B3B 45 3.4.1.2 Specific growth rate of B2B 46 3.4.1.3 Specific growth rate of B2A 46 3.4.2 Calculation of doubling time of bacteria in M9 media with glucose 47 3.4.3 Specific growth rate of bacteria in M9 media with DMSP 47 3.4.3.1 Specific growth rate of B3B 47 3.4.3.2 Specific growth rate of B2B 48 3.4.3.3 Specific growth rate of B2A 48 3.4.4 Calculation of doubling time of bacteria in M9 media with DMSP 49 3.4.5 Summary of specific growth rate and generation time 50 Specific growth rate bacteria in M9 media with glucose and M9 media with DMSP 50 Doubling time of bacteria in M9 media with glucose and M9 media with DMSP 50 3.4.6 Analysis of variance between the growth rates in two different media 51 3.4.7 Analysis of variance in doubling time 52 3.2 Results of DNA extraction 53 3.3

Women in the Middle Ages Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Women in the Middle Ages - Research Paper Example The medieval world is said to be exceptionally customary. Ladies had zero part practically to play in the nation on the loose. In the city, society would have effectively overseen what occupations a woman could perform, and her part in a medieval society would have been to help her mate. And in addition doing her daily chores, whether in a town or at home, a lady would have had numerous obligations concerning her job (Hanawalt 39). The duties played by women in this period were those that helped men to work harder or improve their efficiency. The responsibilities include some tasks like cooking for the man of the house. The women were expected to carry out this duty by the society to help men carry out their duties continuously. Men could now feel motivated as they did not waste any time in the house doing jobs like preparing meals. Jobs are mostly believed to be available in the urban regions. Inside a town, ladies would have done a significant number of the undertakings men did in the area. Even so, they were lowly paid for completing the same piece of the task. Archives from Medieval England identifying with what the normal individual did are uncommon, yet some still exist which inspect what ladies living in the towns did. For example, when procuring a commodity, a male could get 8 pence (Rexroth 219).When a woman completes the same task, she was paid 5 pence. For food making, men would receive 6 pence a day, while women got 4 pence (Hanawalt 219).

Changes in Children- Birth Essay Example for Free

Changes in Children- Birth Essay Before six months the main reason why a child’s emotion and emotional expression is different is due to the brain not being fully mylinated. As the child ages past the first month, their frontal cortex begins to advance as increasing neurological development is starting and beginning to modify and transform the operations of the in-built emotional expressions (Wilson, 2003, p. 55). Suffering, pain, joy, fear and interest are among the first emotions that an infant express. These primary emotions are important as this is a child’s first way of showing and communicating with adults their needs. It is for the reason of communication we must look at our primary emotions as a human survival mechanism, as these are involuntary and in- built features all children are born with (Wilson, 2003, p. 55). All primary emotions are all expressed in the same manner, which raises the question as to whether emotions are all universal; that emotions are genetic, or that all cultures share mutual background features. There are 2 main theories on emotional development; discrete emotions theory and a structural approach (Wilson, 2003, p. 48). Izard, Tomkins, Ekman are the leaders of discrete emotions theory. These theorists proclaimed that emotion had 3 components; physiological, behavioural and subjective. These emotions where present from birth and could be seen by studying facial expressions of infants. The results and information these theorists where gaining agreed with Darwin that these expressions where the same in all culture and must be an in-built neural feature. As humans age our primary emotions network with cognition and form ‘cognitive affected structures’, this is how secondary emotions are developed discrete emotions theory (Wilson, 2003, p. 49). This theory can be applied to my own family, as recently there was a sudden death of my aunt, as a result we had family members calling from different parts of Australia and the world calling to offer their condolences and support to our family. This reaction to a death of a family member is universal. The structural development approach see’s development as holistic. This approach states that all systems interact with each other and the environment with emphasis on the social environment. The environment play a large factor in the development of children, but theorists cannot deny genetic is also a large contributor. Sroufe a theorist states that all emotions have antecedent. In Sroufe’s theory in the first 6 months of an infant’s life emotional ancestor can also be physiological states and not recognised as emotions, and that secondary emotions build from there (Wilson, 2003, p. 50). By the age of two, a toddler’s brain contains more neurons than an adult and has twice the amount of connections between these cells. It has been linked that that as a toddler’s brain contains more neurons that they need more rest then adults for their brain’s to function fully. During this time more neurons die and more connections are pruned throughout brain in the first three years of life than other stage of life. The leading element of the development of expressions of emotion in the child’s environment is the carer and the care the child receives. Emotional deprivation occurs when children who are not had consistent warm emotional relationships as a young child, this leads to their secondary emotions being weak. Children who have suffered from emotional deprivation are targets for exploitation and paedophiles as they have ‘affection hunger’ (Wilson, 2012 slide, 8) A child in the toddlerhood has additionally reached a point where they have developed a sense of self. The maturation of the frontal lobes and the limbic circuit in the brain is the cause for the development of a toddler achieving a sense of self. As a result of the toddlers sense of self they are able to show empathy and can affectively communicate and label their emotions to their peers and adults. This allows a child to say ‘I am mad or sad’ instead of crying and having a tantrum, although toddlers still react in this manner they can communicate there emotions more effectively (â€Å"Emotional development†, 2006,. ara 7). From two to six years of age is early childhood. It is at this stage in a child’s life they have developed motor skills that enable them to become more self-sufficient and self-controlled. Children are creating friendships and being more engrossed in playtime such as; painting pictures which creates symbolic expression. There is an incr easing need for the carer to engage with the toddler by conversing and meeting the child’s social, cognitive and emotional needs, their perspectives, and interests. The child’s ability to tell stories is a way of understanding their perspectives (â€Å"Hearing young children’s voices,† nd, p. 19). Through a greater understanding of the world around them a child develop and understanding that the world didn’t revolve around them and that nothing was as simple as they one thought it was. During the age of 2-6 most children attend preschool, which gives young children a great understand about display rules. By attending preschool it gives young children an understanding about how to express their emotions in an appropriate way in all contexts of life ranging from family, school and society. Toddlers may learn how to appropriately express their emotions but influences from their family still have a great impact on their expression. The preschool is a system, with rules, boundaries, and expectations. It is important for children to know where they stand and by placing them in a system such as preschool whilst they are developing their emotional expression allows them to shine. For children in good environments the control of emotional expression accelerates from 3 to 5 years (Wilson, 2003, p132). From the age of six to eight children become aware of the difference between expressing emotion and feeling it. This affectively allows the child to manage their emotional expression by reflecting on their emotions; this is an emotional coping skill children learn in order to avoid negative attention or experiences such as bullying. Although, school age children are becoming more exposed to the wider world new challenges are arising such as, fears of failing or poor academic result in school as many children are put under presser from parents to achieve high grades (Berk, 2009, p. 410). When the child reaches ten years of age their expression of emotions is likely to have significantly enhanced. At this age most children have developed a set of techniques for controlling their expressions of emotion. General strategies are problem centred coping, they are able to identify the challenge, asses and solve issues that may arise. If problem solving is not successful the child may adopt emotion-centred coping that is private and internal (Berk, 2009, p. 410). An external influence has also been heightened during this period such communicating with their peers on how to deal with the situation. Children at this age are able to justify circumstances and actions or â€Å"reconstruct scenarios to make them seem less upsetting emotionally† (â€Å"Emotional development†, 2006,. para. 11). By age eleven, the child has began to integrate inner standards of excellence and good behaviour with self-conscious emotions; their internal strategies are starting to be utilised for self-regulating, and a shift from problem centred and emotion centred coping has taken place and there social etiquette of expressing emotions has improved (Berk, 2009, p. 416). In adolescents emotions are still forming. Most children reach adolescence rom eleven to twenty years. During this time an adolescent is trying to create distance from their family and form their independence. Peer pressure may appear to be irresistible regardless of the adolescence’s inner feelings, as it full fills their need for acceptance and desire to ‘fit it’. Emotional expression and even the adole scence’s inner feelings may alter on the way they react to certain stimuli or events, when in the context of groups, this can be seen in how a adolescent reacts on a school excursion to how they react out with their peers on the weekend at a movie theatre. Wilson, 2003, p. 176-77). Young adolescences’ endure peer group contexts where their expression of emotion is displayed in the environment of peer norms. Each child is an individual as they have been brought up in different backgrounds. In turn their fundamental feelings have been restricted although they have acquired the display associated with emotion. In example some adolescences may display in anger in what they have seen of anger, with the increase in aggression used television shows and in movies adds to the range of anger an adolescent cane use (Wilson, 2003, pp176-77). In certain circumstances some adolescences exhibition emotions that they may not feel or more emotions than felt, this is present in children of younger age groups but, is more dominant in adolescences. Adolescence is known as a period of storm and stress. Social, cognitive and environmental factors are a large contribution of how the adolescences expression of emotion will inevitably mature. During adolescence the social problems become more complex and they chose to talk to their peers to offer help to overcome this situation (â€Å"Emotional development†, 2006,. para. 12). Children who have been deprived have complex expressions of emotions, and on top of the struggle with complicated emotions that arise during adolescents put’s these children at greater strain. Adolescents according to Piaget are self- focusing. Piaget believed that during adolescence a new form of egocentrism formed as adolescents could not separate the difference between their thoughts and others thoughts. There were 2 main ways this could be explained, through self-audience and personal fable. Self -audience is when an adolescent believes they are the emphasis of everyone’s attention. It is through self-audience that adolescents may feel extremely self-conscious and aware of themselves. Self fable is when an adolescent feels that people are always giving them attention and watching them, this is similar to what a toddler may think but by this stage an adolescent should know that they can not always be the centre of attention. When an adolescent is not receiving they believe is due it leads to them being upset and moody. (Berk, 2009, p. 252) As human beings everyone develops their emotion expression at various time of their life. As we age and mature so do our emotions and expressions, how an infant reacts to a range of emotions compared to a 20 year old will be absolutely different, this may be due to the culture they have been brought up in or they have learned display rules. As seen throughout this essay emotional development does not occur in isolation but in some rare circumstances it does, there are many cognitive, neurological and behavioural influences interact with emotional, social and cultural influences. References Berk, L. (2009). Child development (8th ed. Person International Edition Colman,A. (2009), Oxford Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press Emotional development . (2006). Retrieved from http://www. education. com/reference/article/emotional-development/ Hearing young children’s voices, (n. d). Retrieved from http://www. children. act. gov. au/documents/PDF/under5report. pdf Wilson, L. (2003), The Emotional Life of Children. National Library of Australia: Charles Sturt University. Wilson, L. (2012). Lecture3: dependence needs of children [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from in class on the 17/07/2012

Changes to McDonalds: An Analysis

Changes to McDonalds: An Analysis Introduction About the Report The main objective of this report is to actually look in depth on McDonalds, a fast food restaurant that has been there for so many years and analyze the differences between McDonalds in the past and at present which can be explained further using SWOT and PEST analysis. From there onwards, we are able to see and understand how McDonalds changes through time so that the company can compete with other companies and yet at the same time cater to the different needs of its consumer. Information gathered are from internet resources and my personal experience working in McDonalds for more than half a year. McDonalds History McDonalds is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 31,000 local restaurants serving more than 58 million people in 118 countries each day. So ever wonder how the world famous McDonalds begins and who were the ones that started this business? The McDonald brothers Dick and Mac opened the first McDonalds restaurant at 1940 in San Bernardino, California. In 1954, Ray Kroc became the first person to gain the rights to franchise McDonalds; opening his first restaurant in Des Plain, Illinois on April 15 and the McDonalds corporation was created. Phenomenal Growth in the 1960s and 1970s In 1961, Kroc bought all the rights of McDonalds concept from the McDonald brothers for$ 2.7 million and at the same year, the Hamburger University was opened. During 1960s and 1970s, McDonalds success was i large part due to the companys skillful marketing and flexible response to customer demand, introducing new burgers like the Filet-O-Fish and Big Mac. The first restaurant outside of the USA opened in Canada and Puerto Rico. Fred Turner became the companys president and chief administrative officer. Kroc became chairman and CEO until 1973. Turner had originally intended open a McDonalds franchise, but when he had problems with his backers over location, he went to work as a grill man for Kroc in 1956. As operations vice-president, Turner helped franchisees get their stores up and running. He was constantly looking for new ways to perfect the McDonalds system, pointing out that seconds could be saved if McDonalds used buns that were presliced all the way through and were not stuck together in the package. Such attention to details was one of the reasons for the companys extraordinary success. In 1972 passed $1 billion in annual sales; by 1976, McDonalds had served billion hamburgers and system wide sales exceeded $3 billion. McDonalds in the recent years McDonalds had been recording declining profits since 2001. Although turnover was increasing, there was a continuous declining in its operating profit and net profit margins. To turnaround its fortune, the company adopted the â€Å"Plan To Win† strategy in 2003. The main purpose of the strategy was to bring about the improvement in the companys performance by building it around five key drivers of customer experience-People, Product, Price, Place and Promotions; and by identifying opportunities on the basis of the four basic aspects of its mission statement Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value. The strategy was also based on what McDonalds considered as three essential components of success-Operational Excellence, Leadership Marketing and Innovation. McDonalds Corp. has finally selected a new trans-fat-free oil for cooking its French fries, hash browns, all chicken choices, and Filet-O-Fish and has made the switch during 2008. This change has been made because consumption of trans fat increases the risk of getting coronary heart disease and customers are being more aware of that. Though McDonalds was among the first to say it would stop using unhealthy oils, it has been slow to make the change. On the other hand, its competitors like Yum Brands Incs KFC and Taco Bell and Burger King Holdings Inc had earlier swapped for trans-fat-free oil in 2007. Companys Mission and Vision statement McDonalds Mission statement Be the best employer for our people in each community around the world Deliver operational excellence to our customers in each of our restaurants; and Achieve enduring profitable growth by expanding the brand and leveraging the strengths of the McDonalds system through innovation and technology. McDonalds Vision statement â€Å"McDonalds vision is to be the worlds best quick service restaurant experience. Being best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile.† PEST Analysis Political The international operations of McDonalds are highly influenced by the individual state policies enforced by each government. (2001, 705) For instance, there are certain groups in Europe and the United States that clamor for state actions pertaining to the health implications of eating fast food. (2005) They have indicated that harmful elements like cholesterol and adverse effects like obesity are attributable to consuming fast food products. On the other hand, the company is controlled by the individual policies and regulations of operations. Specific markets focus on different areas of concern such as that of health, worker protection, and environment. All these elements are seen in the government control of the licensing of the restaurants in the respective states. For instance, there is an impending legal dispute in the McDonalds franchise in India where certain infringement of rights and violation of religious laws pertaining to the contents of the food. The existence of meat in their menus in India is apparently offensive to the Hindu religion in the said market. There are also other studies that point to the infringement of McDonalds Stores with reference to the existing employment laws in the target market. Like any business venture, these McDonalds stores have to contend with the issues of employment procedures as well as their tax obligations so as to succeed in the foreign market. Economical Organisations in the fast food industry are not excused from any disputes and troubles. Specifically, they do have their individual concerns involving economic factors. Branches and franchises of fast food chains like McDonalds has the tendency to experience hardship in instances where the economy of the respective states is hit by inflation and changes in the exchange rates. The customers consequently are faced with a stalemate of going over their individual budgets whether or not they should use up more on these foreign fast food chains. (2004) Hence, these chains may have to put up with the issues of the effects of the economic environment. Particularly, their problem depends on the response of the consumers on these fundamentals and how it could influence their general sales. In regarding the operations of the company, food chains like McDonalds tend to import much of their raw materials into a specific territory if there is a dearth of supply. Exchange rate fluctuations will als o play a significant role in the operations of the company. As stated in the paragraph above, McDonalds stores have to take a great deal of consideration with reference to their microenvironment. The companys international supply as well as the existing exchange rates is merely a part of the overall components needed to guarantee success for the foreign operations of McDonalds. Moreover, it is imperative that the company be cognizant of the existing tax requirements needed by the individual governments on which they operate. This basically ensures the smooth operations of the McDonalds franchises. In the same regard, the company will also have to consider the economic standing of the state on which they operate on. The rate at which the economy of that particular state grows determines the purchasing power of the consumers in that country. Hence, if a franchise operates in a particularly economically weak state, hence their products shall cost higher than the other existing products in the market, and then these franchises must take on certai n adjustments to maintain the economies of scale. Social Cultural Articles on the international strategies of McDonalds seem to function on several fields to guarantee lucrative returns for the organisation. To illustrate, the organisation improves on establishing a positive mind-set from their core consumers. McDonalds indulge a particular variety of consumers with definite types of personalities. (1994) It has also been noted that the company have given the markets such as the United Kingdom, an option with regards to their dining needs. (2005) pointed out that McDonalds has launched a sensibly valued set of food that tenders a reliable level of quality for the respective market where it operates. Additionally, those who are aged just below the bracket of thirty-five are said to be the most frequent consumers of McDonalds franchises. (2005) The multifaceted character of business nowadays is reflected in the harsh significance of the information on the subject of the existing market. This procedure is essentially identified in the field as market research. (1997) Information with regards to the appeal and potential fields of the market would double as obstructions to the success of the company if this area of the operations is neglected. In the case of McDonalds they establish a good system in determining the needs of the market. The company uses concepts of consumer behaviour product personality and purchasing decisions to its advantage. (1998) it is said to have a major influence on the understanding of the prospective performance of the organisation in a particular market. (2000) Technological McDonalds generates a demand for their own products. (2006) The Companys key tool for marketing is by means of television advertisements. There are similarly some claims that McDonalds are inclined to interest the younger populations more. The existence of play spots as well as toys in meals offered by the company shows this actuality. (1995) Other demonstration of such a marketing strategy is apparent in the commercials of they use. They employ animated depictions of their characters like Grimace and Hamburglar. Other advertising operations employ popular celebrities to promote their products. The like has become endorsers for McDonalds worldwide â€Å"loving it† campaign. Moreover, the operations of McDonalds have significantly been infused with new technology. Elements like the inventory system and the management of the value chain of the company allows for easy payments for their suppliers and other vendors which the individual stores in respective markets deal with. The i ntegration of technology in the operations of McDonalds tend to add value to their products. Basically, this is manifested in the improvements on its value chain. The improvement of the inventory system as well as its supply chain allows the company to operate in an international context. Conclusion Observations In order to gain any advantage over businesses in the same market, a company must find some sort of differentiation to exploit- McDonalds is no different. They have focused their marketing advantage on good food with fast service as well as their willingness to change and innovate. An example of this can be found with the implementation of Chicken McNuggets. At first, people were not thrilled with eating meat with their hands but McDonalds responded by adding BBQ sauce for dipping, which cause McNuggets to explode onto the scene. McDonalds successful name brands have spread all over the world, and with their competitive advantage, and marketing campaign dominating over competing companies, they look to stay at the top of the fast food business for the foreseeable future. Recommendations Implement new healthier food options in their menus. It is obvious they already did this to some extent with offering milks, salads and yoghurts, but they can do more to continue to flourish. In order to stay above negative press about health risks (â€Å"Supersize Me†, etc), McDonalds must bounce back by altering their menus in a positive, health conscious way-dramatically change their food choices. Refurnish restaurant franchises by changing their entire look of what the inside of McDonalds looks like. Instead of the old fashioned tiles and outdated table and chairs, McDonalds should employ a more contemporary ‘new age look. By doing this, they will change the way consumers think of McDonalds s just a fast food restaurant joint, instead sending them the message that is instead a high-scale restaurant. By simply changing the physical surrounding inside McDonalds (as well as adding few TVs and modern amenities), the restaurant will appeal to many more people who have been overexposed to â€Å"the same old thing†, as well as giving them more excitement/enthusiasm to come and eat at McDonalds. McDonalds should work more to expand beyond its namesake franchise. As a company they should take advantage of the name brand recognition associated with McDonalds brand and create other brands producing new, dynamic types of food. By moving to adjacent markets, McDonalds can use their current success to their advantage by starting to become involved in diverse food markets, which will increase revenue in the long run. Conclusion McDonalds is and will be the leading food services for the many years to come. But the company can do more by changing their menus into a much healthier menu by introducing more vegetables and fruits as there are a growing number of health conscious consumers and if the company is able to so, they can attract more customers and hold off their competitors such as Burger King and KFC. So with that in mind, there are still many aspects that McDonalds can improve on to continue their domination in this world of business.

New Labours Traditional Family Values in Policy

New Labours Traditional Family Values in Policy In Comparison to the Thatcher Government, in what ways does New Labour try to bring back traditional family values through policy and legislation? Abstract The objective of this dissertation is to evaluate and compare the way in New Labour is trying to bring back traditional family values through policy and legislation with the ways in which the Thatcher government had tried to do so. As will be explained and analysed there are some similarities and indeed some profound differences between the objectives and the methods of New Labour and the Thatcher governments. As will be analysed in great depth both the Thatcher government and New Labour government came to power with wide-ranging visions of how they wished to transform the politics, the economy, and the society of Britain. The Thatcher government’s attempts to bring back traditional family values through policy and via legislation will be evaluated first, in order to examine the extent to which its objectives succeeded or if those objectives failed. Arguably, the Thatcher government had a massive impact upon the social, economic, and the political make up or infrastructure of Britain, even if not always in the ways that it had intended, or had hoped for. The Thatcher government also discovered that the consequences of their policy decisions could be contradictory, rather than complimentary to the primary objectives of the legislation that they passed. The latter parts of the dissertation will concentrate upon the transition of the Labour party away from its traditional economic and social policies into New Labour and how, that transition affected its policies and objectives. New Labour was a reinvention of the Labour party designed to regain power after 18 years in the political wilderness. Traditionally, the Labour party had regarded the promotion of social ownership of the means of production (the infamous clause four of its constitution); and the provision of generous benefits by the welfare state for those in need as sacrosanct policy areas. Labour governments had used progressive taxation and high public sector borrowing to pay for high social policy expenditure if that was needed. Those were the policies mainly used to maintain or bring back traditional family values by all previous Labour governments. New Labour, as will be demonstrated, turned away from the concepts of increasing levels of social ownership, and set limits for the use of progressive taxation and increasing public sector borrowing, whilst promising to reform the welfare state. The combination of these measures was intended to focus help on to those people that needed help the most. It also arguably, gives cause to debate whether New Labour is driven by its ideological principles; or if it is driven by the more selfish desire to obtain and subsequently retain governmental office. After all, as any self-respecting politician will tell anybody willing to hear them, it is no good having a vision of transforming society if there is no political office or power to do anything about enacting that vision. Certainly before winning the general election of 1997 New Labour emphasised its intention to bring back traditional family values through policy and where it was considered to be necessary through legislation. As a party New Labour committed itself to improving public services, fighting crime, and a host of other measures to make Britain a better place to live in. Also to be discussed is New Labour’s policies and legislation upon human rights and equality for all, that in many respects goes beyond bringing back traditional family values. Whilst politicians are generally in agreement over the need for traditional family values, they differ as to the best policies and if needs be the best legislation to restore, promote, or protect traditional family values. Differences over the best ways to achieve traditional family values are influenced by differing ideological approaches, as well as different understandings of human nature. Governments do not only rely on policy and legislat ion to achieve or at least aim to achieve their objectives. Governments try to influence the public through official statements, press and television articles, as well as presenting its objectives to the public as frequently as possible. The public of course does not have to be persuaded by the influence, policy, and legislation of any government. Indeed the public can affect the policy and legislation that governments adopt by voting those governments in and out of office at every general election. The media has a great deal of influence in its own right when it comes to the moral attitudes and acceptable standards of behaviour that the British public hold. All are issues and influences upon the restoration or promotion of traditional family values will be evaluated. Introduction Before evaluating and analysing the ways in which New Labour and the Thatcher governments aimed to bring back bring traditional family values, it would be best to define what is meant by traditional family values. Usually traditional family values are considered to be the promotion of long lasting marriages, bringing up children to be well behaved and law abiding, and educating everybody to respect law and order. Traditional family values are also linked with a religious or moral upbringing, yet it can also encompass people being responsible for providing for their own financial and social welfare through working hard and saving, as well as taking responsibility for their own actions. Traditional family values were linked in public perceptions to Victorian times, the majority of people may now be materially better off yet their sense of morality, and the willingness to accept traditional family values has declined noticeably (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p.42). In the British conte xt the religious influences upon traditional family values had been predominately Christian in their origins. The dominant family values in Britain have been altered by different factors since the 1960s. The belief in Christian values has declined due to the processes of secularisation and liberalisation, changing social attitudes arguably helped by changes in fashion and media coverage. Family values are also different due to the immigration of people into Britain with different religious faiths such as Islam, and Hinduism (Modood, 2005, p.192). Different religious beliefs mean that although non-Christians often have a strong sense of morality and an understanding of how to behave, those moral values are similar yet not necessarily the same as traditional family values as they are perceived (Forman Baldwin, 1999, pp. 10-11). British governments, assuming that they have a sufficient Parliamentary majority are generally able to carry out policy objectives and pass legislation as they feel necessary, or, to keep to the pledges they made in their party manifestos during the previous general election campaigns. The power and the authority held by British governments to carry out their policies is great, and the vast majority of the population accepts the legislation passed through Parliament. However, it is under the assumption that the government can be voted out at the next general election if the majority of voters are unhappy with its performance, or achievements. Much harder to define or evaluate can be the influence that governments have upon people’s beliefs and behaviour. Parties win general elections sometimes because they are the least unpopular party, rather than because they are the most popular. Voters can be as pragmatic or as cynical as the politicians that they vote for or against, they vote for the party that makes them better off, as much as the party that wants to influence or potentially change their beliefs and behaviour (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, pp 4 –5). Now attention is turned to the discussion of how differing ideological, or political beliefs have influenced the Thatcher and New Labour governments into making policy and legislation that affects social policy in Britain. The classical liberal approach to traditional family values was that governments should not intervene in social matters just as they should keep economic interventions down to an absolute minimum. The classical liberal approach regarded the role of governments as being strictly limited to providing legislation when required, and limited educational, law and order, and national defence facilities or services. The moral, religious, and social values may have been Christian yet that was just by historical chance. Classical liberal thinkers such as John Locke argued that the government should tolerate diversity and allow its people to act in anyway they wanted that did not contravene national laws (Lacey, 2006, p.7). For classical liberals, governments should have gone no further than regulating workplace safety and regulating the Poor Law administration. The teaching of traditional family values was down to churches (or other religious institutions), schools, and individual family groups themselves (Eatwell Wright, 2003 p. 36). The ideas of classical liberalism would re-emerge from the 1960s in the guise of neo-liberalism and would have the most influence in Britain upon the government that was led by Margaret Thatcher between May 1979 and her removal from office in November 1990. The Major government that held office from 1990 through to 1997 was regarded as being less dogmatic and more pragmatic than its immediate predecessor was, though conversely placing a greater emphasis on individual morality and standards of behaviour (Eatwell Wright, 2003, p. 287). Another strand of liberal political ideology emerged at the beginning of the 20th century that favoured a higher level of government intervention in social and economic matters. This ‘new’ liberalism was responsible for the first moves towards establishing the welfare state in Britain. The new Liberals regarded poverty as being the largest single threat to traditional family values, as well as being socially divisive. Poverty often led families into the dreaded workhouses that separated parents from their children, and then parents from each other. Poverty in other words could stop people from caring for each other, it stopped relatives being cared for, and prevented people looking after themselves. The workhouse was, according to the new liberal ideological perspective, the biggest breaker of families, something that grinding poverty did not always achieve (Moran, 2005, p. 28). The introduction of Labour Exchanges, national insurance, which paid small amounts of unemplo yment benefit, and limited old age pensions may have done little to reverse poverty, yet it heralded greater levels of government intervention in social and economic affairs, especially after Labour’s landslide election victory in 1945. All those new Liberal reforms were intended to preserve family units, as unemployment, underemployment, and old age were all factors that made people poor, and put them in the workhouse, or drove them towards committing crimes to make money. Had the British economy been stronger during the inter-period then the limited welfare state of the Liberals might have been extended earlier. There were limited extensions such as the development of council houses and some free health care for the poorest families (Eatwell Wright, 2003 p.38). The Liberal party itself appeared to be in a virtually terminal decline after the First World War with its former supporters either switching their votes to the Conservatives or the Labour party. Conversely it would be variations of liberal ideology that have arguably had the most political, social, and economic influence upon post-war Britain and the values that British government aimed to promote through policy and legislation. New Liberalism had a pronounced influence upon the welfare state and Keynesian economic policies pursued from 1945 through to the late 1970s, particularly under the auspices of the Beveridge Report and the wish to avoid mass unemployment on the scale of the 1930s. New Liberalism also influenced the decision of British governments to accept changing social attitudes by changing policy and passing legislation to recognise the slackening hold of traditional family values. The use of Keynesian economics was lessened during the Callaghan government as it was forc ed into accepting a loan from the International Monetary Fund, and had to reduce public spending before that loan was made available. Of course, it was the revival of neo-liberal ideology that strongly influenced the Thatcher government and meant that the New Labour government had to take power in radically different social and economic circumstances than the Labour governments of the 1970s had faced (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 54). In contrast, the Conservative ideological perspective often placed a greater emphasis upon the promotion and the respecting of traditional family values, either to protect property or to maintain social stability. Conservative politicians in Britain regarded themselves as being the party that maintained law and order better than any other political party, to protect social stability, and strengthen national unity (Eatwell Wright, 2003, p. 51). The Conservative party was the party that usually claimed to be the guardian of traditional family values. The Conservative party had strong links with the Church of England. Indeed, sometimes people referred to the Church of England as being the Conservative party at prayer. As such the Conservative party took a negative view about human nature that helps to explain its tougher stance on law and order issues (Jones et al, 2004, p. 155). Unlike the classical Liberals, the Conservatives were prepared and remain prepared to actively change gover nment policy, and enact legislation if that was needed to protect traditional family values. Previous Conservative governments in Britain have passed both restrictive and liberalising legislation when they have considered such actions to be justified by present circumstances. Conservatives have been repressive, regressive, or liberal in character at different times (Eatwell Wright, 2003, p. 54). There was a strong paternalistic streak in the British Conservative party, which has sometimes dominated the party, and at other times has had very little influence over the party’s policies when in government. The paternalistic streak has not always gone well with other ideological influences within the party that have been opposed to intervening in society or the economy. For instance, compare the ideological beliefs of Harold MacMillan, or Anthony Eden with Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher did not like the paternalistic ‘One Nation Tories’, and instead attempted to transfo rm British society (Moran, 2005, p. 28). The Labour party was created specifically to further the interests of the working classes, as such the only traditional family values it wished to protect, promote, or bring back were those that it believed would benefit the working classes. The Labour party was committed to the social ownership of the means of production, and the introduction of extensive welfare, and social security provision. Not only would these measures improve social equality, they would reduce poverty, and make British society better by making it fairer for all. The Labour party was also a political party that was moderate and gradualist in its approach to achieving social, economic, and political reforms. The decline of the Liberal party allowed Labour to become the second main political party in Britain and even form a government in 1924. The first Labour government was only a minority administration, and was therefore unable to achieve much (Wilson, 2005, p. 252). The second Labour government elected in 192 9 had a parliamentary majority, yet its time in office was blighted by the onset of the Great Depression. The party was divided by Ramsey Mac Donald’s decision to cut unemployment benefits, and the introduction of other austerity measures that made the affects of unemployment worse for many of the people that Labour was supposed to help (Wilson, 2005, p. 285). Labour got its big chance to profoundly alter British social and economic policies as a result of the wartime feeling that something should be done to make Britain a fairer and less poverty stricken place to live in. Labour fully backed the proposals of the Beveridge Report and introduced a comprehensive welfare state and reaped its sensational electoral benefits in 1945 (Lacey, 2006, p. 260). The Labour party managed to achieve its social and economic aims during the Atlee governments of 1945 through to 1951. Its objectives were achieved with the introduction of a comprehensive welfare state, the National Health Service (NHS), and increased educational opportunities. To banish the possibility of mass unemployment on the scale of the 1930s, industries were nationalised and Keynesian demand side economic policies were pursued. From the Labour party’s perspective Britain’s traditional family values should have been protected or even promoted by declining levels of poverty, better health care provision, and higher levels of educational achievement. The welfare state and the NHS seemed to be safe as the Conservatives accepted the vast majority of Labour’s reforms (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003, p. 11). In fact, the Conservative Party enjoyed considerable success in the 1950s as the British electorate trusted them to leave the welfare state and public servi ces untouched, whilst successfully managing Keynesian economics to make people financially better off (Sandbrook, 2005 p. 51). Until the late 1960s it seemed that British governments had managed to achieve strong economic growth, an effective welfare system, and a high degree of social harmony. The period also introduced legislation that liberalised British society, for instance the legalisation of homosexuality, abortion, and the abolition of the death penalty. Legislation was also passed that made it easier to get divorced. However, there were to be social, economic, and political developments that loosened the post-war political consensus. The loosening of that post-war consensus began with deteriorating economic growth and social changes, developments that would eventually lead to the emergence of Margaret Thatcher as a politician that was determined to radically alter the political, social, and economic fabric of Britain (Forman Baldwin, 1999, p. 11). It was not just Britain’s relatively poor economic performance that Margaret Thatcher wished to tackle; she wanted to tackle the political, social , and economic decline of Britain. Margaret Thatcher wished to reverse what she considered to be the harmful social and economic consequences of decline fostered by the liberalisation of moral values caused by the legislation of the 1960s and the changes in social attitudes that occurred during the same period (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 42). On the other hand, New Labour wished to regain power by gaining the votes of people that had previously voted for the Thatcher and Major governments, whilst retaining the support of their loyal Labour supporters. Traditional Labour party supporters had not supported the party because it claimed to protect or restore traditional family values; instead they believed that a Labour government would make them better off, and British society fairer. However, traditional Labour voters had been reduced in numbers by the reduction in the size of heavy industries and the Thatcher government’s economic policies such as the sell off of council housing and privatisation (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p. 12). The combination of changing social and economic trends, the privatisation policies of the Thatcher government, as well as party in-fighting had condemned the Labour party to four consecutive general election defeats. The Labour Party had expected to win the 1992 general election, altho ugh the Major government managed to get re-elected by scrapping the poll tax (Jones, 1999 p.1). New Labour might not have emerged at all if John Smith had not died leading to Tony Blair becoming the party leader, and going on to reorganise the Labour Party, reshaping its policies, and its image in order to gain power (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 5). Whilst New Labour emphasised that it would no longer pursue traditional Labour party economic policies, it would stress that it was keen to make British society fairer than it had been during the Thatcher and the Major governments. New Labour stressed that it stood for fairer social values, for instance actively trying to encourage the acceptance of cultural diversity, or promoting gay and lesbian rights (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 397). New Labour shifted its economic policies to the right first, then moved its social policies in a similar direction (Moran, 2005, p. 28). Tony Blair and New Labour stressed that once in power it would help to bring back traditional family values by being tough on crime by tackling its social and economic causes (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005, p. 6). New Labour has also pledged to reform welfare provision, the NHS, and the education system to improve performance and reduce social exclusion. New Labour wanted to restore what it considered to be traditio nal family values through policy and legislation, yet with the emphasis being different from the emphasis of the Thatcher government in rhetoric if not in substance (Jones, 1999, p. 2). All governments have to be aware of the public scrutiny that they may have to endure, through Parliament, through media coverage and speculation, as well as been observed by the general public. The government of the day can have its policy and legislation objectives overturned and jeopardised by adverse publicity or media revelations. The media is very useful for the government to sell its policies and pieces of legislation to the electorate yet no government can expect favourable media coverage all of the time and sensible governments will try to manage media coverage to get the best results. The Thatcher and New Labour governments took media management techniques seriously for their periods in office although that has not guaranteed that they will succeed in making all their policy and legislation succeed, whether or not it was meant to restore traditional family values (Jones, 1999, p. 52). Chapter One – The Thatcher government and returning back to traditional family values This chapter will deal with the subject of the Thatcher government and its attempts of returning to traditional family values through policy and legislation. Margaret Thatcher broke the mould of the average Conservative party leader, and it was not simply because she was the first woman to gain that position. Although the Conservatives had been stung by the size of their election defeat in 1945, they had soon recovered to regain power by 1951 (Wilson, 2005, p.484). Successive Conservative leaders from Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold MacMillan, and Alec Douglas Hume had accepted the post-war political, economic and social consensus established after 1945 (Sandbrook, 2005, p.51). It had been Margaret Thatcher’s immediate predecessor as Conservative leader, Edward Heath that had first attempted to overturn the post-war consensus through the adoption of the Selsdon programme. As Education secretary, Margaret Thatcher was part of the Heath government that eventually returne d to Keynesian economic policies, due to trade union opposition, and the desire to increase economic growth to prevent unemployment levels going past one million (Fisher, Denver Benyon, 2003, p.11). The Heath government would fall victim to increasing trade union opposition that led to the three day week, whilst Heath’s defeat in both general elections of 1974 meant that leading Conservatives were looking for alternative policies and a new leader with a different approach to the discredited Heath. Margaret Thatcher decided to stand for the party leadership and succeeded in displacing Heath. After she became Conservative leader, her differing ideological outlook from her post-war predecessors started to emerge. Thatcher’s right wing rhetoric, no nonsense leadership style, her forthright messages, and obvious sense of nationalism struck the right chords with the British electorate during the late 1970s (Eatwell Wright, 2003, p. 160). Margaret Thatcher was determined to restore the electoral fortunes of the Conservative and then went on to revive the ailing British economy by fundamentally altering social, economic, and political attitudes within the country. Thatcher believed that Britain needed to radically overhaul its social and economic policies to reverse economic decline and social decadence. The medicine that Thatcher prescribed to cure Britain of its social and economic woes was the adoption of neo-liberal economic policies and a return to traditional family values. According to neo-liberal economists such as Hayek and Friedman, Keynesian economics and extensive welfare states like Britain’s after 1945 were socially and economically detrimental. Thatcher had been introduced to these concepts by one of her closest advisors, Sir Keith Joseph, and she saw them as the solution to Britain economic decline and social degradation (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 54). The welfare state removed the incent ive to work, or the incentives to reduce the size of families, whilst providing adequate standards of living for those that were work shy or content to have children outside of marriage and long term relationships. The pursuit of Keynesian economic policies had increased the power of trade unions whilst restricting the efficiency of both public and private sector enterprises. Thatcher argued that excessively high rates of taxation reduced the incentives for people to work harder and meant that some people were financially better off by being unemployed. Thatcher’s solution to these problems was to end Keynesian economic policies, lower taxes, sell off public assets, and attempt to reduce the size of the welfare state. The inability of the Callaghan government to solve Britain’s economic ills and the Winter of Discontent of industrial action and public sector strikes allowed Thatcher to take power after winning the general election of May 1979 (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003, p.11). Once in office the Thatcher government undertook a radical reshaping of economic policy that had a major impact upon British society and influenced the success of policy and legislation to bring back traditional family values. The pursuit of economic liberalisation was the government’s policy given priority over all other policies and initiatives. Thatcher believed that economic liberalisation would be the catalyst that would modernise and revive Britain’s economic performance, with the anticipated consequence that it would revive at least some of the traditional family values. That was the underlying belief that people should work to make their lives better rather than relying upon the welfare state to give them handouts. The problem with adopting monetarist economic policies was that it resulted in the highest levels of unemployment witnessed in Britain since the Great Depression of the 1930s. With more than three million people unemployed, expenditure on the social s ecurity budget increased rather than decreased. Economic policy in this instance actually made the return to traditional family values less likely to be achieved. High unemployment levels instead meant a return to inter-period levels of poverty, and the closure of unprofitable coal mines and steel mills devastated whole communities (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003, p. 54). High unemployment levels also helped the Thatcher government to break the power of the trade unions more effectively than legislation on its own. That legislation was restrictive of trade union powers in its own right, more so than the failed efforts of the Heath government a decade earlier. The Thatcher government regarded employment legislation as vital in making its efforts to erode trade union power effective. The Employment Act of 1980 took away the rights of trade unions to operate closed shops (allowing workers the right not to join trade unions), take secondary industrial action, or, use flying pickets to force employers to give into their demands. The Employment Act also laid down certain conditions that trade unions had to follow exactly before they could take industrial action. For instance, trade unions had to hold postal ballots to vote for or against strike action. Any trade union that did not hold official ballots was going on strike illegally, and therefore faced lega l action from employers. For the Thatcher government the Employment Act of 1980 proved invaluable with its conflicts with the militant trade unions, especially the coal miners (Forman, Baldwin, 1999, p.450). For the Thatcher government its conflict with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) led by Arthur Scargil proved the ultimate test of whether it could change the social and economic structure of Britain to fit in with its ideological outlook. The NUM had been regarded as being largely responsible for the defeat of the Heath government during the 1970s, so the Thatcher government wanted to defeat it as a symbol of Britain being transformed economically, socially, and politically. Although the Thatcher government did give way over pay disputes in 1981 as it did not believe it could defeat the NUM, it was biding its time. However, by 1984 the Thatcher government was certain that the situation had changed in its favour through its new legislation that reduced secondary strike action, and because coal had been stockpiled at power stations to prevent the NUM from forcing the government to give in. The bitter miners strike of 1984-85 effectively broke the power of the NUM forever, and sho wed that the trade unions could no longer bring down any government that they wanted to (Forman Baldwin, 1999, p. 196). As part of its policy objectives to bring back traditional family values the Thatcher government tried to improve the law and order situation without much apparent success. Once again the economic policies of the Thatcher government had consequences for the successful conduct of its social policies. The chief consequence of Thatcherite economic policies was as already mentioned high unemployment. High unemployment made it harder to reduce the level of crime; in fact crime rates rose as sharply as unemployment rates did throughout much of the 1980s (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003, p. 12). Unemployment increased peoples’ sense of desperation as well as putting many of them into poverty. Crime increased as people tried to make ends meet, and it also increased as a result of a rise in the number of people taking illegal drugs. High unemployment and the illegal drug trade meant that respect for law and order was reduced in the majority of inner city areas rather than improved. A com bination of high unemployment, heavy handed policing, and increased levels of racial tension lead to the outbreak of inner city riots in 1981 that alarmed the Thatcher government (Jones et al, 2004, p. 628). To prevent a repeat of those riots the Thatcher government introduced urban redevelopment areas, and attempted to change the policing methods used in areas that contained ethnic minority communities. The Thatcher government tried to reduce crime by allowing courts to set tougher sentences and the introduction of youth detention centres, yet nothing seemed to work (Jones et al, 2004, p. 628). The failure of the Thatcher government to reverse the rising crime figures is a clear demonstration that the social policy, and legislation of governments can have little or virtually no influence over people’s behaviour if they did not want that behaviour to be altered. Although there was a strong link between rising crime and rising unemployment during the Thatcher government the le vels of crime have not decreased, despite unemployment falling since its peak in the late 1980s (Jones et al, 2004, p. 629). Other areas of the That