First national survey of anthroposophic nurses in NZ

Anthroposophic health care although listed as a Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) – approach according to the Ministerial Advisory Committee for Complementary and Alternative Health (MACCAH, 2002;2004) in New Zealand (NZ), is an integrated healing system that has been practiced and widely used in Europe. Based on foundations developed by Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman, anthroposophic medicine is a holistic healing approach considering the whole human being, namely body, soul and spirit (Evans & Rogers, 1992; Steiner & Wegman, 1991; Therkleson, 2005). Instead of focusing on individual symptoms, anthroposophic therapeutic approaches will aim not only at the physical complaint but target the whole person, inclusive of emotional, psycho-social and spiritual aspects. Diagnosis and therapies are therefore based on assessing the individual with a holistic framework and rather than aiming for a cure, the emphasis is on salutogenic strategies, supporting the person to find equilibrium by stimulating innate healing abilities (Evans & Rogers, 1992; Mittelmark & Bauer, 2017; Therkleson & Sherwood, 2004). Health care professionals practicing with anthroposophic principles use orthodox, scientific foundations and extend their practice with the holistic foundations of anthroposophic health care. In NZ anthroposophic nurses (ANs) work in a variety of clinical settings, e.g. in anthroposophic health centers (e.g. Helios Integrative Medical Center), primary health practices (Manchester, 2009), in therapeutic communities (Freeman Rock, 2014), hospice and some as independent practitioners in the community. AN therapies support the human being through rhythmical massage/embrocation, hydrotherapy, poultices, compresses and biography work (Therkleson, 2004). In the past education to gain registration as an anthroposophic nurse was offered through the Taruna College in Hawkes Bay (Certificate and Diploma in Holistic Healthcare). The diploma qualification is a requisite for inclusion on the ANANZ Register of Anthroposophic Nurses (AN). Some of the ANs currently practicing in NZ have gained registration overseas at an Anthroposophic Hospital (Germany or Switzerland)

Herding cats: observing live coding in the wild

After a momentous decade of live coding activities, this paper seeks to explore the practice with the aim of situating it in the history of contemporary arts and music. The article introduces several key points of investigation in live coding research and discusses some examples of how live coding practitioners engage with these points in their system design and performances. In the light of the extremely diverse manifestations of live coding activities, the problem of defining the practice is discussed, and the question raised whether live coding will actually be necessary as an independent category

Primary Care Health Workforce in the United States

Synthesizes findings about trends in the composition, supply, and distribution of the primary care workforce; demand for and pressures on primary care providers; and the impact of technologies, payment policies, market forces, and scope of practice laws

Blowing Open the Bottleneck: Designing New Approaches to Increase Nurse Education Capacity

Outlines the challenges of expanding the nurse education capacity to meet nursing shortages. Explores strategies such as partnerships among stakeholders, faculty development, revised curricula, and policy and regulatory advocacy, and offers case studies

Takemusu Aiki: Insights into Optimizing Ideational Flow

The Fourth Art of Management and Organization Conference, Banff, Canada, 9-12 August 2008This paper will investigate how designers can connect broader understandings of ‘leadership’with specific design knowledge to enhance creative performance. The emphasis is on how designers can potentially ‘manage’ their thinking within the ideation process – maximise “ways”to spread ‘memes’. A meme is a rule, concept, or idea that can be spread from one person to another. Designers have been described as ‘memetic engineers’ (Dawkins, 1989) because they produce memes or units of cultural information that are recycled and evolve over time. Memes emerge through ‘imitation and recombination’ according to Blackmore (1999), by mixing up ideas to produce new combinations. One approach to understanding and reflecting on existing disciplinary experiences, as well as challenging creative potential, is through researching other conative “ways” – such as ‘Aikido’ – to embrace and reflect on ‘how’ we think instead of purely ‘what’ we think

Research ethics and participatory research in an interdisciplinary technology-enhanced learning project

This account identifies some of the tensions that became apparent in a large interdisciplinary technology-enhanced learning project as its members attempted to maintain their commitment to responsive, participatory research and development in naturalistic research settings while also ‘enacting’ these commitments in formal research review processes. It discusses how these review processes were accompanied by a commitment to continuing discussion and elaboration across an extended research team and to a view of ethical practice as an aspect of phronesis or ‘practical wisdom’ which demands understanding of specific situations and reference to prior experience. In this respect the interdisciplinary nature of the project allows the diverse experience of the project team to be brought into play, with ethical issues a joint point of focus for continuing interdisciplinary discours

Faith-based voluntary action: a case study of a French charity

Following legal changes in the 1980s, the Voluntary and Community sector/économie sociale in France has become culturally diverse as faith-based organisations serving minority ethnic communities have developed, including charities inspired by religious and cultural principles of charitable giving. In this article, we use a case study of a social welfare charity established in a Parisian suburb with a culturally diverse population. Worldwide social welfare work is a priority; the charity responds to disasters, but it prioritises long-term development actions, encouraging the direct involvement of local communities. In recent years, its work has also embraced distressed communities within France

Using Technology to Develop Preservice Teachers\u27 Reflective Thinking

Developing high-level reflection skills proves troublesome for some preservice teachers. To examine the potential of an online environment for increasing productive reflection, students in three sequential undergraduate education classes responded to regular online prompts. We coded student comments for productive and unproductive reflection, knowledge integration, and analysis of the four aspects of teaching (learners and learning, subject matter knowledge, assessment and instruction ) as described by Davis, Bain, & Harrington (2001). We adapted a scoring approach recommended by Davis & Linn, (2000); Davis (2003) to analyze what aspects of teaching preservice teachers included, emphasized, and integrated when they reflected on their own beliefs about teaching. Discussion examines the utility of online environments for producing productive preservice teacher reflection