A survey of cultural competence of critical care nurses in KwaZulu-Natal.

BACKGROUND. Nurses are primary caregivers and have a key role in providing care in a culturally diverse healthcare system, such as in South Africa (SA). Nurses need cultural competence in the management of patients within this cultural context. A healthcare system staffed by a culturally competent workforce can provide high-quality care to diverse population groups, contributing to the elimination of health disparities. OBJECTIVE. To describe the self-rated levels of cultural competence of nurses working in critical care settings in a selected public hospital in SA. METHODS. A quantitative descriptive survey was conducted with nurses from eight critical care units in a selected public hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, using the Inventory to Access the Process of Cultural Competency - Revised (IAPCC-R) cultural competence questionnaire. RESULTS. Nearly three quarters of the critical care nurses scored highest in the cultural awareness range of the cultural competence scale, with nurses from non-English-speaking backgrounds scoring significantly higher in cultural competence than English-speaking nurses. CONCLUSION. In addressing the many faces of cultural diversity, healthcare professionals must realise that these faces share a common vision: to obtain quality healthcare services that are culturally responsive and culturally relevant to the specific cultural group.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Demoprints hands-on exercise: aide memoire

Handout for hands-on training exercise on the use of Demoprints http://demoprints.eprints.org For use during Western Cape Higher Education Libraries Interest Group (WCHELIG) Winter workshop, 14 June 2005, Bellville (Cape Town), South Africa

Making the innovation case in Open Access scholarly communication

It seems almost unnecessary to have to elaborate additional reasons for the adoption of Open Access scholarly communication (OA sc) as manifested through Open Access journals and self-archiving practices. To those active within the OA arena, the case has been convincingly made, and current arguments merely need to be disseminated beyond the Library and Information Science (LIS) sphere. However, it is my contention that a convincing argument for OA sc needs to be launched from the Science Policy perspective if any government mandated pro-OA policy changes are to be effected. This paper, then, is an attempt at taking the OA discussion beyond the LIS arena and into the realm of Science and Innovation Policy. Using Innovation Theory as its theoretical framework, it is argued that Open Access scholarly communication can only serve to bolster Innovation Systems, be they national, regional, or sectoral. The case of South Africa is taken as an illustrative example, though the case can and will be generalised to beyond the South African science system. Making the case for OA within the context of Innovation is also of strategic import, since government policymakers frequently heed the advice of Science- and Innovation Policy researchers

Making the innovation case in Open Access scholarly communication

It seems almost unnecessary to have to elaborate additional reasons for the adoption of Open Access scholarly communication (OA sc) as manifested through Open Access journals and self-archiving practices. To those active within the OA arena, the case has been convincingly made, and current arguments merely need to be disseminated beyond the Library and Information Science (LIS) sphere. However, it is my contention that a convincing argument for OA sc needs to be launched from the Science Policy perspective if any government mandated pro-OA policy changes are to be effected. This paper, then, is an attempt at taking the OA discussion beyond the LIS arena and into the realm of Science and Innovation Policy. Using Innovation Theory as its theoretical framework, it is argued that Open Access scholarly communication can only serve to bolster Innovation Systems, be they national, regional, or sectoral. The case of South Africa is taken as an illustrative example, though the case can and will be generalised to beyond the South African science system. Making the case for OA within the context of Innovation is also of strategic import, since government policymakers frequently heed the advice of Science- and Innovation Policy researchers

Demoprints hands-on exercise: aide memoire

Handout for hands-on training exercise on the use of Demoprints http://demoprints.eprints.org For use during Western Cape Higher Education Libraries Interest Group (WCHELIG) Winter workshop, 14 June 2005, Bellville (Cape Town), South Africa

Open Access in South Africa: progress report

As scientific actor on the African continent, South Africa has a role to play in promoting and facilitating the roll-out of Open Access (OA) scholarly communication practices, in southern Africa, in sub-Saharan Africa, and across the continent. A 2004 study revealed the progress made in the Open Access arena in South Africa, and the present talk, taking the 2004 study as its base, provides an update on and overview of the more recent South African OA initiatives

tl;dr – AI and the acceleration of research communication

AI is forecast to become increasingly central to many aspects of life and work. The same trends can also be detected in research. Drawing on a recent study of expert perceptions of AI uses in research and taking the recently launched tl;dr tool as a salient example, Jennifer Chubb and David Beer discuss AI’s emerging role and its potential to act as a narrator and bridging tool to communicate research to different audiences

Open Access in South Africa: progress report

As scientific actor on the African continent, South Africa has a role to play in promoting and facilitating the roll-out of Open Access (OA) scholarly communication practices, in southern Africa, in sub-Saharan Africa, and across the continent. A 2004 study revealed the progress made in the Open Access arena in South Africa, and the present talk, taking the 2004 study as its base, provides an update on and overview of the more recent South African OA initiatives

Lower-rim ferrocenyl substituted calixarenes: new electrochemical sensors for anions

New ferrocene substituted calix[4 and 5]arenes have been prepared and the crystal structure of a lower-rim substituted bis ferrocene calix[4]arene (7) has been elucidated. The respective ferrocene/ferrocenium redox-couples of compounds 6 (a calix[4]arene tetra ferrocene amide) and 8 (a calix[5]arene pentaferrocene amide) are shown to be significantly cathodically perturbed in the presence of anions by up to 160 mV in the presence of dihydrogen phosphate

Softening the Blow of Social Exclusion: The Responsive Theory of Social Exclusion

Social exclusion is an interactive process between multiple people, yet previous research has focused almost solely on the negative impacts on targets. What advice is there for people on the other side (i.e., sources) who want to minimize its negative impact and preserve their own reputation? To provide an impetus for research on the interactive nature of exclusion, we propose the Responsive Theory of Social Exclusion. Our theory postulates that targets and sources’ needs are better maintained if sources use clear, explicit verbal communication. We propose that sources have three options: explicit rejection (clearly stating no), ostracism (ignoring), and ambiguous rejection (being unclear). Drawing on psychology, sociology, communications, and business research, we propose that when sources use explicit rejection, targets’ feelings will be less hurt, their needs will be better protected, and sources will experience less backlash and emotional toil than if sources use ambiguous rejection or ostracism. Finally, we propose how the language of rejections may impact both parties