APEL, APL or CPD?

Acquired prior experiential learning (APEL), acquired prior learning (APL) and/or continuous professional development (CPD) in the form of short courses or degree courses can ensure current and future employment.CPD is a requirement of regulatory and professional bodies and supported by healthcare organizations.It has been recognized that patients and healthcare institutions benefit when healthcare practitioners are competent. Through CPD health professionals can keep their skills and knowledge up to date and work safely, legally and effectively. </jats:p

Never events in gastrointestinal nursing

Gastrointestinal diseases and disorders frequently require interventions that can lead to serious consequences for patients when an organization has not put in place the correct systems and processes to prevent incidents from happening, procedures have not been followed (generally due to poor observation), or when an individual disregards protocol (generally due to lack of judgment). It has been identified that over 400,000 patients suffer potentially preventable harmful events each year (Emslie, 2002). In this article, Carol Cox describes the types of risks that can lead to never events and factors that increase the potential for error

Adherence, compliance, persistence and concordance in the management of glaucoma, Part I

Adherence is laden with difficulties in relation to the management of glaucoma. Perhaps a significant issue associated with a lack of the aforementioned is associated with the patient's failure to recognize there is a need to administer their eye drops as prescribed. Undoubtedly the greatest issue is that patients experience no pain with their debilitating eye disease. It is not until there is considerable loss of vision that awareness of the need to administer eye drops becomes a reality. Understanding the complexities of adherence and its association with compliance, persistence and concordance as discussed in this article can assist the healthcare practitioner in developing models of care that help the patient in self management of their glaucoma. This article is published in two parts. Part I addresses the background to issues associated with adherence in glaucoma management including definition of terms, assessing adherence and barriers and interventions to improve adherence. Part 2 addresses the theory of adherence and self management of chronic open angle glaucoma (COAG). It provides perspectives, theories and models that can be employed to improve adherence in the self-management of glaucoma

On being a mentor

This article explores issues relating to mentoring students, particularly ophthalmic nursing students. It highlights the importance of mentorship in learning in practice, which in turn is critical to students' education in a competency-based profession. It considers the factors essential in successful mentoring, including two-way feedback, and the importance of mentors understanding the nature of the psychological processes involved and how to assess students' learning and competencies. It also highlights the crucial gate-keeping role of mentors in ensuring that students are fit to practise, and the importance of nurse mentors themselves being fit to practise

Influence of Correlated Hybridization on the Conductance of Molecular Transistors

We study the spin-1/2 single-channel Anderson impurity model with correlated (occupancy dependent) hybridization for molecular transistors using the numerical renormalization-group method. Correlated hybridization can induce nonuniversal deviations in the normalized zero-bias conductance and, for some parameters, modestly enhance the spin polarization of currents in applied magnetic field. Correlated hybridization can also explain a gate-voltage dependence to the Kondo scale similar to what has been observed in recent experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

HLA-B27 Positivity: associated health implications

HLA-B27 positivity makes the onset of autoimmune diseases such as uveitis, ankylosing spondylitis and Crohn's disease more likely to occur. Ankylosing spondylitis and Crohn's disease are two types of HLA-B27 positive diseases that demonstrate a direct association with uveitis. Although the possession of HLA-B27 positivity is not mandatory for autoimmune diseases such as uveitis to occur, HLA-B27 positivity not only makes it more likely but may modify the clinical picture in which a patient presents. In relation to assessment and diagnosis it is imperative that the medical history of patients is thoroughly examined to ensure pathological sequelae are appropriately treated. Nurses play an important role in assessing patients that have uveitis and should suspect ankylosing spondylitis or Crohn's disease may be present

Behavior of a sandy clay under vertical impact of geometric shapes

Sandy clay response under vertical impact of cone, plate, and plane geometric shape

The living words of the living master: Sants, Sikhs, Sachkhand Nanak Dham and the academy

This article investigates a new religious movement, Sachkhand Nanak Dham, by comparing it with Sikhism. It argues that Sachkhand Nanak Dham has affinities with both Punjabi popular religiosity and Sikh sectarian movements. Further, it argues that Sachkhand Nanak Dham today is similar to an earlier stage in the development of Sikhism. It provides an account of the life and work of the founder of Sachkhand Nanak Dham, Mahraz Darshan Das Ji, and identifies significant continuities with the life and work of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, suggesting that these continuities may be explained by reference to the Sant tradition. Finally, the article speculates about the future development of Sachkhand Nanak Dham, specifically whether it can avoid the fate of becoming a ‘religion’, according to Mahraz Darshan Das Ji, an institutionalised orthodoxy antithetical to revelatory insight, and in so doing considers the possibility of a new lineage of living Masters

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and molecular hydrogen in oxygen-rich planetary nebulae: the case of NGC6720

Evolved stars are primary sources for the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and dust grains. Their circumstellar chemistry is usually designated as either oxygen-rich or carbon-rich, although dual-dust chemistry objects, whose infrared spectra reveal both silicate- and carbon-dust features, are also known. The exact origin and nature of this dual-dust chemistry is not yet understood. Spitzer-IRS mid-infrared spectroscopic imaging of the nearby, oxygen-rich planetary nebula NGC6720 reveals the presence of the 11.3 micron aromatic (PAH) emission band. It is attributed to emission from neutral PAHs, since no band is observed in the 7 to 8 micron range. The spatial distribution of PAHs is found to closely follow that of the warm clumpy molecular hydrogen emission. Emission from both neutral PAHs and warm H2 is likely to arise from photo-dissociation regions associated with dense knots that are located within the main ring. The presence of PAHs together with the previously derived high abundance of free carbon (relative to CO) suggest that the local conditions in an oxygen-rich environment can also become conducive to in-situ formation of large carbonaceous molecules, such as PAHs, via a bottom-up chemical pathway. In this scenario, the same stellar source can enrich the interstellar medium with both oxygen-rich dust and large carbonaceous molecules.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS. 5 page

Characterization of heat transfer in nutrient materials, part 2

A thermal model is analyzed that takes into account phase changes in the nutrient material. The behavior of fluids in low gravity environments is discussed along with low gravity heat transfer. Thermal contact resistance in the Skylab food heater is analyzed. The original model is modified to include: equivalent conductance due to radiation, radial equivalent conductance, wall equivalent conductance, and equivalent heat capacity. A constant wall-temperature model is presented