Creating a Clinical Ladder Education Program for Perioperative Surgical Services (CLEPPS)

Problem Statement: Low participation in challenging the Clinical Ladder within the Perioperative Surgical Services was observed. The period 2016-2017, only five nurses from the department challenged and were successful on the ladder. As a process improvement initiative, the department implemented CLEPPS, using the organization’s clinical ladder program as a tool. Background: It is documented in the literature that a robust Clinical Ladder Program increases staff satisfaction, enhances professional development, and improve patient outcomes. The Perioperative Surgical Services has a total of 102 Clinical Nurse II within the department who were eligible for advancement on the clinical ladder. An internal survey, Research Electronic Data Capture (RedCap) was created to learn why the staff was not challenging the clinical ladder. Survey analysis revealed an experienced group of nurses within the department that have the background to challenge the ladder. Many feel that the clinical ladder process is involved, complicated, and daunting, but staff also feel that the clinical ladder would provide them with a sense of accomplishment or professional satisfaction. The CLEPPS program was launched based on feedback to provide staff with more encouragement, information, and work time support in compiling a portfolio to challenge the ladder. Objectives/Methodology: Identify high performing clinical nurses to challenge the clinical ladder Provide information through presentations, department newsletter, email, and program brochure Provide customized binder with details of the advancement process including application forms Provide classes-“an introduction to portfolio development classes,” and five “pulling it together” sessions with CE credits Results: The goal of 12 nurses was set to challenge the ladder. Thirteen nurses were successful. Employees through self-discovery are submitting their portfolio best practices and feel more valued because of support from leaders. Part II of the project is data collection on job satisfaction and retention rates. These can be measured through a satisfaction survey and department external turnover rates data

Cannibalism and Knowledge

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The History of women and gender (1970-2003): achievements and the challenges ahead

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Children as Design Visionaries, Learners, and Socio-Political Wayfinders: Mapping the Layers, Hierarchies, and Rhythms of a School Community

Despite the seemingly intractable problems of public schooling, we (as researchers and dreamers) remain encouraged by the persistent efforts to reconfigure and reimagine the sociopolitical landscape of schools. We begin this essay by recognizing the work of individuals bravely and imperfectly expanding notions of what schools could and should be. We stand in solidarity with the innovators sowing, designing, and reaching toward more just social futures, dreaming of schools for children that are not so distant from the paradise Butler (2001) describes (Figure 1). This liberatory dreamwork coincides with long histories of communal ingenuity (Vossoughi et al., 2016), resistance against normative models of schooling, and practical efforts to enact humanizing education while facing diminished resources and opposition on all fronts (e.g., King, 2006; Rickford, 2016; Tejeda et al., 2003). It is good, worthy work that we hope to contribute to in our own research and practice while asking the important questions: Are the children alright? What can they teach us about designing transformative schools

Staring At It For So Long. Interview with Aislinn McMahon

Interview with Aislinn McMahon, Graduate Student in the Biology Program, Teaching Assistant and Laboratory Technician. University of California, Santa Cruz. California, USA.https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/digital-proximities_archive/1008/thumbnail.jp

My Cat Was on the Keyboard: Home and Self-Discipline. Interview with Verónica Pérez Valladares

Interview with Verónica Pérez Valladares, International Student of Technology Management. University of Applied Science, Aalborg, Denmark. Student Union Representative.https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/digital-proximities_archive/1011/thumbnail.jp

Tunable Optical Filters for Space Exploration

Spectrally tunable liquid crystal filters provide numerous advantages and several challenges in space applications. We discuss the tradeoffs in design elements for tunable liquid crystal birefringent filters with special consideration required for space exploration applications. In this paper we present a summary of our development of tunable filters for NASA space exploration. In particular we discuss the application of tunable liquid crystals in guidance navigation and control in space exploration programs. We present a summary of design considerations for improving speed, field of view, transmission of liquid crystal tunable filters for space exploration. In conclusion, the current state of the art of several NASA LaRC assembled filters is presented and their performance compared to the predicted spectra using our PolarTools modeling software

Spatial energetics:a thermodynamically-consistent methodology for modelling resource acquisition, distribution, and end-use networks in nature and society

Resource acquisition, distribution, and end-use (RADE) networks are ubiquitous in natural and human-engineered systems, connecting spatially-distributed points of supply and demand, to provide energy and material resources required by these systems for growth and maintenance. A clear understanding of the dynamics of these networks is crucial to protect those supported and impacted by them, but past modelling efforts are limited in their explicit consideration of spatial size and topology, which are necessary to the thermodynamically-realistic representation of the energetics of these networks. This thesis attempts to address these limitations by developing a spatially-explicit modelling framework for generalised energetic resource flows, as occurring in ecological and coupled socio-ecological systems. The methodology utilises equations from electrical engineering to operationalise the first and second laws of thermodynamics in flow calculations, and places these within an optimisation algorithm to replicate the selective pressure to maximise resource transfer and consumption and minimise energetic transport costs. The framework is applied to the nectar collection networks of A. mellifera as a proof-of-concept. The promising performance of the methodology in calculating the energetics of these networks in a flow-conserving manner, replicating attributes of foraging networks, and generating network structures consistent with those of known RADE networks, demonstrate the validity of the methodology, and suggests several potential avenues for future refinement and application