Baccalaureate Nursing Students\u27 Lived Experiences of a Leadership Role During Clinical Practicum

Problem Leadership is an essential component of professional nursing practice used in many aspects of the Registered Nurse (RN) role. Baccalaureate nursing (BN) programs have the responsibility of preparing graduating nursing students with leadership orientation and practice. Excellent professional preparation of RNs starts with their education during nursing school. The fast-paced and high-demand healthcare environment needs RNs who can be accountable for patient care that enables excellent patient outcomes and sound patient-centered care. Taking this into consideration, nursing educators are in a special position to promote nursing education which prepares their students with leadership education and training. The purpose of this study was to describe BN students’ lived experiences of a leadership role during clinical practicum. Method For this study, the phenomenological approach was used to be able to understand the phenomenon of a leadership role during the Team Leaders’ (TL) lived experiences during their clinical practicum of a Medical-Surgical course. Data came from journals written by 32 participants from two cohorts, and interview transcriptions from eight participants selected from the 32 journal writers. The data were organized and analyzed with the NVivo 12 Plus software program, based on close readings and analysis of the journals and interview transcripts. First and second coding cycles were used. During the first cycle of coding, I used two types of codes: Elemental method in vivo coding and the affective method of emotion coding. During the second coding cycle I used the pattern coding method. Results Key findings revealed several themes. According to the participant descriptions these themes are The Team Leader Role, Introduction to Nursing Leadership, A Great Learning Experience, Learning Outcomes, Emotions, and Negative Perceptions and Unanticipated Findings. From the gathered experiences of the participants the essence of the findings emerged as Learning Through Experience. Learning Through Experience increased the participants’ exposure to a variety of circumstances which enriched their knowledge about leadership and professional nursing. The results not only highlighted findings about what the participants had experienced related to leadership in nursing, they underlined specific learning outcomes related to professional nursing responsibilities. Conclusions These descriptions of the lived experiences of BN students in a leadership role during a clinical practicum demonstrated that experience is critical in the learning process. This research offers potential benefits to nursing education, promoting an alternative practice to maximize introduction to and education about leadership in nursing. Nursing students need to develop leadership skills prior to entering the workforce to make certain they are able to meet the challenges associated with the highly demanding healthcare environment

Phase Variations in fMRI Time Series Analysis: Friend or Foe?

Functional MRI studies (fMRI) are based on the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent effect (BOLD) that arises in brain areas where neuronal activity takes place (Ogawa et al., 1990, 1993). BOLD induces changes in the local magnetic susceptibility and these can be measured by Gradient Echo (GE) Echo-Planar-Imaging (EPI). The fMRI signal thus observed consists of a complex value, which can be subdivided into a magnitude and a phase value, but in most fMRI studies the phase signal is discarded and only the magnitude changes are used to detect the activated brain areas

Effects of virus infection on release of volatile organic compounds from insect-damaged bean, Phaseolus vulgaris

Insects can serve as important vectors of plant pathogens, especially viruses. Insect feeding on plants causes the systemic release of a wide range of plant volatile compounds that can serve as an indirect plant defense by attracting natural enemies of the herbivorous insect. Previous work suggests that the Mexican bean beetle (Epilachna varivestis) prefers to feed on plants infected by either of two viruses that it is known to transmit: Southern bean mosaic virus (SBMV) or Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV). A possible explanation for the preferred feeding on virus-infected tissues is that the beetles are attracted by volatile signals released from leaves. The purpose of this work was to determine whether volatile compounds from virus-infected plants are released differentially from those emitted by uninfected plants. To test the hypothesis, common bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Black Valentine) were inoculated with either BPMV, SBMV, or a mixture of both viruses, and infected plants were compared to uninfected plants. An Ouchterlony assay was used with SBMVand BPMV-specific antisera to confirm the presence of virus in inoculated plants. RNA blot analysis was performed on tissue from each plant and indicated that a well-characterized defense gene, encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), was not induced in systemic tissue following virus infection. Plant volatiles were collected—and analyzed via gas chromatography (GC)—from plants that were either undamaged or beetle-damaged. In undamaged plants, there were no measurable differences in profiles or quantities of compounds released by uninfected and virus-infected plants. After Mexican bean beetles were allowed to feed on plants for 48 h, injured plants released several compounds that were not released from undamaged plants. Lower quantities of volatile compounds were released from virus-infected plants suggesting that enhanced release of plant-derived volatile organic compounds is not the cause for attraction of Mexican bean beetles to virus-infected plants

You Can Do That in a Library? Building Sound Minds and Healthy Bodies

Recognizing that while medical students are learning to care for others, they are often taking poor care of themselves, librarians at the George Washington University\u27s Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library developed a three-pronged Healthy Living initiative, launched in the fall 2012 semester. Focusing on diet/nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction, the initiative included new collections and multiple activities with partners from both on and off-campus

The multilingual workplace realities of Polish truckers:A case study in the Netherlands

Although international truckers are essential to the European supply chain, we know little about how they deal with their frequent multilingual workplace interactions. This paper examines the effects of participants’ Individual Multilingual Repertoires (Pitzl, Marie-Luise. 2016. World Englishes and creative idioms in English as a lingua franca. World Englishes 35(2). 293–309. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12196 ) on their behavior and attitude toward multilingual interactions. Five Polish truckers and six Dutch logistics professionals were observed and interviewed. An ethnographic case study approach allowed us to consider interactions from multiple perspectives. Findings from the study reveal that some, but not all, Polish truckers struggle to interact in the most common lingua francas in the Netherlands: English and German. We show that some of the Dutch logistics professionals have a low opinion of foreign drivers’ linguistic abilities, which impairs the potential to find shared multilingual resources, and ultimately to improve communication skills. Results of the study contribute to an understanding of the dynamics of multilingual interactions in the workplace. Practical suggestions for logistics professionals and future research are identified

Autocateterismo vesical intermitente en la lesión medular

O autocateterismo vesical intermitente-técnica limpa é uma técnica efetiva e segura para o tratamento e a prevenção das complicações vesico-urinárias decorrentes da lesão medular. Embora tenha sido descrita desde 1972, ainda existe resistência por parte dos profissionais de saúde em relação à sua utilização. Relataremos, no presente estudo, a metodologia utilizada no treinamento e na motivação dos pacientes para a utilização da técnica em um projeto de assistência de enfermagem clínica e voluntária, realizado em uma associação de caráter filantrópico, na cidade de Curitiba. Objetivamos divulgar a experiência adquirida a fim de que mais profissionais que atendem pessoas com lesão medular sejam motivados a indicar essa técnica.The clean intermittent self catheterization is an effective and safe technique for the treatment and prevention of urinary tract disease that result from spinal cord injuries. Although it has been described as of 1972, there is still resistance from health professionals for its utilization. The present study presents a report about the method used for training and encouraging of the patients towards using the technique, in a project of clinical and voluntary nursing care, performed in at a philanthropic association in the city of Curitiba. Our objective was to disseminate the experience that was learnt, to encourage professionals who assist people with spinal cord injuries towards recommending this technique.El Autocateterismo vesical intermitente - técnica limpia, es una técnica efectiva y segura para el tratamiento y la prevención de las complicaciones vésico-urinarias derivadas de lesión medular. A pesar de haber sido descripta ya en 1972, aún existe resistencia por parte de los profesionales de la salud para su utilización. Relataremos, en este estudio, la metodología utilizada para entrenamiento y motivación de pacientes para el uso de la técnica, en un proyecto de atención de enfermería clínica voluntaria, realizado en una asociación de carácter filantrópico en la ciudad de Curitiba. Objetivamos divulgar la experiencia adquirida, a fin de que más profesionales que atienden pacientes con lesión medular sean motivados a indicar esta técnica

Plasma membrane calcium ATPase activity is regulated by actin oligomers through direct interaction

As recently described by our group, plasma membrane calcium ATPase (PMCA) activity can be regulated by the actin cytoskeleton. In this study, we characterize the interaction of purified G-actin with isolated PMCA and examine the effect of G-actin during the first polymerization steps. As measured by surface plasmon resonance, G-actin directly interacts with PMCA with an apparent 1:1 stoichiometry in the presence of Ca2+ with an apparent affinity in the micromolar range. As assessed by the photoactivatable probe 1-O-hexadecanoyl-2-O-[9-[[[2-[125I]iodo-4-(trifluoromethyl-3H-diazirin-3-yl)benzyl]oxy]carbonyl]nonanoyl]-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, the association of PMCA to actin produced a shift in the distribution of the conformers of the pump toward a calmodulin-activated conformation. G-actin stimulates Ca2+-ATPase activity of the enzyme when incubated under polymerizing conditions, displaying a cooperative behavior. The increase in the Ca2+-ATPase activity was related to an increase in the apparent affinity for Ca2+ and an increase in the phosphoenzyme levels at steady state. Although surface plasmon resonance experiments revealed only one binding site for G-actin, results clearly indicate that more than one molecule of G-actin was needed for a regulatory effect on the pump. Polymerization studies showed that the experimental conditions are compatible with the presence of actin in the first stages of assembly. Altogether, these observations suggest that the stimulatory effect is exerted by short oligomers of actin. The functional interaction between actin oligomers and PMCA represents a novel regulatory pathway by which the cortical actin cytoskeleton participates in the regulation of cytosolic Ca2+ homeostasis.Fil: Dalghi, Marianela Gisela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas "Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Marisa Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Ferreira Gomes, Mariela Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas "Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Mangialavori, Irene Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas "Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Malchiodi, Emilio Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas "Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Strehler, Emanuel E.. Mayo Clinic College of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Rossi, Juan Pablo Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas "Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas; Argentin

Methodology for the strategy-oriented distribution of decision autonomy in global production networks

Multinational companies deal with production processes in various countries by operating global production networks. These production processes are allocated to production plants with different levels of autonomy regarding strategic and operative decisions. Typically, each plant and the whole network are managed by one or more network managers who have to deal with a decision overload in their daily business. 50% of their decisions are made in less than 9 minutes and only a small amount of decision tasks are dealt with for more than one hour. To reduce this dilemma, it was found that the distribution of decision autonomy can be enhanced. It depends on the company’s strategy and complexity dimensions in global production networks. However, so far there is little evidence on how to better distribute decision autonomy in global production networks in detail. Furthermore, it is not transparent at what level of cetralism a global production network should be managed without cutting the capabilities of production plants. This paper presents a methodology, which examines relevant strategy dimensions and derives guidance on how to distribute decisions in global production networks. First, the network and production strategies of global production networks are classified. Second, relevant complexity dimensions and decisions are introduced. Third, the influence of the distribution of decision autonomy on strategy dimensions is quantified by an impact model. Furthermore, the effect of complexity on the distribution of decision autonomy is quantified by an impact model. Here, the integration of empirical data was used to validate the different influences. Finally, the ideal distribution of decision autonomy for specific production plants in the global production network is derived. The methodology is applied in an industrial use case to prove its practical impact