Nurse staffing, patient falls and medication errors in Western Australian hospitals: Is there a relationship?

Background: According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013) falls and medication errors in hospitals are among the first twenty leading causes of death. Research on the relationship between nurse staffing, patient falls, and medication errors are limited. Even scarcer are studies that examine this relationship on a nursing shift by shift and ward by ward basis, and no research exists on shift overlap periods and adverse patient outcomes. Objective: This study examined whether there was a relationship between hospital inpatient falls and medication errors and nurse staffing on a shift by shift and ward by ward basis, including an analysis of patient characteristics and the severity of incidents. Research Design: Multinomial logistic regression models were used. Data were collected using a secondary analysis of two existing databases: Advanced Incident Management System (AIMS) database and the nursing staff roster database (RoSTAR) over two years (January 2011 to December 2012). The Kane framework of nurse staffing was used to guide the current study. Setting: The study was conducted in three adult tertiary teaching hospitals in Perth, Western Australia. Participants: Reports of 7,558 incidents that occurred during the study period from 76 nursing wards and wards (4,677 medical, 2,209 surgical, and 672 critical care wards incidents), and 320,009 nursing shift records in three hospitals, were examined. Measures: The occurrence and severity of shift-level inpatient falls and medication errors were measured as dependent variables. Independent variables included nursing staff skill-mix, staff experience, and actual nursing hours. Control variables were shift, ward type, and hospital. Results: This study supports the importance of RN staffing levels in improving patient outcomes. However, it also shows that the relationship between nurse staffing and patient outcomes can be affected by different factors such as patient characteristics, nurse characteristics, and ward type. The number of total clinical incident reports decreased by 7.4% from 2011 to 2012. Falls declined by 4.6% and medication errors declined by 10.8%. The average age of patients who fell or had medication errors was 56.3 years (range of 15 to 100 years) but was more common in patients over 65 years old (57.3%). The number of incidents was highest during the morning shift, less during the evening and lowest during the night shift (28.4%, 27.2%, and 21.8% respectively). Notably, 22.6% of total incidents were reported during the overlap period (13:00 pm to 15:29 pm) which is only two and a half hours. Medical wards had the highest incident records followed by surgical wards; fewer incidents occurred in critical care wards (61.9%, 29.2%, and 8.9% respectively). More registered nurses and more experienced staff on the shift were both associated with fewer falls and medication error incidents, as well as less severe injuries. An increase in the actual nursing hours was associated with fewer medication errors but not fewer fall incidents. However, an increase in in the actual nursing hours was associated with less severe falls but not less severe medication errors. Conclusion: Overall, the fall and medication error incidents in three Perth hospitals decreased over the study period. However, the large variation in the incidents at both the shift and the ward level indicated room for improvement related to fall and medication error prevention. A relationship was identified between both more RNs and more experienced nurses in attendance and fewer incidents and less severe injuries. Further studies are necessary to identify prevention strategies for hospital falls and medication errors in the overlap period. Immediate consideration of the number of incidents that occurred during the overlap period is required. It is necessary to improve communication and teamwork among staff. Actions should be taken to review, implement and evaluate policies and procedures

The Impact of Macroeconomic Variables on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) Liquidity Measurements

The purpose of this study was investigating the relationship between selected macroeconomics variables: money supply 2 , exchange rate( $/JOD) , interest  rate on time deposits and saving deposits ,consumer price index, unemployment rate and gross domestic product (GDP) on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) liquidity measurement . The paper question addressed whether the selected macroeconomic variables were significant effect on ASE liquidity .Liquidity ratios and liquidity turn over ratios used to calculate (ASE) liquidity from (Jan 2012– June 2016).The finding reveled that there was a significant positive relation between MS2 with liquidity measurements .There was a negative significant relation between consumer price index, interest rate on time deposits and liquidity ratios. Investors should study ASE liquidity further more and Jordanian economic changing conditions in order to evaluate their investments' options. Keywords: Amman Stock Exchange (ASE); Macroeconomic variables; Liquidity ratios; Turnover ratios

Investigation Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Personality Traits Among Sample of Jordanian University Students

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence (self-motivation, social skills, empathy, emotional awareness, and emotional management) and personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness). Participants of the study consisted of (624) students (male and females) selected randomly from different faculties of Hashemite University. Two questionnaires on emotional intelligence and personality traits were administered to members of the sample during academic year 2012 / 2013. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis were used for data in the establishing the dependence of the two variables. Results indicate that there is a significant positive correlation between personality traits and emotional intelligence. Results also indicate that personality traits significantly explain emotional intelligence and personality traits predict all sub-dimensions of emotional intelligence

THERMAL STRESS MITIGATION OF SINGLE-PHASE SINEWAVE INVERTER BY USING DOUBLE SWITCH H BRIDGE CONFIGURATION

The increasing demand for renewable energies and the ongoing advancement in the industry require continuously evolving power converters in terms of efficiency, power density, and reliability. Furthermore, power converters’ applications in harsh and remote environments such as offshore wind turbines demand robust and reliable designs to help reduce operational costs. Power switch failure is a critical reliability issue that leads to the converter going out of service, causing an unscheduled maintenance event. The main reason behind power switch failure is thermal cycling. Therefore, the first part of this thesis attempts to develop an effective double switch H bridge inverter topology aiming to lessen thermal cycling subjected to power switches, increasing the expected lifetime of power switches, improving the system\u27s overall reliability, and reducing operational costs. Meanwhile, the second focus of the thesis is to develop a visual interpretation of an empirical lifetime estimation model that enables the evaluation of the proposed inverter topology compared to the conventional topology. This is done by producing a novel lifetime improvement evaluation curve based on a common empirical lifetime estimation model using MATLAB®. Moreover, the interpretation of the empirical lifetime estimation models as a lifetime improvement evaluation curve helps to bridge the gap between any thermal condition change and its impact on the expected lifetime. The percentage reduction in the junction’s median temperature %_ and the percentage reduction in the temperature swing %Δ_ are taken as the main contributors to the change in the switch’s estimated cycles to failure . The effectiveness of the proposed topology was verified via simulation of the thermal parameters for the two topologies via PLECS® software. Several test scenarios were performed to illustrate the impact of shifting from the conventional topology to the proposed topology. Following that, numerous loading conditions were considered to perform an extensive comparative analysis between the proposed and the conventional topologies. Three power factor values were adopted at high, medium, and low values; to compare the two topologies while covering an adequate loading range for each power factor value. The assessment indices, namely, Life Prolonging Factor (LPF), and the average LPF (in a temperature range) obtained promising results, especially for high loading levels conditions. The LPF reached values more than ‘2’ under some conditions, indicating a more than double lifetime increase. Furthermore, the average LPF in a specific temperature range indicated promising results in general for common loading conditions with an advantage for higher loading conditions over lower loading conditions

Suggested Policies for Accepting PhD Students at the University of Jordan to Align Its Educational Outcomes with the Needs of the Labor Market and to Improve Its Position in the World Universities Rankings According to the Experience of Canadian Universit

This study aimed to develop proposed policies for the acceptance of doctoral students at the University of Jordan to align its educational outcomes with the needs of the labor market and to improve their positions in the World Universities Rankings according to the experience of Canadian universities for the academic year 2019/2020, To accomplish the objectives of the study, the researchers used the methodology, the qualitative, quantitative, evolutionary survey research and Synthetic-Analytic Approach.  A study tool has been developed in the light of the methodology, two study tools were used, the questionnaire and the interview with a sample of (20) academic leaders, and its validity and reliability were assured by scientific methods. -        The fairness of the procedures followed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies in attracting doctoral students, so that the criteria and conditions for admission are applied based on the principle of equality and equal opportunities in the recruitment procedures. -        The current admission policy for graduate students at the University of Jordan, specifically PhD, does not keep pace with rapid global changes, and is ineffective and appropriate to contribute to sustainable development. -        The current policy aims to increase revenues as a result of increasing the numbers of those admitted to graduate studies, and therefore it focuses on quantity, not Quality. -        Lack of understanding and awareness of the heads of academic departments in choosing the appropriate admission policy to attract distinguished students for the doctoral programs that are offered by their departments. Based on the results of the study, the researchers developed admission policies for doctoral students at the University of Jordan and made sure that they could be applied by presenting them to a committee of experts. This study has come out with a set of recommendations, including: The researchers recommend the need to apply the policies reached by this study, and the necessity of introducing academic department heads and assistant deans of faculties to the policies and procedures adopted by the Faculty of Graduate Studies to attract doctoral students at the University of Jordan in order to be fully aware and able to define criteria and the appropriate conditions for choosing an effective admission policy to attract distinguished students for the specializations of doctoral programs offered by their departments, which would improve educational outcomes and scientific research. Keywords: Policies, PhD, Admission, Registration, Labor Market, The World Universities Ranking, University of Jordan, Canadian Universities Experience, Educational Outcomes DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-17-04 Publication date:June 30th 202

Identifying Fake Facebook Profiles Using Data Mining Techniques

Facebook, the popular online social network, has changed our lives. Users can create a customized profile to share information about themselves with others that have agreed to be their 'friend'. However, this gigantic social network can be misused for carrying out malicious activities. Facebook faces the problem of fake accounts that enable scammers to violate users' privacy by creating fake profiles to infiltrate personal social networks. Many techniques have been proposed to address this issue. Most of them are based on detecting fake profiles/accounts, considering the characteristics of the user profile. However, the limited profile data made publicly available by Facebook makes it ineligible for applying the existing approaches in fake profile identification. Therefore, this research utilized data mining techniques to detect fake profiles. A set of supervised (ID3 decision tree, k-NN, and SVM) and unsupervised (k-Means and k-medoids) algorithms were applied to 12 behavioral and non-behavioral discriminative profile attributes from a dataset of 982 profiles. The results showed that ID3 had the highest accuracy in the detection process while k-medoids had the lowest accuracy

La Cyberanthropologie, le soi sur Internet

Cyberanthropology, the self on the Internet The Cyberanthropology or the anthropology of cyberculture is the study of human beings-machine relation and the relation among human beings, in a cyberspace free from any physical presence and whose contents are changing and unstable. We could have, as a result of the human being-machine relation, a varied and multiple self, representing by that a postmodern era in which the person would face a fragmentation of both individual and collective identity. This research showed that Cyberanthropology does not present itself as a completely new discipline. but it has its own fields of ethnographic studies which are characterized by the appearance of a new notion; that of cyberculture. The varied studies of cyberculture revealed that the discipline of cyberanthropology, with its particular methods and concepts, tries to highlight the dynamic spaces of socio-cultural interactions on the Web. Through these spaces, anthropologists examine phenomena previously known in the so-called classical discipline of anthropology, gender, social belonging, religion and the consumption of information and communication technologies (ICT), all these aspects characterize the real life of human beings (the offline lives) and on which individuals rely when connecting to a virtual universe. So we could say that cyberanthropology has taken a more or less global look at our behavior online. By referring to our previous experiences, to our social belonging and to our preferences that we perform in real life, the anthropologist-or rather the cyberanthrpologist-highlights the importance of a cyberculture which could be complementary or quite contradictory to a real culture in our offline experience. In other words, cyberanthropology, or the anthropology of cyberculture, works in a holistic and open way while taking into consideration several aspects of human life. If anthropology studies the difference or the distinction between the local vs. international or the individual vs. the global, cyberanthropology, or the anthropology of cyberculture, gives anthropology the chance for the latter to renew itself, without 'it reaches a premature closure of the lines of research that are limited only to the self and the other

Using Accounting and Stock Market Price Data to Predict Financial Distress

This study investigated accounting measures depended on CAMEL ratios to predict services sector distress. The study used five variables representing CAMEL ratio from (2010-2015). Researchers used stepwise method and moving average to predict prices in 2017. Result showed that there is no significant relationship between market stock price and CAMEL ratios. Other factors such as Internal (mismanagement or corruption) or external (political issues) are affecting financial performance. Predicted result showed that there might be (19-26) listed corporations' facing financial distress in 2017. Especially in transportation and tourism filed. Keywords: CAMEL Ratios; Firms' Distress; predicting

COVID-19-DRIVEN SOCIETAL SUSTAINABILITY IN THE APPAREL SUPPLY CHAIN: INSIGHT FROM MUSLIM-MAJORITY COUNTRIES

The current COVID-19 epidemic unveils the vulnerability in the apparel supply chain (ASC). Many workforces are facing future uncertainty due to pandemic-driven job losses. This study aims to comprehend the causes of societal sustainability deficiency in the ASC in Muslim-majority countries and propose strategies supporting a suitable improvement.  Information gathered from experts using a qualitative research method; reveals that the primary cause of the lack of societal sustainability is the dominating power of several brands in the ASC. The usage of contract workforce and illegal subcontracting of apparel production also disrupt the protocol of societal compliance. Besides, the lack of application of Islamic ethics in business operations leads to poor labor conditions causing disruption in labor-societal security. The study proposes that it is imperative to adopt a sustainable procurement framework that integrates the sharing of disturbance risks among suppliers and brands post-COVID-19 crisis. It is also crucial to prohibit suppliers operate illegal subcontracting of apparel manufacture. Besides, brands’ order allocation plans and supplier selection must be adjusted to enable the workforce’s societal security. Contribution from labor unions and NGOs must be urged to achieve the grassroots level in community development schemes. As this study involves the Muslim-majority context, mitigation strategies from the Islamic ethics perspective are also considered helpful for solving societal sustainability issues in the ASC