Improving Structural Empowerment through the Co-creation of a Professional Governance Program of Nurse Managers and Front-line Nurses

Abstract Background: Professional governance is a model in healthcare systems where nurses are involved by participating in decisions that lead their practice. Participation in professional governance has been shown to improve nursing practice, employee satisfaction, nursing autonomy, and patient outcomes. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate nurses’ perceptions of empowerment when front-line nurses are involved with their nurse managers in the design and structure of an inpatient state psychiatric hospital’s professional governance program. Conceptual Framework: Kanter’s theory of empowerment will guide this project. As individuals feel more empowered, the success of the organization increases. Kanter suggests that with the proper tools, information and support, people’s skill base improves, allowing them to make more informed decisions, ultimately benefiting the organization and patient care. Methodology: This study utilizes a descriptive, quasi-experimental pre-and post-test design to examine the benefits of co-creating a professional governance model with nurse managers and front-line nurses at an inpatient psychiatric hospital located in the southeastern United States. The Psychological Empowerment Instrument was used to determine if overall empowerment scores increased after participation in the design of the professional governance program. Results: A total of 28 participants completed the pre-survey and 24 completed the post-survey. The mean score increased for all 12 questions of the Psychological Empowerment Instrument. Three questions did show statistical significance in the areas of meaning and competence. The remaining 6 questions did not show statistical significance in empowerment. Discussion: Results of this study show that nurses at the hospital show prominent levels of empowerment when discussing their competence and skill in their work and in finding meaning in their work. They show lower empowerment when discussing self-determination and the impact of their work. The mean score of every empowerment question increased from presurvey to postsurvey revealing that when nurses have an opportunity to be heard, they feel more empowered in all four areas of empowerment: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. Conclusion: Although the findings of this study were limited by a short participation time and changes in staffing, there is evidence to support that front-line nurses do show a positive increase in their perceptions of empowerment when they are involved in the design of the hospital’s professional governance program and are able to offer their voice in decisions. These findings are clinically significant and consistent with literature showing improved nursing engagement and patient outcomes with successful professional governance programs. Further research is needed after the continuation of the professional governance program over time along with further investigation into nurses’ perceptions of nursing leadership

Downtown Manor and Outer Limits July Schedule

Flyer showing the July weekend schedule for Downtown Manor and Outer Limits.https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/mdlevents/1003/thumbnail.jp

Risks and Ultraviolet Budgets using Earth Observation (RUBEO): Including a nonstandard atmosphere and geographic ozone trend differences in risk assessments

No RIVM report number in publicationUV-budget maps (the geographical distribution of effective UV at ground level) can be derived from satellite data. These UV-budget maps visualise changes in effective UV caused by ozone depletion and changes in cloud cover and aerosol content. Alterations in UV-budget maps over time give - in combination with dose-effect models for UV-induced effects - insight in the associated risks for human health and the environment. This report describes the results of the RUBEO-project: calculating Risks and Ultraviolet Budgets using Earth Observation (RUBEO). RUBEO aims at a better cloud parameterisation and incorporating temporal and spatial resolution for surface albedo, aerosol content and tropospheric ozone content. The geographical distribution of ozone and UV climatology and trends over Europe are analysed, and a cost-benefit analysis of satellite based UV budget mapping is provided. The UV-budget mapping can be applied using TOMS and GOME ozone data. A large scale statistical analysis of cloud effects is given comparing ISCCP and TOMS based remote sensing methods with cloud effects derived from ground measurements. Both satellite derived methods correlate well (r 0.93) with the ground based analysis. Correction for non-zero albedo, under clear sky conditions, adds maximal 8% to the yearly effective UV-budget. Temporal and spatial differences in aerosol optical thickness and tropospheric ozone content, result in a decrease in effective UV of 3% for every 0.1 increase in aerosol optical thickness, and in a decrease in effective UV of 4% for every 10 DU increase in tropospheric ozone. Stratospheric ozone trends of -1 to -4% per decade observed over Europe correspond to a 0.5 to 4% increase in skin cancer weighted effective UV. The largest trends are seen in the central part of Western Europe. At present satellite based UV-budget maps form a functional basis for trend analysis and risk assessment. However, satellite data and ground-based observations are both indispensable. Maps for changing UV-budgets and associated skin cancer risks have been used in 'state of the environment', reports. Such overviews, regularly published by the Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the European Environmental Agency (EPA), support the evaluation and formulation of adequate environmental policies. This report describes a project carried out in the framework of the Users Support Programme (USP-2), under responsibility of the Netherlands Remote Sensing Board (BCRS).Beleidscommissie Remote Sensing (BCRS

Culture and the coaching practitioner: An interview with Dr Alastair Macfarlane

Dr Alastair Macfarlane is a management practitioner, consultant and coach in the international domain. In this interview he explains how he takes a holistic approach to the preparation for an international assignment. Macfarlane emphasises the importance in coaching of self-awareness, the ability to reflect and being open to learn, as well as a consideration for the needs of any family that may come along. He tells of his own experiences and confrontations with cultures that were not his own, and gives practical advice for coaches working with a global workforce and organisations looking to send their employees abroad

Coaching and Cross-Cultural Transitions: a narrative inquiry approach

This article explores the use of a narrative inquiry approach as a research method for research on coaching practice. It is based on an MA research project on the application of developmental theory to the construction of a stage model for use in cross-cultural coaching practice. Seven international students at a UK university business school related their experiences of living in the UK and how it affected their perspectives of themselves and their meaning-making processes. The article attempts to address three questions: what purpose can narrative inquiry serve in coaching research? What are the pitfalls of a narrative inquiry approach? And perhaps most importantly, how useful could a narrative inquiry be in showing up cultural bias in developmental theory? Initial findings and emerging future research themes are highlighted

Review of Geotechnical Investigations Resulting from the Roermond April 13, 1992 Earthquake

In 1987 the Engineering Geology section of the Delft University of Technology carried out a survey of the SE Netherlands to determine which areas were susceptible to liquefaction based on soil profile, groundwater levels and a Richter scale magnitude 6 earthquake along the principal rift fault through the Netherlands, the Peelrand fault system. The fault system has been active since the Triassic and forms part of the Rhine-North Sea rift system. The last major earthquake along the Peelrand fault was in 1933. Recently, in 1992, A 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred at Roermond, near to the Dutch-German border. Though damage resulting from the earthquake was limited, remedial works to structures amounted to US$ 50 million in the Netherlands. The paper reviews geotechnical investigations associated with the earthquake carried out in the Netherlands. Much of the damage is attributed to liquefaction; excess pore pressures resulting from the earthquake caused sand vent eruptions, river-dyke failures and slope failures. Comparisons are made between the predictions of 1987 and that which occurred in 1992. Site investigation works are recording geotechnical and building data so as to allow for correlations between extents of damage, ground geotechnical profiles and building design. Models for liquefaction are reviewed to describe the slope failure as well as the sand vent phenomena. Densification of subsoil has been inferred from CPTs taken before and after the earthquake for some sites. Pile foundation damage has been investigated for buildings in Roermond for which their susceptibility to earthquake lateral forces in terms of stiffness and pile head working load is given

Climatology of Ultraviolet Budgets using Earth Observation (CUBEO): mapping UV from the perspective of risk assessments : final report

No RIVM report number in publicationThe use of satellite data to construct ground level UV-radiation maps offers a unique opportunity to investigate geographical and temporal variability of ground level UV-radiation levels related to atmospheric changes, like ozone depletion or cloud changes. The calculation of long term yearly UV-doses in combination with dose-effect models for UV-related effects, like skin cancer, further enhances the application of UV-maps as a powerful tool to support environmental assessments. This report describes the results obtained in the CUBEO-project: a Climatology of Ultraviolet Budgets using Earth Observation. The project aimed at the development and validation of UV-mapping methods that can be applied in environmental assessments. The results indicated that the satellite derived cloud correction provides accurate and representative results if the ground albedo is low. The comparison with ground based UV-measurements at different sites in Europe shows an agreement for the yearly UV-dose within 10%. An indication of the long term stability of the UV-mapping methods is obtained by means of a systematic comparison of UV-doses derived from ground based ozone and cloud data and doses derived from satellite observations over a period of nearly 20 years. The European maps of changes in UV-budgets at the ground and associated excess skin cancer risks have been reported in national and international state of the environment reports published by the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and/or the European Environmental Agency (EEA). These state of the environment reports contribute to the provision of information necessary for framing and implementing sound and effective environmental policies. This investigation has been performed by order and for the account of BCRS, EU and RIVM, within the framework of the projects CUBEO and MAUVE.Beleidscommissie Remote Sensing (BCRS