Identifying the needs of critical and acute cardiac care nurses within the first two years of practice in Egypt using a nominal group technique

Nursing in Egypt faces many challenges and working conditions in health care settings are generally poor. Little is known about the needs of new nurses transitioning in Egypt. The literature focuses on the first year of practice and only a small body of research has explored the transition needs within acute care speciality settings. This paper reports on the important professional needs of new graduate nurses working in an acute cardiac setting in Egypt during the first two years of practice and differences between their perceived most important needs. The total population participated and two group interviews were conducted (n = 5; n = 6) using the nominal group technique. Needs were identified and prioritised using both rankings and ratings to attain consensus. Content analysis was conducted to produce themes and enable cross-group comparison. Rating scores were standardised for comparison within and between groups. Both groups ranked and rated items as important: 1) education, training and continued professional development; 2) professional standards; 3) supportive clinical practice environment; 4) manageable work patterns, and 5) organisational structure. It is important that health care organisations are responsive to these needs to ensure support strategies reflect the priorities of new nurses transitioning in acute care hospitals within Egypt

'Education, education, education' : legal, moral and clinical

This article brings together Professor Donald Nicolson's intellectual interest in professional legal ethics and his long-standing involvement with law clinics both as an advisor at the University of Cape Town and Director of the University of Bristol Law Clinic and the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic. In this article he looks at how legal education may help start this process of character development, arguing that the best means is through student involvement in voluntary law clinics. And here he builds upon his recent article which argues for voluntary, community service oriented law clinics over those which emphasise the education of students

Youth futures and a masculine development ethos in the regional story of Uttarakhand

Research on the Uttarakhand region, which became a new state in 2000, has focused largely on agrarian livelihoods, religious rituals, development demands, ecological politics and the role of women in regional social movements. This essay discusses another dimension of the regional imaginary—that of a masculine development ethos. Based on ethnographic research and print media sources, this essay focuses on stories, politics, mobilities and imaginations of young men in the years immediately after the achievement of statehood. Despite increased outmigration of youth in search of employment, many young men expressed the dream of maintaining livelihoods in the familiar towns and rural spaces of Uttarakhand, describing their home region as a source of power and agency. In rallies and in print media, young (mostly upper caste) men expressed their disillusionment with the government and the promises of statehood, arguing that their aspirations for development and employment were left unfulfilled. Gendered stories of the region, told in Hindi in rallies and print media, contained references to local places, people and historical events and were produced through local connections and know-how, fostering a regional youth politics. The article argues that Uttarakhand as a region is shaped by the politics of local actors as well as embodied forms of aspiration, affiliation and mobility.IS

Applications of infrared laser spectroscopy to laser chemistry and laser development

The impact on infrared molecular spectroscopy of high-resolution tunable laser sources and laser-controlled Fourier-transform spectrometers is discussed, with special reference to rovibrational spectra of spherical-top molecules such as CH/sub 4/, OsO/sub 4/, SiF/sub 4/, SF/sub 6/, and UF/sub 6/. The role of tunable laser spectroscopy in analyzing the CF/sub 4/ laser, resulting in the precise prediction of lasing frequencies between 605 and 655 cm/sup /minus/1/, is described. Studies of overtone and combination bands of SF/sub 6/ enable the vibrational anharmonicity to be determined, resulting in a more detailed description of the pump transitions involved in laser photochemistry, and of higher vibrational levels and pathways to excitation and dissociation. This permits more accurate calculations of vibrational state densities for spherical-top molecules. Implications for the photochemistry of species, such as SiF/sub 4/, SF/sub 6/, UF/sub 6/, and Ni(Co)/sub 4/, are discussed. 48 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs