Thinking critically about the occurrence of widespread participation in poor nursing care

AimA discussion of how Arendt's work can be productively re-contextualized to provide a critical analysis of the occurrence of widespread participation in poor nursing care and what the implications of this are for the providers of nursing education.BackgroundWhile the recent participation of nurses in healthcare failings, such as that detailed in the Francis report, has been universally condemned, there has been an absence of critical analyses in the literature that attempt to understand the occurrence of such widespread participation in poor nursing care. This is a significant omission in so far as such analyses will form an integral part of the strategy to limit the occurrence of such widespread participation of nurses in future healthcare failings.DesignDiscussion paper.Data sourcesArendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil and Thinking and Moral Considerations: A Lecture. In addition, a literature search was conducted and articles published in English relating to the terms care, compassion, ethics, judgement and thinking between 2004–2014 were included.Implications for nursingIt is anticipated that this discussion will stimulate further critical debate about the role of Arendt's work for an understanding of the occurrence of poor nursing care, and encouraging additional detailed analyses of the widespread participation of nurses in healthcare failings more generally.ConclusionThis article provides a challenging analysis of the widespread participation of nurses in poor care and discusses the opportunities confronting the providers of nursing education in limiting future healthcare failings

THE LANGUAGE OF CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE: A RESEARCH NOTE

We investigate different language techniques used in corporate environmental disclosures and test whether the impression management (see Neu et al., 1998) hypothesis holds when disclosures are measured as such. We argue that the way information is presented (i.e., the language and verbal tone of narratives) in environmental disclosure is equally or perhaps more important than its amount or thematic content, and that such narrative choice is not neutral to firm environmental performance. We use a computer-based measurement approach to evaluate the extent of language bias contained in corporate environmental disclosures for a cross-sectional sample of U.S. firms' 10-K reports. This study contributes to the social and environmental literature by (1) systematically analyzing the language used in environmental disclosures, (2) examining whether corporations attempt to manage impressions by writing such disclosures, and (3) further exploring the characteristics of impression management.Environmental disclosure; language tone; impression management

The reform of fiscal systems in developing and emerging market economies : a federalism perspective

The authors review experiences with fiscal federalism in industrial countries and present a framework for a reform of fiscal systems in developing and transition economies. They indicate how the benefits of decentralized decisionmaking in a federal system can be achieved in a manner consistent with the objectives of national efficiency and equity. The following are their suggestions. Decentralization can be made compatible with national objectives through conditional grants, regulation, or coordinated decisionmaking. The federal government should assume primary responsibility for providing national public goods and services, for efficiency of the internal common market, for redistributive equity, for external relations, and for macroeconomic policy. State governments should be responsible for subnational public goods and services, for the delivery of quasi-private goods and services, (such as education, health, and social insurance), for fiscal equity among municipalities, and for overseeing local government decisionmaking. Local governments should be responsible for purely local services. Where jurisdiction for a public service is shared, the roles of the various levels of government should be clarified. Accountability should be hierarchical, with the federal government responsible for overall policy and standards, and lower levels of government with the actual delivery of services and infrastructure. In some cases, asymmetric decentralization may be the preferred option, especially where jurisdictions differ greatly in size and population. Efficiency and equity must be considered in assigning taxes. Efficiency considerations suggest centralizing taxes applied on more mobile bases (such as taxes on capital income and on trade). Equity considerations suggest centralizing progressive income taxes and transfers to persons as well as taxes on wealth and wealth transfer and on resource rents. States could use excise taxes or general sales taxes if levied on a single-stage basis; if a multistage sales tax is used, it is best administered centrally. States could also obtain revenues from piggy-backing on the federal income tax provided a harmonized system is maintained. Municipalities should use property taxes, user fees, and licenses. Tax and expenditures assignment must be supplemented by a system of fiscal transfers, both because the desirability of greater decentralization of expenditures than of taxes will give rise to fiscal imbalances and because transfers are a necessary instrument for achieving efficiency and equity in a decentralized federation. In a decentralized federation, fiscal inefficiencies and fiscal inequities will occur because states will not deliver comparable sets of services at comparable tax rates. Eliminating these differential net fiscal benefits requires a set of equalizing unconditional transfers, possibly combined with a more general revenue-sharing scheme. Matching conditional grants are useful for internalizing the spillover of benefits from state public spending to residents of neighboring states. More important is the use of federal-state conditional grants as a means for the federal government to achieve national efficiency and equity objectives while allowing public service delivery to be decentralized. In transition economies, framework laws on property rights, corporate legal ownership and control bankruptcy, and financial accounting and control are not fully developed. This should be a high priority. The lack of local administrative experience, institutions, and competence should not be used as an excuse for not decentralizing responsibilities. If necessary, transitional funding and training should be provided.National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform

Fiscal federalism : dimensions of tax reform in developing countries

The authors propose four economic principles for use in deciding taxing responsibilities for various levels of government. These are: 1) efficiency of the internal common market - for efficiency in internal common market, taxes on mobile factors and tradable goods should either be assigned to the national government or coordinated among subnational governments; 2) national equity - progressive redistributive taxes ought to be assigned to the level of government having responsibility for redistribution, usually the national government. Subnational governments could levy supplementary flat rates on the federal tax base; 3) administrative costs - to minimize collection, administration, and compliance costs, a tax should be assigned to the level likely to be best informed about its base. This suggests assigning real property taxation to local governments and corporate income taxation to the national government; and 4) fiscal need - to ensure accountability, revenue means should be matched as closely as possible to revenue needs. Thus tax instruments intended to further specific policy objectives should be assigned to the level of government having the responsibility for such a service. Thus progressive redistributive taxes, stabilization instruments, and resource rent taxes would be suitable for assignment to national government; while tolls on intermunicipal roads are suitably assigned to state governments. Some resource taxes, such as royalties and fees and severance taxes on production and/or output, are designed to cover costs of local service provision and could be assigned to subnational governments. In addition, subnational governments could also impose taxes to discourage local environmental degradation. In countries with a federal level VAT, it may be too cumbersome to have subnational sales taxes. In such circumstances, the fiscal need criterion would suggest allowing subnational governments access to taxes which are traditionally regarded as suitable for national administration, such as personal income taxes. The authors also stress the importance of tax harmonization and coordination in preserving internal common market, reducing collection and compliance costs and helping to achieve national equity objectives and suggest methods of achieving such coordination vertically (between the federal and subnational governments) and horizontally (among subnational governments).Municipal Financial Management,Public Sector Economics&Finance,National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies

Employee Age and the Impact on Work Engagement

Purpose – Employee engagement studies are popular in contemporary research because of the complexity organizations face in nurturing the performance and productivity of multigenerations of workers. The purpose of the current study is to assess association of age and dimensions of work engagement. Design/methodology/approach - In total 181 participants completed the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) to measure work engagement including the dimensions of absorption, vigor and dedication as well as demographics. One way ANOVA and post hoc tests were conducted to examine the relationship between age and work engagement. Findings: Employees 50 years of age and older were found to have statistically significant higher work engagement scores than the employees under the age of 50. Statistically significant scores were also found to be higher in absorption and dedication. Originality/value – The workforce is aging with older employees becoming larger populations in organizations. Understanding how age influences employee work engagement supports human capital management strategy within organizations. HR professionals can also use the findings to develop targeted employee engagement to leverage the dedication and talents of older employees

Bridging the urological divide

The advanced disease clinical presentations, higher morbidity and mortality rates and lack of available treatment options in prostate cancer care, attest to disparities in the delivery and outcomes of urological services in Black men of African lineage in both the Developed and Developing countries. This gap in health care and services in the global management of prostate cancer denotes the urological divide

From Snacking on Diversity and Inclusion to Systemic Organizational Consumption

Purpose – Most global organizations have a diversity and inclusion (D&I) statement and initiatives to advance equity within their organizations though minimal traction is evidenced by what is espoused. This article demonstrates how to make progress in D&I generalizable to global workplaces. Approach – Approaching D&I initiatives as collectivist working society bridges gaps in resourcing, powering, and actualizing D&& organizationally unlike is being demonstrated in companies where D&I is facilitated by majority groups. Originality/value – This article provides human resource practitioners with a systemic method of advancing diversity and inclusion equitably while promoting organizational citizenship comparable to thriving workplaces

Linking Innovation & Creativity with Diversity & Inclusion Using Lean Six Sigma

“The SHRM Workplace Diversity Conference & Exposition fosters awareness and appreciation of workplace diversity issues through thought leadership, strategy development, resources, publications and professional development for HR professionals and other business leaders. Making the business case for diversity, helping HR professionals to better articulate its strategic business value, and enabling them to build more diverse and inclusive cultures, are the cornerstones of the initiative.”—Society for Human Resource Management websit

Global Citizenship: Stewards of the Future

The Global Citizen Program combines humanity with leadership and stewardship which are core elements in designing diverse and inclusive societies. The program solidifies the holistic learning of Embry-Riddle students in terms of academic, intellectual, and social reproduction. --Slide