Advanced vascular access workshop for dialysis nurses : a three-year review

There is increased awareness regarding the benefits of ultrasound for vascular access surveillance and guided cannulation in haemodialysis. However, finding time to train staff whilst working within the clinical setting is challenging. In 2009 a workshop was introduced in Victoria to provide a platform for nursing staff to learn advanced skills in surveillance and cannulation in a safe, supportive environment. The workshop covered topics such as: assessment and cannulation; surgical perspectives in vascular access; radiological perspectives in vascular access; surveillance and monitoring; cannulation competency package; antegrade/antegrade cannulation; and introduction to ultrasound plus five hours of practical sessions. Feedback from the workshop over the past three years has been positive, and staff have benefited from the both the theoretical and clinical components of the workshop. The success of this workshop highlights the demand for continuing education within the renal workforce

The Good Temp

[Excerpt] The story of the explosion of temporary employment and the challenge to the permanent employment contract in the last half of the twentieth century has been told many times. Researchers from\u27\u27a variety of academic disciplines have written about it, as have activists who organize to help American workers maintain a decent standard of living and a modicum of dignity, and policy analysts who fear the degradation of the employment relationship that seems to be a foregone implication of temporary work. They have focused on different units of analysis: workers who desire permanent jobs but can\u27t find them, workers who have lost out as companies have downsized and restructured, businesses and their myriad reasons for using temporary workers as a solution to their profitability and competition problems, and the temporary help service industry (THS) itself. The Good Temp takes a different tack to explain these developments in labor market institutions and behaviors. Specifically, we look at how the THS industry in the United States reinvented temporary work in the second half of the twentieth century and examine how individual THS agencies continue to manufacture and market this reinvented product—the good temporary worker—today. It is a customized, historically specific make and model whose marketability rested on two selling points: that temporary employment could be a viable alternative to permanent employment and that the workers on whom the system of temporary employment relations depends could be as good as permanent workers and sometimes better. The historical and social construction of the good temp, we show, was embedded in THS-industry profitmaking strategies and relied on the diffusion of new norms about what constituted acceptable employment practice. Now entrenched, these norms underpin our current employment relations in the United States which many, if not most, of us experience as precarious and contingent, even when we have so-called permanent jobs

The Virtues-Based Leadership Model: Assessing Consistency Across Three Spheres-of-Life

This study develops and tests whether the virtues-based leadership model is able to identify consistencies and inconsistencies in a leader’s use of cardinal and theological virtues (the seven Christian virtues) across their embraced, espoused and enacted spheres of life. I present an exploratory qualitative descriptive design using a problem-driven content analysis based within a neo-Aristotelian ethics framework focusing on Ronald Reagan’s presidency as the single case study and exploring whether his personally embraced writings, publicly espoused speeches, and executively enacted orders contain concepts related to the seven Christian virtues (fortitude, justice, prudence, temperance, faith, hope and love). Ronald Reagan was chosen because of his openly professed belief in God, his role in virtues-based decision making and access to public records for the purpose of research. The study looks more specifically at the consistency of Reagan’s references to both the cardinal and theological virtues in handling three events: (1) the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) event; (2) the Father Jenco event; and (3) the Nicholas Daniloff event. It treats a leader as one who has the duty or expectation and authority (delegated or direct) to take action, even if that action is inaction, to accomplish a specified goal. The study concludes that the virtues-based leadership model can, in fact, identify consistencies and inconsistencies in a leader’s use of the cardinal virtues across their embraced, espoused and enacted spheres-of-life. I also offer suggestions on how the virtues-based leadership model adds to the body of academic literature and how the model can be applied in the pragmatic professional leadership arena

Student transitions to blended learning: an institutional case study

This paper examines the experiences of students transitioning to blended learning in the University of Glasgow as part of the QAA Enhancement Themes work on Student Transitions. We draw here on exploratory, qualitative research to examine the benefits, challenges and skills developed by students during transitions to blended learning as a means of advancing understanding, and informing future curriculum design. Data from home undergraduate and international postgraduate students were collected over two years through focus groups, individual interviews and end-of-course quality assurance surveys. We found that while home/undergraduate and international/postgraduate students have similar transition experiences, international taught postgraduates encounter additional challenges in terms of acclimatising to UK higher education (HE), especially within shorter programmes of study and where pedagogical and language differences exist. The findings are integrated in a conceptual framework highlighting the importance of access, acculturation (attitudes) and attributes (skills) to enable learner autonomy to engage effectively in blended learning. The findings have implications for institutional infrastructure, curriculum design and learner development. Further research is required to collect a larger data set as a means of developing the study’s conceptual framework, in order to better understand and support diverse student transitions to blended learning

The power of relational work in existential therapy

The power of relational work in existential therapy Aim/Purpose: This paper aims to present some preliminary findings from a PhD research study focusing on how existential therapists define and convey their role as therapists, with a particular emphasis on the therapeutic relationship. According to Spinelli (2007) one of the key underlying principles of existential therapy is relatedness, such that we can only make sense of ourselves through our relationships with others and the meanings that emerge between people. This paper aims to focus on how existential therapists conceptualise and use relatedness in their work with clients. Design/Methodology: Thirty UK existential therapists with entries on professional body websites were contacted by email. One man and four women agreed to participate and were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Following transcription, the data was analysed using thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) leading to identification of some initial themes focusing on aspects of the therapeutic relationship. Results/Findings: All therapists emphasised working relationally and made insightful connections between philosophical concepts such as ‘authenticity' and ‘not knowing' and rich examples of how such concepts can influence practice. This included sharing with the client what was going on between them ‘in the room', which was regarded as one of the most powerful tools of therapy. Overall, the research concluded that the participants share a common and distinct vision in terms of working relationally, which, whilst recognised as one of the most challenging aspects of the therapeutic endeavour, may dramatically enhance the psychological growth of both client and therapist. Research Limitations: The data discussed is based on preliminary findings during the initial phase of a PhD research project. The sample is small at this stage; further data will be collected as the project continues. Conclusions/Implications: The findings suggest that existential therapists regard working relationally, in an existential sense, as a powerful tool central to their therapeutic practice. Although it is too early to identify specific implications for practice, this paper will also argue that existential relatedness could potentially enhance therapists' professional practice and development

Institutional and Student Transitions Into Enhanced Blended Learning

This presentation provides an overview of the ‘Transitions into blended learning’ project, which has focused on three areas: developing an institutional transition framework, researching student experiences, and identifying interventions to support effective transitions. The framework identified external drivers for blended learning, a set of considerations for institutions, and a set of processes to facilitate change involving three stakeholder groups at the heart of the model. The work included learner experience research with students newly engaged in blended learning. This work identified support needs around access (to technology and learning materials), attitudes (towards learning online) and attributes (skills) needed to engage autonomously in blended learning. The institution-wide Enhancement themes team identified a set of interventions or ‘anchor points’ to prevent the institution ‘drifting back’ into purely traditional approaches to learning and teaching. These included the recognition and promotion of good practice through case studies, development of an institutional e-learning framework, and an event to encourage staff and students to share good practice in blended learning. This three-year project was largely led by a PhD student (JA), working with the principal investigator (VHD) and the institutional representative (KG)