WHICH COMPANY DO I WORK FOR? ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION IN THIRD PARTY ORGANIZATIONS

Organizational communication influences organizational culture and identity, as well as employee identification with an organization. Even though extant literature on organizational culture, identity, and identification explains how these topics occur and relate within organizations, we know less about how employees develop identification to the culture specifically from the third party companies. The purpose of this study is to explore how a third party organization, “One Corporation,” communicates its organizational culture and identity to its employees and how the messages communicated by “One Corporation” influence employee identification. The researcher utilizes thematic analysis of organizational documents, face-to-face interviews, and participant observation for collection of data in this study. Findings indicate that organizational documents communicate One Corporation’s culture and identity utilizing the following themes: communication tools such as language and artifacts, and organizational development, which refers to the development of One Corporation as a business. These findings were found to influence employee identification with One Corporation through the creation of shared meanings and values, as well as creating a values dilemma between One Corporation and contracting organizations and a socialization dilemma among the different locations. Suggestions for resolving these dilemmas are discussed. Limitations of this research and directions for future research are discussed

Nursing churn and turnover in Australian hospitals: Nurses perceptions and suggestions for supportive strategies

Background: This study aimed to reveal nurses’ experiences and perceptions of turnover in Australian hospitals and identify strategies to improve retention, performance and job satisfaction. Nursing turnover is a serious issue that can compromise patient safety, increase health care costs and impact on staff morale. A qualitative design was used to analyze responses from 362 nurses collected from a national survey of nurses from medical and surgical nursing units across 3 Australian States/Territories. Method: A qualitative design was used to analyze responses from 362 nurses collected from a national survey of nurses from medical and surgical nursing units across 3 Australian States/Territories. Results: Key factors affecting nursing turnover were limited career opportunities; poor support; a lack of recognition; and negative staff attitudes. The nursing working environment is characterised by inappropriate skill-mix and inadequate patient-staff ratios; a lack of overseas qualified nurses with appropriate skills; low involvement in decision-making processes; and increased patient demands. These issues impacted upon heavy workloads and stress levels with nurses feeling undervalued and disempowered. Nurses described supportive strategies: improving performance appraisals, responsive preceptorship and flexible employment options. Conclusion: Nursing turnover is influenced by the experiences of nurses. Positive steps can be made towards improving workplace conditions and ensuring nurse retention. Improving performance management and work design are strategies that nurse managers could harness to reduce turnover

Primo discovery and delivery of Fedora content

The paper describes and demonstrates the use of Primo as the discovery layer for a Fedora repository. Primo is an Ex Libris product designed to be a one-stop solution for discovery and delivery of resources from various sources. Fedora/Primo systems have been deployed on two UNSW eResearch projects, based on requirements of research groups in public health and social sciences. Planning has commenced for implementation of Primo on existing Fedora/VITAL systems, including MemRE (Membranes Research Environment). With the general release of Primo 3 in April 2010, VITAL will be replaced as the search and discovery layer of the institutional repository also. The presentation demonstrates KnowlHEG, an electronic gateway for Human Resources for Health (HRH) material relating to Asia and the Pacific region, which was jointly developed by the University Library and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine (SPHCM) at UNSW. Primo provides the user interface, search functionality and persistent URLs on a Fedora repository

The galaxy-halo connection of DESI luminous red galaxies with subhalo abundance matching

We use subhalo abundance and age distribution matching to create magnitude-limited mock galaxy catalogs at $z\sim0.43$, $0.52$, and $0.63$ with $z$-band and $3.4$ micron $W1$-band absolute magnitudes and ${r-z}$ and ${r-W1}$ colors. From these magnitude-limited mocks we select mock luminous red galaxy (LRG) samples according to the $(r-z)$-based (optical) and $(r-W1)$-based (infrared) selection criteria for the LRG sample of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Survey. Our models reproduce the number densities, luminosity functions, color distributions, and projected clustering of the DESI Legacy Surveys that are the basis for DESI LRG target selection. We predict the halo occupation statistics of both optical and IR DESI LRGs at fixed cosmology, and assess the differences between the two LRG samples. We find that IR-based SHAM modeling represents the differences between the optical and IR LRG populations better than using the $z$-band, and that age distribution matching overpredicts the clustering of LRGs, implying that galaxy color is uncorrelated with halo age in the LRG regime. Both the optical and IR DESI LRG target selections exclude some of the most luminous galaxies that would appear to be LRGs based on their position on the red sequence in optical color-magnitude space. Both selections also yield populations with a non-trivial LRG-halo connection that does not reach unity for the most massive halos. We find the IR selection achieves greater completeness ($\gtrsim 90\%$) than the optical selection across all redshift bins studied.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Ap

Primo discovery and delivery of Fedora content

The paper describes and demonstrates the use of Primo as the discovery layer for a Fedora repository. Primo is an Ex Libris product designed to be a one-stop solution for discovery and delivery of resources from various sources. Fedora/Primo systems have been deployed on two UNSW eResearch projects, based on requirements of research groups in public health and social sciences. Planning has commenced for implementation of Primo on existing Fedora/VITAL systems, including MemRE (Membranes Research Environment). With the general release of Primo 3 in April 2010, VITAL will be replaced as the search and discovery layer of the institutional repository also. The presentation demonstrates KnowlHEG, an electronic gateway for Human Resources for Health (HRH) material relating to Asia and the Pacific region, which was jointly developed by the University Library and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine (SPHCM) at UNSW. Primo provides the user interface, search functionality and persistent URLs on a Fedora repository

Sudden Leadership Loss and the Importance of Succession Planning in Behavioral Health Care

This study examined sudden leadership loss and the importance of succession planning in behavioral health. The organization at the center of the study is located in the midwestern United States and is known for providing stellar services to its clients and fostering a quality workspace for its employees. The findings provided the organization with a clear and specific understanding of the value of succession planning for sustainability. The study was conducted using a qualitative research method. Semistructured interviews with 5 senior-level leaders from a single site location provided the primary source of data. Additional data were collected from the organization’s current and historical policies and procedures. The following themes emerged as a result of the study: communication, professional development, employee resistance, leadership support, and work environment. Findings from this study revealed that the organization lacked formal succession-planning strategies during a time of leadership loss. Further findings supported how the lack of succession planning impacted the performance of the affected project team and the quality of services provided. Implications from this study reveal how similar behavioral health organizations can plan for change and unexpected leadership loss. This study’s findings can contribute to social change by helping leaders of behavioral health organizations create work environments that value strategic succession planning, employee development, and information sharing

End-of-life priorities of older adults with terminal illness and caregivers: A qualitative consultation

Abstract Background As older adults approach the end‐of‐life (EOL), many are faced with complex decisions including whether to use medical advances to prolong life. Limited information exists on the priorities of older adults at the EOL. Objective This study aimed to explore patient and family experiences and identify factors deemed important to quality EOL care. Method A descriptive qualitative study involving three focus group discussions (n = 18) and six in‐depth interviews with older adults suffering from either a terminal condition and/or caregivers were conducted in NSW, Australia. Data were analysed thematically. Results Seven major themes were identified as follows: quality as a priority, sense of control, life on hold, need for health system support, being at home, talking about death and competent and caring health professionals. An underpinning priority throughout the seven themes was knowing and adhering to patient's wishes. Conclusion Our study highlights that to better adhere to EOL patient's wishes a reorganization of care needs is required. The readiness of the health system to cater for this expectation is questionable as real choices may not be available in acute hospital settings. With an ageing population, a reorganization of care which influences the way we manage terminal patients is required

Contemporary science curricula in Australian schools

A quality education in science is a crucial outcome of schooling. All young people need a deep understanding of how the practice of science enables humans to make sense of the world around them. The knowledge produced by science allows us to solve problems and make informed, evidence-based judgements to improve our lives and that of others. For example, our understanding of science allows us to develop drugs to treat diseases, build telescopes to search the outermost parts of the Universe, predict weather patterns and explain why certain chemicals react with each other in predictable ways. Many of the global problems facing humanity (e.g., climate change, food and energy shortages) require science and technology-based solutions

Mental Health Recovery Using the Individual Recovery Outcomes Counter (I.ROC) in a Community Rehabilitation Team: A Service Evaluation

There are many definitions of recovery in mental health. Community Rehabilitation Teams (CRTs) aim to support the mental health recovery of people. The Individual Recovery Outcomes Counter (I.ROC) is a way to measure recovery. To determine if being supported by a CRT helps mental health recovery for people transitioning from an inpatient service to the community. Individual reliable and clinically meaningful change indices were calculated for a total of 31 people. Two I.ROC questionnaires were completed by 31 people. Of these 31 people, 14 people had three completed I.ROC questionnaires. Of the 31 people, 17 showed a positive reliable change and three people made a clinically meaningful change. Of the 14 people, one had a positive reliable change, two had a negative reliable change, and no-one had a clinically meaningful change. The I.ROC shows the CRT to successfully support recovery in people with mental health difficulties