A Review and Critique of John McKnight`s Theory of `The Careless Society`

John McKnight`s theory of the Careless Society is key to understanding post-industrial society trends in organization and delivery of health and social services in communities. The article presents the theory and its connections with other influential critiques of modern institutions. The theory is analyzed and critiqued itself from a sociological perspective, drawing upon alternative points of view. McKnight`s work can be very useful to institutions and professionals offering health, social and education services.John McKnight`s theory of the Careless Society is key to understanding post-industrial society trends in organization and delivery of health and social services in communities. The article presents the theory and itsconnections with other influential critiques of modern institutions. The theory is analyzed and critiqued itself from a sociological perspective, drawing upon alternative points of view. McKnight`s work can be very useful to institutions and professionals offering health, social and education services

Becoming a therapist in Bulgaria: A grounded developmental model

Introduction:  The relative novelty of psychotherapy as practice and profession in Bulgaria allows for a therapist-centered study of the beginnings of psychotherapist careers. The existing models of psychotherapist career development focus on career factors or personal professional transformation. The current study builds upon developmental career models by examining closely the early stages of becoming a psychotherapist through the perspectives of therapists themselves.Aim: This qualitative study explored how psychotherapists and counselors in Bulgaria choose their career path and how their experiences and interaction with context shape their professionalization.Materials and Methods: Ten therapists were purposefully sampled to represent a diverse gamut of experiences and therapy modality. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed via a phenomenological and a grounded theory approach.Results: A developmental model with seven elements was produced: Early Influences, The Passage to Therapy/Encounter with Therapy, Creating One’s Own Concept of Therapy, Choice of Therapy, Training, The Responsibility of the Tutor, and The Self-Awareness as a Therapist.Conclusion: The grounded model is compared to a factor model and a personal-professional development model for psychotherapy career choice. Compared to their Western colleagues, Bulgarian psychotherapists follow similar pathways into the profession, but are more likely to engage in life-long learning

Career Management Of Nurses In Healthcare

Medical nurses are an essential part of health care and healthcare service delivery. Their career development is instrumental for the functioning of the health system and the maintenance of its staff potential.The aim of this study was to identify and analyze issues and aspects of the career development of nurses in Bulgaria. The scientific literature on nurse career development was reviewed, data from the National Statistics Institute and National Center of Public Health and Analyses registers on the number of nurses were processed and analyzed. A sociological anonymous questionnaire survey on career development attitudes and experiences was conducted among 208 working nurses and 56 students of nursing and the collected empirical data were analyzed.Analyses of the survey data among working nurses suggest that the nursing workforce has a strong upward tilt in age structure. There is a lack of awareness about training and career development among working nurses, while this problem is unexpressed among students. Another problem is the lack of a sufficient training and specialization opportunities in healthcare organizations. More than 80% of working nurses indicate that they are not satisfied with the remuneration of their work. A large percentage from both groups of respondents report that they want to develop their career in Bulgaria. Improving working conditions by increasing pay, including necessary training and specializations, as well as providing sufficient and accessible information on career development opportunities, can increase the motivation of workers to develop professionally and the nursing profession can regain its prestige in society

Experimental setup for light-to-heat NIR conversion measurements of gold nano-particles\u2019 solutions

In recent years, there is a constantly increasing interest in the application of nanoparticles for cancer diagnosis and cancer therapy. In this respect, the most promising nano-objects at present are the gold nanoparticles. A very convenient and powerful property of these objects is their ability to increase their temperature under electro-magnetic irradiation with certain wavelength. In our research we have directed our efforts toward particular nano-objects specifically sensitive to electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared region (NIR). In order to study the photothermic properties of the solutions of gold nanoparticles in the NIR we constructed a specific electronic setup consisting of a laser system with interchangeable laser diodes with different wavelength NIR light, a thermally-insulated cuvette-holder compartment with temperature measuring probes and a NIR spectrometer to control the stimulated fluorescence emission of the nanoparticles\u2019 solutions. The temperature measurement compartment with the thermal-insulated cuvette holder was designed to maintain the solutions\u2019 temperature at a fixed value right before the moment of laser irradiation. To maintain the measurement setup at a fixed temperature before the irradiation we used a thermal stabilized system based on two Peltier cells with electronic temperature control. The temperatures of the ambient air and the temperature of the cuvette walls were continuously measured in order to make corrections about the temperature dissipation during the irradiation

The Present and Future of the Nurse Profession in Bulgaria

Introduction: The human resources are the most precious capital of any organization: the most significant forachieving its goals and the most difficult to manage. The main issue with human resources management in healthcarefor health managers today is the critically low numbers of nurses in the profession. This issue has repercussions for both nurses and patients.Purpose: To study the main reasons for leaving and the conditions for staying in the job from the perspectives ofpracticing nurses; to advance a possible approach for tackling the issue of nurses` retention in the job; to evaluate thecontributions of human resources professionals toward that goal.Methods and Materials: A pilot study was conducted in July-August 2018 with 52 nurses practicing in the city of Varna,Bulgaria. The data were collected through a survey using a questionnaire developed by the first authorFindings and Discussion: The main reasons for leaving the profession as stated by the surveyed nurses are the low levels of remuneration, the lack of social recognition for the value of their job, and the systemic work overload. For more than half of respondents it is difficult to strike a balance between personal and professional life due to having to work two or more jobs. Nurses report they would stay in their job provided adequate remuneration for what they see as highly qualified and responsible labor, positive work climate, support and understanding from nurse managers, and flexibility with work hours.Conclusion: At present the functions of human resources management are performed mostly by nurse managers (i.e. chief and senior nurses). The main reasons for leaving the nursing profession concern remuneration, the lack of social recognition for the profession and the systemic work overload. Conditions facilitating staying in the job depend on the attainment of a reasonable balance between the interests of management and practitioners. The professional and career development of nurses depends more on their personality and motivation than contextual factors. The opportunity to exert autonomy on the nursing job would enhance work-related self-esteem and raise the prestige of the profession. The work-life balance has an increasing significance for practicing nurses and is becoming a primary factor for choosing an employer, for work engagement and commitment to the goals of the health organization

Behavioral models for enhancing health-related habits in patients and society

Introduction: Every practicing therapist encounters varius types of barriers when attempting to influence and change the health habits of their patients. In this theoretical review we examine several theoretical models that can serve health professionals in helping patients to develop new healthy behaviors and habits.Materials and Methods: A reseach and review of theoretical and empirical literature on health behavior and interventions was performed. Three fundamental models were identified, compared, described and evaluated in the present text.Theories and Models of Changing Health Behavior: As a general trend there is an increased recognition of the value of the evidence base of health-related interventions. An important task and challenge is to understand health behavior and turn theory into effective strategies for health improvement. Ecological models posit that factors at multiple levels – intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, community, political – influence health behavior with varying impact. Social cognitive models focus on the interactions among behavior, personal cognitive factors, and social-ecological forces in a reciprocal system. The Transtheoretical model examines the individual decisions of an individual with regard to their health as a process of a conscious change in thinking and actions.Conclusion: The reviewed models can complement each other and in the right combinations may help the attainment of impactful changes in health-related behaviors and quality of life

Knowledge Management in Pharmaceutical Organizations: Theory and Practice

Introduction: The development of information technologies and the growing significance of intellectual capital compel managers to rethink the use of knowledge in business today. Knowledge management has been introduced into managers’ work and so has begun a search for models to guide that work. The purpose of this article is to analyze the practice of knowledge management in pharmaceutical organizations in Bulgaria and to familiarize the audience with the most significant theoretical models for creating knowledge management strategies for companies in the pharmaceutical business.Materials and Methods: The article draws on scholarly literature on knowledge management with an emphasis on theoretical models of knowledge management strategy formation suitable pharmaceutical organizations. A content analysis was conducted with class papers written by students in the Knowledge Management for Pharmaceutical Organizations class from the master’s program in Pharmaceutical Management and Care at Medical University Varna.Results and Discussion: Two theoretical models are examined – the Knowledge Codification strategy, stressing codification, preservation and reuse of knowledge by means of organizational data bases, and the Knowledge Personalization strategy, focused on interpersonal dialogue, knowledge transfer via brainstorming and group reflection among co-workers. The competition on the pharmaceutical market is intense and the companies need to improve their knowledge management strategy in order to stay competitive. The managers of pharmacies from our sample fully understand the necessity of increasing the intellectual capital of their firms by the accumulation and transfer of knowledge. They widely practice the transfer of knowledge through direct face-to-face contact among the company workers. Simultaneously, they actively seek forms of disseminating product knowledge among clients and wider audiences. After engaging with the codification and personalization strategies for knowledge management the majority of the master’s program participants who work in pharmacies think that the codification strategy would be very effective in their practice. The creation of a data base with organizational knowledge all employees would have access to the knowledge, know-how and experience of the whole collective, which will accelerate the professionalization of each employee. Such a process is especially important for new and inexperienced workers as it will allow them to reduce their time-to-competence and become fully productive. In addition, the employee knowledge data base would mitigate the loss of knowledge for pharmacies when employees with precious practical experience leave the company. In comparison, big pharmaceutical companies (as represented by the students) involved in research and development work find more promising the knowledge personalization strategy.Conclusions: Master’s students from the Knowledge Management for Pharmaceutical Organizations class propose their visions for knowledge management strategies in the pharmaceutical business as they combine new knowledge obtained in class, their study of scholarly sources and their practical work experience

Early childhood development—a determinant of health and quality of life in the modern society. study design and influencing factors

The research focus of thе study is on the importance of early childhood development (ECD) as a determinant of health and the quality of life in the modern society. The study design reflects the authors' expertise regarding the research stages that in their logical sequence will result in the development of a standardized instrument with practical application. The factors influencing the study’s design and duration are investigated and presented. The ultimate scientific goal is to create a united preventive environment for early childhood development by achieving integration and coordination of individuals and collective entities (parents–children–specialists) in the community

An Overview of the Scala Programming Language

Scala fuses object-oriented and functional programming in a statically typed programming language. It is aimed at the construction of components and component systems. This paper gives an overview of the Scala language for readers who are familar with programming methods and programming language design