7277 research outputs found
Sort by
Don\u27t Tell My Mother, But...
Get PDFAn Honors Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for Honors in the Department of English
Public Higher Education’s Role in Shaping a Workforce in Rhode Island: The Case of Rhode Island College
Get PDFSkilled human capital plays a major role in sparking innovation, enhancing productivity, raising incomes, and driving economic growth. State prosperity depends heavily on attracting well-educated workers because these workers enjoy significantly higher per-capita incomes and perform well on other economic measures. The knowledge-based economy places a higher premium on an education that challenges those entering the workplace to be able to think beyond the immediate job they will seek. If the most desirable high-value technical businesses cannot find enough skilled workers in Rhode Island, they will neither come to the state or stay in it. Furthermore, in today’s economy, we cannot attract individual business entities, but instead must attract and nurture a web of industries that together represent robust economic sectors. A mix of development incentives, not relying solely on tax policy, is necessary to build such economic sectors, especially due to the importance of education and quality of life amenities play in business location decisions.
Therefore, this case study analysis offers Rhode Island policymakers, for the first time, an in-depth look at how Rhode Island College has, and is, preparing students for the future. Rhode Island College is the appropriate case for this analysis because it is the college which educates Rhode Islanders, and thus plays a central role in enhancing the educational attainment of Rhode Island’s workforce and its desirability
Building Age-Friendly Community: Notes from the Field
Get PDFBuilding age-friendly communities is a global as well as a national concern. The purpose of this paper is to explore fundamental tensions underlying the formulation of age-friendly goals and their implementation, based on a review of age-friendly projects and reflections on the journey towards age friendliness in one state (Rhode Island). The authors conducted a comprehensive investigation of the relevant literature on previous age-friendly initiatives, which included case studies of individual projects, meta-analyses of age-friendly work, and educational toolkits for promoting age-friendly community. They also collected original data from ten focus groups with older adults, interviews with key informant service providers, surveys of older adults and observational environmental audits. Through this multi-faceted approach, they identified recurrent questions often not overtly addressed in building livable communities, despite their being central to decisions made in age-friendly projects. This paper focuses on six questions: Age friendliness for whom? Older adults viewed as a burden or a benefit? Age friendliness by or for older adults? Is age friendliness affordable? Should the target be the aged overall or the needy aged in particular? Should interventions aim to change people or places? The Aging in Community Report, (prepared by the authors and submitted to Rhode Island’s General Assembly), reflected decisions made—albeit sometimes inadvertently—in response to these questions. It showed that priority was given to age friendliness over livability, assistance to vulnerable, older adults was given precedence over helping the entire older population, and top-down interventions were emphasized more than grass-roots endeavors. Its recommendations were geared to leveraging or modestly increasing existing resources to better serve older adults and enhancing opportunities for older adults to contribute to their community. Following the release of the report, the focus shifted from modifications of the environment to facilitating changes in individual behavior to optimize person-environment fit
Eye on Ethics: To Post or Not to Post: Ethical Challenges in a Digital World
No full textIn this digital world social workers now have many opportunities to exercise judgment about their online conduct. Most contemporary social workers concluded their formal social work education before the advent of Facebook, Google, Bing, LinkedIn, Twitter, Skype, Instagram, Snapchat, and other digital applications. Now, of course, this technology is pervasive in both professionals\u27 and clients\u27 lives, thus requiring social workers to be mindful of a wide range of novel ethical challenges
Social Work\u27s Past as Prologue
No full textOne of the remarkable byproducts of social work\u27s ongoing efforts to define itself was the path-breaking emergence of a new, comprehensive code of ethics, adopted in 1996. For the very first time in social work\u27s storied history, the code included an explicit mission statement that proclaims that the primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living. Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients
This I Believe Rhode Island: Children Teaching Parents
No full textThose of us who are parents seem to assume that one of our principal tasks in life is teaching our children how to navigate this remarkably complicated world. Whatever our child\u27s talents, insights, proclivities, or special needs, we assume the role of master teacher: How to tie a shoe, complete assignments on time, manage a neighborhood bully, heal the broken heart. The list seems, and perhaps is, endless. And then, many of us discover, especially when we open ourselves to the possibility, that our children manage to teach us so much about how to live a meaningful life, cope with disappointment, tell it like it is, and sort out priorities. Most of all, children often teach us to back off, to let their lives unfold on their terms. B.J. Rich, has learned those lessons well
Exploring the Presence of Moral Distress in Critical Care Nurses
Get PDFWith healthcare moving toward greater outpatient and preventative approaches, hospitalizations are increasingly intended for those who are critically ill. Frequently this requires the need for highly specialized nursing as well as resource utilization. Technological advances have aided in providing this type of intensive care but they have also compelled practitioners to make treatment decisions that did not previously exist. The conflict of maintaining one’s life without ascertaining whether there will be quality of life is just one example of a difficult situation that can lead to moral distress. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of moral distress on critical care nurses. The project employed a survey design. After obtaining IRB approval, a convenience sample of 28 nurses was obtained from a small community hospital’s ICU and CCU. Each participant completed the Moral Distress Scale-Revised (MDS-R) measure and some demographic questions. Results confirmed that moral distress was present among the participants at low to moderate levels: 18 nurses (64%) scored low with seven nurses (25%) scoring in the moderate range. The most morally distressing experiences were related to end of life care. The most morally distressing and frequent event was that of “follow the family’s wishes to continue life support even though I believe it is not in the best interest of the patient”. There was no correlation between nurses’ age, level of experience and moral distress. Limitations included a small sample size and lack of diversity in age and experience. It is possible that the researcher’s affiliation with the unit could have affected participants’ responses regarding leaving their current position. The findings suggest that more research should be done on exploring the ethical climate and other factors that effect moral distress
Improvement of Patient Satisfaction Through Enhancement of RN Communication Skills: A Quality Improvement Project
Get PDFStudies have shown that people with low health literacy understand health information less well, obtain preventative healthcare such as screenings for cancer less frequently and use expensive resources such as emergency rooms more often. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with guidance from Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports, developed quality indicators for individual institutions to demonstrate improvement. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA, 2012) constructed online communication education modules for healthcare professionals including health literacy tools developed by the AHRQ. The purpose of this project was to examine the impact of RN communication education on patient satisfaction. A pre-post intervention design was used. Nurses were provided a brief overview and instruction about the HRSA website, use of the online education modules and an explanation of target patient satisfaction scores. The domains studied included five target patient satisfaction questions regarding communication with nurses and communication about medications. Post intervention results (July-December 2015) demonstrate a marked increase in scores when compared to the six months prior to the introduction of the content (January-June 2015). All twenty-two respondents responded agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend the Effective Communication for Healthcare Professionals 100 course. APRNs have an unprecedented opportunity to support research and education surrounding ethnic differences in communication and aspects of communication that may contribute to patient comprehension, adherence to follow-up care and patient satisfaction
Nurse Anesthesia Program Directors: Applicant Selection, Attitudes, and Admission Criteria
Get PDFThe field of nurse anesthesia is an evolving and demanding one, requiring challenging schooling and training. The application and selection process of nurse anesthesia students remains imperfect. The purpose of this study was to examine nurse anesthesia program directors’ attitudes about the perceived importance of admission criteria and attributes in relation to success in the program. A retrospective non-experimental/ descriptive survey, with mixed method qualitative and quantitative data, was used. A convenience sample of 17 program and assistant program directors completed the researcher developed survey. Data were evaluated using descriptive statistics. Nurse anesthesia program directors’ attitudes about perceived importance of admission criteria and attributes in relation to success in the program showed high value placed on science GPA, emotional intelligence, personal interview, GPA, applicant essay, and critical care nursing experience. Science GPA and critical care experience showed the smallest standard deviation ranges and variance. The highest mean score was for science GPA, while the lowest mean scores were applicant age and GRE score. Free text responses highlighted attributes and admission criteria not evaluated in the survey including time/understanding of the program being applied to, time shadowing anesthesia providers, earned CCRN and critical care scenario test performance. The goal of improving the selection process should be to reduce attrition and increase first time national certification exam pass rates. Recommendations for research include expanded evaluation of nurse anesthesia students’ admission requirements and their predictive value in regard to success in nurse anesthesia programs
RIC/CF Innovation Lab Spring Newsletter
Get PDFThe 2nd issue of the RIC/CF Innovation Lab newsletter (Spring, 2016).
In this issue:
- Project Highlight: Parent College Vide