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A pilot study exploring the relationship between self-compassion, self-judgement, self-kindness, compassion, professional quality of life and wellbeing among UK community nurses
No full textBackground - Compassion fatigue and burnout can impact on performance of nurses. This paper explores the relationship between self-compassion, self-judgement, self-kindness, compassion, professional quality of life, and wellbeing among community nurses.Aim - To measure associations between self-compassion, compassion fatigue, wellbeing, and burnout in community nurses.Method - Quantitative data were collected using standardised psychometric questionnaires: (1) Professional Quality of Life Scale; (2) Self-Compassion Scale; (3) short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale; (4) Compassion For Others Scale, used to measure relationships between self-compassion, compassion fatigue, wellbeing, and burnout.Participants - A cross sectional sample of registered community nurses (n = 37) studying for a postgraduate diploma at a University in the North of England took part in this study.Results - Results show that community nurses who score high on measures of self-compassion and wellbeing, also report less burnout. Greater compassion satisfaction was also positively associated with compassion for others, and wellbeing, whilst also being negatively correlated with burnout.Conclusion - High levels of self-compassion were linked with lower levels of burnout. Furthermore when community nurses have greater compassion satisfaction they also report more compassion for others, increased wellbeing, and less burnout. The implications of this are discussed alongside suggestions for the promotion of greater compassion
Positive psychology in dual diagnosis: a preliminary investigation
No full textPurpose - Positive psychology is an area of rapid development in mainstream psychology, yet it has had little impact thus far in the field of dual diagnosis (DD). Effective treatment for clients with DD is limited, due to the lack of all-encompassing interventions that treat the two conditions simultaneously. The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to discover the prevalence of DD among users of selected drug services in Manchester; second, to explore differences between DD clients and those with substance use in hope, resilience, and well-being; and third, to identify predictors of hope, resilience, and well-being in this population.Design/methodology/approach - The Snyder Hope Scale, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale were administered to 113 users of drug services through a convenience sampling method.Findings - Findings from this preliminary investigation indicated that the DD group were more vulnerable as they were less hopeful, less resilient, and had poorer well-being than their counterparts.Practical implications - This population of clients might benefit from specialized integrated treatment facilitating hope and resilience, which in turn would improve their well-being.Originality/value - The present study addresses a gap in the literature. Although the above positive psychological aspects have been looked at in relation to mental health, and in relation to addiction, the current research explores these positive dimensions with regard to the co-occurrence of substance abuse and mental illness
No-one Plays Alone
No full textThe discourses around games have tended to focus upon either their artefactual qualities or the phenomenological experience of play. In both cases, games are primarily to be understood singularly. An alternative approach, related to Foucault’s archaeological methods, is to focus upon the manner in which games share player practices with earlier games. This technique can be applied to all eras of games, and is not merely restricted to videogames – indeed, a significant proportion of the player practices of videogames descend directly from the player practices of tabletop games, especially in terms of the progenitive role of tabletop role-playing games for contemporary digital entertainment.Such player practices can be broadly understood in terms of interface (how the player engages with the game), world (what the player imagines is happening), or the agency practices that connect the interface and the world.Three propositions concerning the relationships between fictional setting and designed rule systems within games are explored, the last of which stresses the idea that ‘no-one plays alone’ i.e. that all play entails continuity of its practices over and above variation of those practices. These propositions are used to demonstrate three aesthetic flaws that are peculiar to, or particularly relevant for, videogames. This in turn leads to a discussion of the ways that commercially successful games have always proceeded by leveraging the existing networks of practice. The result is an alternative perspective for game design, game scholarship, or game critique, one that foregrounds the role of player practices
The linear and non-linear relationship between of tourism demand and output per worker: A study of Sri Lanka
No full textLinear and non-linear long-run association between tourism and economic growth is examined using the autoregressive distributed lag procedure with Sri Lanka as a reference country over the sample period 1978– 2014. Linear estimation results indicate that a 1% increase in tourism receipts result in an increase in the output per worker by 0.10% in the long run. The net effect in the short run is marginally negative and generally mixed.Non-linear relationship explains the effectiveness of the tourismindustry depends strongly on public infrastructurewhich is subject to congestion like the public transport, airports, road systemor telecommunications. A longrun U-shape relationship is detectedwith the minimumnecessary tourismreceipts of 1.26% ofGDP. The causality results indicate that higher tourism receipts causes growth. The method applied here can be used to examine other countries in the similar domain
Reflections on a coaching pilot project in healthcare settings
No full textThis paper draws on personal reflection of coaching experiences and learning as a coach to consider the relevance of these approaches in a management context with a group of four healthcare staff who participated in a pilot coaching project. It explores their understanding of coaching techniques applied in management settings via their reflections on using coaching approaches and coaching applications as healthcare managers. Coaching approaches can enhance a manager’s skill portfolio and offer the potential benefits in terms of successful goal achievement, growth, mutual learning and development for both themselves and staff they work with in task focused scenarios
Assessment and accountability: part 2 – managing failing students
No full textAssessment in clinical practice is a complex role undertaken by mentors and practice teachers. This article is the second of three articles about assessment in practice. Part one examined the importance of assessment and identified various assessment methods used in clinical practice. This article considers two main themes in the assessment of practice. First, it outlines the importance of providing feedback, and explores preparation for regular feedback and the documentation used to help mentors and practice teachers undertake this activity. Second, it discusses management of failing students, and reviews the literature relating to the ‘failure to fail’ phenomenon. This article relates to the third domain and outcomes of the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice on assessment and accountability
Structure-property relationships of fire resistant fibre-reinforced composites containing co-blended resin matrices
No full textUnsaturated polyester (UP) based glass fibre-reinforced polymer composites (GFRCs) are extensively used in marine applications due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, low cost, good corrosion and chemical resistance and low maintenance requirements. However, despite all these advantages, the poor fire resistance of GFRCs is the major limiting factor for their use in certain applications such as passenger vessels, naval ships, submarines etc., where fire safety is an important issue. In this research, the chosen methodology to enhance the flame retardancy of unsaturated polyester resin is to blend it with an inherently flame retardant resin so that the resultant composition may effectively gain the favourable property of each component. The inherently flame retardant resin could be phenolic (PH) or melamine formaldehyde (MF). The main problem of blending UP and PH resin is their incompatibility due to their different curing mechanisms, which can lead to phase separation and hence, poor mechanical properties of the composite produced. In order to make them compatible, functionalised/modified resins have been used.In this PhD work, co-blending of UP with following resins have been studied: a) unfunctionalised/functionalised resole phenolic resins (Res-PH): four resins chosen were water-based resole (PH1), ethanol-soluble (PH2), epoxy-functionalised (PH3), and allyl-functionalised (PH4); b) flame retardants (resorcinol bis (diphenyl phosphate (RDP), bisphenol-A bisdiphenyl phosphate (BADP) and 9, 10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO)) added to Res-PH resins; c) modified novolac phenolic: methacrylated novolac (M-Nov) resin; and d) melamine formaldehyde resin (MF).The curing behaviour and compatibility of UP, other resins and their blends have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). These results showed that the blends of UP with the functionalised phenolic resins are chemically compatible and can be co-cured. Based on the successful establishment of curing conditions, plaques of resins have been cast and cured. The most compatible polymer blend systems (UP with functionalised/ modified phenolic resin) such as UP/PH4 and UP/M-Nov systems showed DMTA results with single glass transition temperature (Tg) and no phase separation in the scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images, while incompatible systems showed signs of phase separation.Limiting oxygen index (LOI) measurements and cone calorimetry at 50kW/m2 heat flux have shown that fire performance of the functionalised Res-PH resins and their blends with UP is inferior than that from the un-functionalised Res-PH resin, but still significantly better than that of the UP. The blended resins with added FRs showed the similar trend i.e., FRs are, least effective in un-functionalised (UP/PH2 blends) blends compared with functionalised blends (UP/PH3 and UP/PH4). To understand this behaviour, thermal analyses using thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with infrared spectroscopy of volatile degradation products have been used on all resins and their blends, based on which, mechanisms of their decomposition and interactions are proposed, and the effects of these on flammability are discussed. UP/inherently flame retardant resin blends show improved thermal stability and improved flame retardancy than that of UP due to the char formation of inherently flame retardant resin component of the bend, whereas the UP resin decomposes into combustible volatiles, which burn.The glass fibre-reinforced composites (GFRCs) from co-blended matrices were prepared by hand lay-up method. The flammability of the composite samples was assessed by means of cone calorimetry and UP-94 tests. The GFRCs from co-blended resins showed better flame retardancy in terms of significant reductions in peak heat release rate (PHRR) and improved char residue. Finally the mechanical properties of the composite laminates have been studied by flexural, impact and tensile tests. The GFRCs from blends of UP with non-functionalised phenolic (UP/PH2) with and without FRs showed poor mechanical properties due to poor compatibility between UP and PH2, whereas, the GFRC from UP with functionalised phenolic resin, PH3-epoxy functionalised, PH4-allyl functionalised with and without FRs and UP/M-Nov, showed little deterioration in mechanical properties
Mobile learning, effective integration of new technologies into existing models
No full textMobile learning is seen as another leap in education system as it complements the traditional classroom teaching due to the advancement in mobile technology. Despite this advancement, the elements that will define the acceptance of mobile technology in education have yet to be explored. This paper emphasizes on mobile technology as a key component in the acceptance of mobile learning. In the existing acceptance model, the user perception is taken as the most important factor for the real use of the system. Whereas in Information System model, the factor that drives Users satisfaction is based on quality of service and information. However in mobile learning the strong successful factor must integrate mobile technology as one component in the model. This paper proposes mobile learning technology model that includes mobile technology as an important components besides user acceptance and information success model to ensure successful implementation of m-learning in higher learning institutions (HLI). The results showed that there are three main elements which constitute m-learning environment namely academicians, students and mobile technology. Mobile technology, infrastructure and technical system quality have been added in the technology acceptance model and information system success model
Happiness then and now
No full textSandie McHugh and Jerome Carson describe two happiness surveys from Bolton 76 years apar
CORE assessment of adult survivors abused as children:A NAPAC group therapy evaluation
No full textPurpose:The aim of this study was to provide the first formal evaluation of a unique 12-session group therapy programme developed by the UK-based National Association for People Abused as Children (NAPAC).Method:The therapy outcomes of this programme were assessed using the CORE-OM tool. Clients comprised 26 individuals (7 males and 19 females), with an age range of 19–67 (mean = 41; SD = 12.76). Clients were survivors of sexual, physical, emotional or neglectful childhood abuse, or a combination of these, and were from four different locations: London (n = 9), Bury (n = 4), Belfast (n = 8) and prison (n = 5).Findings:Across all CORE domains, improvements were shown from pre- to post-therapy. No gender or age differences were revealed, and improvements were shown across both community members and prison inmates.Implications A person-centred approach to group therapy is beneficial to a wide range of adult clients within the community and prison settings that require therapy after historical sexual, physical, emotional or neglectful childhood abuse