Personnel management-Part I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personnel management-Part I - Essay Example accordance with the changes that are continuously occurring in the business environment in order to maintain their competitiveness and ability to lead the market. The aim of this essay is to help the reader understand how to conduct training and development in an effective way. In order to yield the maximum out of the training and development program and making it effective and impactful, there are many roles a supervisor or trainer can play. These roles help the supervisor in encouraging the employees and inducing confidence and interest in them. (Reece et al, 2010). The most important role of a supervisor is that of a coach. A good coach identifies the trainee’s strengths and weaknesses in such a way that he would neither get over-confident (due to his strengths) nor too overwhelmed (due to his weaknesses). He helps the employee pin-point his skills and interests and improve accordingly. He would also suggest ways through which the employee could transform his weaknesses into his strengths, increase his productivity and prosper in his career at a faster pace creating a win-win situation for himself as well as the organization. A good trainer is also a good advisor. He keeps an eye on the employee’s shortcomings and advices accordingly without putting him down. He helps his subordinates in setting up realistic career goals that would help him as well as the organization in the long run. He would provide the employee with all the necessary information and instructions that are necessary for him to know, in order to perform his tasks more efficiently. A good supervisor evaluates his subordinates in an open and transparent manner. He is apt at giving frequent feedback but of constructive nature that is intended to boost the employee’s morale and help him develop. He restrains from useless criticism that might bring the employee’s morale down and imparts objectivity. He also plays the role of a motivator and boosts the workers’ self-confidence by

Relationship Between Motivation And Performance

Relationship Between Motivation And Performance 1) To review the literature in order to understand the relationship between staff motivation and performance (including low absenteeism, reduced staff turnover etc.),and how increased empowerment of staff can improve staff motivation(including the comparison with the relevant motivating factors). 2) To review the literature in order to identify what is considered to be good practice in terms of both empowerment and recognition and to compare this with the current practice at the Bombay Hospital THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STAFF MOTIVATION AND INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE Shortages can be a symptom of demotivation, poor management and lack of organizational support (Zurn et al., 2005). Shortages are resulting in heavy workload, which is a precursor to job stress, and burnout, which have also been linked to low job motivation. Nurses job motivation is an elusive concept, which is defined within its extrinsic and intrinsic values (Cowin, 2002). Extrinsic values encompass the tangible aspects of the job including wages, benefits and bonuses, whereas intrinsic values include status, recognition, personal and professional development opportunities, and other similar factors (Cowin, 2002). Reasons for nurse demotivation have been well documented in the nursing literature. Such reasons include lack of involvement in decision-making, poor relationship with management, low salaries and poor benefits, lack of job security, poor recognition and lack of flexibility in scheduling (Albaugh,2003). Nurse demotivation has been also linked to emotional exhaustion and b urnout, Which can affect patient outcomes (Aiken et al., 1997). Furthermore Shields Ward (2001) and Tzeng (2002) has also stated that improper motivation is a primary predictor of nurses intent to leave (Shields Ward, 2001; Tzeng, 2002). A study conducted in the United States presented evidence showing that demotivated nurses were 65% more likely to have intent to leave compared to the motivated counterparts (Shields Ward, 2001). Other predictors of intent to leave vary from other motivation factors like low salaries and fringe benefits, inflexible work schedule (Coomber Barriball, 2007; Hayes et al, 2006), career advancement prospects (Tzeng, 2002, Rambur et al., 2003), in addition to poor management and job stress (Rambur et al., 2003). Nurses turnover is linked to situational factors (Larrabee et al., 2003) such as low levels of motivation (Tzeng, 2002). It is worth noting that improper motivation has also been found to be a better predictor of intent to leave as compared to the avail ability of other employment opportunities (Shields Ward, 2001; Purani Sahadev 2007). A study by El-Jardali et al. (2007) also found a negative correlation between motivation and intention to leave in Lebanese nurses. Their studys main objective was to examine the impact of motivation as a predictor variable on intention to leave used as dependent variable in the study. The finding of the study reveals that the main cause of the dissatisfaction and hence intention to leave was negatively associated with hospitals motivation schemes such as compensation and incentives (extrinsic rewards). Purani and Sahadev (2007) used motivation with multi-faceted construct as predictor variable and examine its impact on intention to leave among the nurses in India. Assuming one of the role as interaction and communication with clients and patient of both profession is common, their study also used experience as moderating variables to examine how working experience could affect motivation and inte ntion to leave relationship. Purani and Sahadev (2007) found that employees with long stay at workplace had higher level of motivation and would not incline to quit. Their finding also suggested that motivation and intention to leave relationship framework must also have other demographic variables consideration into the model of motivation and intention to leave. Pearson and Chong (1997) also examined the impact of job content and job information on motivation among Malaysian nurses in large public sector hospital. They found that job information is stronger predictor to nurses motivation and therefore argued that intrinsic factors such as job information and organization commitment also influence nurses motivation. However, they did recommend that motivation with information cues available to nurses are crucial to determine nurses motivation which may lead to intent to leave or higher job burnout, if not available. Tzeng (2002) examined the impact of working motivational factors a s well as job satisfaction factors as independent variables on nurses intention to leave in cross-sectional study in Taiwan. He found that low levels of motivation, emotional exhaustion and burnout and to the poor social image of the nursing profession influenced nurses intention to leave in Taiwans hospitals. This study therefore, suggested that motivation is a multi-faceted construct and should have both intrinsic as well as extrinsic factors to measure job satisfaction (Tzeng, 2002). HOW MOTIVATION AFFECTS EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE The extent to which employees are motivated in their work depends on how well those employees are able to provide output in their job. Motivation is expected to have a positive effect on quality performance. Employees who are characterized by a high level of motivation show a higher work and life satisfaction. Having a high level of motivation is therefore in itself valuable for employees and a decrease in motivation might affect employees negatively. The motivation leads to high level of initiative and creativity from the employee and where monitoring is difficult, motivation is therefore extremely important for ensuring high quality performance. In Armco Health Center, the quality of employee performance is measured by three individual measures of employee performance. The first measure of the individual performance items is a self-rating measure of employee performance through a program called SAP. The performance of the employee asks to indicate eight-points scale how well the em ployee is doing the job. The second measure of the performance of the Armco Health Center is the extent to which the nurses are willing to conduct tasks that are not part of their job description. The employees are asked to report on the SAP about their willingness to perform additional tasks that are not expected from them regularly and to think constructively about how the organization they work for could be proved. Last item that measure the performance of the nurses are the number of days they were absent. EMPOWERMENT AND STAFF MOTIVATION Nursing is increasingly broad in scope and encompasses an ever widening range of work behaviors and role responsibilities. However, they work within a climate of uncertainty and disempowerment along with high organizational demands placing them under considerable stress (1,2). This condition threatens both physical and emotional wellbeing of nurses and the profession itself and may results to low nurses commitment which in turn may contribute to disengagement or withdrawal of nurses from their organizations (3,4). Consequently, threatens organizational functioning and the quality care, since low nurses commitment leads to absenteeism or poor performance (5). However, the nurses low commitment is being a problem in many countries, Aiken et al(6) have cautioned that the health care workforce faces the serious risk of losing one in five registered nurse for reasons other than retirement. Supportively, several other studies revealed that the turnover rate for hospital registered nurse is among the highest rates found for professional and technical occupational groups (7,8). In addition, in 2002 the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) recorded that current annual registered nurse turnover rates range from 18% to 26% (9). Moreover, Victorian Governmental Department of Human Services Research suggests that at low levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, retention of nursing staff is difficult and this in turn increases absenteeism (10). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, like many other countries is also suffering from nursing low commitment which evidenced by registered nurses high turnover rate and resignation(11). However, some national studies and articles highlighted that governmental sectors in Riyadh city were suffering for many years from high turnover rate of nurses that reached to 70% in some hospitals and resulted in high nurses shortage (12,13) . Along with working condition, salary, nursing disempowerment and uncertainty being cited to explain why the nurses exhibit poor work performance or uncommitted to their organization. In a research conducted by Attree (17) that studies the relationship between nurses perception regarding their control and governance , revealed that registered nurse were dissatisfied with their governance, perceived lack of control over their everyday practice and commented on a popular perception that they had become disempowered , lacked influence and asserted that they have fairly little power. Its the managers and physicians who have the power, not nurses. Both managers and physicians decided, told and expected from the nurse to just get on with it, without discussion, or negotiation. As Salvage (18), nurses may see themselves as skilled practitioners, but the public still clings to its old image of the nurse as the doctors handmaiden. This indicates that nurses are not powerless due to lack in competence, motivation, and/or information, but because lack of awareness and enabling system and structure. Foser and Hoggett (19) termed this situation as a Do more with less culture where rhetoric is designed to empower the exhausted workers by emphasizing their commitment to organizational goals . However, disparity between the nurses desired and perceived autonomy and control over daily job activities interferes with nurses attempts to perform according to their expectations as professionals and may contribute to disengagement and withdrawal from the profession of nursing (17). Parallel to this is the national view of nursing in Saudi culture. Abu- Zinada (11,20) stated in many articles that the nurses were disempowered, and have a feeling of uncertainty. In contrast, she saw that the nurse has the right to make decisions that are separate of the physician ones. Moreover, Al-morshed (21) considered that the nurses were not assistants to the physician or that their role is limited to giving injection or helping a patient, since the nursing is a science before everything. Thus, creating conditions that foster a sense of empowerment in healthcare settings are critical to both employee wellbeing and organizational success(22) . For employee well-being, empowerment offers opportunities for learning, development, and playing a more active role in operational decisions through the personal development and involvement in decision making. As a result, employees can sense their feelings of self-worth, meaningfulness, job satisfaction and morale that result from their contributions and control or autonomy over their work. Additionally, empowerment is essential for enhancing nurses role, strengthening the professional image, and continuously improving the healthcare system. It allows the nurses to perform in a professional manner by being more autonomous, responsible and participative (23). For organizational success, many hospitals uses the concept of empowerment as a retention strategies to improve nurses commitment by fostering the desire not to leave the organization for selfish interests or marginal gains, and increase willingness to work by making personal sacrifice, performing beyond normal expectations , endure difficult times with an organization and increasing acceptance of organizations values and goals . As a consequence, nurses will be less burned-out and more engaged in their work and will contribute to organizational effectiveness (24). Although, the concept of empowerment is frequently used in health services and in nursing ,particularly in relation to the quality of care, since the mission of nursing is to provide safe and quality nursing care thereby enabling patients to achieve their maximum level of wellness(25). Also empowerment play a significant role in the management of job stress and job satisfaction as well as in nurse attraction and retention ( 26). Hence, creating healthy work conditions that empowered nurses and provide freedom to act according to their expectation as a professional, may be a fruitful strategy for nurse managers and administrators to retain nurses who currently work by promoting their commitment to the organization, especially in a critical care settings. Nowadays, many seek power but few possess it. Nurses are not exception (Marquis and Huston, 2000). In health care settings, an unequal power base exists among administrator, physicians, and nurses as a result of the competing goals of administration and the coexistence of multiple lines of authority (Sabiston and Laschinger, 1995). The rigidity of hierarchical rule-bound structures has been specifically blamed for nurses inability to sufficiently control the content of their practice (Laschinger and Havens, 1996). Kanter (1993) proposed that an individuals effectiveness on the job is influenced largely by organizational aspects of the work environment. This author identified power and access to opportunities to learn and grow, as structural determinants affecting the behavior of the individual. This power is derived from the ability to mobilize information, support, and resources necessary for getting the job done. Access to these empowering structures is influenced by the degree of formal and informal power an employee has in the organization (Kanter,1993). Formal power evolves from having a defined job that affords flexibility, visibility and centrality to organizational purpose and goals whereas informal power is determined by the extent of employees networks and alliances with sponsors, peers, and subordinates within the organization. Access to these empowering structures has a positive impact on employees, resulting in increase in their job satisfaction, level of organizational commitment and feelings of autonomy. Consequently, employees are more productive and effective in meeting organizational goals (Dutcher and Adams, 1994 ; Laschinger et. al., 1999). Nurses autonomy or control over work was seriously limited by unequal power relationships with medical staff, which enhanced physician power and restricted the nurses freedom, and consequently hindered their empowerment (McParland et al., 2000). To achieve excellence in nursing requires empowered staff nurses in order to be effective in their roles, and to be more autonomous (Marquis and Huston, 2000). Nurses who perceive them to be empowered are more likely to enhance client care through more effective work practice. Thus by providing the sources of job-related empowerment and autonomy, work methods and outcomes could be improved (Kanter, 1993; Sabiston and Laschinger, 1995). EMPOWERMENT IMPROVES MOTIVATION Empowerment. Thomas and Velthouse (1990) define empowerment as personal power that flows from professional growth, which is correlated with job satisfaction. Klakovich (1995) further states that the empowerment of nursing staff may be the critical variable in achieving positive organizational outcomes while maintaining the caring values of the nursing profession Klakovich (1996) defines three dimensions of empowerment as reciprocity, synergy, and ownership. Empowerment is a reciprocal leader-follower relationship that advances and aligns strategies, both organizational and individual (Klakovich, 1995). The Reciprocal Empowerment Scale tool reports in three subscales: reciprocity and synergy sub-scales represent the interactive leader/follower process; the ownership subscale represents the outcomes . Reciprocity involves a leadership behavior pattern of sharing power, support and information. Empowerment Research has shown correlations between nursing leadership job satisfaction and e mpowerment (Laschinger et al., 2003; Mrayyan, 2004). In recent years, the idea of empowerment has become popular in the nursing literature (Kluska et al., 2000; Laschinger Finegan, 2005). The review of the literature reveals empowerment being used in various contexts; such as, mental health, chronic care, and health promotion (Dahlgaard Dahlgaard, (2003), Paterson(2001) . In these contexts, the concept of empowerment incorporates positive and respectful relationships through constant dialog (Ellefsen Hamilton, (2000) Prybil( 2003). Morrison, Jones, and Fuller (1997) performed a non-experimental descriptive study that explored the effects of leadership style and empowerment on nursing job satisfaction. The participants included various nursing personnel, such as nurse managers, nursing assistants, nursing clinical leaders, licensed practical nurses and staff nurses. The researchers examined how staff nurses perceived empowerment The researchers results in their variance analysis i ndicated a statistically significant difference in empowerment among different job classifications within the organization Empowerment accounted for more variance with job satisfaction for licensed personnel than for unlicensed personnel, as well as, for differing by type of satisfaction. The researchers findings indicate the importance of empowerment to staff nurse job satisfaction. They also show the contribution of empowerment to job motivation and how they vary by personnel. This study gives reason for performing this research study that examined the relationship of nurse empowerment and motivation Furthermore, studies have shown that Indian nurses had a moderate empowerment level and their actual work empowerment perception was significantly lower than their expectation (Huang, Lin, Hsu, Chen, Huang, 2003). The findings also showed that nurses had the lowest score on participation in decision making. Researchers pointed out that the nursing leaders tended to use authority and might only consult several members opinions for decision making. The opportunity for nurses to participate in decision making is limited. As such, frontline nurses might think decision making is the managers responsibility, not theirs (Mok Au-Yeung, 2002). Participation can be seen as the highest level of empowerment. Nurses level of participation in decision making (PDM) can be used as an important indicator of empowerment. In western health care system, it has been found that the area where nurses prefer to be involved in decision-making is more related to the context of nursing practice, such as nursing unit operation (Blegen et al., 1993). Yet, in Indian nurses PDM is still not well studied. The extent to which nurses prefer to be or are actually involved in decision making is still not clear. Laschinger and Finegan (2005) surveyed 273 medical, surgical and critical care nurses concluding that structural empowerment had a direct effect on organizational trust and respect, job motivation and commitment. An important addition to the understanding of empowerment in nursing education was another finding that empowerment increased motivation level of the nurses (Falk-Raphael, Chinn, Anderson, Laschinger, Rubotzky, 2004) Work empowerment has been linked to many other important organizational outcomes, such as job motivation, organizational commitment, lower levels of job stress and empowering leader behaviors (Spence-Laschinger, Tuer-Hodes, 2003). Hollinger-Smith and Ortigara (2004) stated that nurses perceptions of work empowerment are related to commitment to and trust in the organization, autonomy, participation in organizational decision-making, and job motivation. Increased autonomy and work motivation have been directly linked to nurse retention and increased patient satisfaction (Hollinger-Smith Ortigara, 2004). Empowering work environments can also influence nurses ability to practice in a professional manner, ensuring excellent patient care and positive organizational outcomes. Organizational changes have a direct effect on the work environment and may contribute to higher rates of demotivation, burnout and absenteeism among staff (Kuokkanen, Savikko Doran, 2007). Factors of empowerment c an also provide a way to measure the effects of organizational changes (Kuokkanen et al., 2007). To achieve excellence in nursing requires empowered staff nurses in order to be effective in their roles, and to be more autonomous (Marquis and Huston, 2000). Nurses who perceive them to be empowered are more likely to enhance patient care through more effective work practice. Thus by providing the sources of job-related empowerment and autonomy, work methods and outcomes could be improved (Kanter, 1993; Sabistonand Laschinger, 1995). In Sochalskis (2002) survey of nurse empowerment , it was found that 1 out of 3 staff nurse participants (manager and staff level) were dissatisfied and hence demotivated in their job. Increasing job satisfaction, as it positively correlates with empowerment and organizational commitment, is a strategy to help retain employees (Laschinger, Finegan, Shamian, Casier, 2000). As patient care becomes more technologically advanced and complex, (requiring greater experience on the part of nursing staff to perform the job correctly), workplace stability and a utonomy become invaluable in a hospital setting (Laschinger et al,2000.). Many researchers have concluded that building collaborative decision making teams will empower both nursing and managerial staff; which boosts morale and work performance (Cowin, 2002 Kluska et al., 2004). Ellefsen and Hamilton (2000) concluded that nurse empowerment encourages nurses in management positions to perform their duties efficiently and with confidence and competence. Research suggests when hospital leadership encourages subordinate empowerment; there is a direct link to increased subordinate job satisfaction and motivation (Laschinger, Finegan, Shamian, Wilk, 2001). Evidence has shown that empowered nurses shift their self-perceived role from that of a subordinate to collaborator; which encourages consensus building, improves job ownership, improves trust and the followers motivation, sense of responsibility and organizational commitment( Wagner ,2006 Watson, 2002). Empowerment not only increase s job motivation, but inspirational and visionary transformational leadership encourages the highest level of staff efficiency and productivity (Keuter, Byrne, Voell, Larson, 2000; Moss Rowles, 1997). Masi (2000) concluded that empowerment provides opportunities for choice and promotes autonomy, which allows subordinates to demonstrate their competencies. The espoused benefits of empowerment The supposed benefits of empowerment can be broadly divided into two areas: benefits for the organization; and benefits for the individual. Much of the empirical research into empowerment has focused on organizational benefits assuming that these are the driving force behind attempts to engender empowered working (Cunningham et al., 1996). Certainly the motivation for managerial adoption of empowerment is typically driven to help managers manage and improve work organization and job performance, not to primarily create an environment that is beneficial for the employee (Psoinos and Smithson, 2002). Global competition and a changing business environment have prompted organizational change in response to increased pressures to improve efficiency and performance (Lawler et al., 1992). It has been argued that organizations with higher levels of empowerment have demonstrated improvements in various economic performance areas (Applebaum et al., 1999). The economic benefits of empowerment s pecifically may be difficult to assess as often it is introduced as part of a broader initiative such as BPR and TQM (Psoinos and Smithson, 2002). Despite the espoused organisational benefits Argyris (1998) argues that empowerment has still not delivered the promised benefits, remaining a myth rather than reality. While it could be argued that the primary motive for empowerment is initially driven by the need to improve the economic performance of the organisation, benefits to the individual employee have also been identified. Nykodym et al. (1994) found that employees who consider themselves empowered have reduced conflict and ambiguity in their role, as they are able to control (to a certain extent) their own environment. They suggested that this reduces emotional strain on the employee. Similarly, it has been suggested that empowered employees have a greater sense of job satisfaction, motivation and organisational loyalty (Koberg et al., 1999, Spreitzer et al., 1997). Empowerment cannot only impact attitudes but it can also impact on performance, specifically employee productivity (Koberg et al., 1999) and employee effectiveness (Spreitzer et al., 1997). Overall the literature points to many potential benefits to both organisations and employees like if the workplace empowerment is successful, then it produces a win-win situation (Lashley, 1999). However, despite the strong support for empowerment in theory, in practice empowerment may exist in rhetoric only and control is the reality for employees (Sewell and Wilkinson, 1992). Although it may be considered that employee empowerment will improve organizational performance but it is possible that empowered employees are not necessarily more motivated or have higher levels of job satisfaction (Collins, 1999). Thus the benefits of empowerment should not be assumed to automatically occur nor should the rhetoric of empowerment be confused with the reality. Measurement of the employee benefits is very difficult t o achieve. Unlike organisational benefits which can be measured using objective facts, individual benefits are much more complex. Certain objective measures, such as absence and turnover rates have been applied in this context (Psoinos and Smithson, 2002). However, it is often considered that softer measures of employees attitudes may provide informative insights omitted by other more tangible measures (Psoinos and Smithson, 2002). FACTORS IMPORTANT FOR MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES One of the most perplexing healthcare retention issues is keeping newly licensed nurses from leaving after just a year or two of employment in the clinical setting (Zucker, Goss, Williams, Bloodworth, Lynn, Denker, et al., 2006). Kovner, Brewer, and Djukic (2007) presented evidence that 13% of newly licensed 1490 RNs had changed principal jobs after one year, and 37% reported that they felt ready to change jobs. Nurses leave the profession mainly because of low pay and poor job satisfaction (DiMeglio, Padula, Piatek, 2005)Hence pay and motivation at workplace are very important factors of retaining the staff. Therefore, nurse leaders are faced with two challenges: to recruit sufficiently qualified nurses and to establish rewarding work cultures that promote retention. Recruiting a younger generation of nursing staff members and meeting retention demands of cross-generational nurses will be a challenge like no other previously seen in healthcare (Cordinez, 2002). Newly licensed nurse s recruitment and retention into the workplace are fundamental strategies for ensuring that healthcare systems have the continued capacity to deliver patient care (Berliner Ginzberg, 2002). Understanding why newly licensed registered nurses choose to remain in nursing is an essential component of recruitment and retention strategies. Despite a recent four year trend of increasing nursing school enrollment and graduation of qualified nurses (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2005), the latest data on the shortage of RNs in the United States is estimated to reach about 500,000 by 2025 (Buerhas, Staiger, Auerbach, 2000.This study shows that nursing shortage is going to increase and hence motivating factors like pay,proper work environment and empowerment are necessary for retaining the experienced nurse staff. Hecker (2005) predicts that more than one million new and replacement nurses will be needed by the year 2014. The problem is that many of the newly licensed nurses w ill not remain in nursing and will choose to leave the profession within four years of graduation from a nursing program (Sochalski, 2002). In a study by Bowles and Candela (2005), 30% of newly licensed RNs left their first nursing position within one year of employment, and 57% left their first nursing position within two years of employment.This study further provides evidence that adds to the case study done by Kovner, Brewer, and Djukic (2007) which also adds to data and evidence that nurses are leaving their profession due to lack of empowerment and motivation in hospitals. The nursing shortage and the high incidence of turnover among newly licensed nurses within the first year of employment need to be investigated. It is well documented that nurses are leaving the profession because they are dissatisfied with current working conditions and not because they are disenchanted with the ideal of nursing, which originally attracted them to the profession (Lynn Redman, 2005; Strachota, Normandin, OBrien, Clary, Krukow, 2003). There is limited research that addresses newly licensed registered nurses career choices post-graduation. The future of nursing rests in the ability to recruit and retain upcoming generations to the profession.Currently, however, there is limited knowledge concerning what influences the decisions of newly licensed registered nurses to remain in nursing. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify factors that influence newly licensed registered nurses decision to remain in nursing. The shortage of people entering professional nursing, nurses dissatisfaction, and high turnover of newly licensed registered nurses are issues of concern. The national shortage in the nursing workforce highlights the critical importance of encouraging nurses to remain in practice. Evidence suggests that a shortage of nurses is detrimental not only to quality of patient care, but also to staff morale, which in turn affects staff retention (Wilson, 2006). The socialization and assimilation of newly licensed nurses into the healthcare system is a pivotal event that influences the retention of nurses (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Sochalaski, Silber, 2002). Professional socialization and work readiness are contributing factors to the retention of newly licensed registered nurses. The transition from student to new nurse is a vital period in several ways. It is the quality of this transitional experience that is likely to influence new nurse retention (Clare van Loon, 2003; Duchsch er, 2001; Ewens, 2003). Professional socialization, a potential buffer to the effects of reality shock, includes the acquisition of knowledge, skills, identity, occupational traits, values, norms, and self-concept (Mamchur Myrick, 2003). The process of professional socialization, from career choice to transition to enculturation to the practice setting is influenced by others, especially other nurses (Beck, 2000; Hinds Harley, 2001). It is this initial professional socialization of nurses that will determine the success or failure of retaining new nurses in the healthcare workplace. The increasing complexity of health services and the acuity of patient care create an expectation by the healthcare organization that the new nurse will hit the ground running (Cowin Hengstberger-Sims, 2006, p. 61). Furthermore, Cowin and Hengstberger-Sims believe the workplace expects newly licensed nurses to quickly fulfill their potential as knowledgeable workers, but the health organization remune rates newly licensed nurses at the lowest possible pay scale. These researchers asserted that incongruencies such as high level of stress related to responsibility and high workloads paired with minimum pay compound the effects of reality shock of nurses new to the field. The healthcare workplace demands work readiness from its newest nurses and the partnership of responsibilit

Biology Basic Essay -- essays research papers

1. Give several examples of the diversity of living things. Organism inhabits almost every place on Earth. Even the most extreme locations contain life. Tiny organisms inhabit the Antarctic ice, giant worms live near hot vents on the ocean floor, and some organisms even live inside other organisms. 2.Explain how the parts of the biosphere interact to maintain life. Organisms interact with earth other and with the environment. A meat eater will eat a grass eater, who feeds on plants, then the meat eater will die and return minerals to the soil, to make more plants for the grass eater to feed on, which is then eaten by another meat eater. As well nonliving things also play a large part in the survival of organisms including sunlight, atmospheric gases, water and minerals. 3. Describe how biology affects five areas of life: food, clothing, shelter, health, and fuel. Food: We can not survive more than 3 months without food. And all foods come from living things, or indirectly from the products of organisms. Biology studies farming, pest control, livestock management, nutrition, food processing, and food preservation to improve the quality and quantity of food. Clothing: Clothing's main purpose in our lives is protection from the environment. Most clothing is made from biological products, Wool, silk, and leather come from animal products. Cotton and linen are common plant materials used for clothing. Shelter: Shelter protects organisms from the changing conditions...

Being a vegetarian

It is extremely important to take good care of your health. Our health is our wealth. As much as possible we do not want to get sick and become regular hospital visitors as hospitalization serves as an eye opener telling us to slow down because we are risking our health and our lives. It is pretty obvious that every year more and more people die because of unhealthy living.In industrial countries, life-style diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancers are widespread. (â€Å"Home for Animals- A Farm Sanctuary†). We do not want to have any of those diseases isn’t it?We need to prevent those diseases from ruining our lives and one of the many solutions is Vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is the practice of not consuming meat, with or without the use of other animal derivatives, such as dairy products or eggs (â€Å"What is vegetarianism†). The term vegetarian generally means a person who does not consume animal p roducts; this includes land and sea animals. Most vegetarians generally do consume eggs and dairy products (milk products). The four main types of vegetarians are: †¢ Lacto-vegetarians – they consume dairy products, but no eggs.Most do consume honey. †¢ Ovo-vegetarians – they consume eggs, but no dairy. Most do consume honey. †¢ Lacto-ovovegetarians – they consume eggs and dairy. Most do consume honey. †¢ Vegans – only consume plant-based foods (no dairy, eggs or honey). (â€Å"What Is The Vegetarian Diet? What Are The Benefits Of A Vegetarian Diet†). It is very difficult imagining yourself in a restaurant eating vegetable salad when the person seated beside you is eating steak, chicken or turkey. But if you come to think of it there are many health benefits you could get by being a vegetarian.Many studies indicate that a vegetarian diet helps you combat several unwanted diseases, and vegetarian people are 50% less likely to dev elop heart diseases as compared to non-vegetarian people. Do you know that apart from heart diseases, saturated fat and cholesterol present in meat and dairy products also cause brain strokes? Research confirms that strokes kill an Americas every three minutes. Research also reveals that people consuming good quantity of fruits and vegetables face the lowest risk of developing heart or brain stroke.Many doctors claim that a low fat vegetarian diet reduces the risk of suffering a heart attack by more than 80% and the risk of developing cancer by nearly 60%. (â€Å"Health Benefits of Being a Vegetarian†) Weight loss is one of the many benefits of being a vegetarian. You will never find a fat vegetarian anywhere. Meat takes quite a while to be digested. It is easier for our stomach to digest fruits and vegetables. Aside from that they contain vitamins and minerals. You are not aware that you are losing weight and gaining more energy as time passes by.Do you know vegetarians are less likely to die from heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and prostate and colon cancer? The reason is simple. The vegetarian diet is rich of cancer preventing foods including vegetables, whole grains, fruits, soy, nuts, and beans. In fact your chances of developing cancer reduce manifolds if you minimize the intake of meat. (â€Å"Health Benefits of Being a Vegetarian†). Avoiding meat and being a vegetarian is challenging and very hard to do. But if you will try to embrace its long term benefits you will then realized that it is better to be a vegetarian than sorry. Works CitedSmith Jenny R. , â€Å"Health Benefits of Being a Vegetarian†. Ezine Aricles. 21 May 2010. . â€Å"Home for Animals- A Farm Sanctuary†. Expert Article. Web. 21 May 2010 . â€Å"What Is The Vegetarian Diet? What Are The Benefits Of A Vegetarian Diet?. Medical News Today. â€Å"27 May 2004 . 21 May 2010. â€Å"What is vegetarianism†. veggieheaven. com. 21 May 2010.

Foxconn

Just when positive news about Foxhound's efforts in improving the working conditions of its Sheehan factories for the workers and increasing wages was heard this year, the worker's riots in September 23, 2012 at the Foxhound's Taiwan (Shania) factory sparked another global outcry (Roberts, 2012). Foxing is a multinational company based in Taiwan and is one of the world's largest electronics manufacturing company. One of the major clients of Foxing is Apple; others include Sony and Hewlett Packard (Wisped, 012).According to reports by China Labor Watch (201 2), some of the unfair treatment and exploitation carried out by Foxing factories in China include â€Å"excessive overtime hours, forcing workers to work ‘voluntary overtime, maintaining an extremely high level of work intensity by setting the daily production quotas, exercise discrimination by hiring only young and healthy workers, and creating a system in which official resignation is nearly impossible and the only way ou t is to ‘voluntarily/ resign hence forfeiting a significant amount of their final wages (China Labor Watch, 2012).Due to increasing pressures from the media coverage of the suicide cases of its workers and from its image-conscious client (Apple Inc), it was claimed that Foxing had made efforts to improve working conditions by increasing wages of workers and instituting a program called â€Å"Care-Love† (Northern, Culpa and Ghent, 2011). However, after Foxhound's suicide incidents subsided, in 23 September 201 2, it was announced that Foxing Taiwan factory had to shut down production for the day due to rioting of the workers. The event involves around 2000 workers, with more than 40 hospitalized.It was reported that he riot was sparked off by a dispute between two workers, but most likely due to tensions between the guards and workers (Roberts, 2012). This was because the originally insignificant argument between the workers escalated into a riot involving the collective rebellion of thousands of workers only after the security guards of Foxing interfered aggressively with force, causing the situation to get out of hand to the point of requiring 5000 policemen to be dispatched to control the angry workers (Pilling, 2012).This riot has raised concerns about Foxhound's harsh and heavy-handed ways in managing the errors as mentioned by Geoffrey Charcoal, Research Director at Hong Songs China Labor Bulletin. It was reported that the guards constantly monitored the workers closely and spoke fiercely to them in an authoritative manner. There were no communication between the workers and guards, whereby the workers were expected to follow orders and rules without knowing the reasons (Roberts, 2012).Also, the workers work long hours and sleep in dormitories with poor conditions (Ho and Culpa, 2012). It was suspected that the Foxing Taiwan factory workers were forced to work overtime hours to et up with the production due to the recent launch of Apple's pho nes (Pilling 2012). According to a worker interviewed, it was known that Foxing has shifted its production of phones to the factory in Taiwan (Ho and Culpa, 201 2) and its Sheehan factories were now focused on product development (Roberts, 2012).Hence, it seems like though Foxing did improve the situation in its Sheehan factories, its efforts were only limited to the two factories in Sheehan and the other in Changed that were under inspection by Fair Labor Association and under extensive media coverage, hill neglecting its other factories distributed around China. Foxing has around a million workers working in its 13 factories in China (Yen, 2012) and has been expanding its factories into provinces located in the interior of China such as Taiwan, Squeezing, Human and Cocooning (Roberts, 2012).The shift in production may be because labor is about one-third cheaper in inner provinces of China (Northern, Culpa and Ghent, 2011 Sociological Interpretations for the Foxing Worker Riots The workers' riots in Foxing Taiwan factory could be understood from many perspectives, however it all boils down to modernization and capitalism which gave rise to a complex division of labor with an exploitative nature. It all started the rise of a new international division of labor, one that was characterized by the relationship between post-industrial nations and newly industrialized nations, based on exploitation (Serene, 2006).In fact, according to Marxist theory, the underlying logic of capitalism is exploitation (Howard, 2002). While capitalists (owners of production) compete to stay competitive and to achieve the most profit, workers compete to offer the cheapest labor possible, often driven to the level of subsistence. This IS because in this global ere market economy, it is determined based on the survival of the fittest. When there are winners, there will always be losers.We can view this international division of labor as a cycle in which on one side post industrial natio ns continuously experience wealth accumulation through the services and investments they provide via products manufactured with minimum cost, while on the other side the newly industrialized nations are continuously being exploited through their provision of cheap labor and resources (Serene, 2006). However, nations are also interdependent based on modernization and dependency theories.Modernization theory states that â€Å"modernity is needed for the economy to prosper and thus nations need modern technology to break out of poverty† (Serene, 2006). Developing nations need to open up and welcome foreign capital into their market as they will bring in the needed expertise and necessary technology to prosper. Thus, newly industrialized nations compete to attract transnational companies to invest and set up factories in their nations. However, these means offering the cheapest labor possible.At the same time, dependency theory states that the poorer and newly industrialized nati ons were pendent on the post industrial nations, as they brought jobs needed for survival and capital to drive the economy, which also brought domination and exploitation (Serene, 2006). Hence, based on the case in the previous section, it can be interpreted from this international division of labor that Apple Inc seems to be the biggest winner, while Foxing is second to it and the major losers would be the China workers. Apple is the capitalist owner that owns and controls all the products under its brand such as phone 5.In order to achieve the greatest efficiency and lowest production cost, Apple adopts the dead of outsourcing based on the division of labor and national specialization, whereby every an phone is actually a global effort (Serene, 2006). E. G. The phones start out being developed and designed by Apple engineers in California, the sourcing of the components and materials stretch out to different parts of the world, using parts from nine major suppliers in five countri es and then assembled by Foxing in China (The Straits Times, 2012). Thus, Foxhound's role is simply just one of the manufacturers employed by Apple to assemble its products.Apple has the biggest share of the profits, to Foxing. Whereby Apple is the overarching power, dominating Foxing, in turn Foxing dominates the workers due to pressure from Apple to meet production demands and cost budget. In the case illustrated, the workers in Foxing Taiwan factories were rushing out the phones for Apple, due to increasing popularity leading to increasing demands since the launch of the phones. With the market mechanism driven by demand and supply, Apple had to keep up with the demands of their products by producing enough supply.Foxing had no choice but to exploit its workers by making them ark overtime hours of almost 80 hours per month, past the legal limit of 36 hours with hourly wage of around 1 Euro (Deutsche Well, 201 2), and workers were required to sign an overtime working agreement pri or to employment that claims that Foxing is not responsible for their long hours of working. This voluntary agreement was actually used to overrule Chinese State regulation (Change, 2010). The reason was due to the competitive nature bred in the capitalist system and free market economy.Adam Smith mentioned that competition drives efficiency, but Marx also mentioned that capitalism reared a continual crisis of profit for owners (Serene, 2006). Indeed, due to increasing competition from competitors such as Samsung, rising up with its Samsung Galaxy SO, Apple felt the pressure to speed up its productivity' and at the same time maintaining the affordability Of its products. Like all Other multinational corporations, Apple is constantly in search for manufacturers that would allow it to incur the lowest cost. Hence, if Foxing proved to be no longer competitive in offering the lowest manufacturing cost, it will soon be replaced.Driven by competition and desire for profit too, Foxing had to maintain business contacts with Apple and remain attractive to investors and outsourcing companies by constantly relocating its factories to cheaper venues once wages cost too high, even if it means exploiting the workers in order to stay viable. This is because it was either Foxing passing the cost of the products on to the customers like Apple which obviously will deter them away, resulting in loss of profits, or Foxing trying to reduce the cost of the product.Hence, since most production cost including distribution and physical materials are rather inelastic, the only way was to reduce manufacturing costs and this was passed on to the workers meaning lesser wages with more work done (China Labor Watch, 2012). Next, this brings us to the role of the newly industrialized countries (Nick) in this international division of labor, countries that actually compete to attract these capitalists like Apple and Foxing, to relocate their manufacturing plants in their countries with abunda nt cheap labor. One of the Nick would be China.We can try to understand this worldwide competition to be driven by the idea of comparative advantage introduced by David Richard (Serene, 2006). After China's communist leader, Eden Ixia Ping launched the open door policy in China (Chance, 201 0), China obviously had a comparative advantage over the other countries with its huge supply of low cost and unrecognized peasant workers, due to the introduction Of the household based contract system (Stating Launch Changeable Zeroing) that allowed millions of peasant workers from the rural areas to work in urban factories set up by transnational companies (Chance, 2010).China joined in the global competition characterized by the phenomenon â€Å"race to the bottom† (Serene, 2006), gather with other countries to compete to offer the lowest labor cost possible. That was also the start of the widespread labor exploitation in China by the multinational corporations (Macs). Like the other M acs, Foxing saw China's abundant cheap labor attractive. Foxing Taiwan factory is just one of the many factories Foxing has in China.According to dependency theory, China allowed Foxing to exploit its workers as the state depended on Foxing to create jobs. This can be understood with modernization theory too, whereby Foxing locating their factories in China ill bring in the technology needed to modernize, income to the state through taxation, and create jobs for their people who will help drive their economy. Modernization and dependency tend to happen side by side (Serene, 2006).Hence, the dependency between the state of China, Foxing and Apple in the division of labor as explained above and the competitive nature of the capitalist system adopted throughout the world, resulted in exploitation of the workers in Foxing Taiwan factory to be an inevitable consequence of the free market economy. Exploitation led to build up pressure in the workers causing them to riot. This can be under stood from Marxist theory of rising class consciousness (Serene, 2006).Capitalism resulted in growing divide among the people between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, the people that own and control production and those who could only obey orders silently. Hence, there was a class division in Foxing itself, a division between the exploited workers and the managers, supervisors, guards and all those who have control over the workers. These workers felt oppressed. Their every action was monitored closely by the guards who often use violence on them if they did not obey the ales and orders (Ho and Culpa, 2012).The manager criticized those that too slow and did a bad job, however good performance was never praised. Hence, workers knew they would never advance no matter how hard they work. There was no freedom of speech, only obedience. There was even a slogan hung on the factory walls, â€Å"Outside the laboratory, there is no high technology, there is only obedie nce and discipline† as a kind of corporate culture Foxing promote (Deutsche Well, 2012). However, the workers did not quit their jobs due to their position as vulnerable deskilled workers which an be understood from Marxist theory (Serene, 2006).They worked up to a minimum of 10 hours a day on their routine monotonous work at high intensity, only stopping to eat and sleep (Change, 2010). Overtime, their deskilling work makes them vulnerable as they were easily replaced. Thus, the workers were willing to get exploited rather than lose their jobs. The heavy staff turnover also makes long-lasting relationships impossible, their whole day were spent on nothing but working, left with no time to socialize at all. They came from rural parts of China and live in the on-site dormitories, far away from their families.With no social safety net, these workers have no place to turn to if they lose their jobs which makes them even more vulnerable and manipulative by the capitalists. The ass embly-line work had slowly euthanized the workers (Ramey, 2010). Slowly, a sense of alienation was developed in the workers (Serene, 2006). While the cost of living had increased, their income only managed to increase slightly. The Foxing workers were working on parts of the phone that meant nothing to them as they could not afford them at all.Overtime, these alienated and oppressed workers felt greater solidarity as they belonged to the same exploited class. It was a sense of organic solidarity among the workers, according to Druthers (Serene, 2006). At the same time, with the increased influence of communication devices, social media and increased level of education, there was growing awareness of the better lifestyle richer people around China and other parts of the world led, causing a build-up of dissatisfaction and increased class consciousness.The young workers in Foxing were generally better educated; hence they were more aware and assertive of their rights and had higher ex pectations for work (Roberts, 2012). All these feelings within he workers had contributed to the riot on 23 September 2012. When the guards of Foxing Taiwan factory used force to attempt to control the workers' dispute, it led to the outburst of the growing dissatisfaction of the workers with more than 2000 workers joining in to rebel (Ho and Culpa, 2012).Recently, there had been news that another 3,000 – 4,000 workers were involved in a strike in Foxing Squeezing factory on 5 October, 201 2, Friday afternoon. The reasons were suspected to be due to the unhappiness from the â€Å"over-exacting quality controls and demands to work through the week- Eng National Day holidays† (Reuters, 2012). Hence, it seems like it is evident that there is a growing class consciousness among the Foxing workers due to reasons as explained above. Also, probably due to uprising of riots in China that made them feel embolden and the need to rise up using collective efforts to make their rig hts known.Globalization and the Widespread Exploitation of Labor in China Globalization has allowed the boundaries of national borders to be broken down, it was no longer about individual states, and instead they have integrated into one single global economy (Chance, 2010). The resultant effect was that the global economy has divided the world into only TV classes. The powerful core, made up of wealthy nations, the state government, transnational companies that continuously experience wealth accumulation, and the neglected periphery, made up of struggling poor nations and the working class people who are exploited by the powerful core (Serene, 2006).With this phenomenon, the people could no longer find themselves being protected by the state, because in this global economy, there are only two choices: to be neglected at the periphery or to join the powerful core. Hence, with globalization and the widespread capitalism, the states have decided to join the powerful core with the othe r elites, helping the multinational companies fulfill their insatiable greed for profit, in turn helping themselves fulfill their own needs and wants, ultimately for profit too.The widespread exploitation of the China workers in Foxing all boils down to the state of China being in cahoots with Foxing to fulfill their greed for profits in this one big global economy. Hence, there is a high possibility that the problem lies in the ineffective enforcement of law by the authorities in China. The reason behind this conclusion is the question of why the state did nothing to stop the exploitation of its people, despite being aware of the situation and why no one had successfully filed a lawsuit against Foxing (Yen, 2012).China adopts a socio-political system incorporating ideas of the capitalist system, free market system and party-state authoritarianism; with different government branches integrated together to ensure the centralization of power. This is to enable easy penetration into th e judicial system to undermine justice. Hence, it is not possible for checks and balances ender the centralized system China creates, which makes it very convenient for the authorities who have close relationship with Foxing to manipulate according to their benefits (Yen, 2012).Apteral, China would not hope to force Foxing to retreat from China with all its factories and investments, when Foxing is such a major taxpayer to China and that would mean that more than a million of its people working in these Foxing factories will be unemployed. However, there is the possibility that the exploited workers could harness the power of globalization, to effectively utilize the influence of he new media to let their situation and rights be known.