Practicum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Practicum - Essay Example Therefore, governments take great steps to enhance the GDP of their country. Money flowing into different industries of a country eventually translates into an increased GDP and higher economic results. One of the industries of a country that needs to flourish is the Tourism Industry. The reason is that this industry attracts the money of foreign investors or residents, and it flows in the financial system of the country that is providing tourism opportunities. This rule is not an exception in the case of Australia. Australia’s tourism activities range from accommodations and car hires to cruise operation and theme parks and major attraction operations. In the year 2005-2006, private businesses spent $840 million on the marketing of tourism related activities; this was a 9.9% increase over year 2003-2004 marketing expenditure. Among this, most of the expenses were accounted to marketing targeted at the domestic travelers (74%), compared to international travelers which accumulated up to 26%1. In the year ended 2009, the industry experienced an Internal Consumption of $92,003 Million, comprising primarily of International consumption of $23,546 Million and a domestic consumpt ion of $68,456 Million. The figures also show that more focus is given to domestic travelers relative to international holiday makers. The total direct tourism inflow to the GDP in the system came out to be $32,828 Million in 20092. The tourism contributed a total of 2.6% of the GDP in the year ended 2009; which was a decrease of 0.2% compared to the previous year. The reason behind this was that the Australian economy boosted up, and more people travelled overseas rather than internally, which created a plunge in the value of Tourism industry. Australian economy basically measures the effect of tourism activities by the demand that is created by the travelers and the tourism products and services by the domestic producers. The biggest

Week 2 #2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 2 #2 - Coursework Example Secondly, the internal pay equity creates a good sensible business; thus improving the firm’s retention of its top performers and maximize its chances of hiring a top talent in the industry. Therefore, failure to manage the internal pay equity can result in losing employees to other companies and creates disloyalty among the employees (Kramar & Syed, 2012). The external pay equity management is also important for company’s success. Employers are expected to manage carefully determine the appropriate markets. Therefore, the management of the appropriate markets helps in having accurate external wage comparison. Thus, this reduces unnecessary payments in some areas (Kramar & Syed, 2012). For instance, a narrow determination of a market can lead to wage that higher that is expected. Therefore, employee inequity and equity perception are equally significant, and companies should consider as it sets its compensation objectives (Perkins & Perkins, 2011). Employees perceiving equitable pay treatment can be more motivated in supporting the company goals of performing better. In conclusion, about compensation, fairness is reached when pay is equal to work performed

Personal Reflection on Learning Outcomes of Professional Practice

Personal Reflection on Learning Outcomes of Professional Practice In order to reflect upon my learning throughout this module, I will identify and critically discuss three Module Learning outcomes that reflect the range of possible issues of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Proficiencies (2004). I will then identify appropriate literature and reflect on my learning and experience. This will enable me to identify personal strengths and areas for further development. The first learning outcome is: Recognise the importance of reflective practice and understand the process of reflection. The second outcome chosen is: Discuss the difference between data and information?. The third outcome is: Demonstrate appropriate non-verbal and verbal skills, including the use of silence, open and closed questions and summarising, to gather information. *Please note that the names of the patients mentioned in this essay have been changed in order to protect their identity for confidentiality reasons. 1 Recognise the importance of reflective practice and understand the process of reflection This outcome relates to the NMC Proficiency of Demonstrate the responsibility for ones own learning through the development of a Record of Achievement of practice and recognise when further learning is required. Reflection is a new method of learning for me. With regard to nursing, the term reflection and reflective practice has been defined by many academics, resulting in various models and theories being developed. The Oxford Mini-dictionary for Nurses (2008) describes reflection as the careful consideration of personal actions, including the ability to review, analyse and evaluate situations during or after events. It is an essential part of the learning process that will result in new methods of approaching and understanding nursing practice. Johns (2000) defines reflection as a window through which the practitioner can view and focus self within the context of his/her own lived experience in ways that enable him/her to confront, understand and work towards resolving the contradictions within his/her practice between what is desirable and actual practice. Schon (1983) proposed that reflection occurs on action or in action. The first occurs after the incident whereas the latter occurs during the incident and is said to be the hallmark of the experienced professional (Somerville Keeling, 2004). The more traditional theories and models base reflection on critical incidents. Love (1996) states that a critical incident does not have to be negative or dramatic but should provide deep thought and raise a professional issue. Gibbs (1988) developed The Reflective Cycle. The model divides the reflective process into sections; Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion and Action Plan (see Appendix 1). Johns (2000) developed a Model of Structured Reflection (MSR) (see Appendix 2) As with Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle, the MSR uses a series of questions to guide an individual through the reflective process. Johns model is based on five cue questions; Description, Reflection, Influencing Factors, Could I have dealt with it better? and Learning. The volume of studies and models on reflection demonstrates the value that is placed on this tool. Newell (1992) described the process of reflection to be a cornerstone of nursing professionalism. Gustafsson and Fagerberg (2004) support the notion that reflection is a vital tool and advantageous in terms of the improvement of a nurses professional development and patient care. Many consider journal writing to be an effective reflection strategy (Johns 2000; Paterson, 1995; Cameron Mitchell, 1993; Lauterbach Becker, 1996). Journal writing is considered to offer writers the opportunity to become participants/observers of their own learning, to describe a significant experience and to reflect on that experience to see what they can learn from having had it (Weisberg and Duffin, 1995). While in clinical practice, I have written a journal of my experiences. I recognise its value to aid reflection as I feel that the act of writing things down is important. This is supported by Somerville and Keeling (2004). To demonstrate my understanding of reflective practice, I will now reflect on an incident that occurred while on placement when I was feeding a patient, named Tom*. I will utilise Gibbs (1988) model as this is my first experience of using reflection and feel that it is concise and appropriate at this stage. Tom had dementia and had recently suffered a stroke, which had left him confined to bed. As Tom had difficulty feeding himself, I offered to assist him; he smiled, agreed and appeared to recognise me. Halfway through the meal, Tom became agitated and asked if the food was mackerel. I told him that it was turkey. He shouted aggressively that he wanted mackerel and then became verbally abusive towards me. I was unable to calm him so I left the room with an assurance that I would be back soon. I then asked a senior nurse for help. This was the first time that I had fed a patient but felt comfortable. I knew Tom well and felt that I had built up a rapport with him. I was pleased that he seemed happy and relaxed. When he shouted I felt shocked, worried and conscious of other peoples reactions; they may think that I had done something wrong. Even though Tom was disabled he did have some use of one arm so I was afraid that he might become violent. I was upset that I had to stop feeding him and leave the room. When I left I felt relieved but also anxious that I may have contributed to the way Tom was feeling. When evaluating and analysing the incident, I was pleased initially with the way the task started as on admission he had a poor appetite. The negative side of the situation was that Tom became angry and didnt finish his meal. I realise that dementia is a complex progressive illness and there may be times when a patient experiences sudden mood changes. I believe that I would now do things differently if a similar situation arose. With hindsight, I questioned whether I should have just agreed with Tom that the turkey was mackerel then this incident may not have occurred. However, this raises ethical issues such as whether it can be acceptable to not tell the truth. A report published by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2009) discusses the ethics of dementia care and states that ethical dilemmas arise on a daily basis for all those providing care for people with dementia. Research suggests that challenging someone with dementia could be detrimental and cause unnecessary distress (Shellenberger, 2004). Naomi Feil developed validation therapy between 1963 and 1980 as a technique to communicate with patients with dementia by recognising and accepting their view of reality of people with dementia in order to provide them with empathy and respect (The Validation Training Institute, Inc). In the future I could use this technique; for exa mple, when Tom asked if it was mackerel he was eating I could have replied by asking him if he liked mackerel which would have avoided giving a direct answer. With regard to strengths and areas of development, I feel that I have reflected successfully on this incident. However I would like to strive to reflect in action as opposed to on action as this is the most effective. In terms of development, I believe that it would be beneficial to patients and myself to learn more about caring for patients with dementia. The Dementia UK Report (2007) published by The Alzheimers Society states that there are currently 700,000 people with dementia in the UK. The report also predicts that by 2025 there will be over 1 million people with dementia so it is inevitable that I will be caring for many dementia patients in my career. In summary, although the models of reflection span over 20 years and vary slightly, the principle of reflection is very similar, which implies that reflection is a robust tool and still applies to modern nursing. I have learnt that reflective practice is a vital tool, particularly when associated with journal writing. Continuous reflection will allow me to develop skills and knowledge to enable me to provide the best care possible for patients and their families. 2 Discuss the difference between data and information This learning outcome links to the NMC proficiency of Demonstrate literacy, numeracy and computer skills needed to record, enter, store, retrieve and organise data essential for care delivery. As a student Im not involved in using my computer skills on the ward but eventually will be involved in audit and data entry. My literacy and computer skills are demonstrated throughout my portfolio and assignment. I demonstrate my literacy and numeracy skills when writing patient evaluations, calculating fluid balance and assisting with drug calculations. There are many examples of data and information used within nursing care. Due to the broad nature of this area I have focused on a particular type of data and information to demonstrate my understanding of these terms. My focus is data collected from patients vital signs and the information that relates to this. I will demonstrate how the process of giving information to patients rather than just data is an essential part of nursing. Gathering, giving and recording both data and information accurately is vital. Data can be described as facts and statistics used for reference or analysis. The term information can be defined as the meaning applied to the data (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2008). Observation data collected from patients includes pulse rate and rhythm, blood pressure, respiration rate, temperature and oxygen saturate percentage. These measurements are taken on admission as it is important to gain base-line readings to which future readings can be compared. It is necessary to apply meaning to this data to form information to be able to judge a patients condition. Throughout the module I have learnt what data means in terms of acceptable values. As I now have the information about the data I can make judgments about data. For example, I now know that the information I can get from the blood pressure data of 160/110 mmHg is high (Blood Pressure Association). However, this information needs to be put into context to allow use of the information to make a judgement. For example, if a patient has just completed cardiovascular exercise, this may account for a high blood pressure reading. With this information, the plan would be to wait for 30 minutes before repeating to gain more accurate data. Readings can vary temporarily due to a number of reasons; for example, medication, an existing health condition, fluid intake, exercise and alcohol consumption. However, a change in blood pressure can indicate deterioration in condition, which alerts health care professionals to investigate. In order to show my understanding of the difference between data and information I will now give an example of an incident that occurred while on placement. During observations of a 70 year-old lady named Eileen*, I noticed that her systolic blood pressure had dropped from 127 to 90 mmHg. Her other observations remained consistent. I informed a senior nurse who asked a doctor to review the patient. I discussed her fluid intake with her as this could have had an adverse effect on her blood pressure. As she had only drank a small amount I encouraged her to drink more and continued monitoring. Eileens blood pressure eventually returned to her baseline. This example shows how data, such as blood pressure readings, prompts gathering information which, in turn, enables problem solving. As demonstrated, I need to have an understanding of the information gathered from the data but additionally I feel that it is important that patients understand what the data means. Bastable (2006) defined patient education as the process of assisting people to learn health related behaviours so that they can incorporate those behaviours into everyday life and achieve a goal of optimal health and independence in self care. I will now provide an example of my experience of patient education: During a blood pressure check on Paul*, who was hypertensive and took multiple medications, I asked him whether he would like to learn about blood pressures. He gladly agreed so I explained what the reading was and what can affect blood pressure. I explained that exercise, healthy eating, low salt intake and weight control would have a beneficial effect on his blood pressure. He was unaware of how his current lifestyle could have a detrimental effect on blood pressure and said that he now intended to make some lifestyle changes. Research supports my thoughts about the benefits of giving patients information about aspects of their health rather than just the data. Florence Nightingale, who has been described as the founder of modern nursing, recognised the importance of educating about adequate nutrition, personal hygiene and exercise in order to improve well-being (Bastable, 2006). The Department of Health (2009) states that giving people relevant, reliable information enables them to understand their health requirements and make the right choice for themselves and their families. (Bastable, 2008). Partridge and Hill (2000) found that patients who are well informed are better able to manage their health, have improved psychological outcomes, have fewer exacerbations of their condition and less hospital admissions. Glanville (2000) states that if clients cannot maintain or improve their health status when on their own, we have failed to help them reach their potential. Abbott (1998) reported that by involving patients in their state of health by keeping them informed has been proved to improve patient satisfaction and concordance. However, there is research to suggest that providing information may not result in a change in health outcomes (Kole, 1995; Sherer et al. 1998). They found these reasons to be that patients dont understand the information, are unable to absorb it due to pain, anxiety, or that they choose not to act upon it. Additionally, absorption of information is decreased when there is too much information; therefore health outcomes remain unchanged. The question is how much is too much information? This is difficult to determine. In terms of personal strengths, I felt very satisfied that I had initiated this conversation which resulted in Paul considering lifestyle changes. On reflection, this incident highlighted the importance of patient understanding and has encouraged me to take time to educate patients where possible. It has emphasised the need for continuous learning so that I am able to answer questions and educate patients. Additionally, I am aware of my limitations and when to seek advice or refer patients to others. I also need to develop confidence in speaking to patients about sensitive issues such as weight management by researching this area. 3 Demonstrate appropriate non-verbal and verbal skills, including the use of silence, open and closed questions and summarising, to gather information This outcome relates to the NMC Proficiency of Engage in, develop and disengage from therapeutic relationships through the use of appropriate communication and interpersonal skills. Communication is a reciprocal process that involves the exchange of both verbal and non verbal messages to convey feelings, information, ideas and knowledge (Wilkinson 1999; Wallace 2001). In nursing, communication and information gathering is essential to provide quality care. Sheldon, Barrett Ellington (2006) report that Communication is a cornerstone of the nurse-patient relationship. Information gathering commences from when the nurse greets the patient. In order to communicate non-verbal and verbal cues are used. Non-verbal skills are portrayed with body language and impact on communication (Hargie Dickson 2004). These include posture, facial expressions, head movement, eye contact and hand gestures showing active listening. Verbal skills include the use of silence, open and closed questions and summarising. The tone of voice and rate of response are significant. The emphasis is on effective communication; the way we communicate can hinder or enhance the information we gather. Sheldon et al. (2006) state that the power of effective nursing care is strengthened and enriched by good communication. Maguire and Pitceathly (2002) suggest that clinicians with good communication skills identify patients problems more accurately, patients are more satisfied with their care and are less anxious. It has been reported that that ineffective communication can lead to patients not engaging with the healthcare system, refusing to follow recommended advice and failing to cope with the psychological consequences of their illness (Berry, 2007). The scenario below demonstrates my understanding of appropriate verbal and non-verbal cues. It is part of a conversation with a patient on admission regarding current medical history. When meeting Arthur*, a 78 year old, I smiled, introduced myself and explained the purpose of our conversation. I asked Arthur Do you have any chest problems? he answered Yes. I then asked What chest problems do you have and how do they affect you? he answered I have emphysema causing wheezing and a cough. I also get breathless when walking and have oxygen at night I left a brief silence at this point. Arthur then disclosed I cough up a lot of horrible phlegm in the morning which is embarrassing. He then asked will I get a chest x-ray. I asked Have you any particular worries about your chest? to which he replied well I am quite worried about lung cancer. I told him that I would pass on his concern to the doctor and then summarised our conversation. With regard to verbal responses, I initially asked a closed question as I wanted a specific answer. Silverman et al. (2005) supports the theory that closed questions are appropriate when wanting to narrow the potential answer. Due to Arthurs response I asked an open question to encourage him to go into more detail. An open question often results in a lengthy answer, so I used fillers such as mmm throughout, to show active listening and to encourage him to continue. The brief pause was successful as it enabled Arthur to disclose his embarrassment. I summarised his response in order to clarify what Arthur had said for my own benefit but also to give the patient confidence that I had understood and opportunity to correct me if not. With regard to my non-verbal communication, I kept an open posture with eye contact and leant forward slightly to show that I was listening. I also ensured that my facial expressions were appropriate. For example, when greeting Arthur I smiled, but during descriptions of distressing symptoms my facial expression was one of concern. Egan (2002) supports the notion that conveying these non-verbal cues in this way will facilitate emotional disclosure and encourage the patient to talk more freely. Egan derived the acronym SOLER to portray awareness of the non-verbal responses; facing squarely, maintaining an open posture, leaning slightly forward, having appropriate eye contact and being relaxed. There are approximately 700,000 different non-verbal cues that may or may not have meaning (Birdwhistell, 1970; Pei, 1997). As nurses, we must be aware of our use of non-verbal cues as they can convey unintentional meaning. In addition to awareness of our responses it is imperative to be aware of patient cues, as this is part of the information gathering process. Arthurs hesitancy indicated to me to remain silent to encourage further disclosure. Being aware of patients verbal responses is more straightforward than what their non-verbal responses convey and it may be that patients body language contradict the spoken word (Miller, 1995). Barriers to communication include anxiety, language, hearing, sight or speech impairment. During communication, I would like to think that I am non judgemental. According to Underman Boggs (1999) most of us have personal biases regarding others that are based on previous experiences. In relation to my scenario, Fuller (1995) suggests that health care professionals may underestimate the verbal capacity or abilities of older people, which results in their conversations being undervalued. In terms of personal strengths, I feel fairly confident with the use of verbal and non-verbal cues and how these can deter or catalyse communication. I feel that I used silence successfully as Arthur disclosed embarrassment and mentioned about an x-ray, which he may not have done otherwise. I was able to reassure him that we would provide a disposable sputum pot and acknowledged his fear of cancer. I realise that it can be difficult communicating about sensitive information and this is an area of development for me, which I feel will improve with experience. Although at this stage of training I would not be expected to lead consultations for diagnostic purposes, it was informative to research consultation models. I intend to become more familiar with these models in order to utilise some of the communication skills (Newell, 1994). To form an overall conclusion, I feel that through theoretical learning and clinical experience I have demonstrated my achievement of the NMC Proficiencies (2004). I have critically discussed and concluded each learning outcome in turn throughout the essay but to summarise; patient focus and effective communication are paramount. I feel that in terms of reflection, self-awareness is key (Rowe, 1999). This will enable me to look at my skills to recognise strengths and areas of development to ultimately provide best practice in patient care. I realise that I will gain experience and confidence as my training progresses. Word Count: 3289 References Abbott, S. A.(1998) The benefits of patient education Gastroenterol Nursing. 1998 Sep-Oct;21(5):207-9. Bastable, S. (2006) Essentials of Patient Education. London. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Bastable, S. (2008) Nurse as Educator: Principles of Teaching and Learning for Nursing Practice. Third Edition. London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Berry, D. (2007) as cited in Health Communication: Theory and Practice (Health Psychology). Berkshire: Open University Press. Birdwhistell, R. (1970) as cited in Nursing knowledge and Practice; foundations for decision making. London: Bailliere Tindall. Blood Pressure Association www.bpassoc.org.uk. [11th November 2009] Cameron, B. Mitchell, A. (1993) Reflective peer journals: developing authentic nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 18, 290 297. Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2008) Eleventh Edition Revised. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dementia: Ethical Issues Report (October 2009) published by Nuffield Council on Bioethics (http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org) [13th December 2009] Dementia UK Report (Feb 2007) published on The Alzheimers Society (http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?categoryID=200120documentID=341) [7th December 2009] Department of Health (2009) Better information, better choices, better health. London. Department of Health. Egan, G. (2002) as cited in The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures. Student Edition, Seventh Edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell. Fuller, D. (1995) Challenging ageism through our speech. Nursing Times. 91, 21, 29-31. As cited by Miller, L. (2002) Effective communication with older people. Nursing Standard. 17, 9, 45-50. Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford Polytechnic. Oxford. Gibbs, G. (1988) Reflective Cycle. Queen Mary University http://www.qmu.ac.uk/els/docs/reflection1.pdf. [20th October 2009] Glanville, I. (2000) Moving Towards Health Oriented Patient Education (HOPE). Holistic Nursing Practice. 14(2) 57-66. Gustafsson, C. Fagerberg, I. (2004) Reflection, the way to professional development?. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 13, 271-280. Hargie, O. Dickson, D .(2004) as cited in The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures. Student Edition, Seventh Edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell. Johns, C. (2000) Becoming a reflective practitioner. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Kole, L. (1995) A lot of knowledge is not enough: compliance and a positive outcome with asthma require more than knowledge. Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. 8, 3, 8 11. As cited by Caress, A. L. (2003) Giving information to patients. Nursing Standard. 17, 43, 47-54. Lauterbach, S. Becker, P. (1996) Caring for self: becoming a self-reflective nurse. Holistic Nurse Practitioner 10(2) 57-68. Love, C. (1996) Critical Incidents and Post Registration Education and Practice. Professional Nurse. 11(9) 576. Maguire, P. Pitceathly, C. (2002) Key communication skills and how to acquire them. British Medical Journal. September 28; 325(7366): 697-700. Miller, L. (1995) The human face of elderly care? Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery.1, 4, 103-105. Ac cited by Miller, L. (2002) Effective communication with older people. Nursing Standard. 17, 9, 45-50. Naomi Feil http://www.vfvalidation.org/web.php?request=Naomi_Feil_Bio [7th December 2009]. Newell, R. (1992) Anxiety, accuracy and reflection: the limits of professional development. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 17, 1326-1333. Newell, R. (1994) Interviewing skills for nurses and other health care professionals. London: Routledge, Oxford Mini-dictionary for Nurses (2008). Royal College of Nursing. Sixth Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Partridge, M. Hill, S. (2000) Enhancing care for people with asthma: the role of communication, education, training and self-management. European Respiratory Journal. 16, 2, 333-348. As cited by Caress, A. L. (2003) Giving information to patients. Nursing Standard. 17, 43, 47-54. Paterson, B. (1995) Developing and maintaining reflection in clinical journals. Nurse Education Today. 15, 211-220. Pei, M. (1997) as cited in Nursing knowledge and Practice; foundations for decision making. London: Bailliere Tindall. Rowe, J. (1999) Self-awareness: improving nurse-client interactions. Nursing Standard. 14, 8, 37-40. Scherer, Y.K., Schmieder, L.E., and Shimmel, S. (1998)The effects of education alone and in combination with pulmonary rehabilitation on self-efficacy in patients with COPD. Rehabilitation Nursing 23: 2, 71-76. As cited by Caress, A. L. (2003) Giving information to patients. Nursing Standard. 17, 43, 47-54. Schà ¶n, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Sheldon, L. K., Barrett, R. Ellington, L (2006) as cited in Nursing knowledge and Practice; foundations for decision making. London: Bailliere Tindall. Shellenberger, S. (2004) Therapeutic Lying and Other Ways To Handle Patients With Dementia. Wall Street Journal, November 11. Silverman, J., Kurtz, S. Draper, J. (2005) as cited in The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures. Student Edition, Seventh Edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell. Somerville, D Keeling, J. (2004) as cited in Nursing Times http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice-clinical-research/a-practical-approach-to-promote-reflective-practice-within-nursing/204502.article [30th October 2009] Underman Boggs, K. (1999) Communication styles. Interpersonal Relationships: Professional Communication Skills for Nursing. Third edition. Philadelphia PA, WB Saunders. Validation Training Institute Inc. http://www.vfvalidation.org/web.php?request=index [10th December 2009] Wallace, P. R. (2001) as cited in The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures. Student Edition, Seventh Edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell. Weisberg, M. Duffin, J. (1995) Evoking the moral imagination: using stories to teach ethics and professionalism to nursing, medical and law students. Change, 22. Wilkinson, S. (1999) as cited in The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures. Student Edition, Seventh Edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell. APPENDIX 1 Gibbs (1988) model of reflection

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest Essay -- essays research papers

Freedom is defined as 'the condition of being free of restraints'; but freedom for me has a greater and deeper meaning. Freedom is the power to make one's own decisions, the power to laugh, the power to speak one's mind with out boundaries. Freedom is a frame of mind. One is only truly free when they themselves believe it to be so. This mentality of freedom is best seen in Chief Bromden's character. Although he lives in world full of rules, he slowly but surely breaks from the chains, and begins to believe himself free, regardless of his location. This way of thinking, lead him to finally become physically free. In the beginning of the novel the Chief is stuck in some sort of "fog" that acts as his way of hiding from the outside world and all his problems. Everyone on the ward thought him to be a deaf mute because he never talked. But the truth was that he wasn't deaf or mute, but it wasn't until he started coming out of the fog, that he began to improve. Chief once said that, " he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just keep yourself in balance, just to keep you from running plumb crazy"(123). Laughter is what helped him to come out of him fog and talk for the first time in many years. " At first I started getting real mad. I though he was making fun of me like other people had†¦but the more I thought about it the funnier it seemed to me. I tried to stop but I could feel I was about to laugh-not at McM...

Bruce Dawe “Weapons training” Essay

Bruce Dawe is an Australian born poet that lived during the time of the Vietnam War. He lived through a changing time of social unrest, consumerism, and feminism, and it was all reflected in his poetry. His poetry revolves around the opinions of a society that didn’t agree with politics and created their own culture. The Vietnam War was controversial, as many argued involvement was unnecessary. Bruce did not agree with choices made by hierarchy in regards to the War, and expressed his beliefs through writing. Weapons training and homecoming are both poems that argue against the success of the Vietnam war by using strong imagery to bring the readers emotions into play. Bruce Dawes poem ‘Weapons Training’ is a piece written about experiences of the Vietnam War in an interesting and unconventional way. The poem is written to give the public an idea of what it may be like as a soldier when being addressed to by an instructor. Rather writing a traditional poem with organised sentences devised with proper punctuation and grammatically correct phrases, he uses a predominant amount of slang to carry the tone of the unmannerly instructor. The way Bruce Dawe has refused the typical way of writing further casts a reflection of society’s behaviour at the time. The poem is an example of a sergeant dressing down a squad of recently enlisted recruits for the Vietnam War. References to â€Å"mob of little yellows†, â€Å"a pack of Charlies† and â€Å"their rotten fish-sauce breath† suggest of in-built war propaganda.

Ricky Watt’s Marketing Plan

1. Evaluate the promotion objectives Rick Wyatt should include in his plan: These following promotion objectives below should include in Rick’s plan: . To increase the number of volunteers to give back to communities . To create an enjoyable working environment to keep the volunteer serving the communities longer . To have extensive diversified trainings so volunteers and members can be aware of what they’re doing . To let the volunteers know they’re respected and are recognized and are safe 2.What promotion methods should he use to achieve those objectives? In order to achieve these objectives, Rick should do the following steps below: . To put ads in the local papers, banner/signs, radio broadcasts, flyers, posters, word of mouth, or walk house to house to advertise the volunteer are always welcome and needed . To have a short 10 minute videorun on the county public safety cable channel that will show the many operations provided by volunteers plus a video to s how that what the Fire Department work and give back to communities .To do fund-raisings to bring capitals so the Fire Department can use these capitals to expand the Department and to award the volunteers . Don't restrict volunteers to be firefighters. Volunteer can do in different levels of medical response/support; rehab roles; and support roles. This method allows the Fire Department to bring on a wider range of people, and they all fill a vital role . Develop and use a formal awards program such as certificates, dinner coupon to let the volunteers know their works are recognized and are respected    .A clear communication keeps firefighters  feeling as though they are important to the organization and the service's mission . To have a department-wide picnic in the summer or holiday dinner to bring volunteer and their families together . To connect and offer introductory class with Red Cross meetings or classes, blood drives, food banks, and basic community service places to find the best candidates . To have gym, coffee rooms, entertainment areas in the Fire Department that can bring all members together, to keep members in shape, to create an enjoyable working environment