Alice Munro The Shinning Houses Character Essay

Alice Munro The Shinning Houses Character Essay The Shinning Houses Alice Munro presents a protagonist whose personality and values conflict with her neighbours. The protagonist Mary is an open-minded, fair, but somewhat powerless character.Mary is an open-minded individual who understands values from both Mrs. Fullerton and the new community. She is the only character in the "Shinning Houses"  willing to "[explore Mrs. Fullerton's] life as she had once explored the lives of grandmothers and aunts,"  and the only one who buys her fresh eggs. Mary "[smiles]"  openly to everyone while her new neighbours, whose "faces [are] applied,"  "smile in rather a special way"  that they only perceive Mary "as a conversational delight."  Even at the birthday party did Mary keep a smile and listen to the new neighbours talk among themselves, going about in "circles of complaint."  Mary's own personality and values conflict with her neighbours', but she remains open to any situation she faces.Shrine to Our Lady - Mary, The Mo ther of GodMary is a fair lady, who does what she believes is right. Her name suggests religious allegory with Mary, the Mother of God, and human creation. Mary exhibits her Mother-like qualities at the birthday party, defending Mrs. Fullerton, the neighbour who "never [changes],"  against the mothers who wear "nylons and skirts," ¦[their] hair fixed and faces applied."  She knows that Mrs. Fullerton deserves a chance to stay in her home, as Mary, the Mother of God knows that all creation deserves a chance to live. Mary's fair personality conflicts with her neighbours' values and beliefs: while she is fair to human rights, the neighbours are fair to their community of "shinning houses."  Although Mary is courageous in being the only person to defend Mrs. Fullerton, she is somewhat powerless with her arguments against her neighbours. Mary stands alone only listening to her neighbours speak with "self-assertion."  She remains...

How to Use the Semicolon in Academic Writing

How to Use the Semicolon in Academic Writing How to Use the Semicolon in Academic Writing Today, friends and frenemies (we know you’re out there), we’re looking at the semicolon, including when this punctuation mark should be used in formal writing (i.e. not for making emoticons wink). We’ll also take a look at the difference between semicolons and colons. Using a Semicolon to Link Sentences The main use of the semicolon is to link two sentences. This emphasizes a connection between independent clauses that would otherwise be separated by a full stop. For instance, the following sentences work by themselves: My favorite food is spam. I spend a fortune on tinned meat. However, we could link them with a semicolon to show that they are connected: My favorite food is spam; I spend a fortune on tinned meat. This makes it obvious that my love of spam and my meat expenses are related. I also wear this outfit every day. I have a problem.(Photo: Charles LeBlanc/flickr) Linking sentences like this is common when the second sentence starts with a conjunctive adverb (e.g., â€Å"however† or â€Å"furthermore†) or a transition phrase (e.g., â€Å"as a result†): I love spam; consequently, I eat it for every meal. As above, this emphasizes the connection between the two statements. Generally speaking, you shouldn’t use a semicolon before conjunctions like â€Å"but† or â€Å"and,† although they can be used for clarity if either of the clauses being joined contains a comma. Using Semicolons in a List The second important use of semicolons is to separate items in a list. Usually, commas are enough for short, simple lists (like the following): The menu offered four choices: spam, eggs, grits or pancakes. However, if the listed items are more complex and already include commas, using semicolons to distinguish between them aids clarity: The menu offered four choices: spam, fries and beans; pancakes, syrup and spam; egg, bacon and spam; or spam, spam, spam, spam and spam. Here, for instance, using semicolons clearly shows where one item on the menu ends and another begins. Using only commas in a list like this, by comparison, could be confusing. Semicolon or Colon? Knowing when to use a semicolon and when to use a colon can be tricky, since colons can also be used to link two related sentences. There are two factors to consider here. The first is that semicolons can only be used to link complete sentences, whereas the information following a colon can be as little as a single word. For instance: There’s only one food I can’t stand: spam. If we wanted to rewrite this using a semicolon, we’d have to use two independent clauses: There’s only one food I can’t stand; I hate the taste of spam. Just Say No (to Spam) The second consideration is that the information following a colon is usually an explanation or specification of a general statement (i.e., more general: more specific). With a semicolon, however, the sentences linked are typically of equal weight or importance.

Morality subject, the rights and wrongs on Abortion on A Catholic Essay

Morality subject, the rights and wrongs on Abortion on A Catholic viewpoint - Essay Example This was the message of Cardinal Renato Martino, who was president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Moreover, according to Martino, the stance of Amnesty International which is to uphold human rights above specific theologies and the right of the unborn child to live may trigger opposition from the Catholic Church and various anti-abortion organizations but may actually inspire others to cut the life of the unborn child if they feel they have to. Nevertheless, regardless of people’s stance on abortion, the act is considered a moral wrong based on Catholic theology. Based on Catholic theology, abortion is wrong because of several reasons. First, according to De Marco, the immoral nature of abortion depends on â€Å"the presence of hundreds of thousands of non-Catholic individuals who actively oppose abortion, together with the existence of many anti-abortion groups who are affiliated with non-Catholic agencies and institutions†3. Although this may be logi cally a fallacious statement since it is based on the idea of the absolute and unquestionable rightness of the majority of population, the opinion still has practical value. Although practicality is not necessarily synonymous to what is morally right, it is certainly undeniable that the opinion of the majority matters for any institution, including the Catholic Church, is made up of this majority. ... Moreover, since it is not only the Catholic religion that pushes for the respect for the life of the unborn child, then these reasons for the wrongness of abortion are therefore â€Å"not peculiarly Catholic†5. It therefore reflects the sentiments of various other religions. Although it would be rather exhaustive to explain in this paper, there is basically no religion that condemns life. This mere fact therefore tells us that basically life is precious and these religions, which have been established by learned people and intellectuals, may not be that wrong. The stance of the Church itself on abortion is only implied in the Canon law but â€Å"the very fact that there have always been canonical penalties for abortion is a reflection of the Church’s position that abortion is a grave evil†6. Nevertheless, there are specific teachings of the Catholic Church against abortion. In fact, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2271, â€Å"Direct abortionâ € ¦willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law [and] are abominable crimes†7. It is very interesting to note the phrase â€Å"willed either as an end or a means† for it implies that even if abortion were used to save the mother’s life, just like what modern oppositionists are claiming, abortion is nevertheless a crime. It therefore does not make abortion right even if it were used as a means to save a person’s life. The Catholic Church therefore maintains that the functionality of an object or a concept cannot guarantee its spiritual value. Moreover, contrary to what science has determined, for the Catholic religion, â€Å"the exact time when the fetus becomes ‘animated’ has no practical significance

Week 2 - Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 2 - Leadership - Essay Example These are indeed some of the most admirable qualities of a leader (Musser, 2011). Qualities such as risk-taking, determination and self-awareness are necessary for all leaders. They are the core pillars that can propel them to making well-informed decisions for the entire organization. At the same time, if a leader puts the interests of his followers at heart, he can win their confidence (Avolio, Sosik, Jung & Berson, 2003). Thins, can in turn, be a better way of restoring the confidence of the followers and motivating them to dedicate their time for the service of the organization. In conclusion, the effective application of charismatic leadership style has enabled me to rank it as the most effective leadership style. It has made leaders to win a lot of support, respect and following. Such a support plays a very significant role in assisting the organization to prosper. Transformational leadership simply implies to a leadership style where the leader is given the responsibility of identifying the required change within the organization and coordinating and organizing his followers to execute it. As a matter of fact, change is a necessary thing for any organization. It is the best way through which improvements can be made as the organization seeks to accomplish its short and long-term goals (Gupta, 2004). For a leader to be transformative, they should be ready to understand themselves, their followers and the environment within which they operate. This can grant them an opportunity to come up with ideas that can positively transform the organization. Actually, transformational leadership has greatly contributed towards the success of Public Safety. As a profession, Public Safety is a sensitive area that requires team play and cooperation. With the application of transformational leadership style, leaders have managed to use their transformative traits to inspire workers, motivate them and challenge them to dedicate their time in

Sources Of Finance And Impact On Financial Statements Finance Essay

Sources Of Finance And Impact On Financial Statements Finance Essay This brief report highlights the financial performance of the Trevors PLC using ration analysis and decisions on new projects that the company is going to be invested. Firstly it will focus on the financial statements of a company and the formats of financial statements. Secondly ration analysis performs on the basis of the information given about Trevors Plc. This explains under the main headings of Profitability, asset efficiency, liquidity, working capital management, solvency and Investors ratios. In addition to that it discusses the insufficient information to raise accurate comments on ratio analysis. Thirdly the emphasis will be given to the results obtained from net present value and Payback period calculations. Fourthly it identifies sources of finance. It involves details analysis of each financing methods and tax, ownership and controlling implication of each source. Finally the attention will be given towards the importance of financial planning and information need of the decision makers. Recommendation and conclusion of this report included in the latter part of this report. Financial statements Financial statements form a basis for understanding the financial performance, position and liquidity of a firm. As per the IAS Financial statement refers to, Balance sheet Income statement Statement of changes in equity Cash flow statement Accounting policies and notes An annual report includes following in general, Financial statements Auditors report 05 year summary of key financial data Stock prices(High or low) Management discussion and analysis Financial statements give good direction to achieve the objectives of a user. Fr example a lender to a firm in deciding whether or not to lend may refer to the cash flow statement. Financial health of a firm could be better understood by means of cash flow statement. Therefore this information collection can be viewed as a map, which provides a good direction. Often financial statements contain a large amount of information. Further the accounting policies, reporting environment, accounting practices are complex and constancy changing. The man can hide or omit key information, create the picture they require. Though the accounting standard limits variability, still financial reporting in different firms and industries has considerable deviations. The balance sheet is the snap shot of the firm. It is a convenient means of organizing and summarizing what a firm owns and what firm owes and the difference between the two at a given time (Equity). The structure of assets for a firm reflects line of business that the firm is in and also marginal decisions about how much cash and inventory to have and about credit policy, fixed assets acquisition and so on. Income statement measures a performance over some period of time, usually a quarter, or year. If you think balance sheet as a snap shot, then you can think of the income statement as a video recording covering the period between a before and an after picture. Information about the cash flows of an enterprise is useful in providing users of financial statements with a basis to assess the ability of the enterprise to generate cash and cash equivalents and the needs of the enterprise to utilize those cash flows. The economic decisions that are taken by users require an evaluation of the ability of an enterprise to generate cash and cash equivalents and the timing and certainty of their generation. A cash flow statement, when used in conjunction with the rest of the financial statements, provides information that enables users to evaluate the changes in net assets of an enterprise, its financial structure (including its liquidity and solvency) and its ability to affect the amounts and timing of cash flows in order to adapt to changing circumstances and opportunities. Cash flow information is useful in assessing the ability of the enterprise to generate cash and cash equivalents and enables users to develop models to assess and compare the present value of the future cash flows of different enterprises. It also enhances the comparability of the reporting of operating performance by different enterprises because it eliminates the effects of using different accounting treatments for the same transactions and events. As discussed in above lenders can evaluates the secure of their lending using g the information reflects on the cash flow statement. On the basis of that, if a companys cash flow statement reflects the well management of their cash and cash equitant that company is in position to raise fund easily from external sources. Various tools can be used in financial analysis. The derivative financial statements, (Cash flow statement, fond flow statement) Common size financial statement (Common size balance sheet and common size income statement), trend statement and Financial ratio analysis are the most commonly used tolls in financial analysis. These can be used as techniques of analyzing financial information for a more meaningful understanding of the financial position and performance of a firm. Formats of financial statements There are three basic forms of business organizations. Sole proprietorship, Partnership and limited liability companies. Sole proprietorship is a business form for which there is one owner, in a partnership two or more individuals act as owners and a limited liability company is a separate legal entity from its owners. When shares of a public limited company are listed, the company is known as quoted company, whose financial statements publication is compulsory. Therefore the annual reports of quoted companies are a major source of financial information. However most of the time, the financial information of sole proprietorships, partnerships and private limited liability companies are not readily publically available as there are no volunteers in financial statements publication. Tryor Plc presented their financial statements in accordance with the IASS since it get affects from legal requirements such as listing rules governed in the stock exchange. The main reason is the Tryor Plcs shared are listed on the stack exchange. Ratio Analysis Financial performance of the company can explain using a variety of measures. In particular, in this report, principally discuss the Trevors results by using ratio analysis. Ratio analysis can be regarded as a technique used in the financial statement analysis. It gives an insight in to the performance of an enterprise. Ratios could primarily be divided in to following areas: Profitability Asset Efficiency Liquidity Working Capital Management Gearing/ Leverage Investors Ratio Profitability This ratio reveals the efficiency of a business in terms of profitability and Assets utilization. Gross profit ratio of the company is recorded as 28.95%. This ratio is said to be favorable but in order to make accurate comment this has to be compared with the last year figures or industry averages. Net profit ratio of Trevors is 6.37%. Net profit ratio is also said to be favorable to the company since company earning profits from their operations. Trevor Plc was able to achieve significant turnover for the period. In addition to that management of the company was able to manage their cost of operations efficiently. However accurate comment on both rations will depend on the results of the last years and industry averages. (Refer Appendix 01 Profitability ratios) Asset Efficiency It assesses the efficiency of the company in terms of assets utilization. It is concerned on the areas of utilization of fixed assets and working capital. The detail analysis these ratios will reveal whether there are any idle assets or underutilized assets. Assets turnover is recorded at 0.73 (Refer Appendix 01 Asset efficiency ratio). This ratio indicates the  £1 of assets generates  £ 2.38 sales to the company. Therefore available information for the company is not sufficient since it has to be compared with industry averages or past years results. Liquidity This ratio assesses the liquidity position of the company. Liquidity is the amount of cash a company can put its hand to settle its debt and possibility to meet other unforeseen demands for cash payments too. A company can obtain liquid assets other the sales such as issue of shares for cash new loan or the sale of long term assets. But a company cannot rely on these at all times, and in general obtaining liquid funds depends on making sales and profits. Companys Current ratio is 2.16. Further Quick assets ratio is recorded as 1.50. (Refer Appendix 01). In theoretical view these two ratios are expected to be within a given range of 2:1 and 1:1 respectively. Trevors current ratio and quick assets ratio are lie within that given range. As a result of that companys liquidity position is held at good position. Therefore management of the company has to adopt on current strategies to continue this position in future also. However these ratios also compared with last year results or industry averages to raise an accurate comment on liquidity position of the company. Working Capital Management This assesses the efficiency of the working capital management of the company. Finished goods turnover ratio is recorded as 12 times. (Refer Appendix 01) Further this led to finished goods residence period to 30 days. In addition to that Creditors turnover ratio of the Trevors PLC is recorded as 8 times. Further company creditors period from suppliers is 45 days. Factors such as stock policies, policies on credit period allowed to debtors and those obtained from suppliers helps to determine the working capital management of the company. Comment on those rations cannot be raised due to unavailability of information. However Company would concentrate on increasing the rapidity of cash cycle, because each cycle can enhance the profitability of the company. Solvency Gearing ratios are concerned with a companys long term stability. How much the company owes in relation its size, whether its getting in to heavier debt or improving situation, and weather its debt burden seems heavy or light. Debt to equity ratio recorded as 3.94. It means  £ 01 of equity carries  £ 3.94 of debt. (Refer Appendix 01 gearing ratio) By just seeing the ratio its fair to say that Trevors uses significant amount of debt and can be identified as a geared company. Debt generally carries a fixed rate of interest; hence there is a given amount to be paid out from profits to holders of debt before arriving at residue available for distribution to the holders of the equity. The highly gearing situation creates greater risk to the equity holders. This means that there will be a grater volatility of amounts available for ordinary shareholders and presumably therefore greater volatility in dividends paid to share holders. Dividend payment in year 2009 is  £ 50,000. Investors ratio These ratios are considered to be external ratios and are used in evaluating the stability and investment potential of a company. Basic Earnings per share of the Trevor Plc was  £2.03 in 2009, reflecting the profitability in 2009. (Refer Appendix 01 Investors ratio). Trevors Plc can be considered as a well performing company in the industry since company maintains favorable investors ratios attracting potential investors. However this comment will not be accurate due to unavailability of comparison information about the past results of the company or the industry averages. Net Present Value (NPV) and Discounted Pay Back Period NPV =  £ 484,750.89 (Refer Appendix 02) Discounted Pay Back Period = 02 years and Nine Months (Refer Appendix 02) This project gives positive NPV of  £ 484,750.89. Further this project enables to recover its initial investment with in the period of 02 years Nine months. In order to make a decision based on the discounted payback period it has to be compared with target payback period. However project recovers its cost during its life time. Meanwhile positive NPV value gives a favorable indication that project is worthwhile. Therefore according the calculation its profitable to accept the project. Sources of Financing Term Loans Higher Purchases Debentures Venture Capital Leases Offer for sales Right Issue Tax Impact, Control and Ownership of Sources of finance Term Loans, Higher purchases, Debentures, Leases and venture capital can be identified as the debt financing methods. In the case of term loans, higher purchases, debentures and leases, existing ownership of the company may not be diluted. Voting rights to Control the company lies with the equity holders even though the company raise finance through above mentioned sources. Interest payments on debentures and term loans are tax deductible and debt holders do not have any controlling power in the company. However in the case of venture capital there is a risk associates with controlling power of the company, since controlling and planning of the business will be held in the newly acquired management. Rising of equity financing is much easier for a public company whose shares are traded on a stock exchange then its for a private company. Offer for sales and right issue can be identified as sources of Equity financing. Right issues are cheaper than offer for sales to the general public since it does not require the prospectus and less cost of underwriting. Right issues are more beneficial to existing shares holders than new shareholders. New shares are issued at discount to the current market price to the existing shareholders. In the case of right issues controlling power and ownership of the existing shareholders may not be diluted. However offer sales will lead to dilute the controlling power of the existing share holders. Dividend payments to existing shareholders and new shareholders are not tax deductible. Term Loans Long term loans are available from lending institutions and the commercial banks. It can be obtained to cover specific projects for restructuring as well as for equipment financing. Term loans are granted mainly on the strengths of cash generation of the project. This type of term loan facilitates grace period and easy repayment schedule at the early stage of projects operations. High purchases This is defined as procedure of purchasing goods under which the purchaser pays a deposit on the receipt of the goods followed by a number of installments until the debt is cleared. The goods do not become the property of the purchaser until the last installment has been paid. Debentures Debenture is direct from of borrowing by a company from the investors. In this case the interest rate and maturity period are fixed. The company is not required to pay the value of the debt before maturity although in some instances companies may prefer to redeem them before maturity by buying them back in the market. Venture Capital It refers to participation by way of equality or co- financing through long term convertible debt in business. Venture capital means risk capital. This type of capital is sought to assisting product development, market research and acquisition of plant and equipment. Risk associates with this are venture capital involves control of management and planning of the business. Leases Its a form of lending which enables a firm to use an asset without owing it. The owner of the assets grants another party the right to use the asset usually for a specific period in return of a series of specific rental payments. The risk is that lessee is not the owner of the asset for which he cannot claim capital allowances. Offer for sale Offer for sales is method of issuing shares to the public, which have already been bought by an investor as a block. Therefore its not considered as a primary issue but a secondary sale. A financial institution buys blocks of shares usually when the companies are formed and offer to the public at a later date. Right Issue Is a new issue of shares but subscription is limited to existing shareholders. Companies in need of additional capital usually go right issue unless the funds requirement is very large. The issue price will be determined usually at a level lower than the market price. Cost of sources of finance and impact on financial statements (FS) Capital structure decision is very significant since the question arises where her there is an optimal mix of capital and debt which a c company should try to achieve. If company is looking for obtaining debt Capital Company should earn enough profits to cover its interest charges before anything is available for equity. On the other hand if borrowed funds are invested in projects which provides return in excess of cost of debt capital, then the shareholders will enjoy the increased return on their equity. General cost of debt of each source as discussed in above is greater than the cost of equity financing. However tax savings can be enjoyed by the company in the cash of interest payments on debt financing. In the case of issuing shares to the public company has to incur considerable amount of expenses which are not tax deductible. As far as companies are concerned debt capital is potentially attractive sources of finance because interest charges reduce the profits chargeable only t o corporate tax. Shares can be issued to the public for the company whose shares are traded on the stock exchanges. In such case financial statements has to be complied with the IASs, listing rules and other regulations governing under the various institutions. Further format of financial statements for those companies are predetermined. But any company can obtain debt financing. In such case if the company is a quoted company, it has to be disclosed the financing sources and their cost and interest payments made during the period. Best method of raising funds Initial investment of  £ 1 m for the new project can e obtained from the term loan as a source of debt finance. Term loan has been selected to finance this project since this type of a loan can be easily obtained by Trevor PLC. Its quoted public company and this loan is obtained as the project oriented loan. Companys controlling power and the ownership of the existing shareholders will not be diluted. This is a main advantage to the company. In addition to that company does not have to incur any issue cost on issuing shares or debentures to the public. Company should have to incur only the interest payment on the borrowed amount of  £ 1m. Further interest payment on such loans is tax deductible and company can enjoy some tax savings. Debt holders do not have any controlling power on the entity. Anyhow company liable to pay interest whether company earn profit or incur loss. But this method is very suitable since this project generates a positioned net present value. In addition to the above this type of a loan repayment is geared to the specific needs of the project and may include a grace period before repayments commence and easier repayment schedule at the early stages of projects operations. Depending on the nature of the cash flow patterns firms are sometime allowed to capitalize the interest during the start up period. Financial Planning Finance for a business is provided either by owners or creditors. Finance is categorized by their maturity periods as short term and long term. Short term funds have maturity of on e year or less while long term funds have maturity of more than on e year. Therefore financial planning is very important for a finance manger since he has to match cash inflows from assets with the assets sources of financing. As such medium and long tem fiancà © investment in an enterprise should be financed from a medium and long term source. Investment in fixed assets such as land and buildings, plant and equipment generates benefits during their effective economic life. Therefore fund s locked in these assets will be repaid over a longer period. Thus long term assets should not be financed through short term sources. Therefore financial planning is significant without which company may incur heavy losses or possibility to go for bankruptcy. Information Needs of decision makers Piece of Information about any company is very essential to the stake holders who are interested in that company. Different stakeholders see the organizations from different angels. As such existing shares holders likes very much about the sales, gross profits, expenses incurred and profits earned during the period and any dividend payments. Potential investors are interested about the current earnings per share and new investments that the company is going to be implemented. Employees keen about the bonus payments, incentives, series and wages and potential survival of the company to ensure their job security. Government regulators are looking for information about profits and business operation to collect tax payments and other duties imposing on the nature of the business. As such different king of information about the company serves the stakeholders to make decisions which maximize their value. Unit Cost and Profit Margin As per the calculation (Refer Appendix 03) unit cost of a toy is recorded as  £ 19.68. Whereas profit margin of a toy (Refer appendix 03) is equal to the  £ 0.7179 in accordance with calculation. Recommendation Conclusion It is recommended Trevors Plc to undertake the new project of manufacturing and selling brand new toys since it generates positive net present value. Its fair to say the Trevors Plc perform their operations well. However accurate comments on ratio analysis cannot be raised since unavailability of comparison information about the past results of the Trevors PLC and industry averages.

The clinical career path for nurse Essay

Introduction A ‘Nurse Practitioner’ (NP) has been defined as â€Å"a registered nurse with the capability to practice autonomously and collaboratively with other health professions† (Mosby’s Dictionary of Medicine p. 2010). NPs must complete a , Master’s degree in education, as approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (Australian Nursing Federation 2011). [you need to signal that you are going to review the history and development of NPs] The role of a NP is to provide cost effective care and safe accessible treatment and to improve of health care and patient outcomes (Australian College of Nurse Practitioners, 2012).[I’ve moved this text to the start of your introduction] An overview of the development of the role of NPs is as follows. [you can use your own words but you need a signal here!] In October 1990, the first NP committee convened in New South Wales (Australian College of Nurse Practitioners,2012) and this committee contributed to the establishment of f the NP role in Australia in1 2001 (Australian College of Nurse Practitioners 2012; Taylor 2007). In the United States and England the role has been in existence since the 1960s (N3ET2 2006 p. 1). Since 2001 (?), NPs have been slowly spreading all over Australia (Driscoll et al. 2005, p. 141) and the role now exists in all states and territories (Australian College of Nurse Practitioner s, 2012). Diverse skills, experience and qualifications are all vital components in meeting the clinical requirements to be endorsed as a NP by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2011). For example [give some examples to elaborate on this sentence Chauvy.] These nurses have advanced and extended roles compared to other registered nurses, particularly within the endorsed areas of their scope of practice (Australian Nursing Federation 2011; Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2011). To illustrate †¦ [elaborate a bit on these roles, endorsed areas, different scopes of practice here.] Despite the contribution made by NPs, barriers exist in Australia which prevent these nurses from providing the full care for which are trained (Taylor 2007). Some of these obstacles include the limited access to a provider number,; the restricted right to prescribe (find a better reference please!!!) and to write referrals (Driscoll et al. 2005, p. 141). [Chauvy, don’t forget the opposition of the AMA as we discussed!] This essay will review the growing clinical career pathway of NPs, the autonomy and limitation within the scope of practice experienced, and will provide an overview of the benefits NPs bring to the health system in Australia. Clinical Career Path In order to qualify as a NP, the applicant needs to meet the requirements issued by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2011), as specified in the ‘Guidelines on endorsements as a nurse practitioner’ (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2011). These requirements are as follows: Firstly, the applicant must already be a ‘registered nurse’ (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2011) and must not have any record of unsatisfactory professional performance or unprofessional conduct (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2011). Secondly, the applicant must have three years or equivalent experience in advanced practice. These three years or equivalent experience must be acquired within six years from lodging the application (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2011). Lastly, the applicant must have completed the study of ANMAC [explain] accredited and Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2011) approved NP program at Masters Level. The Heath Practitioner Act 2009 only permits the use of the protected title ‘NP’ by those meeting all of the above requirements (Australian Nursing Federation 2011). After complete the Master’s degree, some health authorities provide internships in Victoria. For example, Wintle, Newsome and Livingston (2011) report that Eastern Health provides such internships, and these assist NPs  in meeting the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia national competencies. The focus is of these competencies is to ensure the development of clinical assessments; diagnostic skills; knowledge of pharmacology; analysis of medical treatment, medication management and clinical leadership – all of which assist in the preparation for endorsement as an NP3. However, recent research suggests that the endorsement process remains problematic and is not consistent across different jurisdictions in Australia. Harvey et al (2011, p.247-8) recommend that the process for becoming a NP in Australia should change, due to the difficulties of endorsement existing in different jurisdictions. The findings of this study demonstrate that different state-based regulatory policies throughout the Australian workforce affect the employment of r NPs (Harvey et al 2011, p.247-8). For example, in Victoria, along with ‘the guidelines of endorsement for a nurse practitioner’ (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2011 – do you need to repeat this ref?), the NPs who wish to prescribe medications must apply for the ‘Explanatory Statement: Nurse Practitioner Category Notion (Victoria) and have that registered against the name (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2010). In contrast, NPs in NSW †¦ (you want to give an example to show how states differ – pick another state and show how prescribing rights vary from one to another to complete the point you are making her e.) It should be acknowledged that the Australian public are often confused about the difference between a NP and a registered nurse (RN). One distinction between a NP and a RN is in the different levels in education. The RN would be qualified in a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing (Mosby’s Dictionary of Medicine, 2010), however the NP must also receive not only a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing but the extended study in a Master’s Degree (Australian Nursing Federation 2006). The second difference is the level of autonomy enjoyed by NPs relative to RNs. This autonomy enables the NP to initiate treatment without the supervision of the medical practitioner, whereas the RN is under the supervision of a GP at all times (Australian Nursing Federation 2006). However, there are also some similarities among the two health professionals;both are eligible to initiate medical surgical routes and do basic nursing assessments (Oxford Reference Concise 1994,  Australian Nursing F ederation 2006). Scope of Practice The scope of practice (SoP) is the legislative framework which indicates the area of jurisdictions that the NP must work within (Baker, N 2010 p 211). NPs have a wider SoP than RNs (ANF). They can call upon the extended skills and knowledge, interpret test results and scans, perform consultations, content assessments and undertake on planning and research diagnosis (ANF). Any presentation that is out of the jurisdictions of the SoP, the NP must seek assistance of a medical practitioner (Heaps and bounds).The SoP of a NP varies across all health areas (Baker 2010 p) for example; a NP trained in emergency department (ED) as an emergency nurse practitioner (ENP) will have a different SoP to a NP trained in the mental department as a mental nurse practitioner (MNP). To illustrate this further, the study by Lowe (2010 p) demonstrates the current SoP of an ENP at the Alfred Emergency and Trauma Centre (AETC) located in Melbourne. The AETC have established the SoP for ENPs around the model of care (MOC) (Lowe 2010 p) that was based upon the Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) cited in the Alfred Health website (2012). The areas in the SoP involve prescribing medications, ordering tests, diagnosing results and admitting and discharging patients (Lowe 2010 p). The assessment of minor injuries or illnesses and initiation of treatments are also part of the ENP’s SoP (Lowe 2010 p). Lastly required at the AETC the ENP must also attend educational classes with other ED medical staff, and further additional classes that will identify the gaps between the ENP’s skill and knowledge and own professional development (Lowe 2010 p80). In comparison, Fry’s research (2011, p58) indicated that the NP in the critical care department (CCD) have separated areas which are adult, paediatric and neonate, however all three areas can fall under the same SoP. The SoP (Fry 2011, p64) involves around direct patient assessments, research of the injury or illness, complex monitoring and therapies of high intensity interventions and care focused by highly acute technology (Association of critical care 2011 p12). NPs in the CCD also follow up with post-intensive care discharge, intensive care retrieval and transfers, and follow up on  outpatient care (Fry 2011, p64). There are times a NP trained in certain an area such as a MNP, can work in a different health department for example ED. A case study by Baker (2010) based in Victoria shows a MNP working in the ED as part of a team, the Youth Early Psychosis (YEP). Bakers (2010) article shows that working as a MNP in the ED in a YEP team can work autonomy to appropriate areas. The SoP involves the combination of a NP working in the MD and ED, in this mostly around the SoP of a MNP; however it is also required for the MNP to obtain an extension of practice within the ED (Baker 2010 p 212). The additional roles within the ED include ‘fast tracking patients’ and attending to other medical concerns (Baker 2010 p 212). The MNP working within the YEP can prescribe a limited range of medication in the duration of seven days, supervise and monitor the progression of the medication, initiate other therapeutic skills and test and take further action towards the patient (Baker 2010 p). The Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) became accessible, albeit in a limited way to NPs on 1 November 2010, were governed by the Health Legislation Amendment ACT 2010 (Medicare Australia 2011). Objections to the NP role have been voiced by the AMA(cited in Taylor 2007, p 20) on the grounds that NPs â€Å"†¦are not adequately educated and trained in areas such as ordering pathology and diagnostic tests, making medical diagnoses, prescribing medications, referring patients to specialist and having hospital privileges†. Furthermore the PBS has constricted the prescribing rights to the NPs’ SoP in the designated state and territory (PBS). In contrast, this is a major progression in the development on expanding the SoP compared to 2008 where the Health Legislation was yet to pass (reference PBS). Dr Phillip Della (cited in Taylor 2007) supported the availability of the MBS and PBS during this time, to provide safe and quality patient care across all access and addition to realising the NPs’ full potential used to improve Australia’s health. Medicare Australia (2011) reports that only NPs working in a private practice  may obtain access to the MBS services, which refer patients to specific specialists and request of some pathology and diagnostic items. easons stated in the Department of Health WA (2011 p. 16), that under the Health Insurance Act 1973 (cited in Department of Health WA, 2011 p. 16), that NPs (or other health professionals) with pre-existing funding arrangements with the governing bodies of the Commonwealth, state or local will not be rebated by Medicare. This is because NPs working in the public sector are to provide a ‘public hospital service’, thus cannot charge a fee for treatment or care initiated to public patients (Department of Health WA, 2011 p. 16). A ‘public hospital service’ is funded by the governing body to a public patient (Department of Health WA, 2011 p.16), and therefore MBS services are only allocated to NPs in the private sectors because patients are being charged. According to the Health Department SA (2011) fact sheet, NPs working in the private sector would be required to obtain a provider number to access to the MBS. NPs working in the public sector would use the provider number of the public hospital. Provider numbers are obtained through the Department of Health and Ageing in the Australia Government (2011). A final requirement to access the MBS, are that NPs must have professional indemnity insurance (Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing 2011) which can be obtain through the Australian Nursing Federation (2012). Though the initiation of the PBS (2010) was enabled for the authorised NPs to prescribe medications under the state and territory legislation, prescribing is still limited due to the SoP of the NP and state and territory rights. Medications are listed for NPs to identified which medicines are available to prescribe are located on the PBS website (Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2011). NPs can also prescribe when they have a collaborative arrangement with the general practitioner (GP) under certain conditions, this usually occurs when the patient is living in a rural or remote area (Department of Health and Ageing WA, 2011, p). The collaborative arrangement occurs in two forms continuing therapy only (CTO) model and shared care model (SCM) is shown in the Department of Health and Ageing WA (2011 p). The CTO model is when the GP has already initiated the treatment and prescription for the patient and then is continued by the NP  (Australian Government 2011). The SCM is formalised agreement between both NP and GP planned to managed the treatment of the patient (Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing 2011). Value According to the ANF (2011) and ACNP (2012) the role of the NPs is to provide cost effective care, provide patients in rural and remote areas treatment, improve waiting times, faster access to treatment and provide a mentorship and clinical expertise to other health professional. The framework utilized by the Department of Human Services Victoria(2000) recommends various ways in which NPs can assist in improving existing health services and patient flow in Australia (Wintle, Newsome & Livingston 2011). To illustrate, in the emergency department(ED) based in Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne, there has been a shortage of doctors working on site especially after hours (Webster-Brain 2011 p). In 2004 a project developed by the Department of Human Services Victoria (cited in Webster-Brain 2011 p) provided the hospital funding to introduce the role of NP. Webster-Brain (2011 p) suggested that the NP was deemed to be trained in the management of minor presentations, for example minor injuries, infections, complaints and symptoms of miscarriages. The benefit of NPs being available at the ED is that action can be taken immediately and effectively (Webster-Brain 2011 p). The NP provides support in counselling to those whom just experienced a miscarriage, also to educate the emotional impact on the medical and nursing staff (Webster-Brain 2011 p). This area noted in Gabrial et al (2005) that even at early pregnancy loss, practitioners need to be aware at any inappropriate or insensitive responses may cause more grief or trauma towards the patient. Thus this issue can be assisted by the NP through sensitive and supplementary counselling. According to Webster-Brain (2011 p) the successful collaborations between the medical staff, emergency physicians and NPs in the ED, resolved the problem in the lack of services and staff. A survey was conducted by Scully (2006 p) which reviewed the contributions of NPs model care on the patients at Sunshine Hospital. The findings had patients responding positively towards the NPs service and care, thus resulted in the permanent implementation of the NP position at  Sunshine Hospital (Scully 2006, p). There has been some opposition to the expansion of the role of the NP, notably from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) (cited in Taylor 2007, p). The AMA (cited in Taylor, p) does not believe that NPs are adequately trained to prescribe medication and order diagnostic tests, therefore they support limited access to MBS and PBS. Another concern from the AMA are that the role of a medical practitioner may one day be substituted by the growing occupation of NPs (Weiland et al ). They have announced that NPs â€Å"cannot and should not replace the expertise and care provided by general practitioners.† (AMA 1994). However NPs were originally developed in the United States to provide care and utilising treatment in cases of patients in rural and remote health where a medical practitioner cannot be able to attend to (Distoll et al p). Case studies in Australia, which addressed welfare shortages in other suburbs with growing population, have proven positive (Scully 2006 p). Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne utilised the NPs to resolving the outnumbered medical practitioners and staff (Webster-Brain 2011 p), that resulted to the permanent position of the NP role is one example. In this case the AMA (cited in Taylor 2007 p.) had agreed that the shortage of medical practitioners are undeniable and is an issue. In a solution, the AMA (cited in Taylor 2007 p.) have reopposed that Australia should utilise the treatment and care provided by the NP in such areas, however with the consultation of a medical practitioner, whom carries the ultimate clinical responsibility. The awareness of the general public about the role of NPs is limited of this stage. There is limited awareness about the position of NPs in the Australian public (Taylor 2011 p). Professor Glenn (cited in Taylor 2007 p.) argue that the â€Å"State government needs to educate the public about nurse practitioners and how anyone on a waiting lists for category three or four could be receiving care from a health professional. The public would be appalled if they knew how ready nurse practitioners are to provide health services but are restricted by bad policy.† Taylor, M (2007) recommends that those have and are interested in the position of a NP should consider addressing barriers that requires action. Promoting Australia’s public  awareness, utilising and justifying the role of a NP and involved politically to support change are a few of many factors that may alter the restriction to NPs (Taylor 2007). Conclusion In conclusion, Australia is still fairly new as a country towards role of a NP, which has been around internationally for much longer (Distroll et al 2005 p141). The NP has a higher education level at the Master’s Level which can perform specific areas within their scope of practice (Australian Nursing Federation 2006), to help out in different areas of aspects in Australia’s health system (Baker 2010 p). The process of obtaining the title and position of a ‘NP’ is based the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2011), however was indicated by Harvey et al (2011 p2478) that complications have raised difficulties through the endorsement in different state. The Australian health systems are still in the progress of trial and error with developing and broadening of the SoP of a NP. The accessibility of the MBS and PBS by the legislation has proven to be a great step despite controversies from the AMA (cited in Taylor). Finally the value of NP have been evaluated and have successfully implemented on the Australian health system improving waiting times for patients, assist the workload for medical practitioners, and mentor and enhance communication between patient and medical staff (Webster-Brain 2011 p). References Department of Human Services Victoria (2004) (Webster-Brain 2011). Gabrial et al (2005) Scully (2006)

Development of optical nanoelectronics Essay

Nanotechnology has become more advanced in recent years. This made possible the development of optical nanoelectronics. Optical nanocircuits have been the focus of recent researches because of its superior advantages over the existing electronic circuits. They offer high-speed transmission of data, high bandwidth, and even miniaturization of circuit elements. But optical nanocircuits, operating in the optical frequencies, are not solely based on the existing circuit theory that has been the foundation of the existing Microwave circuits. Theory of Electromagnetics must be deeply analyzed and extended to understand how optical nanocircuits work. In microwave circuits, resistors, inductors and capacitors can be modeled using lumped elements. The changes in electromagnetic field inside the electronic components are quasi-static in nature. This idea also holds true for optical nanocircuits. In order to preserve the quasi-static nature of the elements, the dimensions of the components need to be tinier than the wavelength. This has been possible because of the advancement of nanotechnologies. But the problem in the optical frequencies is the behavior and response of the metallic and non-metallic components. At optical frequencies, metals tend to show plasmonic resonance, which causes the permittivity of the material to have a negative real part. Since metals don’t show the property of conduction at optical frequencies, Conduction current is not the main current flowing thru the metal. Displacement current is dominant current flowing thru the metals at optical frequencies. This displacement current is greatly affected by the permittivity of the material used. The characteristics of the permittivity of the material determine whether the material acts as a nanoinductor, a nanocapacitor, or a nanoresistor. If the real part of the permittivity of the material is positive, the material acts as a nanocapacitor. On the other hand, if the real part is negative, it acts as a nanoinductor. Materials have nanoresistance when the imaginary part of the permittivity of the material is not equal to zero. These nanoelements can also be used to realized nanofilters. Existing ideas using resistors, inductors, and capacitors to create lowpass, highpass, and bandpass filters can also be used to create nanofilters. Depending on the connections of the nanoelements, nanofilters can be constructed. Nanoinductors, nanocapacitors and nanoresistors can be connected in either series or parallel to produce the necessary nanofilter. A sample of optical nanocircuit is shown in the image below. Figure 1. Realization of optical nanocircuit. (Engheta, Science 2007. ) References: Alu, A. , Salandrino, A. , & Engheta, N. Parallel, Series, and Intermediate Interconnections of Optical Nanocircuit Elements, Part 2: Nanocircuit and Physical Interpretation. Universtiy of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://arxiv.org/pdf/0707. 1003. pdf Engheta, N. , SAlandrino, A. , & Alu, A. (2004). Circuit Elements at Optical Frequencies : Nano-inductors, Nano-capacitors, and Nano-resistors. Universtiy of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://arxiv. org/pdf/cond-mat/0411463. pdf Engheta, N. (2007). Circuits with Light at Nanoscales: Optical Nanocircuits Inspired by Metamaterials. Science. Shivanand, S. V. (2008). Optical Nanocircuits. Purdue University, Indiana, USA. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://cobweb. ecn. purdue. edu/~ece695s/Lectures/Lecture_20. pdf