"Why weren't we taught this earlier?" This question, posed by a college Junior in response to discussions of Ethical Computing, gave me hope. After all, it demonstrates the underlying frustration the ...student is experiencing while trying to internalize ethical concepts and align them with previous instruction. I wish all my computer science students faced that dilemma.
The business value of investments in information technology/information system (IT/IS) has been the subject of active research over several decades. Even though a plethora of similar studies ...analyzing the impact of promised IT/IS investments on firm performance exists, the results, largely inconclusive, mostly concentrate on the developed countries. In this backdrop, and with an expected manifold rise in IT/IS investments in India in the coming years, an assessment of the relationship between investments and firm performance can be noteworthy. The study explores this important issue by analyzing the impact of IT/IS investments on the firm's performance in India based on data of around 6500 IT/IS investments during 2000-2016. We deploy a series of univariate and multivariate analyses and complement those with several robustness tests. Our principal findings indicate that IT/IS investments on the average in India have been mostly unsuccessful in impacting firm performance positively, in line with "productivity paradox" phenomenon previously documented in the U.S. and other markets. We substantiate our principal results using several robustness tests. We offer several possible explanations of our results spanning across both IS as well as finance literature and discuss the implications of future investment prospects for firms. The results highlight the need for adoption of caution by firms operating in emerging economies like India while considering future IT/IS investment decisions. These suggestions are likely to serve as a good reference point in other emerging economies as well.
Major skin changes are one of the many features occurring with ageing and it is estimated that 70% of older people have skin problems (All-Party Parliamentary Group on Skin (APPGS), 2000). A report ...into skin diseases in older people highlighted that they were noted to suffer from a lack of sensitivity to their skin care needs and related problems; furthermore, training was lacking for healthcare professionals and service provision was not planned (APPGS, 2000). The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of skin care in the older person and increase the nurse's knowledge of skin changes associated with age.
Background:
A quality improvement project in a secondary care centre was initiated to investigate and evaluate the impact of staff education and the use of the British Society of ...Gastroenterology/British Association for the Study of the Liver cirrhosis care bundle in improving care of patients admitted to hospital with decompensated liver cirrhosis.
Method:
A staff training programme was implemented, involving around 30 health professionals consisting of consultants, junior doctors, physician associates and nurses from the acute medical unit. A review of electronic documentation and analysis of key clinical parameters, pre- and post-intervention, was carried out.
Results:
The data show that the intervention has led to an improvement in patient management and clinical outcomes.
Conclusion:
This project illustrates that collaboration between hepatology and medical teams, with emphasis on education and training, benefits patients who present to hospital with decompensated liver cirrhosis.
This article outlines how the bladder can be affected in neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and the impact this has on patient quality of life and NHS resources. A group of MS ...and bladder and bowel nurse specialists has developed consensus bladder pathways in the hope that all nurses in contact with patients who are likely to have neurogenic bladder symptoms become ‘bladder aware’.
The mental health and wellbeing of healthcare staff have been significantly affected by the demands resulting from the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Restorative supervision is a type of clinical ...supervision that supports reflective practice that can help build practitioners' resilience by focusing on the individual's experience, aiming to sustain their wellbeing and their motivation at work. This model has been shown to reduce stress and burnout and increase compassion satisfaction. This article discusses the implementation of a restorative clinical supervision programme used to support staff wellbeing in nursing, midwifery and allied health professional teams in a large London-based NHS trust.
As the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped the globe there was a parallel increase in the incidence of domestic abuse (DA). This has been ascribed to the restrictions in movement and growing tensions during ...lockdown periods. The Domestic Abuse Act covering England and Wales was about to be passed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, but progress halted as attention focused on managing infection control and treatment nationally. The unfolding DA ‘shadow pandemic’ led to pressure groups lobbying for specific changes to the Act which, in its revised form, became law in April 2021. This article sets out the changes in definition, statutory response and prevention of DA and relates these to nursing practice. Health education and promotion theory is considered and linked to nursing practice with those who are both victims/survivors and perpetrators of DA.
Background:
Limb strength is a central component of neurological assessment and monitoring in nursing practice, yet there is a lack of research examining the tools used by nurses or challenges nurses ...encounter when using these tools. The evidence base is lacking to inform effective practice and the underpinning educational approaches.
Aim:
To determine which tools are used by UK and Irish neuroscience nurses in the assessment of limb strength and the associated challenges and variations in practice.
Methods:
This study used an online self-reported survey design to ascertain which tools neuroscience nurses used and their experience of using these (n=160).
Findings:
Practices varied, with a dominance of two tools being used in practice: the Medical Research Council scale and the ‘normal power’ to ‘no movement’ scale found on the neurological observation chart. Most respondents used the same tool across all conditions.
Conclusion:
This study highlights variations in assessment practice and the absence of a sound evidence base behind choice of motor limb strength assessment tools used.
This article describes two Ghanaian students' experiences of connecting with learning, faculty, family and friends during an Erasmus+ semester abroad in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic. ...University faculty members' experiences are also explored. The students describe their experiences of adjusting to new ways of learning online and living through lockdown in a country far from home. These reflections highlight the students' positive learning experiences during a journey of both personal and professional development while also highlighting the challenges of converting to an online learning environment. These experiences illustrate the students' unexpected opportunities and challenges, demonstrating how support from the university faculty, Erasmus+ team and friends, both virtually and physically, helped them through this unprecedented time. This article presents an account of the students' and staff's learning experiences during a semester that was affected by the pandemic.
Background:
Despite efforts to build research capacity within nursing there are growing concerns about the lack of funding and support for nurses who wish to pursue a career in research.
Aim:
To ...explore how research capacity within the nursing profession can be increased.
Discussion:
The disparity in opportunity and support for such roles is a barrier to the growth of nursing research. This article examines the nomenclature that exists around nursing roles in research, including those of clinical research nurse, nurse researcher and clinical nurse academic, and the challenges associated with each of these roles. The authors reflect on their career paths, specifically the transition from clinical research nurse to nurse researcher.
Conclusion:
To grow research capacity within the nursing discipline, organisations must provide opportunities for research at all career stages, promote the fundamental role that research plays in the quality of patient care and highlight career pathways and roles in nursing research.
