Sunday, January 26, 2020

Speaking In Formal Academic Context English Language Essay

Speaking In Formal Academic Context English Language Essay Oral presentation is the speech or talks that being presented in front of people, for a particular topic interest. The basic component of oral presentation will be the speaker, audience, topic to be discussed, material, and time. Those combining factors will create a good presentation, but it depends on many other factors such as skills, preparation, and knowledge of the topic presenting. Nowadays, English become a global language which is extremely important. Any of the daily activities such as education, and business are using English as a medium of communication. Realizing this situation, thus Malaysian government announced that English is a second language after Bahasa Malaysia, which implies the importance of English. In academic purpose, can be said that all higher education in the Malaysia are using English in the learning process. Malaysian currently still have difficulties in learning English, thus many programs and efforts are being conducted in order to exposed more to people about English. There are some elements that we need to give an attention in preparing and organizing a successful oral presentation. Technically, oral presentation in any field consists of three mains part which is introduction, development of points, and conclusion. Introduction will always deal with preparation and planning on the topic being discussed. Development stage consists of climax of the presentation, where all the point needs to be stress in an appropriate manner. For last stage which is conclusion, it usually ends with the summary of the presentation, and question session from the audience. However, all these three main parts does not work on its own. All the elements need to be used and delivered by combination of skills, enthusiasm, efforts, and person involved. In academic purpose, oral presentation should be easily organized, and the presenter needs to have a deep knowledge about what they want to present. Presenter also should clear the purpose of the topic, and make sure that people can understand on what is being delivered. Many speakers are lack with the skills and confidence level to make an effective presentation. Feeling of stage fright, speech anxiety, or talking error is a common situation happened to the speakers especially for those who are not presenting regularly. In order to overcome the situation, all basic things in presentation also need to be carefully determined. The points like when is the presentation, how long, where is the place, what is the function, who is guest attend, and many more must be carried out before the presentation begins. All these can improve the quality of the presentation. SPEAKING IN A FORMAL ACADEMIC CONTACT A good and effective presentation definitely depend on how well it being structured. Presentation in academic purpose is actually same as other presentation, but different in certain aspect. As be mentioned before, presentation needs to have three important parts which is beginning, the middle, and the end. Beginning process always starts with an appropriate greeting to the audience. Example of greeting good morning ladies and gentlemen, is one of the greeting always being said. Beginning process also includes introducing of the speakers, to introduce who are you, from where, and the purpose of the presentation. The greeting part can be applied each time presentation, but if we are presenting to the same group of audience for many times, introducing part can be skipped. Currently, the most famous ways of presentation is by the aid of power point slide show. Thus it will be a good medium of delivery so that all points can be pointed out clearly. In academic purpose, the slide show will begin in what are the topic will covered, the objective of the subject, and also the brief outline on what the presentation will talk about. This is to make an understanding among audience and could remember certain important information. Purpose should be divided by two, which are general purpose and the specific purpose. General purpose only gives the overview, to present, to summarize, and to discuss the current topic. For specific purpose is the points that we want the audience to take away with them after listening or attending the presentation, or in other word something that really important which needs to be remember. 3.0 PREPARING AN ORAL PRESENTATION In order to have a good communication skills and effective oral presentation in academic purposes, there are some points that can be a guideline. The five key points of the successful oral presentation are as follow: Know your audience Use your voice Body language Presentation aids Practice what to be delivered. 3.1 Know Your Audience In oral communication, the most important thing is we know who our audience is. By knowing the audience, we can know what is the suitable and reasonable points should be put in our presentation. Audience in oral presentation can be a public people, students, employees, or professional team. Thus, in order to prepare this presentation, we need to suite the audience and the content of the presentation. For example, if our audience is a group of secondary student, then we can put some interactive diagram or use simple example which can attract them to listen on the presentation. This is because this type of audience is usually easy to get bored and lost their focus, which only stand for the first part of the presentation. But, if the audience is the professional group like teachers, lecturers, or government officers, the content of the presentation need to be more specific and details as they are the one who have an interest to the topic presented. The presentation need to be more academically, as they want to know details about the particular topic . Audience also consists of two types, which is active and passive audience. Active audience will always involve in the presentation, for example answering question that we ask and give their opinion or question in the middle of presentation. It will be lucky if we get active audience which makes the presentation more interesting and others will also get there information from the ask person. But in current situation for most cases of presentation, there will be hard to find audience in this type. For passive audience, they always keep silent although question or opinion being asked. However, we can change this passive audience to become an active audience. In handling passive audience, more attention need to be given, and if possible just pointed to someone and ask for their opinion about the topic being discussed. Another ways is by giving some rewards for those who standing and give their question or opinion. By this way, we encourage them be active and involved in the presentation. Other than that, we also need to know what the level of knowledge of the audience is. If we are presenting in front of people who are new in the topic, then the presentation needs to be more basic and a bit details. However, if the level of knowledge of the audience is the same or higher, then the presentation needs to be more complete and straight to the point. Thus, to know the audience before the presentation is one of the requirement and necessary. It will help a lot especially in the preparation of material for presentation to the target group. The presentation will be more effective and what we want to deliver can be presented in the most convenience way. 3.2 Use Your Voice In presentation, voice is the medium of communication between speaker and the audience. A good voice in presentation will have a variable intonation in their ways of delivery. Intonation will reflect on the points that being stress out. A loud intonation can be used in stressing on important points and fact, which is things that audience need to be carefully listen and understand. By saying loudly the points, it will attract audience and they will focus on the speakers words. Soft intonation then can be used for the points that are general, or less important. By applying soft intonation, calm condition can be created and this will give some opportunity to the audience in controlling their focus. Speaker also must know to control their voice, and make sure horizontal voice is not being used. While saying something important points, it is also encourage to stop talking for a seconds after the points. This is to create a situation to show that point stated are really important and the speaker show that by silence. However, there are a lot of technique of intonation can be used in order to catch attention, but for an academic purposes, right intonation must be correctly use to prevent lost focus by the audience. 3.3 Body Language Other than a good setup of content and voice tone, body language also plays an important role to the audience. It can communicate and deliver an important message between people which cannot be reached by other method. Body language can be seen in some ways which is: Facial expression Body posture Body gesture Eye contact Facial expression are varies according to the content of the talk. For academic purpose of presentation, the common expression by the speaker is serious expression. Actually, academic purpose is not always dealing with serious and straight expression. A good speaker knows when to apply several of facial expression in order to stress out the point. Expression like smiling, thinking, and confuse expression can create a good psychological effect to the audience. Eye contact to the audience also needs to be controlled. Speaker need to look at the audience from time to time and not looking at the presentation slide or notes in the hand. Any notes or book can be place on the table and can be use as reference, but not for most time. It is not allowed to speaker holding the notes as it shows that speaker are not ready or not sure on what being presented. It is really advisable to the speaker to move around in some radius in the stage. Speaker can move from one side to another slowly in between deliver one points to another. This is to indicate some changes on focus, and keep attention. The transition also can emphasize some points and to clear some points. Body language also is useful to overcome nervousness. While put some expression, we will not feel stress and just do like a normal speaking. In addition, body language can maintain the interest of audience, as they will see variable action and keep focusing. Body language should be natural and friendly, not pretending or force. Body posture can be setup to straight but relaxed, not too technical. Pointing by hand or pointer can be used to indicate part of explanation, in the diagram or table. Negative body language should be prevented. Action like yawning and leaning will indicate speaker is boring. Standing with hands on hips, or arm folded is defensive action and make the presentation not in the right pathway. Other than that, looking at the notes, keep looking at the screen, white board, or floor are also need to be avoided. Speaker also needs to remember to not back turned to the audience, or put a hand in the pocket. Some speaker or presenter also sometimes likes to sway like a pendulum, which is a bad habit. It becomes an annoying action to the audience. 3.4 Presentation Aids In oral presentation the delivery of our idea is one of the most important criteria during the presentation. This is because we want to make sure the audience gets what we want to say and get the basic concepts of our presentation. To make the audience and the spectator pay concentration and follow along the presentation, few different types of presentation aid should be used during the presentation. These aids will increase and gain the audience interest towards the presentation. From help of the presentation aid we are able to make sure that the audience clearly understood what we are going to deliver during the presentation. There are few different types of aid that can be used during the presentation. This aid can be in many different form and types. This is because to make sure that the audience will not get bored with our oral presentation. Among the different types of aid in presentation are the visual aid, video aid, white board and pointer. The uses of the visual aid can enhance the focus of the audiences attention, thus this will make sure that the audience will stay focus during the presentation time. Plus this will help to make our presentation more attractive. Furthermore the visual aid can be used to illustrate points in a easier manner this is because it is easier to understand in visual form but difficult in a verbal form. The visual aid also can be used to reinforce of our ideas during the some part of the presentation. Visual aid also can be used to change focus from aural that the changing the focus of the audience from the oral form into visual form. The visual aid can be very helpful in the oral presentation that involves the motivation; this is because we are able to deliver the idea more easily with the visual aid. Next visual aid also saves time this is because with the visual aid we are able to implement graphics during the presentation. Thus this will reduce the time needed for the explanation for the c ertain points during the oral presentation. This will also reduce the usage of the white board and information to be put on a board. Different types of visual that can be used to convey our ideas are the graphs, maps charts, drawings, images and objects. Avoid putting the full sentences during the presentation with using the visual aid. Next is the video aid in the oral in the oral presentation, video usually contain all the graphics and the image that can stimulate the understanding and gain the interest of the audience. Usually video will come together with the audio which can be very helpful in the brief of the presentation. Sometimes the usage of the video aid can be very helpful, because with the video we are able to understand what are being conveyed easily. Plus there are many different types of graphics that can be used to generate the interest and can make sure the audience stay tuned with the presentation. The video aid can be used for the help of speaker; this is because with the video aid we can reduce the time that is spend during the explanation of the certain points in the presentation. Furthermore the content in the presentation can be very brief and contain a lot of information that can be delivered easily to the audience and the spectators. But avoid using the heavy animation and graphics during th e video aid this is because it will cause the audience to lose the interest in the presentation and can lead to confusion. During a presentation the white boards are used to convey the idea in the simplest form. In addition the white board also is used to give some additional points that are not included in the presentation. The white board are also is used to draw the mind maps and show formulation about something. This will give time to the audience to grasp what are being presented during the oral presentation. Different color marker pens can used to convey the idea by drawing the maps and shortcuts. The usage of different color marker will enhance the memory power the audience, thus this will make sure the audience can remember the each points that are being presented. By using white board also will give extra time for the audience to jot down the important points that are being presented. But the writing of the presenter should be neat and clean this is because neat hand writing will make the audience understand what the points that is being delivered. Another important point is that avoid turning b ack to the audience when about writing on the board. The pointer is one of the important tools that is used as aid during the oral presentation. There are few different types of pointer that can be used such as the laser pointer, stick and even pen. With the usage of pointer we are able to show clearly what are the important point that are being showed in the presentation. This will enable the audience to know about the important point. The pointer also will reduce the movement of the presenter and this makes sure the presenter can present well the presentation. Thus this will also ensure they will not waste energy on walking and can make sure the presenter is comfortable during the presentation period. Apart from that this will reduce the presentation during. 3.5 Practice Points to be Delivered. Practice makes perfect. That phrase should be used in order to have a perfect presentation. For those who are use to give a speech will do not have a problem, but people who are going to present for the first time need to practice a lot. In the presentation, we need to organize and practice especially time frame, fluency of speaking English, any aids to be used, and expected question on particular topic that may be asked. Practicing in front of the mirror or friends can manage to handle with the time frame. Time management is very important in order to deliver points and know where to give more explanation. Practicing also could increase self confidence level as we are prepared on the condition and for the whole presentation. Fluency in English also needs to be alert. There are some words which have difficulties to pronouns, and jargon must be us in limited. This is because some audience will not familiar with the jargon being use, unless the jargon is commonly use and we highly confidence audience understand the phrase or jargon that we use. Question and ask session also need to be practice. The expected question need to be focus on as speaker will dont have any difficulties to answer in the real situation. Some question also need to be asked to the audience to know level of understanding on the topic presented. But do not force audience to give an answer. If possible, find any volunteer to answer the question, and this will create more convenience ways in this session. In explaining some points, rhetorical question can be asked. Rhetoric question is the question being asked without expecting it to be answer. For example, Have you ever heard about†¦, or What does this phenomena imply to us... These questions are asked just to show the problem and need self interpretation about the question. 4.0 CONCLUSION As a conclusion, making an effective oral presentation in English in academic context is not something that too heavy to done. By combining all the factors and points given, a successful presentation can be made. What needs to be focus on is the choice of topic, the way of the presentation, skills in presenting, and the content of the presentation. All this may required certain period to prepare and practice, but as efforts be given in the presentation, there will be easy on the real situation and condition. A good presentation should consist of story line, which determined what should be put in introduction, problem definition, an approach to the problem, findings of the solution, and also recommendation or suggestion to the particular topic. In addition, storyboard also could be used as it consist the same things as storyline, but all points are under the same theme. Presentation in English must be always implemented in the daily life, not only for academic purposes, but also for the other context. This is to ensure that English language can be practiced more often and increase the level of English knowledge. Before going to present, it necessary to double check all the information in the slides, finalize the data, clarity of the visual or diagram use, logical aspect of the information, and also correct English grammar being used.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Machiavelli’s The Prince Essay

In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he plunged into how a prince could bulwark his position once he reaches the top. One of the many ways of how to secure a prince’s position is conquest by criminal virtue. In conquest by criminal virtue, Michiavelli said that a prince secures his position when he reaches the top because it takes a long time and a lot of hard work to prosper. So to make sure no one takes away their position, the prince crushes his opponents and earns obeisance from the people as much as possible. The prince also makes fewer compromises with their allies, trying to stand alone because he believes he is more sufficient and stronger than the others. A prince must also know how to reform orders. This may cause havoc because people who benefited the old order might oppose the prince but he must have the power to force the people to continue supporting him even though they are already having second thoughts. So why does this persist even though every politician and every citizen who thinks rationally knows that this is immoral. We humans are naturally driven by our hunger for power, fame and fortune. We set aside moral values and ethical values just to quench our self-interests. Politicians act on it because they know this is the easiest way to eliminate a threat. This is a permanent thing so when an enemy ceases to exist, he’s permanently gone from the competition and this gives the other politician a peace of mind because he knows that he will win for sure if he has no opponent. Citizens do not act upon this because first, citizens that belong to the lower class are afraid. How could they go against someone so powerful that this person could end their life with just a snap of their fingers? The span and extent of power of this kind of politician is vague that it might extend to having the upper hand and control over criminals and we never know what he will do just to preserve his power, fame and fortune. Second, most citizens who know about the wrong doings of this politician is paid and given a lot of consolations for their support and silence. As I said, we humans are naturally driven by our hunger by fortune. For people who do not work and believe in gaining money from a real job, this is the most convenient way of earning money because they don’t have to do anything but tay silent, run a few errands for the politician and write the politician’s name on their ballot every time he runs for a seat. There is also the fact that when local citizens support this politician, they are more secured and well protected. People who try to clash with these local citizens would already feel threaten beforehand because the politician will back them up in part of their deal for the secrecy of the politician’s dirty work. This is one of the most immoral acts performed in politics, but one that somehow we can never get rid of.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Infection Control Essay on Hand Hygiene

IntroductionHealthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) can be extremely detrimental in health and social care settings where patients highly susceptible to disease. These are infections which the patient acquires during or after healthcare has been received which can be dangerous as contracting an infection whilst receiving healthcare from an unrelated problem could have a deteriorating effect on the patient in comparison to a healthy individual’s reaction.Patients in hospital and other healthcare settings have increased vulnerability so consequently are easily receptive to pathogens due to examples such as reduced immunity or open wounds. Therefore the appropriate precautions and procedures must be set in place to ensure cross-infection cannot occur. It is crucial for health professionals to understand how infection spread so that they can consider and act upon the significant implications which are risked when improper measures are not followed hence why the knowledge of the c hain of infection should be learnt.Infection control is high on the agenda for healthcare providers because of its significance as it safeguards staff, patients and the public, promotes safe environments and practice but also indicates the quality of healthcare given. It is imperative to focus on legislation which applies to the National Heath Service like the NHS Constitution and the Nursing and Midwifery Council code of conduct. Communication, competence and care of the six C’s can all be factored into how infection control is dealt with in the NHS.One of the most common practices to lessen the risk of cross-infection is hand hygiene which has reduced overall infection rates in hospitals. (Bennett, Jarvis and Brachman 2007) Identify your new learning, giving rationale for your choice of this topic The chain of infection should be learnt in order to apply the appropriate infection prevention methods at each point. The process simplifies how microorganisims spread and infecti on occurs. Microorganisims are named the â€Å"infectious agent† as they are able to produce infection in the body, they are always present but may be concentrated in some areas which are called â€Å"reservoirs†.Reservoirs for possible infectious agents can be environments or people which can be transferred from one area to the next. The transmission of microorganisims from a person through exhaling or other bodily functions is labelled the â€Å"portal of exit†; the microorganisims are then able to be transmitted into a patient via contact, air, blood, meals or liquids. The â€Å"portal of entry† describes the susceptible area to which microorganisims can be introduced into the patient, such as by mouth, urinary tract or an aperture in the skin. (Brooker and Nicol, 2011)Between  the portal of exit and the portal of entry there is potential for cross-contamination and this is where the need for hand hygiene arises.  ­Ã‚ ­ Adequate hand hygiene by nur ses lessen this risk of healthcare acquired infections as evidence shows that developing and bettering the technique that healthcare workers use to clean their hands contributes to the reduction of HCAIs that occur (Pratt et al, 2007). Damani (1997) suggested that the most prevalent cause of cross-infection was transmission pathogens from one patient to another by pathogens occupying the hands of healthcare workers.Contaminated hands easily transmit these microorganisms but so by cleaning hands appropriately hospitals can prevent (to an extent) harm to patients which is a fundamental concept in healthcare. (Pittel et al, 2000) This raises the importance for nurses to learn a technique which will clean the hands physically and of invisible microorganisims as nurse’s interactions towards patients account for roughly 80 percent of direct care patients receive.  (Storr and Clayton-kent, 2004)There are many documents on the different techniques of hand washing and when to do suc h techniques like the World Health Organisation’s five moments for hand hygiene (2006). WHO recommends that hands should be washed before coming into contact with the patient and before aseptic tasks to protect the patient against germs occupying the healthcare worker’s hands as well as immediately after an exposure risk to body fluids, after contact with the patient and their surroundings to protect yourself from pathogens exposed whilst carrying out these tasks.This applies to the NMC’s code of professional conduct (2004) which states that a nurse must â€Å"act to identify and minimise risk to patients and clients†. This values the results of hand hygiene by identifying when to clean hands from the WHO’s five moments of hand hygiene and to use the endorsed hand hygiene technique of the trust to minimise risk to the patient. The hand washing procedure originally outlined by Ayliffe et al (1978) has been adapted by many organisations to provide va rious routines.Hands were wet by a running tap and antiseptic detergents or liquid soap (5ml was poured onto the hands, the technique consisted of five backwards and forwards strokes in the motion of; palm to palm, each palm over the other hand’s back, interlocking palm to palm, each palm over the other hand’s back interlocked and then the rotational scrubbing of the fingers into each palm finalised by the rubbing of the wrists during a 30-second time span. Then the hands were rinsed with water for 15-seconds and dried with two paper towels for 15-seconds.  (Ayliffe et all, 1978)Whilst this technique has strict timescales the WHO elects the timescale of roughly the time taken to sing â€Å"Happy Birthday† twice. This raises concerns over the approximates as this will differ from person to person. The procedure itself remains nearly exact except from the addition of turning the tap off with a towel to avoid recontamination and the exact timings are lost. This t echnique only stated to use running water, however no temperature was specified.Hand Washing for Life (200-) advises that water should not be above 110?F as this temperature would cause hands become damaged by loosing delicate tissues on the skin. This can cause bacteria to become trapped and more difficult to remove, as well as cause pain to the worker. It is a legal requirement for health professions to take the necessary measures to ensure that they protect themselves, which includes their hands and others around them by taking care of their hands.(Health and Safety at Work Act 1974) Dougherty and Lister (2010) give a comprehensive guide to effective hand washing, stating the minimum time to rub lathered hand together is 10-15 seconds. The guide recommended that attention should be given to areas which are missed most frequently like between fingers, tips of fingers and thumbs. Single use towels to dry hands were used in all techniques. Damani (2011) suggests that paper towels sh ould be used and also used to turn off taps if hands-free control is not available.An experiment carried out by Redway and Fawdar of the University of Westminster backed up Damani (2011) suggestion as drying hands with a paper towel decreased the amount of bacteria compared to jet-air dryers and warm-air dryers which caused an increase. Given that the WHO technique has been used throughout the NHS by National Patient Safety Agency for hand cleaning techniques this would be a reliable technique to follow whilst also taking into consideration the detail given by Dougherty and Lister.How has this learning made a difference to you Being aware of how many infectious opportunistic pathogens can be exposed to patients, which may lay dormant on healthcare workers hands, gives healthcare workers a better understanding of how to assess the risks of when passing infection can occur by referring to the chain of infection. The chain of infection makes nurses more aware of patients as susceptible hosts.It is everyone’s responsibility to take appropriate considerations to the prevention and control of infection; this would include all healthcare professionals, the patients themselves and the visitors. (Randle, Coffey and Bradbury. 2009) The Francis report states that visitors and staff should adhere to hygiene requirements as well as reminding anyone who is seen to not adhere to these requirements so that the high standard of hygiene is achieved and promoted.  (2013)The knowledge when to wash by the WHO’s five moments enables nurses to make knowing when to wash their hands second nature. It also makes the nurse more aware of how serious it is to have clean hands as â€Å"clean hands save lives† as said by the National Patient Safety Alert from 2008 which states that the individual risks to patients are dramatically reduced if healthcare workers washed or disinfected their patients every time they needed to perform patient contact.The six C’s dev ised by Cummins and Bennett in 2012 state that one of a nurse’s prime responsibilities is to care, this means giving the care of controlling infection as it is extremely important to keep clear of potentially avoidable HCAIs which can have a significant impact to the patient’s physical and psychological state. This could worsen their condition, increase length of stay, increase pain and suffering and increase worry and stress. This all causes a massive impact on the economy as HCAIs cost the NHS over the estimated ?1 billion.  (NAO, 2009)The knowledge of appropriate hand hygiene also shows competence, another of the six C’s, as nurses can use what they have learnt confidently to ensure they have controlled spreading infection. Hand hygiene is also a commitment, as a nurse may wash their hands but a commitment must be made to wash them to the standard that is appropriate. Communication is also vital in infection control as infection control is everyone’s responsibility.(Randle, Coffey and Bradbury, 2009) In all aspects of infection control communication must be at the heart of the process so that the right precautions are taken. Staff and researchers must communicate with each other in order to maintain the same level of knowledge on hand hygiene so that the most up to date method is used. It is important for staff to communicate with patients to teach and improve their own hygiene to ensure the safety of themselves and others around them.It is also key for staff to communicate to patient relatives in  order for them to carry out routine hygiene which imperative for hospital or other healthcare settings infection control. Information given would be useful for the public to know to reduce general sickness therefore reducing burden on local NHS services. The actual technique should be addressed to all everyone as if it is not done adequately harmful microbes would still be on the hands and therefore infection can still occur. How w ill this learning influence you clinical practiceApplying the knowledge of hand hygiene learnt to clinical practice would mean to risk assess the situation at hand in environment by asking the assessment questions as described by Randle, Coffey and Bradbury (2009), then use the five moments given by WHO (2006) to demonstrate competence in when to wash or disinfect hands. Nurses will be influenced by which situation they are placed in, for example when moving from one patient to another hands must be washed by water and liquid soap method (WHO, 2006).The six C’s would also influence a nurse in hand hygiene as a nurse would think about caring for the patient, giving a commitment to safe care as well as being competent in this task. Electing the most effective hand washing technique must be done to successfully remove pathogens so that not to transmitted from one patient to another or one area to another. The techniques discussed vaguely circle around the same routine with diffe rences in times, in clinical practice these would all influence the nurse whilst performing hand hygiene but the standard practice would be used as it is the technique enforced by the NPSA adapted from the WHO.The most recently updated hand hygiene method by the NPSA includes the use of alcohol gels, these should not be used as a constant alternative as they would lead to build up and therefore not effective for removing harmful microbes and are not suitable in some cases as they would not remove dirt or organic materials, cause a risk of ignition when handling medical gas cylinders and would not be effective against Clostridium difficile and Norovirus. (Brekle and Macqueen 2012) Therefore this would influence workers in clinical practice as alcohol gels should only be used out of these circumstances.Describe how you will continue to develop this learning after this module The research into all hand hygiene methods should be regularly looked over as there will always be improvements to how the NHS handles infection control. One example of this would be the use of non-touch taps, a favourable option by many healthcare providers, but although creating minimal contact with a potentially easily contaminated area to control the outbreak of MRSA it has also led to the potential link between infrared taps and the outbreak of pseudomonas bacteria due to increased surface area in the plumbing of these taps.(Department of Health, 2012) This example demonstrates that there will always be constant reviews into infection control so it is important to keep up to date on the latest information on practice available and to comply with the NMC code of conduct. A nurse must take part in additional learning or training to develop competence in hand hygiene practice and to constantly review themselves on their development in order to assess what they could do to improve.Randle, Coffey and Bradbury (2009) suggest that on going training will always be required in this area of pract ice. How does this personal and professional development relate to the NMC Code Developing and understanding the appropriate hand hygiene procedures for personal and profession practice is important to comprehend so that the nurse can continue to care of the patient their first concern. Caring for a patient means to not worsen their health by transmitting infection which could be preventable as by washing hands.It is immensely important for nurses to act within their competencies which includes being able to competently hand wash appropriately to control infection as it is vital in performing any act of physical care to patient. (Dougherty and Lister 2011). Another section of the NMC code specifies that a nurse should administer care â€Å"based on the best available evidence or best practice†. All nurses must strive and aspire to remain on top of the developing and constantly modifying information and research on infection control.This also relates significantly to the NMC c ode which represents that all nurses must maintain and improve their knowledge and skills based on the most up to date information throughout their working lives. Providing high quality infection control at all times applies to the NMC code because it means that the nurse is complying with providing the high standard of practice and care at all times. How does your topic relate to the NHS Constitution The NHS constitution states the rights and commitments to patients, the public and the staff.  (Department of Health, 2013)The topic of hand washing relates to this document because the NHS constitution is the integral laws to which the NHS strives to stand by and infection control is high on constantly on the agenda for the NHS to improve upon. The constitution expresses that the NHS aims to provide the â€Å"highest standards of excellence and professionalism† and providing a high calibre of care which is â€Å"safe, effective and focused on the patient†. The terms sa fe and effective relate to hand hygiene as nurses must follow hand hygiene procedures so that the care given is is not hindered by the possibility of passing infection.The constitution also gives the values of the NHS, which includes the value to improve lives. The NHS commits to improve lives and not to decrease the health of the patient due to HCAIs and so it is paramount that infection control procedures are followed to lessen the risk of infections occurring whilst receiving healthcare. Patient rights are issued in the document, one particular is the right for the patient to be treated with a professional standard of care which has been administered by qualified professionals.Service users of the NHS have the right to expect the quality of healthcare to be monitored and improved continuously, which includes safety, so hand hygiene of workers should be continuously reviewed to make sure it is up to the standard that will ensure safety. The NHS Constitution commits to establish a safe and hygienic setting which is fit for purpose which directly involves the matter of hand hygiene because of importance of it in infection control which promotes a safe and clean environment. (Department of Health, 2013)ConclusionIt is clear that transmitting infectious diseases can reduced if staff, patients and visitors washed their hands before and after tasks, a routine hand hygiene technique cannot be stressed enough as it is paramount for all staff to adhere to so that the spread of infection at bay. It is now valued that hand washing is not only important when hands are visible contaminated but is also vital that they are washed when it is not visible that they are contaminated due to the microscopic pathogens hidden on the skin.This knowledge is essential to be passed on to all those who flow through a healthcare setting so that education can be continued on infection control. With this given, it is key that communication skills are overly efficient at voicing and helpin g in infection control with caring for the patients at the heart the education. With continued education and observations in this area more people would be able to show acceptable hand washing and therefore reduce the risk of infection. Hand hygiene techniques influence all nurses because of the strong link to many of the six C’s and the vast importance to the health of all patients.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

What Does SPQR Stand Mean in Latin

The abbreviation SPQR means, in English, the Senate and the Roman people (or the Senate and the people of Rome), but what exactly those four letters (S, P, Q, and R) stand for in Latin is a little less clear. My take is that SPQR stands for the first letters of the following words with -que added as the third: Senatus Populus que Romanus. That -que (meaning and)Â   added to a word would be heard as a separate unit of meaning. Spelled out in this way is the inscription on a frieze on the Temple of Saturn, at the foot of the Capitoline. This may date to a restoration in the third century A.D. [Filippo Coarelli, Rome and Environs]. The Oxford Classical Dictionary even says SPQR stands for senatus populusque Romanus. Quirites vs Populus We may assume SPQR stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus, but what exactly does the Latin mean? The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature says that the populus Romanus of the abbreviation is the Roman citizenry eligible to be soldiers and their families, but that they are distinct from the quirites. This puts the R (for Romanus) clearly with P for populus and not the S for senatus. That means its the Roman people, but not the Roman senate. Many think the letters stand for Senatus PopulusQue Romanorum, which is what I thought until I realized that that would be redundant—translating as it would as the senate and the people of the Roman people. There are other variants for the R, including Romae, instead of Romanus or Romanorum. The Romae could be a locative or a genitive. There is even a suggestion that the Q stands for Quirites in some form, which could make the adjective Romanus govern the quirites. T. J. Cornell, in A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation, Volume 21, edited by Mogens Herman Hansen, writes that the typical way the Romans referred to an ethnic group was with the word populus plus an adjective, like populus Romanus, and that the way of referring to the Roman people was that, or, more officially, populus Romanus Quirites or populus Romanus Quiritum. The word Quirites not Romanus is, possibly, in the genitive plural. Cornell says the form was used by the fetiales for declaring war and cites Livy 1.32.11-13. Fieri solitum ut fetialis hastam ferratam aut praeustam sanguineam ad fines eorum ferret et non minus tribus puberibus praesentibus diceret: Quod populi Priscorum Latinorum hominesque Prisci Latini adversus populum Romanum Quiritium fecerunt deliquerunt, quod populus Romanus Quiritium bellum cum Priscis Latinis iussit esse senatusque populi Romani Quiritium censuit consensit consciuit ut bellum cum Priscis Latinis fieret, ob eam rem ego populusque Romanus populis Priscorum Latinorum hominibusque Priscis Latinis bellum indico facioque. Id ubi dixisset, hastam in fines eorum emittebat. Hoc tum modo ab Latinis repetitae res ac bellum indictum, moremque eum posteri acceperunt. It was customary for the Fetial to carry to the enemies frontiers a blood-smeared spear tipped with iron or burnt at the end, and, in the presence of at least three adults, to say, Inasmuch as the peoples of the Prisci Latini have been guilty of wrong against the People of Rome and the Quirites, and inasmuch as the People of Rome and the Quirites have ordered that there be war with the Prisci Latini, and the Senate of the People of Rome and the Quirites have determined and decreed that there shall be war with the Prisci Latini, therefore I and the People of Rome, declare and make war upon the peoples of the Prisci Latini. With these words he hurled his spear into their territory. This was the way in which at that time satisfaction was demanded from the Latins and war declared, and posterity adopted the custom. English translation It seems likely that Romans used SPQR to stand for more than one of these options. What is your opinion? Do you have any evidence? Do you know of any uses of the abbreviation before the imperial period? Please post in the Readers Response to What Does SPQR Stand for or read earlier discussions.