Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy :: American America History

Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy are the same in just about every regard. Their views and goals as presidents are the same. Both are in favor of the common man and feel that it is the common people who should have the biggest influence on government, not the wealthy aristocrats. They also support states rights and feel that the federal government should not get involved with the states affairs. Both men's actions clearly show that the common man does not include minorities. Both Jackson's and Jefferson's actions and words are very similar and support the same beliefs. Thomas Jefferson was a strong supporter and spokesman for the common man and self-government. He strongly believed that the purpose of American government is to look after and support the common interests of the people. He was against anything that he felt would hurt the common man such as the Bank of the U.S. and big government. Jefferson believed the Bank was hurting the common man and became a damaging monopoly. "It would swallow up all the delegated powers [of the states], and reduce the whole to one power..."-Jefferson referring to the Bank. He was strongly against big government and felt it would oppress the common man. "I am not a friend of a very energetic government...it places the governors indeed more at their ease, at the expense of the people." Jefferson was also a strong supporter of the Bill of Rights, which protected the rights of the people. "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to..." He felt the Bill of Rights would clearly state and protect people's ri ghts, "freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction of monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trial by jury...." It was based on Jefferson's suggestions that Madison proposed a Bill of Rights. Jefferson did everything he could to help the common man. Andrew Jackson was undoubtedly a man of the people. He was the first president to be chosen by the people and his background was not that of a typical president. He was not born into a rich family. Jackson's favored the general public rather than the wealthy. His election shifted the balance of power from the wealthy East Coast, to farmers and small businesspeople in the west. Jackson vetoed more bills than all previous presidents did in an attempt to help the common man.

Good and Evil in Human Nature in Lord of the Flies and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde :: William Golding Robert Louis Stevenson Essays

Good and Evil in Human Nature in Lord of the Flies and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The novels The strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lord of the Flies by William Golding both portray a very similar message. In both novels there are characters, which represent both good and evil showing the contrasts, which occur throughout the whole storyline. Both novels can be described as an allegory as they both show different levels and meanings e.g. in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde one represents good the other evil even though they are the same person. This gives us the indication that Stevenson's message is that evil can be found inside everyone. Also Golding uses characters to bring this message across as well. Lord of the Flies is situated on an island and when the boy's plane crashes they are provided with the ideal surrounding with great resources to survive until they're rescued. The island almost acts as a parent even though they are without parental supervision. The island can be compared to the Garden of Eden as it's described as a "natural beauty". But straight away we are warned there is a "dark side" to the island. Almost suggesting something will go wrong or this is where something horrendous will take place. The children's main aim when they are all together is to pick a leader. This is where the conflict begins mainly because Ralph gets picked and Jack becomes Jealous. Ralph shows maturity and intelligence where Jack shows power and strength. Golding almost suggests that if Jack and Ralph were combined they would be the ultimate leader. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde shows how scientific experiments can go wrong and Stevenson tells that even though we try to avoid evil it will never go away. The novel all starts with the concern of Mr. Utterson, Henry Jekyll's lawyer. He is worried and confused that Jekyll has left all his possessions in his will to a Mr. Hyde who he has never met. "All his possessions were to pass into the hands of his friend and benefactor Edward Hyde" Utterson confronts Jekyll's old friend Dr. Lanyon but he hasn't heard of a Mr. Hyde. "No. Never heard of him. Since my time" Its ironic that the name Hyde can be heard as hide so we are told that even before we begin to read that Mr. Hyde must be strange or almost none existent. Utterson tracks down Hyde and is horrified by the way he looks and doesn't understand how Jekyll could be friends with such

Intertextuality Essay -- essays research papers fc

What is intertextuality? How does intertextuality challenge E.D. Hirsch’s idea that a text has a single meaning created by its author? Explain with reference to examples drawn from any media format. According to American literary critic, E.D. Hirsch, in order to interpret a body of text, one must ask one’s self the only question that can be answered objectively – â€Å"what, in all probability, did the author mean to convey?† He believed that the author’s intended meaning equates the meaning of a text and it is in fact, the reader’s duty to uncover the the author’s intentions. â€Å"The meaning of a text and its author’s intentions are one and the same.† Hirsch’s concept revolves around the assumption that a body of text is original, and is purely a body of the author’s sole â€Å"intentions†. The production of text, if one were to adhere to Hirsch’s theory, is therefore exclusive to the author’s own ideas and concepts and free of external influence. However, the notions of langue and parole disputes this idea. According to Barthes in 1984, â€Å"It [la langue] is the social part of language, the individual cannot himself either create or modify it†. Furthermore, Ferdinand de Saussure’s work on structuralism and semiotics demonstrates the subjectivity of language and can be said to have sewn the seeds for modern concepts of intertextuality (such as those developed by Roland Barthes and Julia Kristeva). Intertextuality challenges the idea of a text’s ability to be truly original and therefore disagrees with Hirsch’s theory. In this essay, I will focus on how conscious intertextuality as well as the semiotics involved in unconscious intertextuality both dispute the idea that the meaning of a text belongs exclusively to its author’s intentions. Julia Kristeva, who was the first to use the term â€Å"intertextuality†, proposed the idea that a text should not be interpreted merely by its words at face value, but also studied based on other works it has adapted and was influenced by. The concept can be further expanded upon by Gunther Kress’ notion of â€Å"ceaseless semiosis† which brings to light the social aspect of a text’s creation. â€Å"From the beginning, I use materials which I have encountered before, which bear the meanings of their social contexts, to weave a new text which, because it is woven from materials of other texts, everywhere and always connects with those other te... ...mpaigns, can now be seen as the qualities Bridget desires by smoking Silk Cut. Once again, Hirsch’s idea of a text bearing only one singular meaning can be easily disputed. The interpretation of the Silk Cut advertisement, as well as the use of Silk Cut cigarettes in Bridget Jones’s Diary, is highly subjective and dependent on the reader’s cultural literacy and existing knowledge. Intertextuality in the media, both print and otherwise, has become too powerful to ignore, especially in this day and age. The internet, satirical texts, advertisements and books are only some examples that demonstrate the effects other works and a reader’s prior knowledge have on any given text. Intertextuality in its various states, conscious and unconscious, is certainly a valid contention against the theory of E.D. Hirsch. Bibliography, References & Notes 1) Cultural Consumption and Everyday Life†, Reading As Production, John Storey, Pg 63, Arnold, London, 1999 2) Intertextuality, Allen.G, Pg 9, Routledge, London 2000 3) http://web.uvic.ca 4) http://www.theonion.com 5) http://www.geocities.com/howtodressemo 6) http://www.aber.ac.uk 7) Reading Ads Socially. Goldman. R, Routledge, London, 1992

Nuclear Disarmament

Nuclear technology has been widely used in the past, especially among nations seeking to dominate or to at least secure their positions as a country able to defend itself against its enemies or launch a military offensive. It is no hidden fact that nuclear weapons pose a great amount of threat to the security of human and animal lives in many ways. There may be other purposes for nuclear technology other than harnessing a sizeable amount of military weaponry, such as for generating power which will be distributed to households and infrastructures.   Yet the apparent threat to the lives of humanity remains an utmost concern in the international community. More recently, many nations have already acquired nuclear facilities in creating nuclear weapons such as India, the United States of America, Russia and North Korea just to name a few. The availability of these weapons of mass destruction has prompted many concerned individuals and groups to raise their opposition and seek a nuclear disarmament internationally, regardless of national status. There are also those who barely limit their calls for nuclear disarmament to nations which they perceive as threat to the international community such as North Korea. One of the many arguments behind the call for nuclear disarmament is the idea that the very presence of nuclear weapons creates not only tension among nations which have them like USSR and America in the past. It also creates fear among nations and citizens, especially those which do not have the capability to produce nuclear weapons and make their presence felt as a nation capable of defending itself. Moreover, there is also the fear towards the health risks posed by nuclear weapons. Among the risks, perhaps the most known is that of nuclear fallout caused by the testing of nuclear weapons. Nuclear explosions during these tests create residual radiation hazards or radioactive dust which can largely affect the health of people in many ways. On the other hand, the manufacture of nuclear weapons can also pose dangers when accidents occur. For the most part, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident gives us a rough impression on the drastic consequences which can be brought about by nuclear accidents. In essence, there should be nuclear disarmament precisely because the availability of nuclear weapons is enough reason to believe that sooner or later these weapons will be used. The very fact that there are nations creating nuclear weapons is enough to presume that there is a purpose or motive behind the manufacture of these weapons. It would be irrational to presume that these nations will manufacture nuclear weapons—weapons that cost huge financing and environmental and health risks—without having the thought of using the weapons at some point in time. Indeed, if there is at least one essential reason why these weapons are being built, it would have to be the reason that these weapons are most likely to be used. In the first place, one can pose the question as to whether there is an apparent and high need for nuclear weapons. Given the contemporary global situation, there are parts in the world where there are unrest like Tibet and there are regions in the world where there is a tension among nations like that of Israel and its neighboring countries just to name a few. These events in the world indeed require efforts of mitigation and resolution. To say that the amassing of nuclear weapons is one key to putting a stop to these global concerns is to say that efforts to propagate weapons of destruction can curb destruction altogether. Yet there is strong reason to believe that the opposite is more likely to be true. Significant historical events from around the world teaches us quite a number of things, one of which is that nuclear disarmament should be met in order to halt further damage from being done. Tensions across the world should be basically addressed not with another move which will further cause tension but with a real solution that will limit and eventually dissolve these tensions. The past two world wars literally obliterated the lives of thousands, and the further proliferation of nuclear weapons will create a similar scenario in the years to come if more and more nations will make use of nuclear weapons to further strengthen their military capabilities and if several nations will continue to harness nuclear weapons as we speak. Another point that deserves attention is that if we have many nations manufacturing and keeping nuclear weapons, there may come a time when these nations engage themselves in a nuclear warfare. The most likely result will be that of a mutually assured destruction where even the non-participating nations will be greatly affected especially the nations which are incapable of defending themselves against nuclear weaponries. It should be noted that even when there is no actual nuclear warfare, there remains the impending threat of its actual use, causing nations to panic to a certain extent and resort to measures to thwart off these threats temporarily. Although not exactly a crisis which involves nuclear weapons, the case of the Cuban missile crisis spawned fear from the United States of America. This was during the time of the Cold War between the former USSR and America, a time when both nations were stockpiling nuclear weapons, racing against one another in the desire to outnumber the quantities of nuclear weapons of one over the other. As Samuel Walker puts it, â€Å"the first two decades of the Cold War era, most scholars, like most Americans, regarded postwar tensions as a result of Soviet expansion and aggression (Walker, 1995, p. 1653).† The Cuban missile crisis was a crisis which did not strictly involve nuclear weapons. Then again, the fear and tension it created was overwhelming, which makes us think what more if the crisis had involved nuclear weapons. Apparently, the case of North Korea in more recent times reminds us of how the world has reacted against a nation harnessing nuclear weapons and testing these weapons right at their backyard. The presence of nuclear weapons does not essentially nor significantly assure peace. Nor does it promote peace in one way or another. Rather, what it does is to heighten the political and military tension among countries, pushing these nations to increase the pressure on the nation wielding nuclear weapons or engaging such nation into military intervention some time in the future. The cases of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are perhaps the most suitable and compelling examples to illustrate the point that nuclear weapons can indeed wipe-out an entire civilization and event the entire humanity. The bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan is claimed to be the last nail during the Second World War. Apart from being the last nail, the bombings were also destructive in nature, destroying two key cities in less than a minute with destructive effects lasting even up to this very day. These only show that the dangers posed by nuclear weapons are very real and can bring havoc to an entire nation. Nuclear disarmament requires nations with nuclear weapons to dismantle such weapons, such as the case of the several treaties that paved the way for the United States, the Soviet Union and many other countries to make certain prohibitions. Some of these treaties include but is not limited to: the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963 which sought to prohibit all forms of nuclear testing except when done underground, the Interim Agreement on Offensive Arms or SALT 1 which was agreed into by America and the Soviet Union way back in 1972 in order to freeze the actual units of intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as submarine-launched ballistic missiles that may be released or deployed by either of the two nations, and the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty or SORT which was signed in 2002 and enforced a year later which aimed to reduce the strategic nuclear warheads of the United States and Russia. However, even though there have already been numerous treaties designed to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons among nations, the achievement of the goal of a total nuclear disarmament remains to be seen. Ken Rigby, Jacques Metzer and Biruta Dietz (1990) point out that â€Å"the attitude of world-mindedness has emerged as†¦related to both attitudinal and action tendencies to promote nuclear disarmament (p. 328).† Thus, it can be asserted that the efforts to finally achieve a total nuclear disarmament may rest on a world-minded attitude. That it, the concerns of each individual aiming at a total nuclear disarmament should be parallel to a mental framework which is global. There should be no exclusions as to who can still be permitted to keep nuclear weapons even after treaties of nuclear disarmament have taken shape. On a larger sense, history tells us that the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the past and even more so to this very day has resulted to the further realization of the dangers largely attributed to nuclear weapons either resorting from accidents or deliberate use of these weapons. Nevertheless even if these dangers have already been realized, several nations still seem cannot find an easy way out of the complexity of the nuclear issues which beset them. It appears that while there are treaties being engaged into by nations with nuclear capabilities they, too, have remained unable to fully submit themselves to a total nuclear disarmament. One can argue that perhaps one of the reasons why there is the failure for several nations to engage in a full nuclear disarmament is the idea that there are persisting threats to the sovereignty of these nations and that one way to curb these dangers is by wielding nuclear weaponry. Despite the underlying drawbacks that go along with the possession of nuclear weapons, it appears that the United States, Russia, North Korea and many others remain oblivious to the call for full nuclear disarmament perhaps because the purposes of having nuclear weapons outweigh the odds of falling on their drawbacks. One indubitable purpose of the possession of nuclear weapons is the attribution of power and respect that goes with it. However, even if these nations can be able to project an image of power and hegemonic dominance, history teaches us that â€Å"public concern over the dangers of nuclear war has increased dramatically in both Western Europe and the United States (Boutwell, 2002, p. 12).† Ironically, these increases in public concerns come from the citizens who live in the nations who have the capabilities to launch nuclear warheads. This goes to show that, to a certain extent, nations with nuclear warheads also have a corresponding concerned body of the public sector well-aware of the dangers of nuclear weapons at the least and a nuclear war at the most. There is a strong reason to presume that the public sector raises its concern over the issue of nuclear weapons precisely because that sector is able to see and understand the harsh implications it brings with it. Further, the concerned public sector has strong basis for their claims, substantiating their claims on the experiences of the nation in terms of history. Nuclear disarmament requires more than just disarming nuclear weapons for the moment. The crucial part is that such measures of disarmament should be sustained and should be kept as a lasting solution. It is admitted that there have been previous efforts from various nations and the international community to lessen nuclear arms and eventually entirely abolish these weapons of mass destruction. But up to this day, it remains a fact that several nations are still harboring nuclear weapons and that some are even continuing production of these weapons. A contemporary example to such a situation is North Korea which has recently gained much criticism from the international community in its recent testing of nuclear weapons, one of which is the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile. It is also a fact that at some point in time certain nuclear missile tests would have to be made in testing the feasibility of the weapon. It has been the case that the United States has tested some of its nuclear weapons in its own soil while North Korea and India have tested their missiles at sea. These tests may only last for a few minutes or so, yet the impact it leaves behind to the marine life in the cases of India and North Korea are long lasting. As with the case of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings years ago, physical deformities were not only felt by those who were directly exposed to the radioactive substances present after the nuclear explosions. These physical deformities caused by alterations in the body’s genes persisted down to the third generation from those who were directly affected by the nuclear bombings. Nuclear disarmament is one big step in realizing the goal of dissolving the current tensions created in the past and should not be taken as a long-term goal, for the longer it takes for nations to disarm themselves with nuclear weapons, it may be the case that more and more nations may resort to the creation of nuclear weapons for themselves. Indeed, if nations are truly serious with their desire to preempt a nuclear war and bring mutually assured destruction to these ‘nuclear’ states and the rest of the world, it should be the case that efforts of nuclear disarmament should be realized as soon as possible. The world cannot afford a third world war from happening and destroying the welfare of the nations and the development of a larger part of the world. Indeed, nuclear disarmament should be the only option and that such an option should be taken and enacted the soonest possible time, if not now. The dangers of nuclear weapons are real and that history has taught us of the insurmountable destruction it brings with more than anything else in the world. References Boutwell, J. (2002). The Many-Sided Nuclear Arms Debate. Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 36(1), 12. Rigby, K., Metzer, J., & Dietz, B. (1990). Factors Predisposing Individuals to Support Nuclear Disarmament: An International Perspective Journal of Peace Research, 27(3), 328. Walker, S. (1995). The Origins of the Cold War in United States History Textbooks. The Journal of American History, 81(4), 1653.         

Nursing Shortage Essay

Abstract Compelling evidence suggests that regions of the United States face a nursing and physician shortage that our legislators, health officials, and medical professionals must address. To ensure that quality medical care is not harshly impacted, the hospitals and public health leadership, in general, will need to tackle the nursing shortage with solid long-term solutions. It is no secret that the United States faces a critical nursing shortage, a trend that potentially threatens to undermine quality medical care. One single area of concern does not affect the shortage. In fact, the hospitals, and nursing in particular, are witnessing a combination of problems that range in salary structure, medical economics/cost containment, post-graduate education, and an aging workforce (pending retirements of baby-boomers). The public health industry is not sitting idly by to address the shortage. It is critically reviewing the needs for both existing professions. Definition of Nursing Shortage Nursing shortage is defined as the inadequate number of qualified nurses to meet the projected demand for nursing care within a healthcare setting, where the demand for nurses is greater than the supply. History of Nursing Shortage Historical knowledge is important to analyze the present and prepare for the future. As we can see from the current shortage in America today, we learn that it is not a new problem. However what makes this current nursing shortage situation unique is that the causes are related to a multifaceted range of issues. The current nursing shortage is connected to supply and demand factors, demographic changes, population growth, and fewer students enrolling in nursing schools, RNs who are retiring or leaving the workforce and a growth in the baby boom population who will demand more healthcare services in the near future. These factors are occurring while many nurses are retiring and more jobs are being created. In addition, the nursing shortage is actually a worldwide phenomenon with areas like Western Europe, Australia, Canada and the Philippines facing shortages as well. Economic factors have also contributed to the nursing shortage in the United States. Mark Genovese, spokesperson for the New York State Nurses Association explains, â€Å"For many decades the shortage was cyclical but as the economy tightened and as the insurance industry moved to a managed care model, there was less money in the system and hospitals had less money to work with and tighter budgets.† Budgetary limitations affected the nursing workforce as many nurses began leaving the profession altogether. â€Å"They were forcing RNs to do more with less, handle more patients and work more hours. RNs started to leave the workforce because of the working conditions and fewer RNs entered the system,† explains Mark. Americans are also demanding more quality healthcare services while many RNs are retiring, further exacerbating the problem. The HRSA has stated: â€Å"to meet the projected growth in demand for RN services, the U.S. must graduate approximately 90% more nurses from U.S. nursing programs.† Decreased staffing means that there are fewer nurses to work with patients. This impacts job satisfaction and causes work related stress. In some cases it has led to many nurses leaving the profession altogether. A 2010 study published in Health Services Research found that over 75% of RNs feel that the nursing shortage is a huge problem that affects their quality of work as well as patient care and the amount of time that nurses can spend with individual patients. Another important factor contributing to a lack of nurses is that there is a shortage of nursing school faculty to train a new generation of nurses in colleges and universities. The AACN’s 2008-2009 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing report found that nursing programs in the U.S. did not enroll 49,948 qualified students into their bachelor and graduate degree programs because they did not have an adequate number of faculty, clinical practice sites, teaching space, and were constrained by budgetary limitations. Two thirds of the nursing program respondents reported that a big reason for not accepting students was due to not having enough nurse faculty on hand. The Southern Regional Board of Education conducted a study which found that the nursing faculty shortage in 16 states was caused by vacant faculty positions, retirements, resignations and a shortage of new candidates applying for faculty positions. Shortages like this pose a threat to the availability of nurse education. Defining the Problem For those students interested in careers in healthcare, becoming a nurse right now could be the best decision for you. Currently, the United States is facing a severe nursing shortage. For several reasons, the number of nurses graduating and entering the workforce, and those already in the profession, is not enough to fill the growing demand. Currently, RNs are the largest group of healthcare workers in the US at roughly 2.6 million and that still isn’t enough to meet the need. According to experts, by 2012, there could be around 1.1 million unfilled nursing positions in the United States. In the most basic sense, the current global nursing shortage is simply a widespread and dangerous lack of skilled nurses who are needed to care for individual patients and the population as a whole. The work of the world’s estimated 12 million nurses is not well understood, even by educated members of society. But nursing is a distinct scientific field and autonomous profession whose skilled practitioners save lives and improve patient outcomes every day in a wide variety of settings. In the Truth’s view, the vast gap between what skilled nurses really do and what the public thinks they do is a fundamental factor underlying most of the more immediate apparent causes of the shortage. These causes include nurse short-staffing (due to inadequate pay and long work hours), poor work conditions, the aging nursing workforce, expanded career options for women, nursing’s predominantly female nature, the increasing complexity of health care and care technology, and the rapidly aging populations in developed nations, to name a few. Other causes of the nursing shortage episode include: the aging baby boomer population and lack of employee incentives. There were seventy-six million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 and are now classified the Baby Boomer Generation. As this population reaches retirement age and beyond, they are requiring more medical treatments and nursing home and long term care facilities. This country is also seeing an increase in population in general, projected to grow 18% over the next two decades. With more patients flooding the healthcare system, there simply aren’t enough nurses to meet this growing need. However, those currently employed in the nursing field should be rewarded for being encouraged and motivated to stay in such a questionable field of employment. In light of this nursing shortage, it should be relatively easy to find gainful employment after graduation should you choose to study nursing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than 581,000 new Registered Nurse (RN) positions will be created through 2018, which will increase that workforce by an astounding 22%. The BLS also estimates that even as other sectors of our economy continue to suffer, the healthcare sector will only continue to grow. Since the recession began, more than 600,000 positions have been created in the healthcare industry. With so many Americans out of work in other fields, a career in healthcare, specifically in nursing, might be a viable career choice. Literature Review Today, the average age of nursing faculty in baccalaureate and graduate degree programs is 51.5 years and the rate of projected retirements will exceed the rate of re placements. Nurses enter the faculty role later in their careers and typically retire at an earlier age, around 62.5 years. More efforts need to be put into place to encourage those already teaching to remain in their positions even if it is in a limited capacity while future faculty are educated. What factors are present that facilitate the desire for nursing faculty to retire? Kowalski, Dalley, and Weigand (2006) conducted a cross-sectional, randomized study of 129 nurse educators teaching in 61 schools of nursing to find out what personal decisions influenced their retirement plans. With a 37.6% response rate, results reflected that the mean age of planned retirement was 64.4 years. However, the mean age respondents would like to retire was 62.4. Factors influencing retirement included workplace issues, personal and family health, attitudes about retirement, and financial security. One of the most important factors influencing retirement plans was financial security. Faculty members who were financially secure retired earlier. Job satisfaction was another important influencing factor resulting in early retirement. In lieu of the faculty shortage, the authors contend that studies such as this will offer insight into future retirement trends which may help bridge the gap between supply and the demand of nurse educators (Kowalski et al., 2006). From the results of this one study it may be important to consider the needs of the aging faculty by providing healthy, satisfying, and stimulating work environments, appropriate benefits packages, and relaxing mandatory retirement ages. One serious factor contributing to the faculty shortage is financial. Not only are academic salaries much lower than they are for clinical practice and administrative positions of advanced practice nurses, but the cost of securing advanced academic degrees is costly. In 2004, the average salary of a master’s-prepared nurse practitioner in a clinical setting was $80,697 compared to $60,831 for that of a master’s-prepared nursing faculty member (Nevada Nurses Association, 2004). By increasing academic salaries and providing tuition allowances in return for teaching will indeed make teaching a more attractive career choice (Yordy, 2006). Another important factor affecting the faculty shortage is that of job satisfaction, stress, and burnout. To maintain current faculty on the job, more research should be conducted on factors affecting job satisfaction and what works to provide a better environment. Gormley (2003) performed a meta-analysis study on nursing faculty job satisfaction and which factors had the greatest influence using a sample of six studies from 1976 and 1996. Nursing faculty are pressured not only to educate future nurses to provide safe and competent care, but also have many other professional responsibilities, such as publishing, conducting research, writing grants, performing community service, and maintaining their own competencies (Gormley, 2003). These responsibilities combined can become overwhelming and lead to job dissatisfaction especially as the faculty is aging. In Gormley’s study (2003), factors that affected job satisfaction were perception/expectation of the leader’s role in curriculum and instruction, suggesting that the dean’s role has significant effects on faculty’s job satisfaction and role conflict/ambiguity. Shirey (2006) argues that prolonged stress can lead to burn-out in many faculty who then become â€Å"deadwood,† jeopardizing the quality and spirit of the institution. These faculty members can ward off potential new faculty who are even more vulnerable to the stresses of the teaching role. It is imperative that academic institutions pay close attention to the needs of their faculty. Mentoring programs, self-renewal, and organizational engagement are key strategies to prevent burnout (Shirey, 2006). â€Å"A carefully structured and deliberate mentoring program can be an invaluable orientation as schools of nursing seek to provide an academic environment that is conducive to the professional and scholarly development of adjunct faculty members† (Peters & Boylston, 2006, p. 64). One serious factor contributing to the faculty shortage is financial. Not only are academic salaries much lower than they are for clinical practice and administrative positions of advanced practice nurses, but the cost of securing advanced academic degrees is costly. In 2004, the average salary of a master’s-prepared nurse practitioner in a clinical setting was $80,697 compared to $60,831 for that of a master’s-prepared nursing faculty member (Nevada Nurses Association, 2004). By increasing academic salaries and providing tuition allowances in return for teaching will indeed make teaching a more attractive career choice (Yordy, 2006). Program Analysis Possible Solutions For sustained change and assurance of evading the forthcoming shortage, solutions must be developed in several areas: education, health care systems, policy and regulations, and image. This shortage is not exclusively a nursing issue, but will require a collaborative effort among nursing leaders, practitioners, health care executives, government, and the media. Creating Cultures of Retention The American Nurses Association Magnet hospital program has had a proven success in raising the standards of nursing practice and improving patient outcomes. Currently there are 85 organizations that are designated Magnet hospitals. Magnet facilities are characterized by strong administrative support, adequate nurse staffing, strong communication, nurse autonomy, better control, and a vital focus on the patient and their family. A growing body of research indicates that this program is making a positive difference for nurses, patients, and the hospitals as a whole. Research is proving that through this program, nurses are having increased satisfaction as well as increased perceptions of productivity and the quality of care given. Studies also indicate that these facilities have lower incidence of needle stick injuries, lower burn out rates, and double the retention of non-Magnet facilities. By adopting the characteristics of Magnet hospitals, facilities will be able to create a culture of retention that empowers and is respectful of nursing staff. Strengthening the Infrastructure In 2002 the Nursing Reinvestment Act was signed by President Bush to address the problem of our nation’s nursing shortage. This initiative was intended to promote people to enter and remain in nursing careers, thus reducing the growing shortage. The law establishes scholarships, loan repayments, public service announcements, retention grants, career ladders, and grants for nursing faculty. Many statewide initiatives are underway to address this issue as well. In Pennsylvania, six new nursing education initiatives have been announced to address faculty shortage by encouraging current nurses to return to school, earn graduate degrees, and teach the next generation of nurses. Illinois is unveiling a plan to provide faculty scholarships and grants to nursing schools in order to expand student enrollment. California, whose nursing programs currently have wait lists over three years, is trying to expand nursing education through a $90 million initiative.

Causes of the Dust Bowl Essay

One of the most devastating environmental crises that occurred in the United States was the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl began shortly after the Great Depression began in 1929 and lasted throughout the 1930’s. It affected everyone, farmers and consumers alike, in its path negatively. The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s was caused by four major factors: drought, climate misconception, poor land management, and most importantly, wind erosion. The first of the four major factors is drought. During the Dust Bowl and the 1930’s there were four major periods of drought. The first lasted from 1930 to 1931, the second occurred in 1934, the third in 1936, and the last period of drought lasted from 1939 to 1940. The Great Plains had experienced periods of drought before and no major problems had occurred, so the main problem was that the farmers did not have enough time in between the periods of drought to recover because they were so close together. Another issue was that the droughts occurred at the same time as the economic downfall known as the Great Depression. This meant the farmers did not have the money to spend to help their crops. Also, many farmers simply believed that the droughts would end and that the rains would come soon as they had many other times in the 1900’s (Drought). Climate misconception played a large role in the creation of the Dust Bowl as well. The misconceptions about the climate and the annual rainfall in the Great Plains first began in the nineteenth century when people first began to settle in the area. Many of these settlers believed that they would always get enough rain to grow healthy crops because they settled on the land during years with abnormally high amounts of rain. Another reason people believed that the land would always be good to farm is because they were fed propaganda by railroad companies and land boosters. Even though there were several periods of drought that occurred before the 1930’s and the Dust Bowl, people were encouraged by the rains that always came soon after. The farmers’ misconceptions of the climate and annual rainfall also affected the way they farmed the land (Causes). Poor land management is one of the two most important causes of the Dust Bowl. The farmers were not able to manage their land well because they were not aware of the different techniques they should have used on their farms in the Plains. One of the techniques that the farmers should have used was crop rotation. Crop rotation would have been a great help in keeping their soil in larger clumps, whereas when the farmers repeatedly planted wheat in the soil, the nutrients were used up and were not replenished. This caused the soil to break up into a dust-like consistency that made the soil easier to be swept away by the winds. Farmers also should have had a year round ground cover on the soil to prevent the wind from sweeping it away, but the farmers were not aware of the heightened risk of wind erosion because they had not had to deal with it in the past. The last technique that the farmers should have used to help manage their land is known as shelter belting. Shelter belting is the process of planting trees and bushes in order to slow and block the winds that blew across the otherwise flat ground of the Great Plains. Another issue with the way the farmers managed their land was that they switched from the lister (a type of plow commonly used by farmers in the 1900’s) to the one way disk plow. The one way disk plow was favored by the farmers because it made plowing the field easier and much faster, but the downside to the new invention was that it left the soil even more susceptible to wind erosion (The Dust Bowl). The last factor that contributed to the Dust Bowl is wind erosion. Wind erosion is considered to be the most important and the most preventable cause of the environmental crises. It has since been proven that the size of the farm is directly related to the amount of wind erosion that will occur on the land. Experts say that the smaller the farm is the more wind erosion there will be on the land because larger farms are necessary to finance and benefit from erosion control. Small farmers on the other hand need to cultivate more of their land more intensely and they usually do not earn enough money to be able to spend anything on soil conservation. Many historians and researchers blame the overabundance of small farmers who did not participate in erosion control for the extent of the wind erosion during the 1930’s and they blame the Homestead Act of 1862 for bringing these farmers to the Plains. The Homestead Act gave away hundreds of thousands of  land plots that ranged from about 160 acres to about 320 acres even though agricultural experts recommended that the farms should be about 700 acres to 1200 acres to minimize wind erosion. The farmers that moved onto the land that was given away were the kind of farmers that did not implement the soil conservation tactics that were necessary to prevent the Dust Bowl in the Great Plains (Wind Erosion). In conclusion, drought, climate misconceptions, poor land management, and wind erosion were the four main causes of the agricultural tragedy of the 1930’s. These four factors came together at the beginning of the 1930’s to create what is now known as the Dust Bowl which lasted until the end of the decade. Thankfully, an environmental crisis like this has never taken place again in the United States and thanks to the organizations founded after the Dust Bowl, such as the Soil Conservation Service, our generation and the generations that follow will not have to live through the hardships that another Dust Bowl would cause.

Bianca & skill

Although after three months of total immersion of a language, most people should show significant progress, Bianca’s lack of progress does not necessarily mean she has a learning disability. There are a number of possible causes for her lack of progress and a learning disability is only one of them. In Bianca’s specific case, her history should be considered. She was orphaned due to a tragic event and traumatized.This life event at the age of five, the time when reading often begins, could significantly affect her rate of developing reading skills without factoring in the second language. An additional social factor that could affect Bianca’s language and reading acquisition skills could be her recent adoption and move to a new country and environment. Anyone would have some difficulty adjusting to a new family, home, culture and language at the same time.It would undoubtedly be more difficult for a traumatized eight-year-old to adapt to and thrive in a short amo unt of time. The adoptive parents have legitimate concerns about how extensive testing for a specific learning disability during her adjustment to her new life could cause additional trauma. If, however, Bianca does have a learning disability, it would be important to find this out and treat her accordingly. The teacher could do some basic observations in order to get an idea about possible learning disabilities.It would be important to observe her development in other areas such as motor, social, and cognitive. If she is delayed in other developmental areas, the problem could easily be due to her trauma and adjustment. In spite of the school total immersion policy, a few age-level books should be acquired for her in her native language. By listening to her read in her native language a teacher could determine if she struggled in the language she understood as well as she did in English.The teacher could recognize a struggling reader even if she is not familiar with the language. If Bianca reads well in her native language the problem is probably not a learning disability, and the best assistance in her development would be time and attention dedicated to her. If Bianca is discovered to have significant difficulty in her native language, it would warrant the need for additional testing to determine if the problems are due to a learning disability and if a way can be found to help her overcome it.If she does have an actual learning disability, the earlier intervention can be found, the better her chances of effectively developing new language and reading skills. Bianca is a unique child, who should not be caught up in a standard school policy of total immersion. She might require some special attention due to her traumatic past and extensive changes. Some of this special attention could involve some translation and allowing her to do some of her work in her native language in order to help her catch up to her grade level.