Project on Motivation of Nurses Essay Example for Free

Project on Motivation of Nurses Essay The most traumatic and stressful moments of an individual’s life are when he or she is taken ill. Nurses are synonymous with care and attention in times of need such as these. In a world mostly driven my personal ambition and corporate profit, nurses with their commitment to patient welfare and selfless service, provide a contrasting study. A nurse acts as a savior in distress and is often called upon to make great personal sacrifices in the discharge of her duties. The profession of nursing, is therefore, not merely a ‘job’ and the potentially powerfully insights about commitment to work that they could provide encouraged us to choose them as our subjects of study. As part of the Phase I of the project, we interviewed four nurses who were diverse in the amount of experience each had, the hierarchy in which they were working in the hospital and the backgrounds from which each of them came. This was done to study the commitment of employees towards an organization and understand the various factors which cause the same we have selected a study of nursing staff in hospitals. From the interviews, many broad themes emerged, all of which point correlate positively with their high commitment level to the organization. These points logically lead us to our hypothesis as to what keeps them committed to their place of work.   However, there were some key themes which we noted across all four of our respondents. All the nurses were very excited by the kind of recognition that the hospital was willing to give them. They seemed to treat this as a reward for their hard work and dedication and were motivated by it. All nurses were also impressed by their working relationship with their superiors (Head Nurse/Doctor) in the hospital who treated them as members of a family and with much respect. Nurses were also willing to stay on with the hospital because it provided them with opportunities for personal development. Accordingly our hypotheses are as follows: * There is a positive correlation between the amount of recognition that the nurses receive for their work and their commitment to the organization * There is a positive correlation between the positive relationship between the doctors/supervisors and the nurses and the commitment of the nurses to the organization * There is a positive correlation between the opportunity for learning and personal development that the organization provides and the commitment of the nurses to the organization RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Based on our earlier survey of 4 respondents, we determined that the following three variables play a key role in determining the commitment of nurses to their respective hospitals: * Recognition * Relationship with superiors * Learning and Development We have then tried to identify whether these three variables actually affect commitment levels of nurses at various nursing organizations. For the same, we carried out a survey of 30 nurses with diverse backgrounds (a detailed description of the respondents is covered in the following section) and questioned them on a scale of 5 to 1 (5: Strongly Agree, 1: Strongly Disagree) on 24 questions. Since our hypothesis determines 3 variables as affecting commitment, we tested the existence of each these three independent variables by framing four questions for each variables. Similarly, we determined commitment levels of the nurses through a set of 12 questions. By using a 5-point scale, we have captured not only the  existence, but the extent of existence of these variables. Since we found the responses to be reliable, we determined the correlation between the three independent variables and the dependent variable ‘commitment’ to see whether our hypothesis of is correct. Hospitals chosen for the survey We surveyed nurses from 4 different hospitals to ensure diversity. The organizations range from a large hospital located in a city like Bangalore, to mid-sized hospitals located in Tier-2 cities like Ajmer and Allahabad and a focused surgical-specialty hospital located in a smaller town like Varanasi. This selection lends diversity to our respondents through differences in location, specialization of hospitals, daily footfall (reflecting magnitude of work for the nurses), number of departments etc. Refer Appendix 1 for a description of the hospitals used for out survey. General Profile of the Nurses We have ensured diversity in our respondents while choosing nurses at all of the survey hospitals. The diversity ranges age, number of years worked at the organization and departments worked in. QUESTIONS IN THE SURVEY The questions in the survey were aimed at understanding the extent to which each of our three independent variables and our dependent variable ‘commitment’ was present in these organizations. We captured the different parameters relating to these variables by framing questions addressing various facets of these variables. Refer to Appendix 2 for detailed discussion on questions used for the survey. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF THE SURVEY Reliability of scales Reliability is used to check the consistency of the question set under consideration. In this survey we are testing if the 3 hypothesis that we have come up with are explaining the commitment of employees towards organization. Reliability in a survey is measured by lot of ways and here we are checking internal consistency reliability which indicates reliability within the survey for the responses of similar type of questions. Reliability of dependent variable * Affective Commitment: In affective commitment the questions that are all trying to test for one feature- Attachment to Organization. The questions are direct and straight forward bringing out the required feature thus making it a set of good reliability. We have obtained a reliability scale of 0.6 for this set which is the highest amongst the 3 different commitments scales that we have obtained. * Continuance Commitment: In this set we are trying to test the commitment by knowing the dependence of the person on the organization and how much of a change it would mean to him to switch jobs. The reliability that we obtained for this set is 0.53 which is a high value for a one time survey result. This is a good indication of question set focusing on the same core question. * Normative Commitment: This question set mainly tries to identify the belongingness the person has towards the organization. The question set is clear in conveying the same objective but this attribute is not so direct and easy to understand from an individual’s perspective. Hence the survey respondents’ answers in this set have a lower value reliability of 0.39. Reliability of independent variables For first and third variables (recognition and learning development), the reliability is low at 0.46 and 0.47 respectively while for the second variable (relationship with superiors), the reliability is relatively high at 0.66. Recognition and Learning Development It’s easy to see why responses to questions around Recognition and learning and development score so low in reliability. They are quite different from each other and same person can have very different responses to each of them, if they interpret the different questions to indicate different things. In comparison the questions related to relationships were fairly interrelated and are able to fetch more consistent responses. Overall reliability of all the responses is still lower than 0.7 which can be attributed to the fact that no pilot study was done, which could have been used as input for framing questions in a better way as to improve reliability of responses. Relationship with superiors We obtained highest reliability for responses for this hypothesis. Reliability for this was found to be 0.66, which is near acceptable range. The reason for higher reliability in this question set (Appendix 2) is attributable for ease of understanding the questions. Every person has a fair idea about relationships and these questions although quite different from each other give a fairly good direction the responder in terms of what is being asked. So they maintain consistency and hence higher comparative reliability. Correlation between predictor and dependent variables a) Affective Commitment According to our expectation before the actual test results we came up with all 3 predictors are going to affect the Affective commitment. Recognition was one factor because the appreciation helps the employee (nurse) develop a connect with the organization. Also opportunities for personal development and training opportunities to assist this makes employees feel good which is essential to improve the commitment levels. Good relationships with superiors definitely help people develop an emotional bond with the organization. b) Continuance Commitment Continuance commitment describes how the employee feel about staying longer in the organization and for this one of the most important reasons is economic considerations which are to some extent explained by rewards and recognition. The recognition obtained will motivate them to work better and stay longer in an organization. Also constant opportunities for growing and training will help them stay committed to organization. c) Normative Commitment This form of commitment mainly explains the sense of giving back to the organization and the predictor which we identified was most important was the relationships with supervisor (Head nurse/Doctor). Training and developments reflect investment done by organization on employees, so employees feel an obligation to stay committed to organization to pay it  back, which increases their normative commitment. Actual results: Statistical Significance of correlations With the acceptable alpha level being 0.05 for social science research and no. of responders being 30, (Dof = 28) gives critical value of correlation as 0.361. When compared with the results we obtained we notice that out of 9 correlations, 3 are not significant (value less than 0.361) and 6 are significant (Value higher than 0.361). When it’s significant we reject null hypothesis of no relationship and accept alternative hypothesis of existence of relationship. Hypothesis 1: From the results it’s apparent that hypothesis 1 is partially supported as only one correlation is significant out of 3. That is with affective commitment. So we can interpret that Recognition affects affective commitment but not the other two types of commitments. Hypothesis 2: For second hypothesis 2 out of 3 correlations are significant so it’s also partially supported. Relationship with doctors is not related to continuance commitment but related to affective and normative commitment. Hypothesis 3: Hypothesis 3 is completely supported as all the correlations are significant i.e. higher than 0.361. It means learning and development is related to all the dependent variables and affects all three dimensions of commitment i.e. Affective, Continuance, Normative which are considered here. Plausible explanation of variations between correlations Recognition: Recognition showed the highest correlation with affective commitment, while significant correlations were not established with the continuance and normative commitment. When nurses are recognized by the organization they tend to develop an emotional connect with the organization. They feel happier working in the hospital and a sense of belonging is nurtured within them. The appreciation received for the work translates into an attachment with the organization. This explains the  correlation with affective commitment. The recognition is mostly in the form of awards and words of praise not monetary in nature. Therefore a significant continuance commitment has not been established. Similarly, recognition for work does not lead to a feeling of obligation towards the organization. Rather, the positivity generated by the appreciation of work manifests itself as an emotional attachment towards the organization, which is reflected in the correlation with affective commitment. Relationship with superiors: This independent variable showed highest correlation with normative commitment and lower correlations with affective commitment, while correlation with continuance commitment was insignificant. The nurses tend to view the exceptionally good relationships with the doctors as being facilitated by the hospital. They therefore feel indebted to the hospital for providing them with an excellent working environment, which would be missing at other places. The moral obligation that they feel towards their hospital for the respect and dignity with which doctors and supervisors treat them is translated into a high correlation for normative commitment. Learning and development: It is seen from the results of the survey that learning and development has a high correlation with Affective Commitment to the organization and comparatively low correlation with continuance and normative Commitment. Intuitively we expected high correlation between learning and development a nd normative commitment to the organization. This is because employees would feel an obligation towards an organization that invests time and resources to train its employees and ensure their personal development. However, we realize these may not necessarily hold true once we take into account the atypical nature of the nursing profession. Nurses feel sense of duty towards their patients and ethical and moral obligation to serve the sick to the best of their capacity. In fact, nurses who have been trained well, dealt with varied patient cases and experience a great deal of learning would perhaps experience higher motivation to the society. Hence perhaps they would experience low moral responsibility to staying back in the organization. We believe existence of a caring and people centric management could be the reason for the high correlation between affective commitment and learning and development. An organization that has caring and people friendly management would earn emotional loyalty from its employees due to care and good treatment given to employees. Such an  organization would also take efforts to ensure that its human resources constantly learn and develop so as to contribute to the success of the organization.

BioMedical Waste Management in an Indian Hospital

BioMedical Waste Management in an Indian Hospital Introduction: The waste produced in the course of healthcare activities carries a higher potential for infection and injury than any other type of waste. Inadequate and inappropriate knowledge of handling of healthcare waste may have serious health consequences and a significant impact on the environment as well. According to Bio-Medical Waste (management and handling) rules, 1998 of India, Bio Medical Waste (BMW) means any solid, fluid, or liquid waste including its containers and any intermediate product which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals or in research activities pertaining there or in the production or testing of biological and includes categories for same 1 The large volumes of health care waste if not managed properly can lead to a global hazard. This could not only lead to the spread of highly contagious diseases but the hazardous chemical waste produced by the use of items can cause considerable damage to the ecosystem and the environment.2 Majority of waste (75-90%) produced by the healthcare providers is non-risk or general and it is estimated that the remaining (10-25%) healthcare waste is regarded as hazardous the potential for creating a variety of health problems.3 Infectious waste may contain any of a great variety of pathogenic microorganisms. Pathogens in infectious waste may enter the human body via number of routes: through a puncture, abrasion, or cut in the skin; through the mucous membranes; by inhalation; by ingestion .4 Bio medical waste collection and proper disposal has become a significant concern for both the medical and general community. Among all health problems, there is a particular concern with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C, for which there is a strong evidence of transmission through healthcare waste.5In the healthcare sector alone, the World Health Organization estimates that unsafe injections cause approximately 30,000 new HIV infections, 8 million HBV infections, and 1.2 million HCV infections worldwide every year.6The BMW rule applies to all those who generate, collect, receive, store, transport, treat, dispose or handle BMW in any manner and also to every institution that generate BMW. Effective management of biomedical waste is not only a legal necessity but also a social responsibility. Hence, there is a need for resource material to help administrators, doctors, nurses and paramedical staffs. The purpose of Bio-Medical Waste are mainly to reduce waste generation, to ensure its efficient collection, handling, as well as safe disposal in such a way that it controls infection and improves safety for employees working in the system. For this, a conscious, coordinated and cooperative effort has to be made from all Hospital staff7. India already has biomedical waste management regulations including a ban on the incineration of biomedical waste with the exception of human and animal waste at the Union level, but their implementation and enforcement throughout the country has been inconsistent. The present cross sectional questionnaire study was conducted in Ahmedabad city, Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of interns, graduates post graduates at private dental colleges in Ahmedabad regarding biomedical waste management. Material and Method Ahmedabad is the largest city and former capital of the Gujarat. Ahmedabad is located on the banks of river Sabarmati, 32 km from the state capital Gandhinagar.7 The study sample includes intern, graduates and post graduates from private dental college in Ahmedabad. This study was conducted in private dental colleges in Ahmedabad City, Gujarat, India. A total of 135 dentists were selected, from which interns, graduates and postgraduates were divided equally. The selection of samples for the study was carried out by using simple random sampling technique. To make the sample more representative 45 Dentists from each private dental college were selected randomly. The sample size of 135 was determined. From each group from each college we have taken 15 subjects. Participants who do not want to participate in the study, not responding after repeated reminders and incompletely filled questionnaires were excluded from the study. The survey was scheduled to spread over a period of 1 month. A detailed weekly schedule was prepared well in advance. Although a detailed schedule was prepared meticulously, few adjustments and changes were done due to logistic reasons. Two days in a week were allotted for conducting the study. A questionnaire related to biomedical waste in the form of multiple choices was given to each participant and the response sheets were collated after a week. Principal Investigator collected the data. A pilot study was conducted on 20% of the total sample size to check the feasibility of the study and to validate the questionnaire. Prior to study a questionnaire was pre-tested and validated. The questionnaire was validated for construct and content validity, reliability and ease of use. Content and construct validity shows no significant changes. Questionnaire showed high degree (0.89) of agreement during test-retest of questionnaire. Those individuals who participated in the pilot study were not considered for the main study to prevent possible bias. The purpose and procedure of the study was informed to each participant and also participant information sheet was provided to each participant, which explains all aspects of the study. It was explained to them that they had no obligation to complete the questionnaire and could abandon it at any point without stating a reason. After explaining the purpose of the study, the informed consent was obtained from each participant who was willing to participate in the study. Data was collected by using pre-tested self-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed in English only because it was expected that all doctors and nurses were able to comprehend English. The questions were framed in three sets; knowledge, attitude and practices of interns, graduates and postgraduates in relation to Bio-medical waste management. Each participant was given a separate copy of the questionnaire personally by investigator and requested to fill it up within seven days. Collected data was coded, compiled and tabulated. The data was analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Analysis was carried out using SPSS package version 17. Result: The present study was conducted to access â€Å"knowledge, attitude and practices of interns, graduates p.g. Students at private dental colleges in Ahmedabad regarding biomedical waste management. A total of 135 participants from private dental colleges of Ahmedabad city were included in the study population. Table 1. illustrates the distribution of subjects according to their gender. Out of 135 participants 79 (58.5%) were male and 56 (41.5%) were female. We can see the answers given by the participants in table 2 which is self explanatory. Table 3. illustrates that the majority of the participants were having good knowledge regarding bio medical waste management. Whereas their attitude towards the same was found little low which is an alarming situation (table 4) and they were doing fair practice of the same which is shown in (table 5). Table 1: The distribution of subjects according to their gender Table 2: Answers given by participants Table 3: shows overall knowledge of subjects: Table 4: shows overall attitude of subjects: Table 5: shows overall practice of subjects: Discussion: The participants involved in this study were assessed for knowledge, attitude and practice of BMW management. Interestingly, this study revealed that the awareness and proper practice of biomedical waste management was satisfactory which is correlating with the study of Sachan R.. According to World Health Organization, The humans element is more important than the technology. Almost any system of treatment and disposal that is operated by well-trained, and well-motivated staff can provide more protection for staff, patients and the community than an expensive or sophisticated system that is managed by staff who do not understand the risks, and the importance of their contribution8 (World Health Organization) For effective management of hospital waste it is essential that personnel hold positive attitude towards care of the environment, occupational health and safety and teamwork. Hospital waste management has major attitudinal and behavioral components9 Literature search show poor knowledge, attitude and practices of biomedical waste management among staff and have reported that there is urgent need to train and educate all the staff, in order to adopt an effective waste management practice. Which is not exactly matching with our studies. A chain is as strong as the weakest link in it, thus the entire staff involved in waste management at some point or the other should be trained properly. Our study shows almost all of the participants were having good knowledge of bio medical waste, which is not in siding with the study of Sudhakar V10. Before providing the training program, it is mandatory to understand the existing gaps and deficiencies in the study participants knowledge, perceptions, and behavior towards hospital waste management. Knowledge, attitude and practices of the personnel play an important role. Lack of these, even with good infrastructure and technology, is of little or no use in proper waste management. Knowing this, the training program can be aimed to make participants understand-environment friendly, healthy and economically viable in-house management systems, to ensure that the waste is carried responsibly from cradle to grave. Conclusion: Optimal waste management is at best, a moving target. Usually attenders are responsible for spearheading the waste management initiatives. Waste handling is left to lower-level workers who operate without any training, guidance, and supervision. Managing waste requires effective management of people who produce the waste, not just those who handle it. Its primarily the dentists who are responsible for waste generation. But currently, as most of us are aware it is mainly the resistant attitude of dentists that is responsible for poor results on this front. Dentist at the high end of hierarchy should take this issue, which needs to be addressed not as a burden difficult to bear. Proper management of dental hospital waste should be addressed with dignity, by concerted action as duty, and by no uncertain terms as responding to pressure. They probably should not do it because there is legislation, but they need to do it, as they are also socially accountable. References: Sharma AK, Bio Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules. Bhopal: Suvidha Law House; 1998. Aruna.C, Assessment of the knowledge, attitude and Practices regarding Biomedical Waste Management amongst the Medical and Paramedical Staff in Tertiary Health Care Centre, Int J Scientific Research, Vol. 2(7): 2012 Safe Management of waste from health care activities. WHO, Geneva; 1999. 4. Prà ¼ss A, Giroult E, Rushbrook P, Safe management of wastes from healthcare activities, Edited by  © 1999, WHO 5. Central Pollution Control Board. Environmental standard and guidelines for management of Hospital waste. CPCB, Ministry of Environment and Forest, New Delhi, 1996. 6. Analysis of Priority Waste Streams: Healthcare Waste. Final Information Document Commission of the European Communities (CEC), 1993 7. Khan KDL (4 June 2011), â€Å"The Symbol of Ahmedabad†. Navhind Times, retrived 24 Sept, 2013. 8. World Health Organization. Suggested guiding principles and practices for sound management of hazardous hospital waste. New Delhi: Regional Office for South-East Asia, World Health Organization; 2000. p. 3-5. 9.Rasheed S, Iqbal S, Baig LA, Mufti K. Hospital waste management in the teaching hospitals of Karachi. J Pak Med Assoc 2005;55:192-5. 10. Saini S, Nagarajan SS, Sharma RK. Knowledge, Attitude and practices of bio-medical waste management amongst staff of a tertiary level Hospital in India. J Acad Hosp 2005;17:54-9

Nursing Essays Nurse Patient Safety

Nursing Essays Nurse Patient Safety Nurse Patient Safety The ICU Nurse and Patient Safety Abstract Nurses play a central role in direct patient care and safety surveillance at the point of care. This role suggests a need for consensus on a core set of measures that can be used to monitor safe practices and guide resource allocation decisions that affect patient outcomes in a health system. This work will review factors affecting patient safety in ICU and what to do to reach a proper patient outcome. The ICU Patients in Intensive Care Units are at risk of unsafe care because of the complex environment, also a patient may sustain an injury as a direct result of daily care. This makes nurses uniquely poised to have a tremendous impact on patient safety as professional caregivers in direct contact with patients and their families. Quality care and patient safety require a focused commitment from all level of an organization, yet nurses serve as the bedside safety advocate with the opportunity to put theory into practice. The challenges are: What is the right thing to do? Is the right thing being done? Is it being done right? You can get expert help with your essays right now. Find out more Factors that play a role in patient safety in ICU environment The critical care setting is one of the most complex environments in a health care facility. Critical care units must manage the intersecting challenges of maintaining a high-tech environment and ensuring staff competency in operating the equipments, providing high-quality care to the sickest patients of a health facility and attending to the needs of staff members working in a very stressful environment (Chang et al, 2005). Before building initiatives to enhance patient safety, the extent of patient injuries and events in ICUs must be well explained. Critically ill patients are at high risk for complications due to the severity of their medical conditions, the complex and invasive nature if intensive care treatments and procedures and the use of drugs and technology that carry risks as well as benefits (Chang et al, 2005). What to do? The first step of patient safety improvement process is to gain the support and engaging leadership.Risk managers, patient safety officers and critical care physicians start working together to make a business case to executives for patient safety investments. In short; implementing ICU patient safety plane becomes a team effort (Rainey and Combs, 2003). An improvement initiative will be more successful if a culture of patient safety prevails. This should create an ICU environment in which all members of ICU team understand how to exchange patient information in a meaningful and respectful way. A starting point in creating such a culture is to conduct an assessment of the current climate in the ICU whether and how it affects patient care (Rainey and Combs, 2003). A facility’s approach to provide safe critical care services will depend mainly on the ICU is organized, staffed and designed i.e. ICU staffing, structure and work environment. Generally, there are three organizational models for ICUs; the open model which allows different members of the medical staff to mange patients in the ICU. The closed model is limited to ICU certified physicians managing all cases. The hybrid model, it combines aspects of the previous two models on referral basis (Chang et al 2005, Rainey and Combs 2003 and Pronovost et al 2003). Work environment within the ICU is characterized by being high work load and fatigue; both have been identified as major negative contributors to patient safety. Staffing an adequate number of critical care educated nurses is essential to the delivery of high quality ICU care (Chang et al 2006). ICU equipment, technology and systems should be assessed from the perspective of patient safety before acquisition and implementation. When devices do not undergo a rigorous evaluation for appropriateness during acquisition or when they are not used properly or badly maintained, they can contribute seriously to patient safety (Pronovost et al 2003). Quality indicators: Savitz, Cheryl and Shulamit, conducted a meta-analysis on quality indicators sensitive to nurse staffing in acute care settings and their results did not to specific indicators that should necessarily be examined in monitoring performance and examining trends in safety as related to nursing staff. Get help with your essay from our expert essay writers What is needed? The shortage of critical care nurses has increased concerns for patient safety. Programs must retain experienced critical care nurses and maintain nursing staff competency with medial equipments and procedures. Continuing education must not be neglected on the assumption that the nurse can not be spared (Trossman 2000). Closer cooperation and understanding is always needed for the ICU staff members. Having a clear program for ICU patient safety should make the job easier. Conclusion Recognizing the critical linkage between nursing workforce and safe and effective outcome for patients, both health provider and professional organizations are committed to work together to accelerate the adoption of evidence based practices known to improve the working nursing environment, patient safety and quality outcomes for patients. This necessitates having a culture that supports patients safety, operating the ICUs as a dedicated team managed by intensive care specialists with specialized training. Finally, to ensure that the work environments can support the caregivers to interact productively, make proper level titrated vital decisions, perform medical intervention and operate medical equipments safely. References Chang, S. Multz, A. and Hall, J. (2005). Critical care organization. Critical care clinics, 21(5), 43-53. Rainey, G. and Combs, A. (2003). Making the business case for the intensivist directed multidisciplinary team model: In Proceedings from the Society of Critical Care Medicine Summit on ICU Quality and Cost. Chicago, IL. Pronovost, P, Angus, D. Dorman, T. et al. (2003). Physician staffing pattern and clinical outcomes in critically ill patients: A systematic review. JAMA 288(17), 2151-2162 Savitz, L. Cheryl, B. and Shulamit, B. Quality indicators sensitive to nurse staffing in acute care settings. Advances in patient safety, 4, 375-85. Retrieved from on 24/12/2007. Trossman, S. (2000), Nurses fight short staffing on several major fronts. Am Nurse 32, 1-2. American Psychological Association (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Philip Larkin - A Voice of Pain for This Century Essay -- Biography Bi

Philip Larkin - A Voice of Pain for This Century On August 9, 1922, the poet Philip Larkin was born in the town of Coventry in England (Thwaite, Letters xvii). After graduating St. John’s College in Oxford in 1943 with a First Class degree, he worked at both the University College of Leicester and Queen’s College at Belfast before finally settling down at the University of Hull as Librarian in 1955 (Thwaite, Letters xviii). That same year, with the publication of his collection The Less Decieved, he "began to be recognized" (Thwaite, "Introduction" xv). His popularity continued to grow thereafter, and over the next twenty years amongst many awards and honorary doctorates he published two more highly acclaimed books of poetry, The Whitsun Weddings in 1964 and High Windows in 1974 (Thwaite, "Introduction" xvi). In 1984 he was offered the ultimate title of Poet Laureate, which he declined in part because of "shyness" and in part because of the "conviction that his poetry had deserted him" (Motion 510). With the words "I am going to the inevitable," he died a year later on Monday, December 2, 1985 (Motion 521). During his stay at Oxford, Larkin was a member of a group called "the Movement, its revolt being against rhetorical excess or cosmic portentousness" (Ellmann and O’Clair 579). He held disdain for the intricate poetic approach of Eliot and Pound in which "first of all you have to be terribly educated, you have to read everything to know these things, and secondly you’ve got somehow to work them in to show that you are working them in" (Ellmann and O’Clair 579). Larkin instead pursued "a more even-tempered, conversational idiom, more accurate than magniloquent" (Ellmann and O’Clair 579). But this "even-temperament" did n... ... who reside in the twentieth-century and stand as perennial expressions of not only his but of any individual’s mind. While the people of the world poise anxiously on the verge of a new millenium, only poets of his caliber will be remembered as having the sensitivity to capture the emotional need of this generation that will surely pass on to the next. Works Cited Ellmann, Richard, and Robert O’Clair, eds. Modern Poems: A Norton Introduction. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1989. Larkin, Philip. Collected Poems. London: Marvell Press and Faber and Faber Ltd., 1989. Motion, Andrew. A Writer’s Life. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1993. Thwaite, Anthony, ed. Introduction. Collected Poems. By Philip Larkin. London: Marvell Press and Faber and Faber Ltd., 1989. Thwaite, Anthony, ed. Selected Letters of Philip Larkin. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1992.

Vegetarian Ways Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Health Essays

Vegetarian Ways Today you've arrived here with questions. After you read this maybe you'll have the answers? Whether you're already a vegetarian or if you're only curious about vegetarians I hope you find this informative and maybe influential. Ihope to open your minds enough that you'll agree that we don't have to "kill to live". I hope to expose you to a lifestyle that doesn't promote violence or death. These are all the reasons you should need to convertyour lifestyle. I've been a practicing vegetarian for 2 years. A vegetarian is defined as someone who avoids all animal flesh, including fish and poultry. Vegetarians can be sub categorized: Those who avoid flesh but still indulge in animal products such ascheese, milk and eggs are referred to as ovo-lacto-vegetarians. People who reject all animal products are referred to as purevegetarians or vegans. Scientific research shows that ovo-lacto-vegetarians are healthier than meat eaters and vegans arehealthier than both. Now I'm going to present you with four reasons everyone should be a vegetarian. First the obvious ethical reasons, second the physiological reasons, third the health reasons and finally the most important reasons for our planet, the environmental impact of a meat based diet. First the ethical reasons to become a vegetarian. The ethical reasons were the first to occur to me when I began considering becoming a vegetarian. Why should any creature lose it's life to fill my stomach? Unfortunately most people don't associate the meat on their plate as having had life at one time. In some countries people eat meat of monkeys, dogs. cats, and even other people which is disgusting to us. But it's OK for us to kill cows, chickens, or fish cause they are different? At 20 weeks of age, 85 million pigs die for Americans to eat. Another 24 million die due to abuse before they reach slaughter age. Cows normally have a 25 year life span, but most only live to be 3-5 years old before dying to become hamburgers. More than 1 million calves a year are raised for veal. They spend a miserably short life of 16-18 weeks in a crate that's not big enough for them to even stand or move in. Not given any water or solid food, only deficient milk replacers, so they will stay white and tender. Since only female chickens lay eggs over 280 million male chicks are thrown into plastic bags and piled on each other to d... ...onsumption of beef over 300 million pounds of meat are imported annually from Central and South America. This economic incentive leads to these nations destroying more forests to create more pasture land. 55 square feet of tropical rainforest is destroyed to produce every quarter pound of rainforest beef. Each year over 1000 species are eliminated due to destruction of rainforests for grazing land. More than  ½ of all water used for all purposes in the U.S. is consumed in livestock production. It takes 25 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of wheat. It takes 5,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of California beef. 33% of all raw materialsconsumed are devoted to livestock production, while only 2% are used for a vegetarian based diet. A few famous vegetarians: Einstein, Plato, Newton, Ben Franklin, Ghandi, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley. All these people knew the answer to the question I began with. " NO you do not have to kill to live". A vegetarian diet meets all the RDA, without the guilt of murder while preserving our environment. Isn't that easy? Wow. It takes so little to do so much. Quoting Ghandi, "Why turn your body into a graveyard by devouring the flesh of other creatures?"

Melting Point and Recrystallization

Recrystallization and Melting Point of Benzoic Acid Organic Chemistry 1 10/4/12 Abstract Recrystallization was done to remove impurities from the sample. The percent recovery of benzoic acid during recrystallization is 23. 02%. The difference between the pure and impure samples was observed by comparison of melting points. It was found that impure sample had a lower and wider melting point range of 120. 1-122. 2 (C). The pure sample melting point range was 121. 3-122. 5 (C). These ranges helped determine purity by comparing the known melting point of pure benzoic acid.Introduction Most of the organic substances recovered from organic reactions are impure and require purification to obtain the desired pure product. The extracted benzoic acid still had impurities which can be removed through the process of recrystallization. Recrystallization is a purification technique that relies on the differing solubility of compounds within a mixture separating to form a pure crystalline solid of the desired product. Often the desired compound is present in a larger quantity within the solution.Therefore, a pure sample of this compound can be crystallized from the solution while leaving the impurities dissolved within the solvent. Recrystallization is highly dependent upon the solubility of the two mixed compounds. Solubility is the property of how well a solute dissolves in a solvent. Solubility increases with an increase in energy within the system. This is due to the increased kinetic energy of the molecules leading to more collisions of the solvent with the solute. This process is called dissociation since the molecules of the solute become separated and surrounded by molecules of solvent.Solvation occurs once the lattice has completely dissociated within the solution and no traces of solid compound remain. These steps can be explained by Gibb’s Free Energy (? G) equation where a negative ? G indicates a spontaneous reaction. The solvation of the lattice structure is a spontaneous reaction since the entropy and temperature increase within the system as the enthalpy becomes more negative (more exothermic). Hot water was used to dissolve the crude benzoic acid in these stages of solubility. For the recrystallization to occur properly a good solvent must be chosen. Feature Article –  Free-Radical BrominationThe solute must be relatively insoluble in the solvent at room temperature but much more soluble in the solvent at higher temperature. At the same time, impurities that are present must either be soluble in the solvent at room temperature or insoluble in the solvent at a high temperature. For example, if you wanted to purify a sample of Compound X which is contaminated by a small amount of Compound Y, an appropriate solvent would be one in which all of Compound Y dissolved at room temperature because the impurities will stay in solution and pass through filter paper, leaving only pure crystals behind.Also appropriate would be a solvent in which the impurities are insoluble at a high temperature because they will remain solid in the boiling solvent and can then be filtered out. When purifying a substance with this method, the solubility of the solvent must be taken into careful consideration. It is necessary that a solvent is a poor solvent at room temperature and a very good solvent at high temperatures. As a result, polarity, the uneven distribution of electron density, must be taken into consideration. The polarity of the solvent should relatively be the opposite of the compound being dissolved.This creates a high temperature coefficient with the compound only being slightly soluble at room temperature and highly soluble at high temperatures. This allows the substance to later crystallize from the solution as it cools. The solvent also cannot be highly reactive with the solute. This will entirely defeat the purpose of dissolution since products will be created that are not the intended crystals. Additionally, the solvent should be able to dissolve either the impurity or the product so the compounds can be separated through other methods.The solvent also cannot have a boiling point higher than the melting point of the solute. If the solute melts prior to the boiling of the solvent, recrystallization will not be able to occur. For example, if you wanted to purify a sample of Compound X which is contaminated by a small amount of Compound Y, an appropriate solvent would be one in which all of Compound Y dissolved at room temperature because the impurities will stay in solution and pass through filter paper, leaving only pure crystals behind. Also appropriate would be a solvent in which the mpurities are insoluble at a high temperature because they will remain solid in the boiling solvent and can then be filtered out. Finally, the solvent should be volatile enough as to evaporate from the surface of the compound and be of low financial cost. Impurities can be removed by adding charcoal to the solution and hot gravity filtration. Adding charcoal provides a charged surface that is able to absorb impurities. The impurities that were absorbed by the charcoal were trapped in the filter paper during hot gravity filtration.Hot gravity filtration is the process by which the solution is filtered whi le on top of a heat source, such as a steam bath. This will remove any insoluble impurities (like charcoal used to remove the methyl orange) from the solution while maintaining the high temperature and high solubility coefficient of the solution. This prevents the solid from crystallizing from the solution while within the filtering apparatus. Fluted filter paper is also utilized to minimize the surface contact with the cooler funnel and to maximize the surface area over which the solution is filtered.The recrystallization process is entropically disfavored because the overall order of the system increases with the formation of a solid product. This process involves an increase in temperature within the system, which thereby causes (? G) to become negative. The increase in temperature allows the process to occur spontaneously. Nucleation is the start of the crystallization process where one crystal precipitates out of the solution first and thereby provides a lattice structure upon which molecules of the same compound can connect.This is all encompassed by the crystal lattice theory. The crystal lattice theory states that a growing solid will select similar molecules into its growing lattice. Sometimes, this does not happen spontaneously due to the solution not being sufficiently supersaturated. This is treated by â€Å"seeding† the solution with a small crystal of pure compound. This acts as a starting point for nucleation to occur. Additionally, the glass of the flask can be scratched with a glass rod. This provides a sharp edge upon which developing crystals can adhere and begin the nucleation process.Once nucleation occurs, the solution must be cooled slowly. This allows the development of crystals to exclude any impurities from the lattice and create a pure compound. The melting point of a substance is an intensive property of a compound. This kind of property does not depend upon the amount of substance present (i. e. molecular weight, density), u nlike an extensive property (i. e. mass, volume dependent upon amount present). Melting is defined as a phase change in which a solid substance becomes a liquid substance without changing its identity or chemical formula.The melting point of a substance is defined as a range between the lower and upper melting points. The lower melting point is the temperature at which the substance’s structure becomes obviously distorted. The upper melting point is the point at which the substance has become a liquid. This phase change can be observed and measured in a Melt Temp device. The melting point range therefore is the range between the lower and upper melting points observed. Pure substances tend to have a smaller melting point range at a higher temperature than impure substances. Table 1: Reagent Table (2)Chemical Name| Chemical Formula| Molar Mass (g/mol)| Density (g/ml)| BP/MP (C)| Amount Used (mL)| Concentration (mol/L)| Benzoic Acid| C6H5COOH| 122. 12| 1. 27| 249. 2/122. 41| -| -| Methyl Orange| C14H14N3NaO3S| 327. 33| 1. 28| -/>300| -| -| Charcoal| -| -| -| -| -| -| Water| H2O| 18. 0153| 1| 100/0| -| -| Experimental Prior to beginning the recrystallization experiment, the dry benzoic acid and watch glass were weighed and small portion of the crude benzoic acid was set aside for analysis in the melting point experiment. The remaining benzoic acid was placed in a 250mL Erlenmeyer flask. 00mL of water in a 250mL boiling flask containing a few boiling stones was brought to a boil using a heating mantle. The heating mantle was situated on top of a raised lab jack and the boiling flask was clamped to monkey bars. Gloves were used whenever handling the heating mantle or boiling flask. Minimum amount of boiling water was slowly added to the crude crystals. The solution was kept at or near boiling point. A very small amount activated carbon (charcoal) was added to the solution. After this, hot gravity filtration was performed over a steam bath. The fluted filter paper was wet with some boiling water prior to filtration.The solution was then carefully poured into the funnel. The filtrate was then removed from the steam bath and allowed to cool slowly at room temperature. These crystals were then collected by vacuum filtration, placed on a watch glass, and allowed to dry over a one week period. Prior to conducting the melting point experiment, the purified crystals were massed. The melting point experiment was performed by loading two capillary tubes: one with the impure benzoic acid set aside prior to the recrystallization experiment and the other with the pure benzoic acid obtained by recrystallization.The samples were obtained by tapping the open end of the capillary tube on top of the desired compound. The tube was then repeatedly bounced (open end up) inside of an inverted funnel. The two tubes containing crude and pure crystals were then placed inside of the Melt Temp device. The heat was increased and the tubes were observed through a viewing port outside of the apparatus. The melting point range was recorded. Results Table 2: Data and Calculations Data| Mass (g)| Crude Benzoic Acid| 4. 04| Watch glass| 40. 23| Watch glass with pure benzoic acid crystals| 41. 6| Pure benzoic acid crystals| . 93| Percent recovery of benzoic acid | 23. 02% | gBenzoic AcidgCrude Mix ? 100 =% Recovery of Benzoic Acid Figure 1: % Recovery Table 3: Melting Point Ranges Sample Type| Lower Melting Point ( °C)| Upper Melting Point ( °C)| Melting Point Range ( °C)| Crude Sample| 120. 1| 122. 2| 120. 1-122. 2| Pure Sample| 121. 3| 122. 5| 121. 3-122. 5| Observations * Benzoic Acid dissolved in hot water * Solution was a pink color * Addition of charcoal caused solution to turn a cloudy grayish color * Crystals formed early in filter paper Solution would no longer filter through paper properly * New filter paper resumed proper filtering * Filtrate was clear * Web-like white crystals began to form immediately after removed from the heat * Crude crystals started melting * Crude crystals appeared creamy white and distorted * Pure crystals lost their defined shape at lower melting point * Both crystals were liquefied Discussion As a slightly polar compound, benzoic acid was able to dissolve in water at a high temperature since the overall kinetic energy of the system increased to allow more collisions to occur within the solution.Since it is only slightly soluble in water due to water’s high temperature coefficient, the benzoic acid solution was consistently kept over a steam bath to prevent it from crystallizing out of the solution early. The pink color of the solution indicated that methyl orange was still present within the dried crude benzoic acid. Methyl orange is an acid indicator that turns pink in a solution of specific pH. The pink color of the solution was indicative of the fact that the benzoic acid solution was slightly acidic.Charcoal (activated carbon) was added to this solution to remove this co loration. This was made possible by the process of adsorption in which the large nonpolar portions of the methyl orange molecule adhered to the large surface area of the nonpolar carbon molecules. Only a small amount of charcoal was needed to be used in order to remove the coloring of the solution. In this experiment, however, too much charcoal was added and therefore caused the solution to turn a cloudy gray color. This charcoal overload therefore created other problems later in the experiment.Hot gravity filtration was carried out to remove any insoluble impurities still remaining in the solution. The temperature was kept high to keep the solubility coefficient increased so as to prevent premature crystallization from the solution. Fluted filter paper maximized the surface area over which the solution could be filtered and also minimized the contact the solution would have with the cooler funnel. This temperature difference could have also caused premature crystallization within t he filter paper. The percent recovery for the benzoic acid was 23. 02%.This low recovery rate was primarily due to the fact of premature crystallization occurring within the filter paper during the hot filtration portion of the experiment. This was caused by the over-abundance of charcoal present within the solution. The charcoal provided a surface upon which the crystals could form as the solution became briefly highly concentrated within the filter paper. As a result, a significant amount of product was lost. The filter paper also had to be changed because the formation of crystals prevented the rest of the solution from being properly filtered into the flask.This caused a significant loss in solution also containing the benzoic acid that could have crystallized within the flask. The exact amount of product lost was unable to be determined due to the presence of charcoal within the crystals, saturation of the filter paper, and the crystal’s adherence to the filter paper. Ho wever, the weight of the filter paper, crystals, and other impurities was 7. 63g, of which a substantial amount of the weight could be contributed to the saturated filter paper. Another source of error could have been that not all benzoic acid within the filtrate crystallized from the solution.Even though the solution was cooled slowly and benzoic acid is only slightly soluble in water, the solubility of the benzoic acid still was enough to allow it to stay within the solution. Another source of error could be from a Eutectic reaction. This reaction forms a eutectic mixture, which is a mixture that behaves like a compound. The behavior of this mixture could skew conclusions by providing a sharp melting range, similar to pure compounds. Additionally, not enough boiling water could have been added which would prevent some benzoic acid from completely dissolving within the solution.This remaining crystalline benzoic acid would then be lost during the filtration process. The filtrate th at made it into the flask was clear and began forming crystals almost immediately after being removed from the heat. This was due to the fact that as temperature decreased, the solubility of the solvent decreased, creating a supersaturated solution. This therefore forced the less soluble component of the mixture (benzoic acid) to crystallize from the solution. The solution was cooled slowly to prevent any impurities from adhering to the benzoic acid crystal lattice and thereby affecting the purity of the compound.Once a few crystals formed, others began to form the crystal lattice with them in a process called nucleation. Melting points are a range between the lower melting point (where the crystals first become distorted) and the higher melting point (where the crystals are completely liquefied) of a substance. This range was identified using the Melt Temp apparatus which magnified the view of the sample capillary tubes to allow easy observation of the state of the crystals in rela tion to the temperature of the device, which was measured using a thermometer.The melting point range for the crude benzoic acid was 120. 1 °C – 122. 2 °C, and the range for the pure crystals was 121. 3 °C – 122. 5 °C. The range for the crude benzoic acid was slightly larger at a 2. 1 °C difference because of the presence of impurities can decrease the lower range of the melting point and increase the upper range of the melting point. Both values for the crude and pure benzoic acid fell very close to the literature value of 122. 38 °C which therefore indicates that they were relatively pure.However, the crude benzoic acid’s range of 2. 1 °C was larger than the pure benzoic acid’s range of 1. 2 °C. The fact that the crude benzoic acid range is wider than the pure range indicates that there are impurities within the crystals. A possible source of error for this portion of the experiment could have been human error in the interpretation of th e thermometer or the delayed reaction between witnessing the lower and upper melting points and looking at the thermometer to record the temperature.References 1. Methyl Orange MSDS; CAS#: 547-58-0 2, Benzoic Acid MSDS; CAS# 65-85-0 [Online]; Sciencelab. com, Inc. : Houston, Texas, June 9, 2012. http://www. sciencelab. com/msds. phpmsdsld=9927096 (Accessed September 11, 2012) 2. Padias, A. (2011). Making the Connections2 A How-To Guide for Organic Chemistry Lab Techniques. 2ed. The University of Arizona. Plymouth: Hayden-McNeil Publishing, LLC.

Alfred Binet

Among the most prominent persons in mental testing is Alfred Binet, who was born July 11, 1857, at Nice, France, and died in Paris on October 18, 1911. Binet completed a licence in law in 1878 and then pursued, but did not complete, a medical degree. Binet’s early interest in psychology was influenced by Charcot’s work in hypnosis. Binet then pursued other experimental topics, eventually arriving at his interest in mental testing. For much of his career, Binet served as director of the Laboratory of Physiological Psychology at the Sorbonne.Following a period of experimental research with Victor Henri, he accepted a collaborative research arrangement with Theodore Simon. Simon’s proximity to mentally retarded subjects and Binet’s membership with the Society for the Psychological Study of the Child formed the basis for significant research. Binet’s active involvement with the society led to his appointment to a study commission of the Ministry of Publ ic Instruction â€Å"from the vantage point of which he saw the compelling need to find a way to differentiate those children who could learn normally from those who could not† (Wolf, 1973, pp.21–22). After failing to obtain academic positions at three French universities, Binet produced with Theodore Simon, in 1905, the first intelligence scale â€Å"oriented to ‘tasks or behavior’ rather than to so-called faculties† (Wolf, 1973, p. 29). The scale was part of a more comprehensive process for differentiating normal and retarded children, and it was revised in 1908 and 1911. His test was introduced in America by Henry Goddard, who developed his own revision. The most popular American revision was that of Louis Terman in 1916. Binet’s scales ingrained the concept of mental age in testing for decades.The first experiments to catch his fancy involved the two-point threshold: the simultaneous stimulation of the skin by two compass points, and the determination of the conditions under which they were perceived as one or recognized as two. This procedure had already been the subject of much experimental investigation, and early psychologists had learned that the separation of points required to produce a sensation of â€Å"twoness† varies greatly with the part of the body stimulated—for example, it is some thirty times greater for the small of the back than for the tip of the index finger.Several theories had been proposed to account for these variations, focusing on the presumably varying distribution of nerves in different parts of the body. (Thorndike, R. M. , and D. F. Lohman, 1990). Binet conducted a few simple two-point threshold experiments on himself and some friends, and concluded that the theories he had read about were wrong in some of their details. He quickly wrote an article describing his experiments and offering a â€Å"corrected† theory. Always a graceful and persuasive writer, he succeede d in getting this published.Any pleasure at seeing his words in print was soon curtailed, however, because his article caught the critical attention of one Joseph Delboeuf (1831-1896), a Belgian physiologist who had done some important work on the two-point threshold which had been overlooked by Binet. Delboeuf published a critique stating that his own much moresystematic experiments did not agree with several of Binet's findings, and showing that he had already published a much more sophisticated version of Binet's theory long before.Binet had obviously rushed prematurely into print, and Delboeuf publicly humiliated him for it. (Thorndike, R. M. , and D. F. Lohman, 1990). Even Delboeuf's attack could not diminish Binet's ardor for psychology, however, and his next passion became the associationist psychology of John Stuart Mill, whom he would later call â€Å"my only master in psychology. † Binet was persuaded by Mill's arguments about the potentially unlimited explanatory p ower of associationism, and said as much in his second venture into psychological publication. (Joy A.Palmer, Liora Bresler, David E. Cooper, 2003) Yet Binet was once again treading upon dangerous ground. Associationism as a psychological doctrine clearly had its merits, but by 1883 much evidence had already accumulated to show that it could not stand as a complete explanation of mental phenomena, even after any possible innate factors were placed aside. In particular, associationism was ill equipped to account for varying motivational influences on thought, or for many of the unconscious phenomena that were coming to increasing attention at that time.Thus the laws of association were hard pressed to explain, by themselves, why a particular starting thought can lead to totally different trains of associations, depending on the motivational state of the individual. Phenomena such as post-hypnotic amnesia posed another difficulty for exclusively associationistic theory. When a recentl y hypnotized subject was asked what happened while he was hypnotized and failed to remember, he provided an example of disassociation of ideas.The stimulus of the question failed to bring in its train the associated ideas and memories, including the answer, which one would normally expect. Mill's laws of association had nothing to say about how ideas could become disconnected, or â€Å"dissociated,† from each other. (Joy A. Palmer, Liora Bresler, David E. Cooper, 2003) This time Binet recognized the deficiencies in his psychology without help from a Delboeuf, and took steps to remedy them. But even though he was soon to augment his associationism, he never lost respect for its great though incomplete explanatory power.Years later, when he attacked the problem of assessing intelligence, he would not be restricted, as Galton and Cattell had been, to the consideration of presumably innate factors such as sensory acuity or neurological efficiency. Instead, Binet would argue that â€Å"intelligence† whatever else it was could never be isolated from the actual experiences, circumstances, and personal associations of the individual in question. (Joy A. Palmer, Liora Bresler, David E. Cooper, 2003) Among Binet’s achievements was the founding (with Dr. Henri Beaunis) of the first French psychology journal, L’Annee psychologique, in 1895.He was a significant figure in early French psychology, and the studies of his two daughters likely influenced the subsequent research of Jean Piaget. Though Binet was neither trained nor served as a school psychologist, he has had an enormous impact on the practice of school psychology. References: Joy A. Palmer, Liora Bresler, David E. Cooper. Fifty Major Thinkers on Education: From Confucius to Dewey; Routledge, 2003 Thorndike, R. M. , and D. F. Lohman. A century of ability testing. Chicago: Riverside, 1990 Wolf, T. H. Alfred Binet. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973