Saturday, August 31, 2019

Evaluate One Philosophical Theory That Tries to Deal with Agrippa’s Trilemma.

Evaluate one philosophical theory that tries to deal with Agrippa’s Trilemma. Agrippa’s Trilemma gives us the three possibilities when trying to justify a belief. The first is that our beliefs are unsupported; the second that there is an infinite chain of justification; the third being that there is a circular chain of justification. One theory that tries to deal with this is foundationalism, which suggests the first option of Agrippa’s Trilemma is true. Throughout this essay I will argue why although one of the more popular theories, it still has its flaws.Foundationalism suggests that the first option of Agrippa’s Trilemma- that there are beliefs that can be unsupported- is correct for certain ‘foundational’ beliefs. The epistemic regress argument, as explained well Richard Fumerton, shows how this is likely to be the case. It’s best to explain this with an example. Let’s say, a man comes up to you and tells you it is going to rain tomorrow, and as evidence he says ‘because the winds are going to change direction’. You ask him why he thinks this, and he says he just ‘has a feeling’.Naturally you take this as nonsense, a poor justification for his claim, and don’t believe him. This shows us then that to be justified in believing something, P, because of E, you must be justified in believing E. However, let’s say his justification for believing E- that the winds were changing bringing rain- was that he saw it in a gypsy’s crystal ball. Though he may think this is a good justification because he believes in that sort of thing, you are sceptical and again dismiss his claim.This brings us to expand our first principle to what is known as the Principle of Inferential Justification (PIJ): ‘To have justification for believing P on the basis of E one must not only have (1) justification for believing E, but (2) justification for believing that E makes probable P . ’ (Fumerton, 2002) From the PIJ we can easily show how the epistemic regress argument unfolds. Going back to the example, if you were to believe P, there must be another proposition you could legitimately infer it to be true; E1.But, surely the only way E1 could justify you that P is true is if E1 is itself justified, and if justification is inferential then it would mean E1 would have to be legitimately inferred from another proposition; E2. As you can see this would go on and on infinitely, hence why it’s a ‘regress’ argument (Fumerton, 2002). The solution would be to reach a proposition that didn’t need any further justification, one that was noninferential- self-justifiable- and so could be a ‘foundational’ belief.One foundational belief thought up by Rene Descartes is that he existed, in his famous Cotigo Ergo Sum ‘I think, therefore I am’ meditation (Descartes, 1641). From being sure of his existence he then tried t o build more beliefs, which is how foundationalism works. The idea of his existence is, to him, infallible, and therefore it could theoretically be used as foundation on which to build more beliefs. However, even such foundations such as the existence of one’s self can be called into question. It is believed that truly infallible beliefs are very few, or arguably do not exist at all (Pritchard, 2006, 41).This is a problem because, even if a truly infallible belief or beliefs can be deduced, they would be too few and too narrow to be able to build a complex series of beliefs on top of. What I mean by this is that the path from basic foundational beliefs to derived beliefs would be very tricky to bridge. Pritchard used the example of believing 2+2=4 as infallible. How then, he argued, would he deduce from this belief that he is sitting at his desk? The problem with suggesting the foundational belief must be infallible is that it is too strict. Logical entailment’- where p logically follows a proposition q, therefore p cannot be true without q being true- is a key part of foundationalism, and so foundationalists with the belief that foundational beliefs must be truly infallible have to deal with this problem (Foundationalism, n. d. ). In response to this, Pritchard goes on to say you could argue that fallible beliefs perhaps could be used as a foundation. The reasoning for this is because infallible beliefs are too strict so perhaps the only option is to open up to such beliefs.An example would be sensory beliefs; perhaps these should be accepted as foundational beliefs. However he acknowledges that this does create another problem: that you would have to argue why you think these deserve to be foundational beliefs. Surely though, sensory beliefs such as ‘there is a book on my desk because ‘I can see it’ have some doubt, and still require justification of their own? The doubt I am referring to is you could, however unlikely, be ha llucinating the book and therefore are not fully justified in believing it is there.Your senses cannot be fully trusted. You would have to then justify, surely, ‘how do you know your eyes are seeing a book and your brain isn’t just hallucinating’, and by doing this you are proving that sensory beliefs are not fully grounded foundational beliefs. This argument is similar to the ‘evil demon argument’ and dream argument’, as they also dismiss sensory beliefs as foundational (Descartes, 1641). This shows that fallible beliefs also have their problems. Some argue that these non-inferential justified beliefs simply don’t exist.Let’s say that statement P is claimed to be a non-inferential justified belief. For subject S to be justified in believing P is true, he must have a reason. He must also therefore have a belief in which gives him this reason to justify his believing in P. But how can this be, that S relies on another belief? By b eing inferentially justified, it has just contradicted itself (Pojman, n. d). However a counter for this by some foundationalists would simply be that there needn’t be a reason for believing P but P itself, as is the definition of a ‘self-justifiable’ belief.So, I believe the argument for foundationalism is a good one because as finite beings we cannot deal with an infinite chain of justifications. There must be a bottom, such as Descartes foundational belief. I cannot, however, ignore the arguments against foundationalism. Fallible beliefs should be dismissed as they are flawed from the start, because claiming a belief that can be doubted as fully-grounded is doomed to fail from the start. The problem of moving basic beliefs on to more complex derived beliefs is harder to counter, but I’d still say that infallible foundational beliefs are still the strongest argument for foundationalism.Perhaps it is just that no philosopher has yet discovered undeniable non-inferrential foundational beliefs so far. Word count – 1140 Bibliography Descartes, R (1641) ‘Meditations on First Philosophy’, in John Cottingham (ed) ‘Meditations on First Philosophy: Cambridge University Press, 13-15, 17 Fumerton, R. (2002) ‘Conditions and Analyses of Knowing’, in Moser, P. (ed. ) The Oxford Handbook of Epistemology Oxford: OUP, 204-33. Foundationalism. (1999) [ONLINE] Available at: ]. Pojman, [ONLINE] Available at: [Accessed 18 November 12] Pritchard, D. (2006) What is this thing called knowledge? London: Routledge, 39-41

Friday, August 30, 2019

Night World : Spellbinder Chapter 12

Fhea settled on the box springs, not the most comfortable seat. â€Å"Now, this all happened back in the days when there was still magic, okay? And Helle-wise could do magic, and so could most of the people in her tribe. She was the daughter of Hecate Witch-Queen-â€Å" â€Å"She was a witch?† Roz sounded intrigued. â€Å"Well-they didn't call it that then. They called her a Hearth-Woman. And she didn't look like a Halloween witch. She was beautiful: tall, with long yellow hair-â€Å" â€Å"Like you.† â€Å"Huh? Oh.† Thea grinned. â€Å"Thanks, but, no. Helle-wise was really beautiful-and she was smart and strong, too. And when Hecate died, Hellewise became co-leader of the tribe. The other leader was her sister, Maya.† Rosamund's whole head was above the mattress now. She was listening with fierce, if skeptical, interest. â€Å"Now, Maya.† Thea chewed her lip. â€Å"Well, Maya was beautiful, too: tall, but with long black hair.† â€Å"Like that girl who came to the vet's after you.† Thea was briefly startled. She'd forgotten Rosamund had seen Blaise. â€Å"Well-uh, maybe a little. Anyway, Maya was smart and strong, too-but she didn't like having to share the leadership with Hellewise. She wanted to rule alone, and she wanted something else. To live forever.† â€Å"Sounds like a good idea to me,† Rosamund growled. â€Å"Well-yeah, there's nothing wrong with being immortal, I agree. Except, see, that it all depends on how much you're willing to pay to be it. Okay? Following me?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thea floundered. Any Night Person would know immediately what she was talking about, even if by some outrageous chance they hadn't already heard the story. But of course humans were different. â€Å"Well, you see, it was a matter of what she had to do. No ordinary spell would make her immortal. She tried all sorts of things, and Hellewise even helped her. And finally they figured out what kind of spell would do it-but then Hellewise refused.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because it was too awful. No, don't ask me,† Thea added as Rosamund's interest level immediately shot up. â€Å"I'm not going to tell you. It's not a subject for kids.' â€Å"What, what? If you don't tell me, I'm just going to imagine even worse things.† Thea sighed. â€Å"It had to do with babies, okay? And blood. But that's not the point of this story-† â€Å"They killed babies?† â€Å"Not Hellewise. Maya did. And Hellewise tried to stop her, but-† â€Å"I bet she drank the blood.† Thea stopped and looked hard at Rosamund. Human kids were ignorant, but not dumb. â€Å"Okay, yes, she drank the blood. Satisfied?† Roz grinned, nodded, and sat back, listening avidly. â€Å"Okay, so then Maya became immortal. But the thing was, she didn't know until afterward the price she'd have to pay. She would live forever-but only if she drank the blood of a mortal creature every day. Otherwise, she'd die.† â€Å"Like a vampire,† Rosamund said with relish. Thea was shocked for an instant, then she laughed at herself. Of course humans knew about vampires- the same way they knew about witches. Silly legends filled with misinformation. But that meant Thea could tell her own story without fear of being believed. â€Å"Just like a vampire, actually,' she said impressively, holding Rosamund's eyes. â€Å"Maya was the first vampire of all. And all her children were cursed to be vampires, too.† Roz snorted. â€Å"Vampires can't have children.† She looked doubtful. â€Å"Can they?† â€Å"The ones descended from Maya can,† Thea said. She wasn't going to say the word â€Å"lamia† to a human. â€Å"It's only the kind who get made into vampires by being bitten that can't. Maya had a vampire son called Red Fern and she bit people. That's the story, you see-Maya wanted to make everybody like her. So she started biting people in the tribe. And eventually Hellewise decided she had to stop it.† â€Å"How?† â€Å"Well, that was the problem. Hellewise's tribe wanted to fight with Maya and the other vampires. But Hellewise knew if they did that, they'd probably all get killed. Both sides. So Hellewise challenged Maya alone to a duel. Single combat.† Rosamund pushed the mattress over with a thump. â€Å"I'd fight a duel with Mr. Hendries-he's the boys' trekleader.† She jumped on the mattress and attacked a pillow with hands and feet-and teeth. â€Å"I'd win, too. He's out of shape.† â€Å"Well, Hellewise didn't want to fight, but she had to. She was scared, because as a vampire Maya was a lot stronger now.† For a moment, Thea thought about it, visualizing the old story the way she had as a child. Seeing Hellewise in her white leather shift, standing in the dark forest and waiting for Maya to come. And knowing that even if she won the fight, she'd probably die-and being brave enough to keep standing there. Being willing to give up everything for the people she loved, and for peace. I don't think I could ever be that brave. I mean, I'd certainly hope I would be, but I have a terrible feeling that I wouldn't. And then a strange thing happened. At that instant, she seemed to hear a voice, not her usual mind-voice, but one that was urgent and almost accusatory. Asking a question as if Thea hadn't just decided on the answer. Would you give up everything? Thea shifted. She didn't usually hear voices. I suppose that's what Hellewise must have been thinking, she told herself uneasily. â€Å"So what happened? Hey! Thea! What happened?† Rosamund was war-dancing on the mattress. â€Å"Oh. Well, it was a terrible fight, but Hellewise won. She drove Maya away. And the tribe was left in peace, and they all lived happily ever after†¦ um, except Hellewise. She died of her wounds.† Rosamund stopped dancing and stared in disbelief. â€Å"And you're telling me this to make me feel better? I never heard such a lousy story.† Her chin began to tremble. Thea forgot she was dealing with a human child. She held out her arms the way she had to Bud the puppy, the way she would have to any creature in pain-and Rosamund threw herself into them. â€Å"No, no,† Thea said, anxiously cuddling. â€Å"You see, the point is that Hellewise's people lived on, and they were free. And that may seem like a little thing, because they were just a little tribe, but that little tribe got bigger and bigger, and they stayed free. And all the witches in the world are descended from them, and they all remember Hellewise and honor her. It's a story every mother tells her daughters.† Rosamund breathed irregularly for a moment. â€Å"What about her sons?† â€Å"Well, her sons, too. When I say ‘daughters' I mean ‘sons and daughters.' It's just shorter.† One green eye looked up from a mop of shaggy hair. â€Å"like ‘he' and ‘him' are supposed to mean ‘she' and ‘her,' too?† â€Å"Yeah.† Thea thought. â€Å"I guess maybe neither is the best system.† She shrugged. â€Å"The important thing is that one woman's courage kept us-them- all free.† â€Å"Look.† Rosamund straightened up, staring through the hair. â€Å"Are you just jerking my chain or is that a true story? Because frankly you seem like a witch to me.† â€Å"That's what I was going to say,† an amused voice behind Thea said. Thea's head snapped around. The door was open a few inches and a woman was standing there. She was tall and lanky, with little glasses and long silky brown hair. Her expression reminded Thea of a look Eric got sometimes, a look of very sweet puzzlement, as if he'd suddenly been struck by one of life's overwhelming mysteries. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that she was a stranger. An Outsider. A human. Thea had been blurting out the secrets of the Night World, the history of the witches, and a human adult had been listening. Suddenly her hands and feet went numb. The golden haze disappeared, leaving her in a cold, gray reality. â€Å"I'm sorry,† the human was saying, but to Thea the voice seemed to come from a distance. â€Å"I didn't mean to startle you. I was just kidding. I really was enjoying the story-sort of a modern legend for kids, right?† Thea's eyes focused on another human behind the adult. Eric. He'd been listening, too. â€Å"Mom's such a kidder,† he said nervously. His green eyes were apologetic-and intense. As if he were trying to make a connection with Thea. But Thea didn't want to be connected. Couldn't be, to these people. She was surrounded by humans, trapped in one of their houses. She felt like the rattlesnake in a circle of big creatures with sticks. Sheer, raw panic overtook her. â€Å"You should be a writer, you know?† the human woman was saying. â€Å"All that creativity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She took a step inside the room. Thea stood up, dumping Rosamund on the floor. They were coming at her-by now, the very walls seemed to be closing in. They were alien, cruel, sadistic, terrorizing, evil, not-her-kind. They were Cotton Mather and the Inquisition and they knew about her. They were going to point at her in the street and cry â€Å"Witch!† Thea ran. She slipped between Eric and his mother like a frightened cat, not touching either of them. She ran down the hall, through the living room, out the door. Outside, the sky was clouded over and it was getting dark. Thea only stopped long enough to get her bearings, then headed west, walking as fast as she could. Her heart was pounding and telling her to go faster. Get away, get away. Go to earth. Find home. She turned corners and zigzagged, like a fox being chased by the hounds. She was ten minutes from the house when she heard an engine pacing her. She looked. It was Eric's jeep. Eric was driving and his mother and Rosamund were passengers. â€Å"Thea, stop. Please wait.† Eric stopped the jeep and jumped out. He was on the sidewalk in front of her. Thea froze. â€Å"Listen to me,† he said in a low voice, turning away from the jeep. â€Å"I'm sorry they came, too-I couldn't stop them. Mom feels awful. She's crying, Roz is crying†¦ please, won't you come back?† He looked close to crying himself. Thea just felt numb. â€Å"It's okay. I'm fine,† she said at random. â€Å"I didn't mean to upset anybody.† Please let me go away. â€Å"Look, we shouldn't have eavesdropped. I know that. It was just†¦ you're so good with Rosamund. I never saw anybody she liked so much. And†¦ and†¦ I know you're sensitive about your grandma. That's why you're upset, isn't it? That story is something she told you, isn't it?† Dimly, somewhere in the pit of Thea's mind, a light shone. At least he thought it was a story. â€Å"We have family stories too,† Eric was saying, an edge of desperation in his voice. â€Å"My grandpa used to tell us he was a Martian-I swear to God this is true. And then he went to my kindergarten Back to School and I'd told all the kids he was a Martian, and they made these beep-beep noises at him and laughed, and I felt so bad. He was really embarrassed†¦.† He was babbling. Thea's numbness had receded enough that she felt sorry for him. But then a shape loomed up and she tensed again. It was his mother, silky hair flying. â€Å"Look, Thea,† Eric's mother said. Her expression was wretched and earnest. â€Å"Everybody knows your grandma, knows how old she is, how she's a little†¦ quirky. But if she's scaring you-if she's telling you any kind of weird stuff-† â€Å"Mom!† Eric shouted through his teeth. She waved a hand at him. Her little glasses were steamed up. â€Å"You don't need to deal with that, okay? No kid needs to deal with that. If you want a place to stay; if you need anything-if we need to call social services-â€Å" â€Å"Mom, please, I'm begging you. Shut up.† Social services, Thea was thinking. Dear Isis, there'll be some sort of investigation. The Harmans in court. Gran accused of being senile-or being part of some cult. And then the Night World coming in to enforce the law†¦. Her terror peaked and left her deadly calm. â€Å"It's okay,† she said, turning her gaze toward Eric. Not looking at him, but going through the motions exactly. â€Å"Your mom's just trying to be helpful. But really†-she turned the same face toward his mother-â€Å"everything's okay. Gran isn't strange or anything. She does tell stories-but she doesn't scare anybody.† Is that good enough? Close enough to whatever you believe? Will it make you leave me alone? Apparently so. â€Å"I just don't want to be responsible for you and Eric-well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Eric's mom exhaled nervously, almost a laugh. â€Å"Breaking up?† Thea made a sound that was also almost a laugh. â€Å"Don't worry. I'd never want that.† She turned a smile on Eric, looking down because she couldn't meet his eyes. â€Å"I'm sorry if I got- touchy. I was just-embarrassed, I guess. Like you said about your grandpa.† â€Å"Will you come back with us? Or let us take you home?† Eric's voice was soft. He wanted her to go back to his house. â€Å"Just home, if you don't mind. I've got homework.† She lifted her eyes, making herself smile again. Eric nodded. He didn't look happy, but he wasn't as upset as he had been. In the backseat of the jeep, Rosamund pushed up against Thea and squeezed her hand. â€Å"Don't be mad,† she hissed, fierce as ever. â€Å"Are you mad? I'm sorry. Want me to kill somebody for you?† â€Å"I'm not mad,† Thea whispered, looking over the top of Rosamund's shaggy head. â€Å"Don't worry about it.† She had reverted to the strategy of any trapped animal. Wait and watch for your chance. Don't fight until you see a real opportunity to get away. â€Å"See you tomorrow,† Eric said as she got out of the jeep. His voice was almost a plea. â€Å"See you tomorrow,† Thea said. It wasn't time to get away yet. She waved until the jeep was gone. Then it was time. She dashed inside, up the stairs, and straight to Blaise. â€Å"Wait a minute,† Blaise said. â€Å"Go back. So you're saying they didn't believe any of it.† â€Å"Right. At worst Eric's mom thinks Gran's bonkers. But it was a close call. For a while there I thought she might want to get Gran declared unfit or something.† The two of them were sitting on the floor by Blaise's bed where Thea had collapsed. Blaise was eating candy corn with one hand and scribbling on a yellow legal pad with the other, all the while listening attentively. Because that was the thing about Blaise. She might be vain and self-centered, quarrelsome, hot-tempered, lazy, unkind to humans, and generally hard to live with, but she came through for family. She was a witch. I'm sorry I said you might be a little like Maya, Thea thought. â€Å"It's my fault,† she said out loud. â€Å"Yes, it is,† Blaise said, scribbling. â€Å"I should have just found some way to keep him at a distance in the beginning.† But of course, it was because of Blaise that she hadn't. She'd thought Eric was safer with her than he would have been with Blaise. She'd thought that somehow†¦ somehow†¦ Things would work out. That was it. There had always been some secret underlying hope that there could be a future with Eric. Some little hiding place where she'd kept the hope that things could be all right. But now she had to face reality. There was no future. The only thing she could give Eric was death. And that was all he could give her. She'd realized that, all in one terrible explosion of insight when she'd seen Eric's mother in the room. There was no way for them to be together without being discovered. Even if they ran away, someday, somewhere, the Night People would find them. They'd be brought before the joint Night World Council, the vampire and witch elders. And then the law would be fulfilled†¦. Thea had never seen an execution, but she'd heard of them. And if the Harmans tried to stop the Council from killing her, it would start a war. Witches against vampires. Maybe even witches against witches. It could mean the end of everything. â€Å"So it doesn't look like we have to kill the mother,† Blaise said, frowning at her scribbles. â€Å"On the other hand, if we kill the kids, the mother's bound to be unhappy, and might make a connection. So to be safe-â€Å" â€Å"We can't kill any of them,† Thea said. Her voice was muted but final. â€Å"I don't mean ourselves. I'm going to call one of our friendly vampire cousins. Ash-he's supposed to be out on the West Coast somewhere, isn't he? Or Quinn, he likes that kind of thing. One quick bite, let the blood run out-â€Å" â€Å"Blaise, I am not going to let vampires kill Eric. Or anybody,† she added as Blaise opened her mouth. â€Å"It's not necessary. Nobody needs to die.† â€Å"So you have a better idea?† Thea looked at a statue of Isis, the Queen of Egyptian Goddesses, on the desk. â€Å"I†¦ don't know. I thought of the Cup of Lethe. Make them forget everything about me. But it might look suspicious-this entire family with a gap in their memory. And kids at school would wonder why Eric doesn't remember my name anymore.† â€Å"True.† Thea stared at the moon held between Isis's golden horns. Her brain, which had been working so coldly and logically, helping her to survive, was stalling now. There had to be a way to save Eric and his family-or what was the point of living herself? Then she saw it. â€Å"What I really think would be best,† she said slowly, because it hurt like a physical pain, â€Å"would be for Eric to stop caring about me. To fall in love with someone else.† Blaise sat back. She stirred the candy corn with long, elegant nails. She ate a piece. â€Å"I admire you,† she said. â€Å"Very sensible.† â€Å"Not yon,† Thea said through clenched teeth. â€Å"You understand that, right? A human. If he falls in love with another girl he'll forget about me without any Lethe. Nobody will disappear or have amnesia; nobody will get suspicious.† â€Å"Okay. Although I would've liked to try him. He's got a strong will-I think he'd have held out for a while. Been a challenge.† Thea ignored this. â€Å"I still have some of his blood. The question is, do you have something you've been holding back, some love spell that will completely blow him out of the water?† Blaise ate another piece of candy corn. â€Å"Of course I do.† She narrowed her gray eyes. â€Å"Also, of course, it's a forbidden spell.† â€Å"I figured. Blaise, I'm now the princess of forbidden spells. One more doesn't matter. But I'll do the actual working, I don't want you to get in trouble.† â€Å"You won't like it. It involves the bezoar stone from the stomach of an ibex-which I just happened to pick up while we were living with Aunt Gerdeth.† Ibex were an endangered species. But this one was already dead. â€Å"I'll do the working,† Thea said stubbornly. â€Å"You really care about him, don't you?† â€Å"Yes,† Thea whispered. â€Å"I still think we're soul-mates. But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Would you give up everything? â€Å"I don't want to be the reason he dies. Or the reason a war starts between the Harmans and the rest of the Night World. And if I have to give him up, I'd rather do it myself, make sure he's safe with somebody else who loves him.† â€Å"Have you got somebody picked out?† â€Å"Her name is Pilar.† Thea looked at her cousin suddenly. â€Å"Blaise? When Luke asked you what you wanted, and you said nothing you could have†¦ what did you mean?† Blaise tilted her head back and examined the ceiling. Then she looked down. â€Å"Does anybody ever want anything they can have? Really?† â€Å"I†¦ don't know.† Blaise clasped her knees and rested her chin on them. â€Å"If we can have things, we don't really want them anymore. So there's always something out there that we're wanting and not able to get†¦ and maybe that's good.† It didn't sound good to Thea. It sounded like one of those terrible lessons in Life 101 that were supposed to make you more mature. â€Å"Let's do the spell,† she said.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Endangered Species Essay

Endangered Species An endangered is a species where the number of the animal’s population has decreased to a point where there is a risk of extinction. Habitat destruction, pollution, and over harvesting has led to extinction. As of 2013, studies show that global extinction threatens more than 30%of at least 70,200 species. The World Wildlife Fund has stated that one of the â€Å"great extinction episodes† of in Earth’s history is currently under way. Animals becoming endangered is a major threat to ecosystems around the world. Animals are a part of the constant cycle that keeps the nature of it’s habitat in balance. If you were to take away the animal, it takes away a crucial part of the cycle, and many other parts of the cycle would perish without the animal’s contribution. Humans are at fault for the mass amount of endangered species because of the detrimental environmental habits that they have. This puts us to great shame and leaves us responsible for these innocent animals.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Strategic Marketing Analysis for Starbucks Essay

Strategic Marketing Analysis for Starbucks - Essay Example In 1971, Starbucks was established on adoration for espresso. Three specialists, Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Zev Sigel, had a longing to impart that love to Seattle by opening a little coffeehouse known as Starbucks Coffee, Tea & Spice. After ten years, Starbucks had developed to four retail locations situated all over the Seattle region. Entire bean espresso was sold in all four areas. After coming to 100 stores in 1992 the organization opened up to the world. Starbucks developed at an exponential pace from there on, into a fruitful, extraordinary worldwide association that aids about 35 million clients a week (Van, 2006). Starbucks utilizes a grid arrangement by joining divisional and useful structures. Due to the multifaceted nature of network structures, Starbucks is classified as an unthinking association, which involves high vertical and flat unpredictability, high formalization, high centralization, slender compasses of control, and high institutionalization. The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Shultz, has attempted to make a more productive and streamlined structure where data can stream openly from the client and low-level worker to the corporate level. This is frequently hard to attain to with an elaborate structure. Starbucks uses its grid structure to keep away from the correspondence breakdowns that can happen in an association that uses vertical separation, as the number of levels of power builds a more vertical the organization. Starbucks partitions its work into cross useful workgroups, which permits representatives to answer to various administrators. The network structure appears to work for Starbucks, as they keep up compelling correspondence, excellent item advancement, productive generation, and praiseworthy client benefit accordingly (Chernev, 2006).

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Summary - Essay Example As it were it introduces an altered relationship as opposed to the one generally perceived in the writing on financial sector advancement. The vitality of that to the current center of the Qatari government on broadening of its economy identifies with the inquiry of how decently represented this sector is to help this arrangement as a wellspring of development, vocation and pay and how appropriate government activities are in backing of accomplishing such an objective. Qatar is an extremely youthful and little express that has accomplished enormous strides in its financial advancement since its freedom in 1971. It has moved from an economy underpinned by essential economic exercises to a rich oil-trading state. The development and advancement that went hand in hand with the solidification of its oil economy has been generous thinking of it as little populace. As indicated by the 2004 enumeration the populace was put at 744.000, an increment of 42.5 percent on the past statistics of 1997. A 2006 review demonstrated that the populace had developed to 834,754, an increment of 12.6 percent on the 2004 evaluation. In any case, late gauges demonstrate that the aggregate populace arrived at 1,650,139 in 2009. This fast increment is because of the vast onrushing of outside work to address the needs of the extending economy. Qatari nationals speak to short of what 34 percent of the aggregate populace. The nations every capita Gross domestic product surpass ed USD 54,000 in 2006 and is estimate to reach more than USD 103,500 in 2009; one of the worlds most astounding. Regularly, the little size of the populace in connection to the enormous size of its Gross domestic product is an element in this. These riches has propelled the political authority of Qatar to be amazingly yearning about putting Qatar on the world guide on account of its oil and

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

SWOT Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

SWOT Analysis - Essay Example The strengths and weaknesses define the internal environment while the opportunities and threats represent the external environment to a business (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). Managers should analyze all their internal positive characteristics of their organization with an aim of exploiting them. These attributes represent the strengths of such an organization and the analysis helps in indentifying the extent to which these factors can be utilized. The strengths include the resources at the firm’s disposal that ensure all the business practices run smoothly (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). In addition, the positive characteristics are considered as strengths from their capability to sustain the organization’s competitive advantage and the positive aspects of the human resource. The managers should focus on these attributes in order to add value to the business operations. These organization’s strengths are within the management’s control. The weaknesses represent the factors that work toward minimizing the capacity to add value through an organization’s operations. Consequently, these factors reduce the expected value of an organizations operations and leads to a decrease in their competitive advantage in the markets. Such weaknesses include inability to utilize the existing resources maximally, poor quality services and poor positioning in the market. These factors are also within the management’s control (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). Opportunities are aspects of the external environment to an organization. They symbolize the incentives for the existence and the possible progress of business operations in the market. These incentives present an opening to advance business practices and improve the current benefits. They also offer a chance for growth and development of activities that add value to the organizations and its stakeholders (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). These opportunities also lead to

Monday, August 26, 2019

Employees Compensation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Employees Compensation - Essay Example The success of an organization basically depends on the employees using their full skills and knowledge in their production, therefore these employees require motivation, this motivation can be done indifferent ways and by different things. The employee Motivation normally involves, the compensation system which is the activity of giving the employees what they really want most from work, it therefore makes the manager get his expectations from the employees, this expectations may include, production of quality goods and services. Motivation will enable the employees to have their goals in the organization achieved; they will have a positive perspective on their position in the organization. Motivation also creates the influence to change and build employees self-esteem and capacity to work. The managers have the responsibility of motivating workers, when the organizational structure is experiencing changes, the manager should come up with a plan that will define the environmental fa ctors that will be able to bring an atmosphere of integrity, honesty, and confidence to the employees. Under this, the managers' plan should consider the factors that motivate his employees; this will involve the determination of the important factors to the employee in his working life, and how they relate to his productivity. He should also find out what motivates the employees in their work, this is a situation where, we find most employees wanting a privileged compensation, an enhanced working environment, and flexible benefits from the amount of work that they do. This can be done by, asking them during performance assessment, attitude inspection, and can also be retrieved from informal discussion on what they want most from their jobs. On the other hand, he should also spot the de-motivating factors of the organization to the employees; these factors may be physical factors which include buildings or equipment or psychological factors such as monotony, injustice, barriers to p romotion and lack of appreciation. 2 Since most workers claim to be working for money, and that their extreme benefit is encouragement; under this, money is regarded to be a low motivator, and that it is only a short time motivator, after a rise is given to the employees salary, so the manager should be aware that benefits given after a particular performance rarely motivate the employees to use their potential effectively, most of the employees say that the benefits are only used to motivate the new employees in the organization but not the existing ones. Therefore, poor motivation may lead to a change in the organizations' performance; therefore the manager should adopt a policy for managing changes within the organization. The introduction of this change should be motivating to the employees since it can be used as an entry to achievement. To achieve a positive change in an organization, the manager should not tell or instruct the employees, this wont help but it only creates ignorance to the doubts and expectations of the employees, therefore one should carry out discussions, through which the sharing of a particular problem will help in the management to come up with better actions in dealing with the issues that are predicted to affect the productivity of the firm, due to the shared ideas and decision making

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Discussion 2 Week 7 Chapter 13 Corporate Valuations Assignment

Discussion 2 Week 7 Chapter 13 Corporate Valuations - Assignment Example Also, a member of the cross-asset team at â€Å"Societe Generale Bank† strongly believes that cash does not give returns to shareholders. From these disputes, it was seen that many directors in the IT sector prefer to keep cash. This helps them take advantage of new opportunities instead of giving to shareholders. To avoid such disputes, companies should ensure that such decisions have the support of shareholders. To ensure that this is the case, companies need to make sure that rules on decision making are in the shareholders’ agreement or the company’s article of association. These rules will then a guide when making decisions (Laro, 2005). For instance, in case of piling cash, with the help of the rules, companies will ensure that the decision is within the rules. This will help avoid disputes and will also help the company in case there is a legal bid. It is also necessary to inform shareholders on decisions made by the company. For example, decisions to keep cash should have valid evidence of the gains that the company and its shareholders should expect from this move. This is because holding on shareholders’ income in the form of cash will make shareholders doubt the company’s commitment to them. For example, in the case of Apple, with proper disclosure, there will not be a dispute over retaining cash. The dispute arose as a result of doubt over the cash pile of $137 billion. Another important point for companies to note is that shareholders are most interested in the return on their investment. To them, the value of the company is crucial as this will reflect what they should expect from their investment in terms of dividend. Therefore, to avoid disputes, companies should ensure that they balance between the money that the company keeps for expansion and the money payable to shareholders in terms of dividend. Shareholders

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Influence of Internet Marketing on the Effectiveness Dissertation

The Influence of Internet Marketing on the Effectiveness - Dissertation Example Review of Related Literature Introduction One of the most relevant developments over the past years has been the progress exemplified by the Internet with which Internet adoption has significantly increased for marketing activities and opportunities. The Internet allows individuals to exchange ideas, send e-mails, shop for products, have access to news, and obtain business information (Armstrong and Kotler 2000). Internet usage for marketing increases the availability of information compared to conventional forms of media (e.g. TV, radio, print) with a moderately low cost for entry. Consumers are able to access the Internet and search for products, and purchase these at any given time, thus increased convenience. When companies are capable of offering convenience to its customers, such as through certain individualized customer services, they will eventually result to the increase of value offered by businesses and enable customers to experienced increased levels of satisfaction (Tsiotsou and Vlachopoulou 2010). Internet usa ge is also a cost-effective means of carrying out marketing operations as it can result to a reduced requirement for sales force members. On the whole, using the Internet to support marketing activities can lead to the expansion of businesses, from local to national/international markets, thus increased opportunities for growth. The following sections will then look into SMEs and their experience with the integration of Internet in their marketing operations. Internet and Marketing Activities in SMEs ... To determine the impact of Internet usage on marketing activities of SMEs. Review of Related Literature Introduction One of the most relevant developments over the past years has been the progress exemplified by the Internet with which Internet adoption has significantly increased for marketing activities and opportunities. The Internet allows individuals to exchange ideas, send e-mails, shop for products, have access to news, and obtain business information (Armstrong and Kotler 2000). Internet usage for marketing increases the availability of information compared to conventional forms of media (e.g. TV, radio, print) with a moderately low cost for entry. Consumers are able to access the Internet and search for products, and purchase these at any given time, thus increased convenience. When companies are capable of offering convenience to its customers, such as through certain individualized customer services, they will eventually result to the increase of value offered by businesse s and enable customers to experienced increased levels of satisfaction (Tsiotsou and Vlachopoulou 2010). Internet usage is also a cost-effective means of carrying out marketing operations as it can result to a reduced requirement for sales force members. On the whole, using the Internet to support marketing activities can lead to the expansion of businesses, from local to national/international markets, thus increased opportunities for growth. The following sections will then look into SMEs and their experience with the integration of Internet in their marketing operations. Internet and Marketing Activities in SMEs The technologies that the Internet has integrated into businesses have enhanced the

Friday, August 23, 2019

Women's role in The Bronze Age Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Women's role in The Bronze Age - Research Paper Example The Euripides world has been in existence since the dawn of times and this has been usefully applied to support human life. This shows that is role is unique and applies to all the spheres of humanity. People therefore embrace bronze age and define it depending on the specific role it plays in defining the role of humanity in the prehistoric period. The archeological environment appears to be minute and is administered at various integrated levels, making it important to the entire group of people or even to the community. The stylistic consideration helps to establish the power of women and how these were centered in the definition of possession, position and family setup. In virtue of Menelaus, the wife' appeared to be mostly attached to the people’s believes and undertakes a reflection of battling for position. The narrative identifies the Greek originality and hence redefines the cultural thought that has been ideologically classified on the basis of willingness to underst and the empirical role of women in the ancient Bronze Age. Cultural formulations in the descriptive content offer people’s understanding of their role and especially when it comes to ensuring that the poor are supported. Further, the society provides the required morals and this is equally identified by its notable change in thinking, (Abramson and Inglehart, 1994). The assumptions hypothesized explore the optimism created by people’s voluntary support. This consciousness is explored based on notable possibilities described by scholars of psychology. The nature of Bronze Age is far beyond inborn character and it is non objective, it is non-predictive yet it is direct and based on a willing heart. In accordance with the moral exercise defined above, the notable inclusion of women in the changing attributes of the Greek mythology is considerably balanced against any possible disruptions. The conceptual analysis of the Women in Bronze Age brings body determinants as well as child disturbances in growth and relative human development values. The aggressive process involved in any developmental platform involves paths taken within the complex human evolution; growth and Archaeological record offers a reflection of existing sexual theories. Development precedents as well as essential incremental issues are phenomenal and this greatly impact on the increasing role of archaeological record complex. However, a comprehensive look at the elaborated natured of its visualized terminology provides a judgmental point of reference that relatively prevails in today’s family changeover compositions. Further, the core aspects which are re-enacted are provisionally defined through a list of processes working on political, social and managerial positions, (Banfield, 1958). An integral analysis of a conceptualized approach give a consultative terminology which womanly experience give a significant impact on the tremendous definition of erotic desires including incestuous desire as well as matricide. The understanding and study analysis of psychopathology as well as related human behaviors equality create significance in identifying the roles of women in the Stone Age period. This reflection projects the impact of universal fantasies in areas of parentage, incestuous relations and growing situational reflections explain dissatisfaction and high levels of uncalled substitutions within which marital challenges are supplemented. Conflict presentation has presently been frequented according to Archaeological record and a correlative composite explain parent’s contrasting roles and opinioned transference which actually give a non-predictable ideals within a family setting. Tragedies attached to growing disconnection between a family unit including sexual malfunctioning and

Thursday, August 22, 2019

CNN And FOX News Essay Example for Free

CNN And FOX News Essay I chose to view CNN and Fox news to investigate the difference between how they relay information to the public. I have read that CNN publishes real news and that Fox is just an informational entertainment station filled with opinions about the news. Immediately it is seen that CNN is very detailed in their broadcasts. Upon watching several stories from both channels, I have found that they basically convey the same exact news stories, just in different ways. CNN was only a 30 minute segment but they thoroughly covered the most important world events. Fox News was an hour long segment and briefed the world news events. This is understandable since Fox news is a local station, they had to spend a majority of the air time on local news. Both stations do however relay the news in a bias manner. For example, both channels discussed the recent Teacher strike in Chicago. CNN spent about 4 or 5 minutes on the story stating that the teachers have come to an agreement and the children will be able to return to school on Wednesday. A 2 hour meeting with about 800 union officers and delegates concluded with a contractual agreement which would need to be ratified by the teachers and support staff and union members. The Chicago Mayor Emanuel was pleased with the results stating that it was an honest compromise. The students will suffer with a longer school day but they will be returning to school, which in turn will allow the parents and care givers to return to work. The coverage of this story on Fox news was minimal, lasting about 2 minutes. It was just brief details stating that the teachers and union members had reached and agreement and that the students would be returning to school after missing a full 7 days of class. Also, a topic of the news that was presented on both channels was the horrible situation in Afghanistan. CNN had an extensive small segment on the things that were transpiring as well as a short interview with some of the people in Afghanistan. The segment lasted about 5 minutes on CNN it was stated that the U.S. coalition is gradually transferring control to Afghan  authorities but as of now the war is not over. There are still tens of thousands of American forces there dealing with what they call â€Å"green† and â€Å"blue violence. There were a total of 6 U.S troops killed last week by Afghan allies. There were also 6 jets destroyed. When this story was aired on Fox News there wasn’t that much detail. The segment only lasted about 3 minutes on Fox News. It was only stated that there were four troops killed on Sunday and 2 more killed on Friday of last week. Fox also stated that there was a raid on a military base by 15 insurgents and six jets were destroyed. Four teen of those 15 insurgents were killed. President Obama’s job in the White House thus far was also a topic discussed on both channels. CNN spoke on this topic for about 9 minutes and commented on how the President is quickly making progress towards recovering the U.S., and has a big agenda for the future already planned compared with past presidents. The news reporter described this facet as â€Å"breath taking† and â€Å"stunning.† Fox news discussed the president and the upcoming election for about 5 minutes, and as could be expected, completely had the opposite view on this. They maintained that the President is taking on way too many different tasks at once per his quote, and that it is absolutely crazy for him to think he will get everything completed in two terms should he be re-elected. The news reporter said that he should stop misleading the American people and pick one or two big issues to cover in his agenda, and just maybe he will be able to address those in a believable manner. Fox News also spoke of the uproar that comments made by Romney about â€Å"47% of Americans being dependent upon the government backing the President† No comments were made about this video on CNN. I have never actually watched various news channels like this. I usually catch the local news on Fox and then the world news on ABC. I enjoyed the CNN broadcast. If was much more informative and it not only covered the large world stories but it touched on some of the smaller things happening in the world as well.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Hospital Essay Example for Free

Hospital Essay This report outlines the service delivery process at Al Salam Hospital in Mohandseen focusing on the out-patient clinic along with our evaluation of the service there. We visited the hospital several times and also played the role of patients there. We made reservations and were examined by several doctors (e. g. internal medicine doctor, ear nose and throat, chest and ophthalmology,†¦etc). We also interviewed one of the doctors (cardiology) for the purpose of gaining more information. We made a survey and interviewed some patients to see their evaluation of the service and how it meets their perception. Based on our visits and the interview we made we were able to gain enough information to evaluate the offered service and prepare our report. This report was prepared by Ban Faisal, Mariam Riad, Nancy Mustafa and Mohamed Magdi Al Kady. Process Description at Al Salam Hospital: Al Salam Hospital has 2 buildings, the first one is located on the main street, is the hospital itself, for surgeries, patient hospitalization and it has the blood testing lab and x-rays. The second building which is located on a side street near to the main building is the out-patient clinics. The first step for being examined in one of the hospital’s Out-Patient Clinics, is to select the desired doctor, according to the specialty and available times. The patient can acquire the needed information through the hospital’s website (http://alsalamhospital. org/reservation. asp), through the telephone or through personal inquiry at the hospital. Reservation Details: The patient should then make a reservation. The reservation can be made either through the telephone or by going directly to the clinics’ reception. This depends on the doctor, some doctors allow reservation through the telephone and others only allow reservation to be done directly at the out-patient clinic along with payment. If the patient is making his reservation at the clinic, then he can make it on the same day as the desired time or a few days in advance depending on the availability of appointments. There are several payment categories; the patients who pay normally, the ones who have an insurance that gives them a discount (partial or full) and there are members of unions who usually get a partial discount that varies according to the union. Reservation Process The patients head to the reservation area that is set near the main entrance. There are two windows located one for the normal patients and one for the insured ones. The receptionist begins by asking the patient if this is his/her first visit to the hospital, if it is, the receptionist asks for the patient’s information and a file is created for the patient on the hospital’s computer system. The patient tells the receptionist which doctor and when they want to reserve an appointment. The receptionist then checks on the computer reservation system if there are any available appointments t the desired time and if not he tell the patient the first available appointment. If the desired appointment is available then in the case of the normal patient, the patient pays and gets a receipt. The patient is given a floor number (where the examination room is on) and is asked to head there and is advised to give the receipt to the nurse who is sitting at a desk on this floor. The nurse then takes the receipt and enters the information in a ledger (the day’s list of patients) she has to organize patients and then gives the patient his number (on a first come first served basis). She checks the patient’s ID and goes to the archive to find the patient’s medical record. If this was his first visit, she gets a new blank medical form. The medical records are given to the doctor later. If the patient has an insurance or will get a discount the above process is the same the difference is that at the time of payment, the patient presents his/her insurance card (or union membership card) to the receptionist who then checks if he has a contract and with which insurance company and the amount of discount he will get. The payment is settled according to the discount rate and the receptionist finishes the reservation process and gives the patient three sets of papers to sign along with the normal receipt. The papers are for the insurance company or union (One for the hospital, one for the company and one for the patient). The receptionist keeps one of the signed forms and advises the patients to go to the doctor as previously mentioned. If the doctor cancels his appointments for the day the hospital then calls the patients informing them of this change and gives them another appointment. If the patient has made his appointment in an earlier day, before his appointment he’ll first head to the nurse on the clinic’s floor to give her his papers and take his number. At the time of the appointment, all patients wait in the waiting area for his/her name to be called by the nurse at the desk that already gave him his number on the day’s list of patients. When the doctor arrives the nurse provides him with the list of patients by their order. She also gives him the medical records of all the patients. After the patient’s name is called he goes into the doctor’s office to be examined and describe his/her complaint. The doctor checks the patient’s medical record, if there is any, to get a clearer background about his health. After the examination, the doctor can then give the patient a prescription or orders a few tests to be made, and if needed advises the patient to schedule a follow up consult to check on the progress of the treatment or to check the results of the test. The doctor writes everything down in the medical record (the complaint, diagnosis and recommended treatment), the form is given to the nurse to return to the archive at the end of the day. The number of consults may vary depending on the ability of the doctor to pin point the patient’s illness and the treatments effectiveness. The doctor also has a document where he keeps information about all the patients that he has seen on that day. If tests are required then the hospital offers the lab as a complimentary service to the out-patient clinic. There are two labs one in the outpatient clinic building and one in the hospitals main building. The first step to get the tests done is for the patient to take the papers with the prescribed tests to be registered in the hospitals computer system which is located on the ground floor. The patient will then get a paper which s/he will then take to the nurses sitting at a window located immediately next to the lab, they will take the paper and then tell the patient to go into the lab to be tested. The patient will then be told when his results will be ready to be picked up. The patient can reserve for a consult the same way s/he reserve for a regular examination. Go to Appendices 1 2 for more illustration about the service delivery process at the out-patient clinics. Evaluation and Analysis of Al Salam Hospital’s Service: Service concept and characteristics: Service Concept  The hospital should be able to offer all things a patient can need: out-patient clinics for examinations, emergency rooms, intensive care units, x-rays and labs, .. etc The employees should feel that they are saving lives not just having a normal job. The community should treat the hospital as a crucial facility that they need to help and do what they can to help it operate. The treatment should be as efficient and professional as possible and make the patients feel safe and secure so that they would receive their regular treatments there and recommend it to their families and friends. The design of the hospital takes into consideration the devices needed, emergency rooms, moving large objects as beds in corridors and elevators. The interior design is suited to a hospital and allocation of rooms and floors takes into account the psychology of patients (i. e. departments with a high death rate like intensive care units and cancer patients should be located away from newly born babies and incubators). The hospital is marketed based on the names of the doctors working there and how successful they are in treatment. Target Market Segment:  AL Salam Hospital is a private hospital focusing on average and above average-income families. This market is not usually price-sensitive when it comes to healthcare services. This community needs a professional hygienic hospital which they trust to be able to go to for regular examinations, consultations, tests and emergencies The most important segment is of those of the older generation because they usually get sick more. However, it is important that the hospital builds it ties of trust with the customers throughout their whole life. Distinctive Characteristics of the Service at Al-Salam: Simultaneity: It is the fact that services are created and consumed at the same time at the hospital, the patient enters the room, the doctor examines the patient (the customer) and the patient receives this service simultaneously. For example if a patient comes to the hospital and is diagnosed as having a very low blood pressure the doctor will hook the patient to a salt solution IV which will raise the patient’s blood pressure. Perishability:  The service is perishable which means it cannot be stored. If the patient doesn’t come at the reserved time, a lost opportunity has occurred at that time. An hour without patients during a doctor’s shift can be considered as a lost opportunity and the money that the hospital was supposed to make at that time will never be compensated. Faced with variable demand and time-perishable capacity to provide the service, the managers of the hospital used the following techniques: * smoothed demand by using reservations or appointments Allowed patients to wait. * Accepted more patients than the time capacity. Intangibility: Services are ideas and concepts, not products. The patient experiences the service that the doctor offers; he doesnt touch it or see it. The intangible nature of services presents a problem for customers. When buying a product, the customer is able to see it, feel it, and test its performance before purchase. But for a service, things are di fferent. The doctor tried to overcome this intangibility feature through making the intangible tangible; trying to stop the pain that the customer feels. He did this through examination and then medication. Another way through which the hospital overcame this intangibility feature was the reliance on reputation and word-of-mouth. Al Salam hospital is very well-known by its good reputation and its customers who are really satisfied with the service delivery system. This two features encourages people to guarantee that when they go to this hospital, they will be satisfied even though it’s not a product that they can really see and touch. Heterogeneity: The combination of the intangible nature of services and the customer as a participant in the service delivery system results in a variation of the service being offered from one customer to customer next at the same doctor, lets take a dentist for instance, each customer might have a different kind of pain and thus, needs a unique method of treatment. On a larger scale each customer needs a certain doctor based on his/her illness. Al Salam hospital offers a variety of doctors with different specializations. Also, there is a cafeteria for patients; that provides a variety of food and drinks to satisfy as much patients as possible. There is cooked food, biscuits, cheese, sandwiches†¦etc. And as for the drinks there were many kinds of them such as: juice, tea, coffee†¦etc.

Nursing Shortage in the United States

Nursing Shortage in the United States NURSING LABOUR FORCE IN THE U.S. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM Abstract The well-anticipated demographic change attributed to the ageing of the baby boomer population in the USA will led to a significant demand on the healthcare industry in the long run. Important resources such as the nurse work force will be required to provide quality health care services to the population. This research paper will provide a brief description and statistics of the nurse labor force in the USA, the educational requirement needed to be a nurse, the challenges face by the nurses in the healthcare system. The last part of the paper identifies the nursing shortage and the solutions for the short and long run, the recommendations and finally, the conclusion. LABOR FORCE IN THE U.S. HEALTHCARE SYSTEM The healthcare system in America is a complex and unique setting comparing to the other 34 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). In 2016, The United States spent $3.3 trillion on health care benefits, or 10,348 per person annually, which represents17.9 % of the total GDP and remained at top of all OECD countries for the healthcare expenditures. About 30% of the cost was spent on hospital care, 20% on physician and clinical services, 10% on prescription drugs and 5% on nursing care. However, the life expectancy is 78.6 years which ranked 22nd of the OECD countries (Medicare & Services, 2015). Meanwhile, problems such as growing population, aging and shortage of physicians and nurses are causing the increasing demand for healthcare benefits (Levit & Patlak, 2009). In 2016, there were 5,534 registered hospitals including 4,840 community hospitals in the U.S, most of the healthcare facilities are owned by private companies and 60% of the community hospitals are non-for-profit organizations, 20% are for-profit and 20% are owned by government. In U.S, the most value of healthcare system in America is the health professional, also considered as health providers (AHA, 2018). THE NURSING WORKFORCE According to U.S Bureau of Labor (2018), the total labor force was around 160 million. Nurses are playing an important role in the healthcare system. Nursing demographic consists of: 1.5 million certified nursing assistant (CNA), which represents about 1% of the U.S labor force who are responsible supporting patients’ daily activities such as taking vital signs, dispensing prescribed medications, bathing and transporting patients. Certified nursing assistant is concerned as nursing assistant as general or patient care assistant. CNA is like medical assistants that both assist physicians, nurses and such healthcare providers. Usually, CNAs are assigned in an inpatient hospital and residential facilities such as nursing home and day care centers. Till 2016, the average salary for CNA was $26,590 while VA hospitals might offer better salary, around $37,450. Alaska pays the highest average salary which was $17.81/hour while it was $11.6/ hour in West Virginia. In fact, the market expected the demand for CNAs would increase about 11% during 2014 to 2024. 738,000 licensed practical nurse (LPN), which represents about 0.5% of U.S labor force, who are responsible for administering injections, surgical preparation and communication between patients and physicians. LPNs also do assistant works such as recording and maintaining communication with patients, registered nurses and physicians. LPNs are directly assigned to take care of patients that keep patients comfortable. Sometime, LPNs are assigned to take blood pressure, insert catheters and such activities. LPNs usually work in hospitals, nursing homes, doctor’s offices and any healthcare facilities. In fact, LPNs are the direct contact between patients and physician that they are responsible for keep patients’ knowledge about treatment and procedures. The average salary for an LPN was $44,000 and the number is expected to increase. Connecticut state pays the highest average salary which was 24.30/ hour, comparing to the lowest paying state West Virginia with $14.25/ hour or $29,640 per year. 3 million registered nurse (RN), which represents the largest group of all types of nu rse and 1.9% of U.S labor force, who are qualified with license to make nursing diagnoses and work as a supervisor of CNAs and LPNs. RNs work with physician and healthcare teams to improve healthcare quality and treatment quality. RNs also educate patients for their health conditions and support patients and their family members on further living. Since it is the largest group, the competition is fierce. Depending on the specialty, education and experience, the average salary was around $70,000 in 2015. Some hospitals might offer better payment to $100,000. California owns the largest number of RNs, which was around 300,000 and it pays the highest salary in America, which was $98,400 on average. The market expected a 16% increase of RNs from 2014 to 2024.151,000 advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP), who received additional education with master’s degree or post graduate degree and additional medical experience. ARNPs work as clinical nurse specialist and nurse anesth etists that they are certified to diagnose, prescribe medication and therapy, provide treatment and counsel to patients. ARNPs are specify into multiple types such as acute care, nursing information, nurse administrator, travel nursing, family nursing, psychiatric nurse, neonatal nurse and pediatric nurse. The average wages for ARNPs was $95,000 or $46.40/ hour. During the first decade of 21st century, the job opportunities in the healthcare segment of United States grew with a pace of 20% while, in all other segments of the industries nationwide, the same growth was merely 3%. The growth rate has boomed in the US healthcare market, demanding for more and more registered nurses and nursing professionals in the current decade as well. These opportunities have created various job profiles so far in the evolving hospital settings. New hospitals and home care-based jobs are also emerging rapidly. â€Å"It is anticipated that the rate of employment in the health care sector will grow faster than the rate of employment in all other sectors between 2014 and 2024, with projected increases of nearly 22% and 5%, respectively. Other service sectors are projected to grow by about 8% during the same time period .†Ã‚  (Martiniano, Chorost, & Moore, 2017). Currently there are more than six million of the staff available across states in the healthcare settings for RNs and NPs working in various administrative positions in United States. The growth rate is also having positive rays of hopes in terms of having future job employments because of the fact that between 2014 to 2024, it is estimated that the home care based jobs are expected to increase by 60% while jobs in the offices of the healthcare practitioners are also said to have the increase of 25% because as of now, there are more than 4 million of jobs that are available in the same position—the job positions are subjected to be vacant and filled at the same time, depending on the conditions of the nurses who are employed and leave their jobs due to unforeseen conditions (Martiniano et al., 2017). Researches showed that there would be a 1 million shortage of RN in 2020 because of the dropping economic situation in America. In fact, the shortage has been ongoing since 1998 that it has been always a lack of supply. The supply was higher than the increase of demand. There were several reasons behind the shortage. Ageing of nurses might be the most concerned issue in recent that many nursing practitioners are getting older. Since 2012, the 50-60 year-age group represented the largest group on RNs and these group is expected to retire before 2025 but they are the ones who are the most experienced for taking care of patients (Levit & Patlak, 2009).   The U.S government also supports foreign-born nurses in order to fill the gap between supply and demand. In 2008, international nurses represented 15% of the nursing workforce. One concern was the communication that international nurses might have problems on communicating with patients and doctors even thought they had passed the English language test such as TOEFL and IELTS. In fact, foreign-born nurses on average cost less than American born nurses and they contribute extra value on international patients (Levit & Patlak, 2009). NURSING PROFESSION’S QUALIFICATION With the expansion of the ACA, allowing more people access to health care and insurance coverage, and the aging of the population, which increases the nationwide rate of terminal illnesses such as heart failure and cancer, the demand for care is higher than ever and there prompts the big question of whether the current health care workforce can adequately meet that demand. To fill the obvious gap that will occur, non-physician providers will be needed. Potential candidates for the positions are no other than advanced trained nurse. In the1990s, funding for nursing education drew the attention of policymakers as people realized there would be substantial shortfalls of nurses in the next decades. Efforts to increase funding for nursing education have been intermingled with advocacy for increased emphasis on baccalaureate entry-level education. In the past, many RNS were educated in hospital-based diploma programs, but most of these programs has been converted to associate or bachelor’s degree programs. The shift in nursing education from hospitals to universities marked the importance of the body of knowledge that the nursing profession should possesses. More essentially, it defined nursing as something much more than assistant to the physician. As an effort to alleviate a looming cycle of nursing shortage, community colleges and technical schools started offering nursing program in the 1970s. Since then, the nursing education has greatly evolved to better prepare their students for the ever-changing and challenging world of health care system. The two most common paths for people pursuing a nursing degree is either obtaining a 2-year associate degree (AND) or a 4-year baccalaureate program (BSN). Many community and technical colleges offer ADN programs and they are more attractive to prospective nurses because of their affordability and a shorter time period to finish. Graduates from the programs are qualified to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN). This type of program provides a solid foundation for entry-level nursing positions at a wide array of health-related establishments, including hospitals, primary care clinics, and nursing homes. In addition, nurses can later register for the RN-to-BSN bridge programs to obtain their BSN. The 4-year BSN, while more time consuming, opens up more opportunities for nursing students upon their graduation. BSN candidates receive intensive training not only in the clinical field, but also in leadership and communication skill. The goal is to provide more professional development to their students through a comprehensive curriculum that covers some of the most pressing issues within the profession, such as public health, social sciences, nursing research, and management and leadership. Most of nursing programs are not recommended to be taken online as they are hands-on profession. Averagely, nursing program costs $15,000 per academic year (Registered Nursing Degrees, 2018). In the 1990s, nurses once passed their board licensing received the same licenses and often hired to perform the same jobs. Their background education, whether they had an associate degree (ADN) or a baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN), did not differentiate the task they performed in any health care facility. While the practices and educational differences between ADN and BSN were proven to exist, there was a general but often weak correlation in patient outcomes based on the initial education preparation of the RN providing the care (Kovner & Schore, 1998). A meta-analysis done in 1988 by Joyce Johnson pointed out that BSN RNs attained higher scores in the field of communication, problem solving, and professional role when compared with AND RNs. Contrariwise, these associations decreased when experience was taken into account, and no distinguishing result existed in measuring level of leadership and autonomy between BSN and ADN RNs.  Time has changed and so as the complexity of the health care system. The role expectations and educational outcome differences for ADN and BSN has been more clarified. Although the health care system required nurses prepared at both levels of education, the graduates of these programs hold different competencies and should be valued for those differences (N/A, 1995). A study done in 2003 further proved this notion by showing the connection between higher levels of nursing human capital and improvement in patient outcomes – a 10 percent increase in nurses with baccalaureate degree yielded a 5 percent decrease in patient mortality and complications (Kutney-Lee, Sloane, & Aiken, 2013). This clarification in the roles of ADN and BSN nurses are vital to the delivery of high quality care and require the restructure of their education curriculum as well as validation in the systems in which these graduates are employed.      ISSUES IN THE NURSING LABOR FORCE Like many other health care professional, the nursing workforce has many problematic areas that need to be resolved. One of the most pressing one is the shortage in labor force. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) since its enactment in March, 2010, has successfully provided insurance coverage for around 19.2 million people and dropped the number of uninsured population from 20.5 percent to 12.2 percent in 2016 (Garrett & Gangopadhyaya, 2016). This influx of new patients has driven up the demand for nurses with the U.S. Department of health and Human Services projected a shortfall of over one million nurses by 2020 (DHHR, Resources, Workforce, & Analysis, 2017). However, the current state of the workforce is gradually depreciated due to several factors. The aging baby boomer nurses reaching their retirement ages contributes as the first factor in this shortage crisis. This aging workforce has been dealing with increasing pressure due to higher work demand resulted fr om nursing shortages, and their health suffers tremendously with a significant higher number of senior nurses experiencing chronic pain, tiredness, and exhaustion among the group (Gabrielle, Mannix, & Jackson, 2008). An obvious fix to this problem is to increase the number of qualified nurses in the labor market through nursing school recruitment campaign. Unfortunately, the majority of nursing schools nationwide do not have the capacity to accept new candidates due to a lack of faculty, budget constraints and limited clinical sites for students to practice. While all schools reported reaching their full capacity and even going over their students limit each year, many applicants got rejected, with 78 percent of ADN applicants and 62 percent of BSN candidates, all of them had qualified credentials, were turned away from nursing school in 2016 (Nursing, 2016). This would directly reduce the chance to generate enough nursing graduates to meet the upcoming demands facing the health car e industry. Beside the restricted nursing enrollment rate, health care providers only preferred nurses who already had several years of experience and turned down many potential applicants only because they newly graduated. Another realistic alternative to fill the gap in nursing staff is by hiring foreign-educated nurses. However this solution is poorly received since it stirs up concerns regarding the level of competency of nurses trained outside the U.S. and immigration issues (Williams, 2014). A shortage of nurse will ultimately lead to a change of nurse staffing pattern in care centers, with one nurse tending for more patients. A study by Cummings and Estabrooks (2003) pointed out the negative effects the change in nurse staffing patterns had brought upon the remaining nursing staffs’ health and their competency to provide quality care. Other research literature also reported imbalance nurse staffing pattern can drive up the rate of preventable medical errors and adverse events (e.g. hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, wrong blood transfusion) (Cho, Ketefian, Barkauskas, & Smith, 2003). The predominant effects of hospital restructuring on nurses are mostly negative with a decrease in efficacy and ability to provide quality care, reduction in job satisfaction, and disparity in teamwork among care providers, which resulted in an increase in turnover rate. Cost containment initiatives in many health care establishment can also further deplete the nursing workforce. The U.S. health care expenditure has skyrocketed over the past decade and accounted for 17.9 percent in the overall share of gross domestic product (GDP) and more than $10,000 per capita in 2016 (Llanos & Rothstein, 2007) (CMS, 2016). Regardless, the U.S. index for health care outcomes such as life expectancy, maternal mortality, child and infant mortality are far behind other OECD nations (Institute of Medicine, 2007). As a result, several health reform programs were introduced in an attempt to increase access-to-care for the population, reduce the health care cost, and improve the quality of health care. The implementation of these pilot programs put tremendous pressure on health care providers and organizations to contain their cost while maintaining optimum treatment to their patients. Many care facilities decided to restructure their workforce by decreasing the overall labor pool. As one of the largest personnel group in the health care workforce and oftentimes claimed for the largest piece of the hospital budget pie, approximately 33 percent of hospital operation cost (Walston, Burns, & Kimberly, 2000), nursing positions were the primary target for cost-containment strategies in many organization. The result was an increase in substitution for lower credential nursing position, such as Licensed Practical Nurse which only required two years of associate degrees, or even unlicensed personnel like patient-care technicians. This shift in work force in the 1990s, however, had driven up the rate of medication errors, patient injuries and infection (Kunen, 2001). To better adapt to the ever changing environment of health care bureaucracy and population health priorities with finite capital and human resources, all health-related establishments should develop strategies with emphasis in organization and culture restructure that has positive impact on the outcomes of patients and nurses. Beside financial incentives, political advocacy from both the federal and state government, as well as professional opinion and standard setting can further make changes to the recruitment and retention of qualified nurse workforce. THE GOVERNMENT’S EFFORT IN SOLVING THE ISSUE OF NURSE SUPPLY One of the problems the healthcare system in the U.S. is facing is that of shortage of nurses. Some factors which contribute to this shortage is the fact that women have more options in choosing their career path in society today when compared to the past. From an economic point of view, this problem of shortage is cause more by the supply side rather than the demand side thus, making it a more complex shortage (B. & J.I., 2001). This shortage of nurses might worsen in the long run if the government do not develop and implement solutions to solve this problem. Some economic solutions where developed in the past to help solve this problem such as relocation coverage, new premium packages and sign on bonuses; however, they were all short-term solutions which helped in redistributing the supply of nurses instead of increasing it (B. & J.I., 2001). Due to the shortage of nurses in the healthcare system, the government has developed and implemented solutions which will be examined below. The government is trying to recruit more students and educators in the nursing field to combat with the increasing demand in the workforce. For some years now, recruitment of students in the school of nursing has been declining. According to the American Association of College of Nursing, the number of nursing students who enrolled in the bachelor’s degree program had been declining in the past five years (Larson, 2016). In 1999, the number of nursing students felt by 4.6% nationwide. Nursing master program also suffered the same fate with a decline of 1.9% in some states (Larson, 2016). To better utilize the current aging workforce, healthcare circles decided to recruit the old and retired practicing nurses who can no longer administer treatment to the growing population and appointed teaching positions to them in nursing schools. They came to a conclusion that this ageing nurse’s will better teach the students as they are teaching out of experienced and it is said exp erienced is the best teacher (Johnson et al., 2006). Practice and experience are two important factors that teachers most acquired in order to teach students effectively. Also, in San Diego, six hospitals donated $ 1.3 million to support a program known as â€Å"Nurses Now†, which will be an opportunity to add faculty members and additional nursing students in the San Diego University (Costantini, 2016). Moreover, in order to support students to do nursing, the Texas hospital donated $ 425,000 in scholarships to local students to do their bachelor’s degree program in nursing. Moreover, in New Jersey the Board of Free holders donated scholarships to local students who accepted to work in the long term care facility in the USA (Costantini, 2016). These are examples of some successful collaborative efforts between healthcare organizations, nursing schools and the USA government to help solved the problem of nursing shortage in the USA. Moreover, in order to solve to problem of shortage, hospitals are re-implementing intensive training programs for nurses in various specialities. This has gone a long way to retain nurses who are seeking for a transfer and has also help build a vocation development path for nursing staff. A research that has been done on Magnet hospitals indicate that some of the organizational characteristics that create a centre of attention and retain nurses are professional practice models for delivery of healthcare with independence and responsibility to make decisions (B. & J.I., 2001). Moreover, effective managerial structure, quality patient services and investment in nurses’ professional development in the healthcare system are very necessary and important. Nurses must be involved in developing and implementing the practice of care in hospitals since they are very close to patients. Some of this practise includes; participating in the financial management of the hospital and developin g new strategies in hospitals. If healthcare leaders developed intensive programs for nurses in each specialities, it will motivate them to realize that they are very important in the healthcare system thus, encouraging them to remain in their various specialities in nursing. Furthermore, healthcare leaders need to developed models of care in order to solve the problem of nurses shortage in the USA, the government need to implement regulatory and policy issues (Johnson et al., 2006). Some regulatory and policy problems could also cause the nursing shortage such as federal and state laws, licensure and nursing practice act, and requirements from reimbursement organizations, private organization and the government (Johnson et al., 2006). Inside an organization, insistent process developments initiatives can assist standardize and simplify documentation. Healthcare leaders should drive this problem with some consultation from some internal experts in reimbursement, patient documentation and risk management. Furthermore, nursing trainers should use technology as one of the training tool.  Although most of the section in nursing learning is clinical experience, most of the classroom teaching can be done through the new technology we have today such as internet teaching, distance education, and accelerated educational programs.  As the healthcare of patients become more associated to technological improvement, routine nursing performance can drilled by utilizing the same technology. Technology improvement could also be use to test and certified nursing educators (Larson, 2016). All these new methods of teaching nurses through technology advancement will motivate younger adults who like using the internet and other forms of technology to learn to join the nursing field thus, helping to solve the problem of nursing shortage. In addition, to help solve the problem of nurse shortage in the USA, healthcare leaders should concentrate on training our own nursing and retaining them from traveling to other countries such as Canada. One good approach to solve this problem is to employ bachelors and masters students who are already in the faculty programs and provide them with qualified training and prepared them as well-trained nurses to be employ in the nursing field (Buchan & Aiken, 2008). Guidance into the clinical faculty is one of the best in this context, and this will improve nursing student’s capacity to do their work in the nursing field efficiently. The main idea is to guide them to grow into the nursing profession and eventually make nursing their profession of choice. This strategy will work well to the nursing field advantage because, it will encourage students to choose nursing as a career thus, increasing the number of nurses for the future. To continue, to solve the problem of nursing shortage in the USA, the government should augment the supply of nurses by using tax credit. For example, three bills where pass to permit the creation of refundable tax credit for all register nurses (Johnson, Posner, Biermann & Cordero, 2006). This is a positive impact that would have help retain nurses in the profession and it will also help to increase their salaries. Moreover, it will motivate them to maintain their various positions in hospitals thus, working positively in reducing the problem of nurse shortage in the USA. More so, in order to solve the problem of nursing shortage in the USA, hospital managers should offer bonuses to nurses who accept and sign up to work in that hospital for a long period of time. For example, in St. Paul hospital in Minnesota, the hospital leaders are giving out bonuses of about $8,000-$10,000 to nurses with essential care experience who have sign up to work in the hospital for a long period (Larson, 2016). This strategy has help St. Paul hospital to keep most of it nurses. If more hospitals could adopt this method, it will help solve the problem of nurse’s shortage in the USA. Moreover, in order to solve the problem of nurse shortage in the USA, the government need to increase the salaries of nurses. The work load of nurse’s especially register nurses is much as they are the ones who spend most of the time taking care of patients (B. & J.I., 2001). Most of them leave the nursing field because they are not well pay for the work they do and most of the time, some are not pay for the extra work they do. In order to solve this problem, the USA government has increased the salary of nurses for example in California; the salary of register nurses went up to $94, 120 per year (B. & J.I., 2001). This has motivated many people to join the nursing field. According to experts’ projections from the Bureau of Labour Statistics, by 2022, the nursing field will experience an increase in the number of register nurses of about 526,800 (B. & J.I., 2001). This is a good sign for the healthcare field for the future – absolutely a field with good prospects . ALTERNATIVES FOR THE SHORTAGE IN NURSING SUPPY Nurses form an essential part of the working force in the healthcare system in the USA and the great role they play cannot be ignored. This explain why the USA government, over the years have been trying to solve the problems nurses are facing in the healthcare system in order to motivate more people to join the nursing field. Due to all this, some recommendations are made to help improve the nursing working force. One of the recommendations is that, healthcare leaders should change consumers’ knowledge of healthcare services. Most patients like meeting register nurse for them to take care of them whereas; they are other nurses in the hospital who can take care of them better. Healthcare leaders’ need to change this perception some patients have concerning the choice of nurses. More so, some patients believe that nurses who are well paid do the work better than nurses who are less pay. That is why patients keep traveling from one state to another in order to seek for hospitals where nurses are been well pay. For example, most Americans travel to big states such as California in order to receive treatment from physicians and nurses. This believes is not good because it creates nurses shortage in big states compare to small states (Costantini, 2016). The USA government should develop and implement public health programs that will help educate the population on how to prevent certain illnesses. This will help reduced the number of people who get sick, thus reducing the number of patients, nurses have to take care of. People should do more of physical activities and eat healthy in order to avoid unnecessary illnesses which could be avoided by doing this. Also, the population should be sensitize about the problem of nursing shortage in the country. This will motivate them to take good care of themselves in order to avoid falling sick. Based on the execution of these recommendations, it will assist to achieve healthy people 2020 objectives. These recommendations are strategic plans that can be utilize by the government, people, private and public health providers and communities to improve the health of the population thus making the USA government to achieve its goal of healthy people 2020. CONCLUSION Nurses play a very significant role in providing medical treatment to patients and they also help to re-enforce the physician’s shortage labour force in the USA. Many health care organizations can not do with out nurses as they play a significant role. If the shortage of nurses worsens, many patients will no longer have access to care thus, creating a huge problem in the country. The USA government need to take the problem of nursing shortage in the country very serious as the baby boomer nurses retirement will cause a serious shortage. With the fast growing population of America, as many immigrants are coming in, it is necessary for the USA government to attract more nurses into the health care system. It there is surplus of nurses in the country, it will help the government, Medicare & Medicaid and other health organizations contain healthcare cost which is very expensive. It will also increase quality and access to medical care. REFERENCES B., N., & J.I., E. (2001). The nursing shortage: solutions for the short and long term. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 6(1), 4. Cho, S.-H., Ketefian, S., Barkauskas, V. H., & Smith, D. G. (2003). The effects of nurse staffing on adverse events, morbidity, mortality, and medical costs. Nursing Research, 52(2). CMS. (2016). National Health Expenditure Data. Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/research-statistics-data-and-systems/statistics-trends-and-reports/nationalhealthexpenddata/nhe-fact-sheet.html Costantini, S. D. (2016). Challenged by a Nursing Shortage? Consider These Short-Term Solutions and Long-Term Strategies. Avant Healthcare. Retrieved from https://avanthealthcare.com/nursing-shortage-solutions-strategies/ Cummings, G., & Estabrooks, C. A. (2003). The effects of hospital restructuring that included layoffs on individual nurses who remained employed: a systematic review of impact. Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 8(9). DHHR, Resources, H., Workforce, B. o. H., & Analysis, N. C. f. H. W. (2017). Supply and Demand Projections of the Nursing Workforce: 2014-2030. HRSA Health Workforce. Gabrielle, S., Mannix, J., & Jackson, D. (2008). Older women nurses: Health, ageing concerns and self-care strategies. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 61(3). Garrett, B., & Gangopadhyaya, A. (2016). ACA Implementation Monitoring and Tracking. The Urban Institure, 19. Institute of Medicine, B. o. H. S. (2007). Rewarding Provider performance: Alligning incentives in Medicare. National Academies Press. Johnson, K., Posner, S. F., Biermann, J., Cordero, J. F., Atrash, H. K., Parker, C. S., . . . Curtis, M. G. (2006). 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Health Care Employment Projections, 2014-2024: An Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Projections by Setting and by Occupation. March 2012. In. Medicare, C. f., & Services, M. (2015). National health expenditures 2012 highlights. Published August. N/A. (1995). A Model for Differentiated Nursing Practice. National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing American Association of Colleges of Nursing Nursing, N. L. f. (2016). Percent of Programs that Turned Away Qualified Applicants by Program Type, 2012 † 2016. In. Nln.org: National League for Nursing. Registered Nursing Degrees. (n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.allnursingschools.com/registered-nursing/degrees/ Walston, S. L., Burns, L. R., & Kimberly, J. R. (2000). Does reengineering really work? An examination of the context and outcomes of hospital reengineering initiatives. Health Services Research, 34(6). Williams, J. (2014). Implication of Foreign-Educated Nurses on United States Nursing Collegiality. Newyork: Springer Publishing Company.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Food: A Link in African American Culture Essay example -- essays paper

Food: A Link in African American Culture Four different people, four different lifestyles, all with at least one thing in common—their races (or so we have yet to discover). I began my interviews wanting to show the similarities and differences in eating habits and traditions with the African American perspective in mind. Although race is used as the combining factor in this situation, each individual’s lifestyle, cultural behavior, and even eating habits are all very unique. My interviewees consisted of four Americans, as mentioned before all of same race, with similar yet very distinct backgrounds. They range from a black Jew, to a â€Å"Jamerican,† to what I would call a â€Å"traditional southerner†, right on down to a modern day Muslim. They all agreed to fill me in and reveal to others the details of their personal history and family backgrounds. Geography, family tradition, and religion all play factors in what they eat as it always has dating back to ancestral times. I began with à ¢â‚¬Å"JJ Alex;† a 20 year old African American male from the east coast. He is a middle class college student. JJ Alex sounds like your typical college student but he is far from typical. What singles him out from many of his other peers is his religion. You might ask, â€Å"How would his religion relate to his eating lifestyle unless he’s a Muslim?† â€Å"He couldn’t possibly be Jewish—or could he?† A black Jew—better known as a Seventh Day Holiness. His great grandfather was a Rabbi and the basic teachings in his religion are as followed: his faith believes the Sabbath (day of rest) to begin at sunset on Friday lasting until sunset on Saturday; some worshippers wear Yarmulke; his faith also follows the Old Testament of the Bible; and they wear the Star of David. These beliefs in the Judaic way of life absolutely affect the food that is prepared in his house. JJ Alex mentioned that in Judaism one does not eat of unclean animals, which of course entails the meat of a pig or even fish with no scales. So right away he totally disbanded the myth that all people of African American decent eat pork. He also excludes anything from his diet that contains any pork-derived ingredients. â€Å"Not in my house!† he says. Although he does stick to his Judaic diet, JJ Alex and his family do enjoy other foods as well. His mother does most of the cooking in his home. He says they try to ea... ...iday Thanksgiving. On regular days, he does eat a lot of â€Å"soul food† which includes the collard greens and candied yams. Throughout all four interviewees I realized many foods that are common in the African American culture. In my home, although I choose not to eat pork, we do eat collard greens and sweet potatoes. Coming from a multicultural background that includes African American, Bajan, and Japanese, I also enjoy many other dishes ranging from Asia to the Caribbean. I also have family from the north as well as the south so I understood all the aspects my interviewees were throwing at me. Although each subject is from completely different backgrounds, whether they be geographical or religious, they each share likeness in many different aspects of their lives. Showing the similarities as well as the differences in their eating habits can create a cultural map tracing each individuals food choices back to one source. In this case, the source may be the continent of Africa where many of these foods are eaten today. In West Africa, the yam is a very popular vegetable. This just goes to show how food can be the missing link of different cultures throughout the world.