Donna Hendrix Autobiography - Free Essay Example

Introduction I am a member of Association of Womens Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN). AWHONN is an association that improves the care and outcomes of mothers and infants. I attend the AWHONN convention yearly. I share my knowledge with other nurses as well as learn from them. This last year I reviewed over 50 research projects in the poster room during the convention. I attended a class on Nurse Staffing Research: Update on Findings and Clinical implications this addressed staffing in labor and delivery and postpartum areas. Some of the other classes I attended was Intrapartum Mythbusters: Test Your Bedside Cred, Labor Support for Every Woman: Changing Unit Culture, The Challenges of Hurricane Katrina: Nursing Care, Leadership and Teamwork, Our Journey to a Healthy Work Environment, In Defense of Nurses: Legal Issues in Obstetrics, Nursing â€Å" The Future is Ours, Research Symposium: Findings from AWHONN Grant Recipients, Poster Sessions (research projects done in the different states), Providing Culturally Competent Healthcare for the LGBTQ Patient, and Understanding Maternal and Fetal Oxygen Transport: Tools to Guide Methods of Intrauterine Resuscitation. I use AWHONN to look at evidence-based practices, new research, read articles, and receive journals. Ethics is an important part of everyday work and life situations. At an early age, I discovered there were consequences for not completing my chores. Later in life, my outlook changed, and I now relate to the non-consequentialist, although in practice I use a combination of both. I use the principles of ethics when dealing with staff, the patients, the budget, and many other things. The nursing code of ethics is beneficence; improving or benefiting others, non-maleficence; due no harm to others, respect for autonomy; to make decisions on your own care or life, and principle of justice; the decision focuses on actions that are fair for everyone involved. Some of the theories in ethics are Deontology states that people should adhere to their obligations and duties when engaged in decision making when ethics are in play. Utilitarianism based on ones ability to predict the consequences of an action the choice that yields the greatest benefit to the most people. There are two types of Utilitarian, act and rule. Act Utilitarian is the same definition of utilitarianism a person performs the act that benefit the most people, regardless of personal feelings or the societal constraints such as laws. Rule Utilitarian takes into account the law and is concerned with fairness. Virtue judges a person by his/her character rather than by an action that may deviate from his/her normal behavior. Nurses must practice with all of these principles and theories in mind, as well as use them in their everyday life. Developing trust and respect between patients, staff members, and other professionals is very important to give exceptional care. The Behavioral values at Lakeside womens hospital I use to evaluate staff is Love, Learn, and Lead. As things change in health care with budget cuts, state requirements, and insurance modifications, we have had to come up with some creative ways of managing. Finding ways to still provide safe, compassionate care and still have great patient experiences have been challenging. To continue to have great patient experiences is why I manage so many departments. It allows more nursing staff to take care of the actual patients, which is what counts. Conclusion In my current position, I have learned much more about management. I now can get a lot more in-depth with budgeting and productivity. I have learned about action plans and different ways to handle staff issues. I have learned different ways to handle grievances, and better ways to communicate. I have developed my leader standard work, which shows what I do daily, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly and annually. This tool helps with organizing my time.

How to ‘Read’ for AP English Literature

Story time, AP English Literature Magooshers. So I was sipping my coffee this morning, wondering what to write about next. A little Googling later I came across an intriguing article:  NEWS FLASH: AP English Literature is killing your love of reading. RIP Love of Reading. We hardly knew ye. If you’re taking AP English Literature and Composition (as I did some years ago), I have no doubt that there are a few reading assignments that you consider blah at best. There are other assignments that you DONT GET AT ALL.  That being said, I hope you understand the difference between reading for class and reading for enjoyment/personal fulfillment. No? Mr. B to the rescue! Over the next few paragraphs, I’ll teach you how to ‘read’ for AP English Literature. If your AP Literature teacher has gone over some (or all) of this with you, consider this article good review. There are also some jokes about raw chicken, Barbies boyfriend, and little boats. With all that said, let’s get down to business. Breaking Down Literature To start us off, here’s an analogy. You’re flipping through the channels one day, and you find a cooking show where celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is teaching some hapless chefs how to break down a raw chicken. In less than a minute, Gordon turns said chicken into two breasts, two legs and two thighs. Every cut is precise, and no chicken bits are left over. The main skill when ‘reading’ in AP English Literature is very similar to breaking down a chicken. But instead of fowl, we’re talking about your reading assignments. Here’s what this all means: every new piece of literature is a mission to break it down into its characters, plot, historical context, literary devices, etc. Maybe you’re not a fast reader (that’s okay), but to analyze literature, you need to know how to break it down. How do you learn how to break down literature? Well, hopefully, you have a few skills from your last three years taking high school English. Also, here’s some oft said, but important advice: pay attention to what your teacher has to say. It’s likely that in the early weeks of AP English Literature, your teacher will be more hands on with his or her instruction. That means pointing out the different parts of the literature you read in class. If you pay attention, and ask questions when necessary, you should be able to fill up your reading toolbox. With a little practice you’ll soon be able to break down everything from Things Fall Apart to Hamlet. Now, the style of reading I’ve talked about in this section is what the author of the linked article was railing against. I’m not going to lie: it’s tedious, and sometimes takes a lot of work. Yet it’s the kind of reading you need to know how to do if you want to succeed on the AP English Literature Exam. It’s also the kind of reading you need to know how to do if you ever want to become an author. Just sayin’. If you learn nothing else from this article, remember that everything you read for AP English Literature is raw chicken. So now that we have the nuts and bolts of ‘reading’ out of the way, I want to discuss some specifics that should help make AP English Literature a much smoother experience. The Story is Only Half of It There are two stories to everything you read in AP English Literature. For example, let’s consider Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises. Yes, the story is about the lives of American ex-pats in Paris during the 1920s. They drink a lot, go fishing, see some bullfights, and the narrator has an unfortunate resemblance to a Ken doll. But the story is only half of it. To successfully answer questions on the AP Exam (especially free response questions), you need to understand the historical context of the novel. In the case of The Sun Also Rises, the story and characters reflect Hemingway’s time living in Paris with other members of the Lost Generation yada yada yada. As your class explores new eras of literature, make sure to pack away a few historical details along with the literature itself. They will come in handy on the AP Exam. Trust me. What Does It All Mean? Interpretation is tricky business. To show you what I mean, here’s another example involving Hemingway. (Can you tell I like reading his stuff?) So when I took AP English Literature, we read Hemingway’s short story, â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†. The basic plot involves two lovers in Spain waiting for a train that will take them to an abortion doctor. I remember the class having a LOOONNNGGG argument about what the ‘white elephants’ really were. Someone had the opinion that Hemingway chose the phrase because the unborn child was the ‘elephant in the room.’ A long time ago someone else had the same thought, and asked Hemingway what the title really meant. Hemingway’s reply (my paraphrase): â€Å"Have you ever been to Spain? That’s what the hills look like.† Even though we know what Hemingway meant, there is still the all-important concept of Death of the Author. In short, we, as readers, have the authority to come to different conclusions about a piece of literature. Your teacher (and the College Board) knows this. That’s why when you’re completing class assignments, it’s okay to form unique opinions just as long as you can back them up with textual evidence and sound reasoning. In fact, this skill will help you the most when it comes to Section II of the AP Exam. Besides â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants,† the only other ‘for sure’ interpretation of literature that I know of is that the stanzas in Hardy’s â€Å"The Convergence of the Twain† are supposed to look like little boats. 🙂 Lil Tuggy is on the lookout for icebergs. Final Thoughts Well, Magooshers, I hope this article has armed you with a few valuable reading skills. Besides helping you in AP Literature, theyll come in handy if you ever take a literature class in college. Besides that, try not to use them when you read Andy Weirs next novel. (I cant wait!) Till next time.