Altruism: Research perspectives from Current psychology Essay

Altruism which can also be termed as selflessness is a principle of practice that concerns the welfare of others. This is one of the traditional virtues that were upheld by several cultures, secular views and religious traditions. This is a malleable notion that is understood differently in many disciplines although the common denominator of all the definitions is the ideology of unidirectional helping character. Within the clinical setting, altruism is a value that nurses as professionals poses. Despite the enormous changes within the society and the ways in which training and education for nurses is delivered, nursing is highly underpinned by the beliefs and values of the profession. The values that have been evaluated as altruistic include care for others, academic performance and self-control. Altruism is the key characteristic that all nurses and the health professionals are expected to have (Puka, 1994). The definition of altruism biologically is the behavior that individual poses and increases fitness of another person while at the same time decreasing the fitness of the actor (Pallone, 1999). In this particular sense, it is totally different from the philosophical perspective whereby an action is only said to be altruistic if it was done with a conscious intention of helping another person. Within the nursing and health care fraternities, there are no restrictions to an altruistic act which is just but an act of helping an individual who as a problem or caring for others (Puka, 1994). The nursing and healthcare professionals possess the responsibility of being altruistic. This means that as professionals they have an ethical obligation give others what they need without any form of self-interest (Johnson, Larkin, & Saks, 1995). Most nurses who are altruistic will always make decisions totally that are in the best interest of the concerned patient. By being altruistic the nurses and healthcare professionals are being patient advocate, hence they will be practicing good ethics of nursing. During a moral code situation, the adrenaline of the nurses and healthcare professionals and in a life-saving mode. At this particular point they feel good being a nurse who can save the world as an individual, but when things doesn’t go right this particular feeling is put into a test and one keep asking him or herself questions(Johnson, Larkin, & Saks, 1995). Many new nurses have very hard time while making decisions concerning life and death. In most cases it takes a lot of maturity to get wisdom, knowledge and certitude. Ethics in the healthcare and nursing profession is what it always drives the process of making decisions whether good or bad. Altruism as one of the most critical code of ethics should always be involved in any other decision that is made (Johnson, Larkin, & Saks, 1995). Nurses are also put in a fix that they have to always respect the cultural beliefs and the values of others. Just because nurses sometimes think they know the right thing to do, does not actually make it totally right. It is altruistic for the nurses and other health care professionals to honor and respect the wishes and beliefs of the patients. It is unfortunate that they decisions that are made by the patients and their families are mainly driven by either grief of total lack of understanding (Puka, 1994). Conclusion                      Altruism as part of ethics practiced by nurses encompasses the interpretation of an individual. It is based totally on the values and morals that individuals possess. Although the Nurse Practice Act have very good guidelines for how individuals should act it does not absolve individuals from making personal decisions concerning the issues at hand. References Pallone, N. J. (1999). Altruism, narcissism, comity: Research perspectives from Current psychology. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction Publishers. Johnson, T., Larkin, G., & Saks, M. (1995).  Health professions and the state in Europe. London: Rutledge. Bailey, P. A., Carpenter, D. R., & Harrington, P. A. (1999).  Integrating community service into nursing education: A guide to service-learning. New York, NY: Springer Pub. Co. Puka, B. (1994).  Reaching out: Caring, altruism, and prosocial behavior. New York: Garland. Source document

National Federation of Independent Business v Sebelius Essay

Life was different back in the 1880s. The telephone had just been invented, James Garfield was president, and doctors used heroin and cocaine as medicine. Alas, many doctors knew very little about medicine. Oftentimes unsafe and unsterile practices were used on patients. The NY Times reports that, â€Å"At least a dozen medical experts probed the President [Garfield]’s wound, often with unsterilized metal instruments or bare hands, as was common at the time. Historians agree that massive infection, which resulted from unsterile practices, contributed to Garfield’s death. One man suggested that they turn the president upside down and see if the bullet would just fall out. † Because of their usual lack of success, doctors did not charge very much for their services; it was very affordable most of the time, even for middle class families. However, as time and technology progressed, the cost of healthcare and medical instruments dramatically rose. In his â€Å"New Deal† package, President Roosevelt proposed a state-run healthcare system with compulsory health insurance for state residents, but states could choose whether to participate. The federal government would provide some subsidies and set minimum standards that the state had to adhere by. While the proposal did not pass, the idea of universal healthcare coverage for everyone stuck. Since Roosevelt, every single Democratic President elected into office has attempted to pass a version of universal health care, but none have achieved the feat. That is, until President Obama was sworn into office in January 2009. In his 2008 presidential campaign, he made healthcare reform a central issue. Both parties adopted their version of reform, but since Democrats held a majority in the House and the Senate at the time, their version was the one that passed. On March 23rd, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (dubbed by many Republicans as â€Å"ObamaCare†). According to the White House, it claims four key components of the law: stronger consumer rights and protections (which includes a ban on lifetime limits, a ban on denying children health insurance based on pre-existing conditions, and a ban on coverage cancellations), more affordable coverage (Private insurers must provide justification for double-digit increases in premiums), better access to care (Preventative screenings for cancer are now free), and stronger Medicare (Provides relief to seniors who cannot afford prescription drugs). Since insurance companies are required to provide care, it makes sense to buy insurance only when you need it. In other words, wait until you get sick to buy insurance, because they cannot turn you down. In order to combat this, the law includes an individual mandate, which requires anyone that can afford it to buy health insurance, or pay a penalty to the IRS. In essence, this is the part of the law that pays for it all. This is also the section many Republicans hate. In their philosophy, the government cannot force someone to buy something they may or may not need. They argued that this law was unconstitutional, and they sued in federal court to have the law nullified. There were three cases overall: one from the states (Florida v. U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Svcs. ), one from the federal government (U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Svcs. v. Florida), and one from the National Federation of Independent Business (Nat’l Fed. of Independent Bus. v. Sebelius). Due to conflicting rulings from the lower courts in different jurisdictions, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case to settle the differences. From March 26th to March 28th, 2012, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from both sides. On the first day, the court heard argument over whether the Tax Anti-Injunction Act passed into law in 1867 barred the Supreme Court from even making a decision in this case. The Tax Anti-Injunction Act says, â€Å"No suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court by any person, whether or not such person is the person against whom such tax was assessed. † Basically, it means that you cannot sue the government for a tax you believe is unfair, until you have already paid that tax. This was passed into law to prevent people from filing lawsuits against the government to avoid paying taxes. Potentially, this could mean that no one can challenge the constitutionality of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) until someone has actually paid the penalty. At the earliest, they could sue on April 15th, 2015. The Supreme Court held that since Congress specifically labeled the consequences of the mandate as a penalty rather than a tax, the Anti-Injunction Act did not apply to this case, and that the court had the authority to hear the arguments. On the second day, the court heard arguments over whether the ndividual mandate component of the ACA fell under the constitutional powers of Congress. There were two arguments from the Solicitor General’s side (the ones supporting the constitutionality of the ACA): the ACA was constitutional under the commerce clause, and that the ACA was constitutional under the taxing power of Congress. The states (the ones claiming the ACA is unconstitutional) argued that Congress could not create commerce for it to regulate, and that the law described the consequences of the mandate a â€Å"penalty†, therefore it is not a tax. On the third day, the court heard arguments on the severability of the law. They questioned whether the ACA could survive if the court struck down the individual mandate. In the end, in a 5-4 decision, the court upheld the individual mandate component of the ACA as a valid exercise of the taxing power of Congress. They concluded that a financial penalty for not buying something constituted a non-direct tax. Because it is a non-direct tax, it is not required to be apportioned among the several states. The justices that voted for the constitutionality of the law are the four liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and the conservative Chief Justice John Roberts. The justices that voted against the constitutionality of the law are the other four conservative justices: Anthony Kennedy, Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas. John Roberts was the key swing vote. When asked why he voted for a law he is personally against, Chief Justice John Roberts responded, â€Å"The Framers created a Federal Government of limited powers, and assigned to this Court the duty of enforcing those limits. The Court does so today. But the Court does not express an opinion on the wisdom of the Affordable Care Act. Under the Constitution, that judgment is reserved to the people. In my opinion, I applaud the decision of the Court. From the beginning, I thought the penalty was a tax; I assumed it was called a penalty for political purposes. People would not like the idea of a tax increase. In reality, the penalty is collected in the same manner as a tax, so there are no real differences between the two. I have also gained a newfound respect for Chief Justice John Roberts. I think it is commendable to put the law in front of your personal beliefs. He has done exactly what is expected of a Supreme Court justice. If I were a Supreme Court justice, I would have made he same decision that he and the four liberal justices made. There are two types of consequences this law holds: political and provisional. The provisional consequences of the law are the ones directly stated in the law: a ban on lifetime limits, Medicaid expansion, etc. The political consequences of this law are not explicitly stated, however they can be inferred and speculated upon. There are three major political consequences. The first consequence is that Obama can claim a major victory. He can now say his law withstood a Supreme Court challenge and passed the constitutionality test. A defeat would have been bad for the administration and the campaign. Instead, he has a chance to re-energize his base and reinstate the flow of campaign cash. The second consequence is that now that the law is no longer a legal issue, it becomes a campaign issue. Both Obama and Romney must sell voters on Obamacare. The court ruling could have stir a shift in public opinion among independent voters, and both candidates must appeal to this shift. Obama will insist this law was the right thing to do, while Romney will propose a new healthcare reform bill. The third consequence is that the ruling will enrage Republicans and make them more eager to vote for Romney so he can repeal the law. Voter turnout is expected to be lower than it was in 2008, and anything that can increase the turnout will be beneficial for Romney. This law and its subsequent legal challenge have major political consequences. Whether you live in the 1880s or in the present day, chances are you will need health care at some point in your life. Ever since President Roosevelt proposed universal health care back in the 1930s, many politicians have tried to pass it into law. Until the ACA, it was considered politically impossible; the idea just did not appeal to voters. The law has withstood a major legal challenge, and it will be up to Obama and Romney to convince independent voters that their version of healthcare reform is the best. If Obama wins the election, in 2014 everyone that can afford it must buy health insurance, whether they want to or not. If they don’t, they will pay a tax equivalent to 1% of their income. If Romney wins the election, he will try to repeal the ACA and replace it with a reform package of his own. Only time will tell what will happen.

Tiger Woods

Yes, we all know the stories given to us by the news, media, and internet. Tiger Woods did wrong and shared his spotlight of shame and pain. True enough he was not liked by many, but who don’t make mistakes? As an outsider that doesn’t watch golf as much, I feel that time has passed and it can be forgiven.For sake of an argument Tiger has won 95 tournaments, 71 of those on the PGA Tour, including the 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005 Masters Tournaments, 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007 PGA Championships, 2000, 2002, and 2008 U.  S. Open Championships, and 2000, 2005 and 2006 Open Championships. With his second Masters victory in 2001, Tiger became the first ever to hold all four professional major championships at the same time.He is the career victories leader among active players on the PGA Tour, and is the career money list leader. Not surprisingly, several of Tiger’s sponsors have now opted to abandon their alliance with him, citing his moral indiscretions as sufficient justification for this decision. But is this the right thing to do?Does the fact that Tiger Woods is not the high-quality person that we took him to be somehow negating the fact that he is an excellent golfer? Are we guilty of a category mistake if we suggest that Tiger’s sponsorships, or his opportunities to play golf, should be taken away because of his ridiculous behavior? There are two ethical questions at work here. The first question is whether one should be punished in their professional life for actions in their personal life. The second is whether it is morally justified to break a contract because of immoral behavior.I will here argue that the answer to the first question is no, while the answer to the second question depends on the nature of the contract. Some individuals, rightly appalled by Tiger’s actions, have suggested that the PGA should punish him, perhaps by suspending him from future tournaments. There are two reasons for rejecting this suggestion. There is a strong precedent against doing so, and such a response threatens to unacceptably blur the line between the public and the private sphere.Many famous people have committed scandalous actions that irreparably damage their public image. Kobe Bryant’s recent Colorado rape trial is a prime example of this. But no one suggested that Kobe not be allowed to play basketball. Magic Johnson contracted HIV through extramarital sex, but he was treated with warmth and benevolence rather than scorn. Michael Jordan had a notorious gambling problem, but he is hailed as the greatest player of all time. Why should Tiger be treated differently? There is a more general concern with abandoning this precedent.Golf is Tiger Woods’s job. There is no expectation, or requirement of employment stating that one must be a good person in order to be a good golfer. We tend to think that whether one ought to be retained in a particular job position depends on whether they are qualified for the job, rather than whether they are a generally decent person. Suggesting that Tiger, Kobe, Magic, or Jordan should not be allowed to pursue their profession in virtue of their personal indiscretions would amount to a unique kind of discrimination.From the standpoint of employment qualifications, one’s sexual behavior is usually an irrelevant consideration. This brings me to the second consideration concerning punishment in one’s professional life based on actions in one’s personal life. We tend to think that there is an important separation between one’s public life and one’s private affairs. When one is a celebrity like Tiger Woods, this line is blurred considerably, and one might claim that the loss of this distinction is the price one pays for fame.However, this imposes an arbitrary constraint on a person’s individual freedoms. If one has a right to the maintenance of a public and a private sphere, the fact that a person is famous is n ot obviously a reason for violating this right. The second ethical question raised by the Tiger Woods affair scandal concerns whether it is ethical to break a professional contract based on a person’s actions in their personal life. This is a complicated question, and I will limit the discussion to one pertinent facet of it.If Tiger Woods was hired as an endorser because of his public image and persona, and not merely because he is a good golfer, his sponsors are justified in abandoning their professional relationship for his personal actions. Consider the nature of the contract in question. Companies have hired Tiger because they believe an association with him will help them to sell their products. Tiger’s role in the contract is presumably to maintain himself as a positive force for this purpose.If Tiger has agreed to this type of relationship, anything he does that hinders his effectiveness as a marketing tool would be a violation of the contract. While we have rea son not to punish Tiger professionally, as a golfer, for what he has done in his personal life, we also have reason to punish him professionally, as an endorser, for the same actions. Virtue ethics is somewhat helpful in understanding this distinction. Tiger’s extramarital affairs do not make him a bad golfer, but they do make him a bad endorser.Different standards are at work when we evaluate Tiger the golfer and when we evaluate Tiger the endorser, and only in the latter case does his personal conduct make a relevant difference. We have thus reached an interesting conclusion. First, standards of personal conduct are only relevant to one’s professional life if the nature of one’s profession dictates as much. This leaves us with a mixed evaluation of Tiger Woods. It seems we can endorse his lost endorsements, but not any punishment from the PGA, for his extramarital affairs. It also helps us to understand how other celebrity scandals have been perceived.While Ma gic, Kobe, and Jordan are still good basketball players even though they are not particularly good people, someone like Bill Clinton harms his credibility as President in virtue of inappropriate personal conduct, because appropriate personal conduct is part of the President’s job description (or so it would seem). Our own mixed reaction to Tiger suggests that he is somewhat unique, a mixture of celebrity and quasi-statesman that we want to hold to a higher standard of conduct, despite having no good reason to do so. References (PGA TOUR, Inc. , 2010) http://www. pgatour. com/players/00/87/93/

Social violence; racial tensions within Los Angeles county jails Essay

Social violence; racial tensions within Los Angeles county jails - Essay Example There was report of fighting in Pitchess Detention Center on the Northern fringes of LA where a group of Latino inmates started throwing furniture on a group of African American inmates leaving one dead. This violence led to string of more clashes between Latinos and African American in other jails as well. Observers believe that jail violence is much more than just jail violence. It depicts a great chasm between Latino and African American communities in the new setup. A recent study in 2000 found that state lawmakers have passed more than 400 tough crimes laws since 1992, but sheriff's budget increased only 1 to 2 percent. Further pressure has been the recent budget cuts of $166 million due to which most of non-violent inmates were released after serving 30 percent of time. Leaving only the most violent people behind the walls. Even though the county taxpayers paid higher amount of tax this year compared to previous two years, things have hardly improved. In LA county jail; state parole violators occupy at least 3000 beds along with new convicted felons that makes it un-necessarily crowded jail. There has been a series of jail clashes mainly between African Americans and Latino inmates. One recent riot involved about 2000 inmates with 100 injured and one dead. The jail authorities need more lock up for higher risk inmates; however it is not possible due to cut in budgets; as a result gang members and violent criminals freely move among the non-violent offenders which often give rise to violence. Even though there are some twin tower modern correctional facilities that are county high security lockup; but women and mentally ill patients occupy them. The jails are also short of manpower. Some county jails have one guard for every 50 inmates. Even in the best county jail the ratio is 1 to 10. After the recent spat of violence the county sheriff wanted to hire 1100 deputies to counter the violence, but hiring fast is also a problem. In another incident two inmates were found dead who were injured during a violence rage in county jail. The reason vary but one clear reason for such escalation in incidents has been tougher sentencing laws, such as California three strikes guidance, that have led to increasing number of high risk prisoners staying longer with minor offenders. However, it is not mere jail where the tensions and violence are so visible, schools are also caught up in similar problem. For the past few decades public schools were predominately populated by African Americans, but the Latino shift in population is changing the tide increasing tension between these two communities. One example was the 2005 widespread fighting between Latinos and Africans Americans that led to deployment of police officers around LA county school. Ironically in 1960s there was a strong alliance between Black Panther Party and the LA Raza Unida Party, where dozens of African Americans and Latino activist joined hands together to fight against discrimination. That honeymoon period seems to be on decline due to massive Latino immigration and higher birth rates that is changing the balance for African Americans. It is plain but painful truth that relation between African Americans are entangled in cultural and racial misconceptions and misunderstanding. The rise of hatred and social violence is far off cry from the early days of civil rights where African Americans

Business programmes teach techniques such as SWOT analysis Coursework

Business programmes teach techniques such as SWOT analysis - Coursework Example The final part will be a summation of all that has been presented in this paper. According to Henry 2008, p.6, business organizations face â€Å"a constantly changing external environment and need to ensure that their own internal resources and capabilities are more than sufficient to meet the needs of the external environment†. Mere survival is not the objective of a business organization. Growth and prosperity are the essential ingredients of any successful business organization and the focus of the strategic management activity in a business organization. For successful strategic planning strategic information is essential. This information pertains to an understanding of the current situation to ensure the desired future. Such strategic information is arrived at through business organizations undertaking an analysis of the external environment in which they conduct their business operations and the internal environment of the business organization itself (Henry, 2008). Two key components in strategic management involve analysis of the operating external environment of the business organization and the analysis of the internal environment of the business environment. ... The main objective in a SWOT analysis â€Å"is to identify the strategies to exploit external opportunities, counter threats, build on and protect the company and eradicate weaknesses† (Hill & Jones, 2008, p.19). Leigh 2010, p.115, defines the SWOT analysis â€Å"as a process by which a group of stake holders (a) identify internal and external inhibitors and enhancers of performance, (b) analyse those factors based on estimates of their contributions to net value and approximations of their controllability, and (c) decide what future action to take with regard to those factors.† For a SWOT analysis to be meaningful all three parts of the analysis has to be undertaken (Leigh, 2010). The SWOT analysis is a necessary analysis for business organizations to face competition, through identifying and exploiting opportunities in the business environment based on its internal strengths, eliminate internal weaknesses that restrain it and ward of threats, so as to sustain its busi ness activities and grow and prosper (Groucutt, 2005). The SWOT analysis is a simple yet efficient strategic planning tool that enables identifying of environmental opportunities for exploitation, employing the organizational strengths that have been identified, with the objective of securing future gains. The SWOT analysis tool thus enables an organization to efficiently leverage itself to face and overcome expected competition in its business activities in an ever changing environment (Schermerhorn, 2011). The SWOT Analysis Since its emergence as a strategic planning tool, the SWOT analysis has been a popular technique used by organizations to gain an understanding of its strategic situation. According

Theoretical Bases of Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Theoretical Bases of Nursing - Essay Example Therefore, it is the requirement of acceptable theories to be flexible and dynamic enough to keep pace with the growth and changes in the discipline in clinical practice (Barnum, 1998. 15-37). Nursing is now considered to be a discipline of knowledge that includes an array of facts, concepts, and approaches to inquiry. The discipline of nursing is acknowledged also to be a community of scholars that includes nurses in all places where nursing takes place, and this is indeed scholarship in the sense that it shares commitment to values, concepts, and processes to guide the thought and work of the discipline. Consistent with thinking of nursing scholars about the discipline of nursing, is the idea that it needs nursing theories more than anything else. Moreover, professional clinical nursing today is just scholarship due to the fact that nursing works, now, on a unique and vast knowledge base that has matured through phases of development. Nursing as a professional practice science that is dedicated to the problem solving for human health issues, calls for scholars who are accountable for understanding these theories and conceptual frameworks to be able to utilize them in gu iding practice, research, education, and regulation (Chinn & Kramer, 1995, 27-48). Boyer's analysis of schol... Teaching, in his opinion is not simply a matter of dissemination and transmission of knowledge, but a form of scholarship. Therefore, it would involve transformation and extension of knowledge through the process of critical debates and an insistent examination, investigation, and challenge of both content and pedagogy. His assertion, that this could involve analysis of "various kinds of academic work, while also acknowledging" their dynamic interactions in order to form an independent whole would enable one to look at nursing scholarship in a broader context, allowing it to be seen and perceived as an interrelated whole with distinctive components that opens avenues for a varied approach to knowing (Boyer, 1996, 1-6). Boyer is one of the pioneers in the recent times, who assigned a meaning to scholarship, and proposed that there are four different categories of scholarship. The most familiar of them is the scholarship of discovery which is very intimately associated with original research. As expected, this form of scholarship would call for deeper comprehension of research processes and intense involvement with activities emanating from that comprehension. According to Boyer, there are four different categories of scholarship. The first and the foremost area of scholarship is that of discovery. The scholarship of discovery is intimately related to original research, and this demands activities that enhance a deeper understanding of the methodical aspects of the research processes. The deeper understanding of the research processes would tend to answer the discipline's pressing questions. This specific category calls for standards, significance of the research,

Realistic in nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Realistic in nursing - Essay Example However, it is worth noting that nurses are also humans and are prone to common problems that affect humans. The only difference is that nurses have information. It can be argued that practicing what they teach is the problem due to extraneous factors. For example, nurses may advice diabetes patients on diet. However, they themselves may be unable to follow the diet they prescribe to patient and hence, they become diabetic. Physical and mental situation can be a genetic condition. It follows that a nurse may be unable to control it despite having information. In such situations, it becomes an irony or sarcastic for such a nurse to advice a patient who has the same condition. Such situations may demoralize a nurse to start doubting his or her importance. As such, patients should first consider nurses as human beings who are prone to health problems instead of expecting them to be perfect in terms of