Business & Ethics of Becton Dickinson and the Safety Syringe Controversy Author

Becton Dickinson has been in the middle of the controversy regarding the manufacturing, sale and monopoly of safety syringes used by hospitals, clinics, and doctor and dentist offices.   When the epidemic of AIDS and other lethal and infectious diseases spread across the nation, healthcare workers were still using a conceptualization of the original type of syringe created over 150 years ago (Holding and Carlsen, 1998; Holding and Carlsen, 1998).The healthcare workers realized that they were no longer safe and fought to get safer standards and equipment for use in the work place.By 1998, the federal patent office has given patents to over 1000 designs for safety syringes.   However, only a few were on the market and their initial cost was exorbitant. Even with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) enactment of the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard in 1991, and the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act little has been truly done to protect the healthcare wor kers (Holding & Carlsen, 1998; Holding and Carlsen, 1998, Armstrong, 1991; Vadgama, 2002; Workers at risk, 2002).A prime example was in 2002 when it was approximated that 1600 healthcare workers could contract HIV through needle sticks in that year (Vadgama, 2002),   with a rough estimate cost of $255,000 for the direct and indirect costs associated with that one needle stick (Armstrong, 1991).The fact that Becton Dickinson purchased a number of the patents for safer syringes, they only offered on size when they finally started to manufacture the syringe.   The 3cc was fine for a few tasks in hospitals and clinics, but the 5cc and 10cc were used more often.Becton Dickinson did not offer the shielded syringes in this size, and by buying patents and negotiating with medical supply companies they did not need to make any other size.They continued to sell their original syringes (Holding & Carlson, 1998; Holding & Carlsen, 1998).   These actions defined by the utilitarian approach shows that the company was doing what was good for the company.   In essence, Becton Dickinson was basing their decisions on the corporate population rather than the public.After court battles and settlements the Becton Dickinson Company has finally begun to manufacture all types of safety syringes.   While they are not recommended, they are made and sold .The fact is that while Becton Dickinson was fighting to keep the new safety syringes from the public, Retractable Technologies, Inc created a better and safer syringe with top recommendations for safety and ease of use (Holding, 1991; Holding & Carlsen, 1998).   If Becton Dickinson would have acted ethically and manufactured and researched safety syringes, they would be at the top of the industry. References Armstrong, S. E. (1991, November/December). The Cost of Needle-Stick Injuries: The Impact of Safer Medical Devices.   Nursing Economics. 9(6).   pp. 426-433. Retrieved January 8, 2009 from http://search.ebscohost.co m/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hch&AN=12182254&site=ehost-liveHolding, R.  (April 14, 1998).  Safety Designs Proposed — But Not Produced.  Ã‚  San Francisco Chronicle.  ,  p.A7.  Retrieved  January 10, 2009,  from  Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center  via  Gale: http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPSHolding, R.,  &  Carlsen, W.  (April 13, 1998).  Epidemic Ravages Caregivers / Thousands die from diseases contracted through needle sticks.  Ã‚  San Francisco Chronicle.  ,  p.A1.  Retrieved  January 10, 2009,  from  Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center  via  Gale:

Effects of Social Media on Society

With social network on the rise, and the large amount of young people that take part in social networking, there is question as to whether or not social media should be part of our education system. Propenents of social media point out the benefits of social media in regards to educational tools, and increased student engagement, while critics of social networking focus on subject like privacy, time, and miscommunication. Pros of Social Networking Today’s students are increasingly using social networking as a means to communicate.According to a recent poll, 22 percent of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day. Seventy-five percent of teenagers own cell phones–25 percent use them for social media, 54 percent use them for texting, and 24 percent use them for instant messaging. (O’Keefe 2011) With these statistics in mind, educators looking to engage students in an already challenging curriculum, search for ways to connect a student’s learning experience to what has become a huge force in their young lives.Social networking can be yet another platform to enrich the learning experience since students and teachers can connect beyond the confine of the classroom. Although Websites such as FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkIn are popular among young people, they are not the best, or the only social network sites available to use in school since they are â€Å"open sites† where anyone outside the student’s immediate circle can access communicate, or gain information.Instead, blogs, wikis, and private social networking are tools that can make a tremendous impact on how teachers teach and students learn in a much safer arena than public sites such as FaceBook or Twitter. Blogs, Wiki Private Label and other private social networks such as Edmondo or Socialcast, provide a place for teachers to post homework, communi cate with parents and students, and interact with students beyond the classroom. Student can also use these private social networks to participate in discussions, get peer feedback, and showcase work.Blogs, wikis and private social networks that are controlled and monitored by teachers to provide a far more safe on-line social networking environment than open social networks. Just as social media resources has attracted the attention of millions of young people, these same features have the ability to capture the attention of students to the learning opportunities provided by their school. Educators could take advantage of these social and interactive features to encourage students to become actively engaged in their learning experience with their teachers.Using social media resources as learning tools would allow students to access valuable and necessary learning objects regardless of their location and time of day. Easy access to an abundance of learning resources may also help in the amount of time a student spends engaged in a lesson or an assignment. In addition, the participatory nature of many social networks could be used to re-engage previously bored students or students that are apprehensive to openly talk in live discussions is class. Cons of Social NetworkingThere are many challenges that face the use of social networking in education such as; on-line safety, time to manage networks, and miscommunication. Before a school decides to make social networking part of their curriculum the benefits of such sites need to be weighed against the drawbacks. Social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are open for anyone who wants to participate. Students need to provide personal information to join these sites, and often don’t think about safeguarding it.Although a lot of the information individuals’ supply on social networking is elective, young users may progressively become more comfortable with displaying a great deal of personal in formation online, without thinking who has access to the information, and what is it used for. Since students aren’t concerned with safety issues, teachers are therefore put into a position to ensure students are exercising privacy rights, which can take up a lot of time that teachers don’t necessarily have.In addition, teachers must take the time to check that students are using the social network as a tool to enhance the learning process instead of recreational use, and in looking at each blog, wiki, Facebook comment, Tweet, etc,. to see if the student is in fact participating. Managing networks take a huge amount of time that teachers often complain they don’t even have even in the traditional educational setting. Although social networks can facilitate communication, they also can hinder it by possible miscommunications. Learning via. the Internet does ot afford students the same opportunity of explanation and clarification that occur in face-to-face interac tion. Students can face some difficulty through social networking in expressing their views and ideas in writing, as many learners may prefer to express their ideas orally which is how they have been effectively communicating for years before using social networks. While social network users need to utilize writing skills to express their ideas and opinions freely, face to face interaction allows students to perceive physical clues like tone, inflection, and body language.In an online environment, these necessary components are lacking. As social networking becomes more and more integrated in the ways students communicate, the debate over the role social networking play in the classroom continues. Proponents on both sides will struggle to find a balance between the importance social networks to ways teachers teach and students learn and the safety of students. Though there are risks associated with encouraging students to use social networking, advocates argue that the opportunity f or a student’s potential intellectual and social growth will outweigh the costs.References Mitrano, T. (2006). A Wider World – Youth, Privacy, and Social Networking Technologies. Educause Review, Nov/Dec, 16-28. O’Keefe G, Clarke-Pearson K, â€Å"Clinical Report-The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. † Pediatrics. 2011 April; 127(4): 800-805 Rutherford, C. (2010). Using Online Social Media to Support Preservice Student Engagement. Journal of online learning and teaching, Vol. 6(4).

GCSE media studies coursework Essay

In this essay I will be comparing two articles taken from local newspapers in different areas. I will be looking at the techniques used in each article and their effectiveness. I will use this comparison to eventually decide which article is the more effective of the two. The two headlines from the articles are quite different. ‘Inches from tragedy’ is a large, bold headline written in a way that makes you want to see what the headline is talking about, as it sounds serious. ‘Firemen free bathroom tot’ on the other hand is quite small for a headline and only really uses one emotive word, free, making it sound like the child was imprisoned, which is worse than what actually happened. I think that ‘Inches from tragedy’ is the more effective of the two headlines because it grabs the readers attention and uses a lot of emotive language in such a short space to make the reader carry on reading. The language used in these articles is quite emotive in both cases. Both articles use exaggeration to tell you what they are trying to say. This is especially evident from quotes like â€Å"escaped death by inches† and â€Å"impossible for him to get out† as they are telling the truth about the events that occurred in each case, but are blatantly over-emotive to make the article more interesting. The firemen free bathroom tot article especially exagerrates the situation as it makes a toddler stuck in a bathroom sound like a major rescue attempt, whereas the other article Inches from tragedy features a very serious situation anyway. I think that both articles use emotive language very well, and that they are equally good at getting there point across through using language. Both of the articles feature one long, main interview and one shorter interview towards the end of the article. The interviews have been included in each case to give the reader an account of the events in the article from one of the people involved. This is a good idea as people who were actually involved in the events of the article will be able to give more information on what actually happened, and will probably know things that no-one else does. Having interviews also makes the reader sympathise with the people involved, especially if it is coming from one of the people mentioned in the main first paragraph of the article. The people who put together the articles must make sure that everything they include in the interviews is relevant and that they are not too long. I think that the article that uses interviews and quotes better is probably Inches from tragedy, because all the information given is relevant to and informative about what happened. I also think this because the interviews featured are not too long and leave room in the article for other information. Having a picture in an article is a good idea, because it lets the reader see exactly who was involved and let them see what effect the events of the article have had on them if at all. It can also give extra visual information to back up what is said in the article. This is especially evident in the picture from Inches from tragedy as it not only gives a picture of the avalanche victims, but also diagrams and labelled photos to show exactly what happened and where and when it happened. Journalists may also include pictures in their articles because it breaks it up and makes it seem like less to read. An article consisting entirely of text can seem quite daunting. Again Firemen free bathroom tot is nicely done with a good picture of the firemen and the child they ‘rescued’, but Inches from tragedy uses it’s picture better because as well as a photo of the two brothers caught in the avalanche, it has informative and interesting diagrams as backup to the article. Using fact and opinion in an article is good because it lets the reader compare an outside factual account of what happened with an opinion given from a reliable source. These two things will probably differ from each other, so it is good to give the reader both so that they can compare the two to see what actually happened. As well as differing from each other fact and opinion also back each other up on certain points of the article, such as the effect something has had on certain people. Fact and opinion can add drama to a piece, but the journalist would be better off making sure that they tie in with one-another, rather than being totally different. This would give well backed up accounts of what happened, adding a sense of drama to the article. Both articles use fact and opinion very well and I think are equally successful at giving well backed up information about what happened in each. These articles are obviously aimed at different audiences. Inches from Tragedy is found in the Metro, a newspaper which is probably aimed at city types and people who live in places dominated by big news. Firemen free bathroom tot on the other hand is found in the Bury St. Edmunds Citizen which is probably aimed at the people who live in the town of Bury St. Edmunds where news like that in this article would probably be big in the town, but not many other places. This means that the article from the Metro has been written in an interesting and emotive style, but is condensed to a size that can be read quite quickly. It also contains just the basic facts about what happened, backed up by good interviews. The other article on the other hand is about the same length, but contains a lot of information on what happened, backed up by fairly short interviews with the people involved. This more long-winded style is probably better suited to an article of this nature. The final effect on the articles is that Inches from tragedy is interesting to anyone because of the use of language and pictures, but Firemen free bathroom tot would only be found interesting by the people of Bury St. Edmunds. However, this is probably what both articles wanted to achieve anyway, so they are both quite effective at reaching their target audience. Overall, I think that both articles are effective at getting their story across to the people intended. They both feature emotive language, a large headline, interviews and a picture. Inches from tragedy was very well put together and extremely informative. The language used and the picture are two of this article’s main strong points, but it could do with more information on what happened and how instead of the excess of interviews. Firemen free bathroom tot is also very well written and is probably aimed at being something of a comedy article. It makes the situation sound major by using lots of exagerration and emotive language. However, sometimes the language used is a bit too much for the situation, as it isn’t anywhere near as serious as the article makes out. There is also quite a bit of irrelevant information in the article, such as the child looking at the fire engine. I think the most successful of these two articles has to be Inches from  Tragedy, because it is interesting, informative and not too long. It also backs up the information given in the articles by picking out relevant quotes and sections from interviews. The other article I feel doesn’t do this as well and so it just loses out.

Authoritarian Leadership Style against the Democratic One Essay

Authoritarian Leadership Style against the Democratic One - Essay Example When I attended a particular seminar, the speaker requested the audience to create a group which is composed of ten (10) members. There were five (5) groups created at that time. The speaker, then, instructed all groups to present a play about a particular social problem. Since one of the members of our group was a member of the school’s theater guild, we then chose her to be our leader. Later on, we talked about the conduct of the play. During our practice, I did not expect the girl to be authoritative. She was not entertaining the comments and suggestions of the other group members. She wanted all of us to obey her commands and wishes as to the play’s conduct. Some of the group members were passive of her attitude but I and the rest were infuriated. I actually confronted the girl and told her to stop being bossy since the success of the play ultimately depends upon all our efforts. Nevertheless, the girl did not listen to my advice. As a result, our group presented a very bad performance. Robert Greenleaf actually considers being authoritative as a destructive leadership behavior (as cited in Schyns, & Hansbrough, 2010, p. x). The destructive character that is attached to this kind of conduct connotes that it is, in fact, bad and undesirable. Greenleaf cites that self-interest is the primary reason for the occurrence of this behavior (as cited in Schyns, & Hansbrough, 2010, p. x). According to him, a leader who is driven by self-interest aims to benefit himself or herself in every group endeavor at the expense of his or her followers, whose interest and needs are either disregarded or trampled upon (Greenleaf, as cited in Schyns, & Hansbrough, 2010, p. x). This kind of leader destroys the coordination and potency of the group. He or she will also emotionally strain his or her followers (Tepper, as cited in Schyns, & Hansbrough, 2010, p. x). This finding is in accord with what I had experienced.

Prevention of Infection in Home Health Care Essay

Prevention of Infection in Home Health Care - Essay Example As such, this brief analysis will seek to analyze the definition of infection, types of infection/most common types of infection that exist within home health care, the modes of these different infection transmissions, ways to impede or disrupt such transmissions, and self protective equipment and its application within the home health care setting. Though home health care accounts for but a small percentage of total health care delivery within the United States, it is nonetheless a growing sector of health care deserves discussion. According to a recent study, published in 2011, there has been a high level of growth within home care; however, it still pales in comparison to the total amount of money that is expended upon hospital care. As of 2011, home care represented just 3% of total health care expenditures as compared to over 31% of total expenditure taking place with relation to traditional hospitals. However, the fact remains that even though the figure is small; it is a growi ng sector and is expected to grow a further 2.5% in the coming decade. As such, it is necessary to understand some of the key nuances that exist within home care as a function of anticipating and treating these issues in a medically expeditious means. For purposes of this brief analysis, the author will consider infection to be, â€Å"the invasion of a host organism’s bodily tissues by disease-causing organisms, their multiplication, and the reaction of the host tissues to these organisms and the toxins they produce† (Krismer 2012). With such a broad and encompassing definition, it becomes clear that infection within home care encompasses a broad range of issues; some acting as a more primal threat to health than others. It is important to note that although many journal entries have warned concerning the level of latent disease and exposure that exists within hospital and primary care, the level to which pathogens exist within the environment of the home is far less u niform. Whereas hospitals most comply with federal standards of cleanliness and procedures for disposal of an array of disease causing agents, regularly schedule cleanings, and a host of other preventative mechanisms, home care is almost invariably not nearly so tightly regulated, or sanitary. For this very reason, the prevalence of disease and the severity with which it affects patients within the given context is almost invariably higher than a similarly community of patients within a traditional medical facility. However, the prevalence of infection within the home care theater is not reason in and of itself to strongly recommend against its implementation as a means of treatment. With regards to the types of infections and the most common infections that exhibit themselves within home care, there are a number which will herein be discussed. As one might expect, the very same infectious disease agents that exhibit themselves within the hospital care front are also exhibited withi n home care; albeit, to different extents and total percentage rates than in traditional hospital care. For instance, studies on home care have typically indicated that the most common types of infections are concentric upon urinary tract infections, followed by an array of different types of skin infections, with staphylococcus aureus, and enterococcus rounding out the least