Author: chris

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As a new graduate nurse on your last rotation, you are working on a busy acute combined medical / surgical ward. You have arrived for an evening shift and receive handover from the staff from the previous shift.
You have been allocated to care for the following five patients

1. Steven is a 27 year old who presented with acute appendicitis via the Emergency Department that required emergency appendectomy overnight. He is currently NBM and has IV 0.9% Sodium Chloride infusing at 100mls per hour. Steven is complaining of abdominal pain and has a temperature of 39.2. He has been reviewed by the surgical team and has been ordered intravenous Metronidazole 500mg TDS.

2. Peter is a 55 year old male who had an ERCP today (endoscopic retrograde
cholangiopancreatograghy) and removal of gall stones x 3 after persistent epigastric pain for 2 days. He is currently complaining of nausea and mild right shoulder tip pain.

3. Phillip is a 68 year old male who has been admitted for infective exacerbation of his COPD. He is currently on nasal prongs at 2 litres a minute and is due for his IV hydrocortisone (100mg BD) and Piperacillin with Tazobactam (Tazocin) IV (4.5G TDS). His oxygen saturation is 94%.
4. John is 75 year old male who was admitted with chest pain via the Emergency Department earlier on in the day. He has a background history of angina and coronary heart disease. He has been commenced on an intravenous heparin infusion and aspirin 100mg daily. The APTT is to be kept between 50 to 75 seconds.

5. Melinda is a 42 year old female who presented with sudden onset of severe headache. She has been admitted under neurosurgery. Her CT scan revealed a small (Grade 1) subarachnoid haemorrhage from a cerebral artery aneurysm which was successfully coiled in the interventional radiology suite 5 days ago. She is currently prescribed Nimodipine 60mg oral tablets. She has a GCS of 15.

PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS AS PER THE ABOVE SCENARIOS

Question1. Discuss how you will initially prioritise your care according to your patient’s conditions and treatment.

Question2. When reviewing Peter in bed 2, he states that his nausea is becoming worse. You review the medication chart and no antiemetic is ordered. Discuss what your actions would be in this situation ).

Question3. While assessing John in bed 4, you review his last coagulation profile and note that his APTT is > 150 seconds. What is the significance of this result? Referring to the ward protocol below, rationalise your actions.

aPTT (second) Bolus dose IV Stop infusion IV rate change(mL/hr) Repeat aPTT
50 Nil 60 minutes Restart at 0.1 mL/hr less than previous rate 6 hours

Question4. When reviewing Melinda in bed 5, she complains of feeling faint when she gets out of bed to mobilize to the bathroom. You assess her blood pressure and it is 80/40. What is the significance of this result and what could be contributing to the hypotension? What would be your response?

Introduction

Corrosion resistance, along with the non-toxicity requirements stand the most important criteria when designing metallic biomaterials. By alloying with elements including Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni) and Molybdenum (Mo), medical-grade stainless steels have good corrosion resistance. However, the alloying method fails to prevent the material from stress corrosion cracking (SCC), which is initiated by the co-effect of the tensile stress and corrosive medium. With the assistance of corrosion, cracking can occur at a stress much lower than tensile stress limit. SCC has been found to occur at implants with residual stresses. Also the alloying elements including Ni and Cr are responsible for allergy.
Titanium (Ti)-based biomaterials demonstrate the best corrosion resistance and biocompatibility among the metallic biomaterials. However, stress shielding effect remains a vital problem in their application as implant materials as a result of the incoherency in mechanical properties with human bone tissue.
The biodegradable magnesium (Mg)-based biomaterials appear to be a good solution for the stress shielding effect, attributed to their similar density and Young’s modulus with human bone tissue. Whilst, owing to their biocompatibility and degradability, Mg-based biomaterials allow native tissue to integrate with the implant and finally replace it. However, the hydrogen evolution during the degradation process severely hinders the application of such materials.

This practical session aims to introduce the topic of in vitro metallic corrosion by means of practically exploring various key observations of corrosion and relating those to thermodynamic and kinetic (electrochemical) principles.
Simple exposure tests and polarisation tests will make up the bulk of the experiment. There are several demonstrations that will occur. Students should take notes during the demonstrations (even take pictures if you like). The data from polarisation tests will be described during the session, and students will be given a copy of the data for their report.

Experiments

 Exposure tests

1. Measure the pH value of the prepared MEM solution.
2. Expose stainless steel, Ti and Mg in MEM solution and observe what happens
3. Upon removal from solutions at the end of the session, take brief notes on observations. Feel free to take pictures.

 Electrochemical tests

1. Electrochemical testing will be carried out with aid of the demonstrator.
2. Collect a polarisation curve on stainless steel Ti and Mg. Observe the form of the data, and be prepared to discuss what is observed in terms of how such data relates to corrosion and electrochemical reaction kinetics.

Report

Following contents are suggested in your lab report:

1. Introduction (introduce the materials used in the practice and explain the significance or importance of this lab practice) (20 marks)

2. Experimental procedures (Exposure and Electrochemical test procedures) (20 marks)
You are required to pay attention to the experimental procedures during the practice, and record as much as possible. If unclear, feel free to ask the demonstrator.

3. Results
(1) Descriptions to the exposure tests.
(2) Polarisation curves of the 3 materials in MEM solution.
(3) Estimate the corrosion potential and corrosion current density for all materials from polarisation curves. Ensure they are presented in appropriate units.

4. Discussion
(1) Describe the anodic branch of the polarisation curves of the three materials.
(2) Describe the differences in polarisation curves of the three materials.
(3) Of the materials tested electrochemically, which displays the most rapid anodic reaction kinetics?
(4) How you envisage the controllable corrosion rate can be achieved for biodegradable Mg-based biomaterials.

Conduct a literature search, finding three sources to determine best practices related to one of the following geriatric syndromes: prevention of falls. How well do the policies of your clinical facility correspond to these best practice recommendations?

Healthcare organizations have come a long way in addressing these problems for the institutionalized elderly, but these problems also present in the community dwelling elderly. How important is it to implement these preventive practices in this segment of the population? How can this be accomplished? Be specific with suggested interventions

 

Historian Philippe Ariès (1974) has argued that death in modern society is no longer “tame” because we deny its existence so effectively that we lack the personal and communal resources to give it meaning. Discuss the sequestration of death thesis explored in the course and assess the accuracy of the argument put forward by Ariès. For this topic you are encouraged to do some online research and explore contemporary attitudes to death. You may, for example, wish to consider recent ‘social franchises’ such as www.deathcafe.com and www.deathoverdinner.org, or post-mortem planning sites such as www.mywonderfullife.com and www.dyingmatters.org to assess current responses to death. Alternatively, you could assess media coverage of death and dying or any range of other relevant topics.

Aries, P. (1974). “The reversal of death: changes in attitudes towards death in western society.” American Quarterly 26 (5): 536-560.

Ellens, J. H. (2014). “From death denial to death control: the new baby-boomer approach” in C. Staudt and J. H. Ellens (eds.), Our changing journey to the end: reshaping death, dying, and grief in America. Santa Barbara: Praeger, pp. 29-43.

Lee, R. L. M. (2008). “Modernity, mortality and re-enchantment: the death taboo revisited.”Sociology 42 (4): 745-759.

Project Task Requirements:
Your international investment consultancy group has been hired by the Trustees of a rapidly growing, Queensland-based superannution fund – The Queensland Gold Superannation Fund (QGSF) – to identify potential investment opportunities globally with a view to providing secure, long-term investment returns to six hundred thousand Australian workers who are members of QGSF. The preference of the trustees of QGSF is to buy shares within an existing, successful company within the industry and country selected by your consultancy group.
NOTE: The trustees have read the AT Kearney 2014 ‘Ready for Take Off Report’ and they are only interested in an investment in one of the following four industries highlighted in that report:
1) solar power and/or electricity generation and/or wind farms OR
2) mining; OR
3) truck manufacturing; OR
4) pharmaceuticals.
In order to assist the trustees in determining whether foreign direct investment should take place in any of the companies your group has selected as being potential FDI candidates and in the industry selected, you must prepare a summary, group-based presentation (in PPT or PREZI for example) for consideration by the Trustees at their next meeting. Given that the Trustees have limited time to review your group’s presentation.

The three different regions of interest identified by the Trustees which may assist with the diversification of risk for the QGSF members are:

(a) Anglo American (e.g. UK, Australia, Canada, former Commonwealth member countries such as India, Malaysia, Singapore etc. and the Nordic countries of Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden) – the United States cannot be used;

(b) the Germanic/Latin countries (Developed and Developing Countries) (e.g. France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Mexico); and

(c) the Asian countries (e.g. China and Japan).

Part A: Individual Group Member’s Performance Task – Individual Marks Awarded to Each Student on Work Submitted to Their Group: Summary Answers to be Submitted to Your Group at an Agreed Upon Date by the Group:

1) First, identify the country and the industry you have been allocated by your group. Second, identify the company from this country and industry that you have individually selected for consideration for FDI and the reasons for the selection of this company;
[10 Marks]

2) Provide a summary Table of the development factors, cultural dimensions and accounting values of the country you have been allocated and explain the nature of the relationship between these factors, dimensions and values. Outline what impact you think these factors, dimensions and values will have on the foreign direct investment risk of the investment in the particular country/industry/company selection you have made;

3) (a) Discuss in your own words the nature/characteristics of your country’s IFRS adoption process and explain the impact that you believe the development factors, cultural dimensions and accounting values of your country has had on the quality of the IFRS convergence process. In your answer identify the ‘version’ of IFRS applied by your selected company as set out in the Annual Report of the company under the Notes to the Financial Statements – Significant Accounting Policies heading.

(b) Discuss what impact you think the high/medium/low corruption levels within the country your have selected will have on the overall quality/usefulness of the information in the annual report provided by the company selected from that country.

Part B: Group Task – Completion of Presentation to the QGSF Trustees:

(4) Provide a comparative analysis of the companies selected by each individual group member utilising the international, financial statement analysis which includes: (a) an overall business strategy analysis; (b) the analysis of each company’s financial reporting practices; and (c) a financial analysis using a sample of three key ratios only and highlighting any limitations of this ratio analysis process.

(5) In your presentation to the Trustees, identify three overall key hindrances/limitations to international financial statement analysis that your group encountered in trying to complete the recommended four-step, international, financial statement analysis and comment on whether your group believes that these limitations can be successfully overcome and how this could be achieved; and

Part B: Group Task – Completion of Final Presentation to QGSF Trustees

(6) Using all of the information obtained then by the individual group members in relation to their country/industry/company analysis, make a recommendation within your presentation to the Trustees as to whether the fund should invest in any of the companies analysed, providing reasons for your group’s final recommendations. Within the discussion on these recommendations highlight whether your group believes that the Hofstede and Gray models have any current usefulness to global MNCs given your country-based findings. In your answer discuss what overall impact you think the high/medium/low corruption levels within each country analysed is having on the overall quality/usefulness of the external financial reporting information available in the global capital markets generally.

You are a corporate governance expert that has just been appointed as a member of CAMAC. CAMAC is
concerned about recent corporate collapses in Australia and overseas, and how they are affecting the
public’s view of the way that companies are run. Members of CAMAC are worried that state and/or federal
parliaments may react to public pressure in a way that will be detrimental to the economy.
You have been asked to assist the legal committee of CAMAC to make submissions to government on the
current and future state of the law on corporate governance.
Your assignment is to write a briefing paper which:
1. discusses how corporate governance is currently regulated in Australia, in an area of your choice
(see Hints over the page); and
2. provides examples of the impact of that regulation on Australian society and/or Australian
corporate culture; and
3. presents your recommendations on if and how the law should be changed.

Information about quality of care within health organisations can be taken from three categories: ‘structure,’ ‘process,’ and ‘outcomes’ (Donabedian, 1988). Firstly, ‘structure’ is descriptive of the context in which health care is delivered, inclusive of its buildings, its staff, its financial structures, and all its varied equipment. Secondly, ‘process’ indicates the interactions between patients and care providers throughout the delivery of healthcare. Lastly, ‘outcomes’ indicate the effects of healthcare on the overall health status of patients and populations.

There is therefore a clear relationship between processes (e.g. Falls assessment, Waterlow Assessment, Standard Precautions) used by health care professionals and the quality of the care that is provided, that is, patient outcomes. The delivery of health care services by practitioners is measured by process data.

TASK: Use the scholarly literature to identify and explain the use of process and outcome data in the delivery of safe, quality nursing care in health institutions.

Then use one example of process and outcome data to demonstrate your understanding of their use in providing safe, high quality care in health institutions.

Identify: Establish what something is.

Explain: make clear why something happens, or why something is the way it is. This will require critical reading of the literature and written analysis that demonstrates your understanding of key concepts/learning outcomes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6).

Donabedian, A., (1988), The quality of care: How can it be assessed?, JAMA, 121 (11): 1145–1150.

Use readings from “Shorter Hours and the Transformation of American Labor”, 1830-1842 written by Roediger and Foner. to answer the following questions.

1. Discuss two factors that gave rise to the formation of Labor Unions.

2. Why were unions necessary?

3. How did trade unions aid the growth of a middle class in the USA? No phone calls, if you have questions send them by message.

 

TASK
You are required to choose a building, at least 200m2 in floor area. This could be anything you like, such as a house, school, theatre, church, or factory, which has a heritage listing. You will decide on the new function of the building at the first meeting with the client in the exercises.
Your task is:
1. Sub-structure: Assess the site conditions such as the soil type and drainage. Local consulting engineers can help you with the geotechnical details. Evaluate the environmental influences on the space to give information to the client.
2. Structure: Show the site conditions such as the soil type and drainage, and environmental influences on the space by taking pictures and drawing sketch diagrams of the site plan, to inform the client of the site conditions, as well as the value of the land. You can obtain information about heritage-listed buildings from the Heritage Council of NSW. The Council lists over 20,000 buildings on its web-site (www.heritage.nsw.gov.au). The buildings are classified by local government areas. You can approach the local council to determine the owner of the building and to ascertain if plans are available for the building. If plans are not available, you can provide neat sketch plans