Unleashing Top-of-License Registered Nurse Practice: An Integrative Review

In light of a well-renowned report, “The Future of Nursing” released by the Institute of Medicine (2010), recommendations were suggested that nurses should practice at, and to, the full extent of their licensure, also referred to as top-of-license nursing practice. Transforming nursing care models coupled with strong leadership support is critical to fostering an environment where top-of-license practice can be fully achieved and sustained. This integrative review provides a compilation and synthesis of the available published evidence regarding the best practices for fostering environments conducive to top-of-license nursing practice. Results of these studies strongly supports the notion of nurses practicing to the full extent of their education and training

Looking like a human: How conversation analytic work on gaze direction in human interaction can be relevant for design and analysis of robotic interaction.

A crucial aspect of the development of language in children has been concerned with pragmatics - a field which explores the ways in which interaction is successfully accomplished. One aspect of this is concerned with the sequential implicativeness of our actions - that is what do particular behaviours accomplish given the specific turn by turn interactive sequence in which they occur. This paper seeks to consider some aspects of this by reference to conversation analytic work on gaze in adult interaction. In this way the paper attempts to provide a brief overview of some of the ways that our thinking about robot - human interaction can be deepened by an appreciation of conversation analytic work. In particular it argues that the empirical basis of conversation analysis (henceforth CA) offers a wonderful treasure-trove of understandings about how humans accomplish social interaction. The understanding that CA provides is derived from careful empirical scrutiny and therefore it is able to offer a perspective on interaction that is sensitive to minute detail rather than crude applications of global concepts. Thus this paper provides a provisional inspection of a small fraction of CA literature concerning the use of gaze in interaction and thinks through the relevance that this might have for the design and understanding of interacting robots. Whilst CA provides a complex understanding of human interaction, predominantly derived from the everyday talk of adults, this paper argues that the approach can provide both an idealised target of communication competence and perhaps more important a means of understanding instances of human-robot interaction. In this way CA may usefully supplement other approaches to communicative competence in work on interacting robots

Method of insetting predesigned disbond areas into composite laminates

This invention is a process for producing composite laminates containing interlaminar disbonds of controlled sizes, shapes, and positions within a composite structure. A composite layer is provided for later inclusion within a laminate. The surfaces of this composite layer are solvent cleaned and sandblasted, except in desired disbond areas, which are coated with a releasing surface. A template to mask the bond areas is employed to obtain disbond areas of controlled shapes and sizes. The resulting composite layer is then used in the subsequent manufacture of a laminate, whereby faulty adhesion in the laminate can be studied with prior knowledge of the size, shape, and location of the disbond areas

Response of linear dynamic systems with random coefficients

Numerous models of physical systems contain parameters whose values are not known exactly. The physical and mathematical complexities arising in the prediction of the statistical behavior of such systems are discussed. Although the discussions are far from providing a satisfactory solution to such problems, they perhaps, by utilization of simple examples, will create a greater awareness of the statistical effect of random parameters

‘I enjoy learning’: developing early years practitioners’ identities as professionals and as professional learners

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Professional Development in Education on 7 May 2018, available online via: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19415257.2018.1459788. Under embargo until 7 November 2019.Emphasis on professionalisation of the childcare workforce internationally is associated with evidence that links education and experience of early years practitioners; quality of early education and care; and outcomes for children and families. In England, this has led to a proliferation of vocational undergraduate programmes. This article draws on research carried out with early years practitioners who were completing a sector endorsed foundation degree in early years programme that provided students in full-time employment with opportunities for professional and workplace learning. The students’ views and experiences, documented in personal reflections and learning stories and voiced during focus groups, were complemented by those of early years managers and mentors. A critique of the findings to learn about developing early years practitioners’ identities as professionals and as professional learners suggests that the students became confident, reflective professionals and learners who shared their learning and sought to implement change in their settings. This research has implications for developing early childhood education and care (ECEC) practitioners, new to academic study, as learners and as confident, reflective members of a professional workforce at a time of ongoing change and uncertainty in ECEC policy and practice nationally and internationally.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Eighth Grade Students' Understandings of Groundwater

According to national standards, eighth graders should possess appropriate understandings regarding groundwater and its role in the hydrologic cycle. This article describes a study of eighth-grade students to determine what types of ideas eighth graders actually possess regarding groundwater. The students completed a survey that consisted of one multiple-choice item and a drawing prompt. The results of this survey, along with videotaped class discussions about goundwater, revealed that students of this age group hold naive conceptions concerning groundwater. In addition, the students' spatial reasoning was identified as contributing to their conceptions. Educational levels: Graduate or professional, Graduate or professional

Part time employment and happiness: A cross-country analysis

The relationship between part time employment and job satisfaction is analysed for mothers in Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, France, Spain and the UK. The impact of working part time on subjective life satisfaction and mental well-being is additionally analysed for British mothers. Cultural traditions concerning women´s role in society, and institutional differences between the countries are exploited. Results indicate that poor quality jobs can diminish any positive well-being repercussions of part time employment. The results additionally suggest that part time mothers in the UK experience higher levels of job satisfaction but not of overall life satisfaction as compared to their full time counterparts