Discuss how moral distress can affect nurses and its impact on nursing staff retention. - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2977 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Medicine Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Make recommendations on how the impact of moral distress on nursing staff can be limited. What is moral distress? Moral distress is the state of psychological discomfort and distress that arises when an individual recognises that they have moral responsibility in a given situation, make a moral judgement regarding the best course of action but for a range of reasons are unable to carry out what they perceive to be the correct course of action.   In reference to nursing, it specifically refers to the psychological conflict that occurs when a nurse has to take actions that conflict with what they believe is right, for example, due to restrictions in practice policies within institutions (Fitzpatrick and Wallace, 2011).  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Studies in this area usually use the original definition by Jameton in 1993 moral distress arises when one knows the right thing to do, but institutional constraints make it nearly impossible to pursue the right course of action (Jameton, 1984).   Further work by Wilkinson in 1987, who published an account of moral distress (Wilkinson, 1989) refined this definition to relate it directly to psychological disequilibrium and negative feeling (Wilkinson, 1987).   Common causes cited by nurses for not being able to fulfil their moral responsibility include a lack of confidence in the ability of colleagues, negative attitudes of colleagues towards patients and a team decision on care that does not follow the patients expressed wishes, or fear of reprisal resulting from the course of action they feel is best for the patient (Wojtowicz et al., 2014). For example, a nurse working in post-operative ward might experience a patient dying as the result of refusing a blood transfusion following surgery due to religious beliefs.   The nurses personal judgement may be that the patient should receive the blood transfusion to give them the best chance of surviving the surgery.   However, because the patient did not consent, the nurse could not carry out the action they perceived to be correct.   When the pati ent died, the nurse may have experienced emotional and psychological distress in the form of guilt and anger that they had not saved a life that may have been possible to save, as well as feelings of helplessness that they could not overrule the patients wishes (Stanley and Matchett, 2014).  Ãƒâ€š . Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Discuss how moral distress can affect nurses and its impact on nursing staff retention." essay for you Create order What situations are more likely to cause moral distress? In 2015, Whitehead et al carried out a large scale questionnaire based study in the USA on moral distress amongst nurses and other healthcare professionals (592 participants, 395 of which were registered nurses).   The most common causes of moral distress in nurses included frustration at a lack of patient care due to inadequate continuity (rated 6.4 by nurses on a Likert scale of 0-16), poor communication (5.8) or inadequate staffing levels (5.7).   Additionally, nurses reported that giving life supportive therapy when not in a patients best interest (6.0), or resuscitation only to prolong the process of death (5.8) were also rated highly.   This study also showed that physicians and other healthcare professionals also rated these factors highly, but overall their scores were less than those of nurses.   The authors concluded that nurses are more likely to experience moral distress than other healthcare professionals, possibly due to a discrepancy betwe en levels of responsibility for patient welfare and the required autonomy to make the decisions they believe should be made, as well as feelings of accepting treatment protocols from physicians which they feel are incorrect but unable to challenge or overrule.   Poor team leadership and poor communication was also cited by nurses as a cause of moral distress (Whitehead et al., 2015). Moral distress appears to be more likely amongst nursing staff who are involved in patient care protocols that are considered to be aggressive and futile e.g. prolonged end of life care, or care protocols that the nurse does not consider to be in the patients best interest.   For these reasons, moral distress is thought to be particularly prevalent amongst nurses treating patients in palliative care (Matzo and Sherman, 2009), paediatrics, intensive care (Whitehead et al., 2015; Wilson et al., 2013; Ulrich et al., 2010) and neonatal environments (Wilkinson, 1989).   Additiona lly moral distress is also prevalent amongst psychiatric nurses due to increased feelings of responsibility for vulnerable patients, particularly as these patients are at risk of suffering from ethical mistreatments, e.g. misinformation about drug side effects (Wojtowicz et al., 2014).   Other studies have also identified that issues with the institution itself can cause moral distress, such as inadequate staffing, depersonalisation of staff, inadequate supply of resources and overloading of work (Dalmolin et al., 2014). How does it affect nursing staff? Moral distress can have psychological consequences that affect the nurses performance and wellbeing.   For example, it is thought that nurses experiencing moral distress may self-blame or criticise themselves for an unsatisfactory outcome, and may experience emotions of anger, guilt, sadness or powerlessness (Fitzpatrick and Wallace, 2011; Borhani et al., 2014).   They may shift blame onto others or exhibit avoidance behaviours such as taking time off for illness.   Physical manifestations may also include headaches, diarrhoea, sleep disturbance and palpitations, which may well be interpreted as illness and require time off work, further contributing to low staffing levels, which perpetuates a cycle of understaffing = moral distress / illness = time off = understaffing (Fitzpatrick and Wallace, 2011).   Moral distress is associated with burnout (or emotional exhaustion and extreme stress) and with a reduced sense of professional fulfilment (Dalmolin et a l., 2014) . Moral distress and staff retention Because experiencing moral distress has been linked to harm and stress to nurses, as well as a reduction in the quality of patient care, many studies have cited it as a reason for nurses to leave the profession, resulting in a reduction in staffing levels and self-perpetuating cycle of staff shortages (Fitzpatrick and Wallace, 2011; Borhani et al., 2014).   Indeed, one study of 102 intensive care nurses in the USA found that as many as 40% had left or had considered leaving a job as the direct result of moral distress (Morgan and Tarbi, 2015), Together, these issues can significantly compromise the quality of patient care and result in burnout of nursing staff, causing more to leave the profession to avoid the feelings of guilt that moral distress can cause, particularly in those specialisms typically associated with moral distress such as oncology or paediatrics.   Moral distress also contributes to job dissatisfaction, typically as the result of a discrepancy bet ween the experience the nurse is expecting to have at an institution, and the actual experience (Borhani et al., 2014) This is particularly true of student nurses, who are more likely to have higher expectations of the profession they have worked hard to join, and will be more familiar with the policies and values by which organisations should be run rather than the reality, where it is likely that some practices will be sub-optimal or archaic (Wojtowicz et al., 2014; Stanley and Matchett, 2014).  Ãƒâ€š Managing and limiting the impact of moral distress As previously discussed, moral distress is thought to primarily result from either institutional disorganisation (which can be prevented), or distressing ethical situations such as providing futile life prolonging treatment which are unfortunately inevitable (Whitehead et al., 2015).   However, there are ways in which nurses and their management can prepare themselves to deal with these situations effectively, thus reducing the impact of the moral distress (Deady and McCarthy, 2010).  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Although it is important for nursing staff to be supported by their management, ultimately the nurse should be responsible for themselves and their own psychological wellbeing in order to prevent burnout from moral distress (Severinsson, 2003). Several studies have suggested that the best way to reduce the risk of burnout as a result of moral distress is for nurses to share their feelings and seek support from their peers, ideally in an environment where nurses can shar e their experiences and discuss ethical implications of specific situations.   It is also important that nurses understand what moral distress is, and can identify the source of negative feelings.   Psychologically it is thought to be important that nurses acknowledge and identify these feelings so that they may be processed in a less damaging manner (Matzo and Sherman, 2009; Deady and McCarthy, 2010; Em Pijlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?Zieber et al., 2008).   Nurses should also be encouraged to challenge treatment protocols they feel are inappropriate without fear of reprisal (Deady and McCarthy, 2010).   Some researchers have advocated approaches such as nurses emotionally distancing themselves from distressing situations, or actively striving to desensitise themselves.   However it is controversial whether or not this actually reduces moral distress, and of course raises questions about patient welfare with some suggesting that it is important that the nurse fee ls ethically responsible (Whitehead et al., 2015; Severinsson, 2003) and has a degree of emotional involvement in the situation in order to provide best possible care (Bryon et al., 2012; Linnard-Palmer and Kools, 2005; Severinsson, 2003). The majority of studies in this area recommend that moral distress should be included in the curriculum studied by student nurses, along with practical recommendations regarding measures that can be taken to deal with it as and when it occurs (Wojtowicz et al., 2014; Borhani et al., 2014; Matzo and Sherman, 2009; Stanley and Matchett, 2014; Whitehead et al., 2015), for example in the form of ethical philosophical discussion to facilitate students to explore their individual moral value systems and emotional responses, as well as be more informed regarding the underlying psychological processes involved.   Therefore nurses may better understand the thought processes involved, and be better equipped to identify unhelpful thinking patt erns that may result from moral distress, thus limiting stress and avoiding the development of burnout (Stanley and Matchett, 2014; Severinsson, 2003). It has been shown by several studies that moral distress occurs less in institutions and teams where there is a healthy and positive attitude towards ethics and the discussion of the application of ethics (Whitehead et al., 2015).   Therefore, it is important that institutions encourage the development of an ethically healthy environment at all levels of management (Deady and McCarthy, 2010).  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Additionally, many studies highlight that incompetence in colleagues and subsequent errors in patient care is a primary source of moral distress in nursing staff, and as such institutions should ensure that an adequate quality of care monitoring system is in place, preferably where staff are able to raise concerns without fear of reprisal (Whitehead et al., 2015; Stanley and Matchett, 2014).  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Ins titutions should also strive to reduce factors such as institutional disorganisation, inadequate resource levels and understaffing (Dalmolin et al., 2014).   Anonymous reviews have also identified extreme examples of patient mistreatment and poor care, and a lack of empowerment of student nurses in particular to report or challenge unacceptable behaviour in colleagues.   Universities and institutions should therefore encourage an environment where this is possible (Rees et al., 2015).   Feelings of powerlessness to contest clinical decisions can also be reduced by encouraging   collaborative decision making within teams (Karanikola et al., 2014; Em Pijlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?Zieber et al., 2008). Healthcare institutions should also recognise their responsibilities in reducing moral distress amongst nursing staff in order to support them correctly and also to retain staff and limit absence due to staff sickness.   For example, an institution could appo int a designated ethics consultant who can offer guidance to nurses, and ensure that staff have access to counselling if required to address any psychological distress.   The institution could also support the setting up of an ethics discussion forum where staff could discuss troubling situations (Matzo and Sherman, 2009), for example using an online forum which would also provide anonymity to facilitate open discussion.   It has been recommended that such groups be cross-disciplinary, as this would allow for potentially valuable differing viewpoints to facilitate discussion and potentially offer different solutions or approaches to those traditionally used by a team (Matzo and Sherman, 2009). Nursing management staff are thought to experience less moral distress than nurses themselves, presumably as the result of the distance perceived between themselves and the questionable moral decision (Ganz et al., 2015).   As a result it may also be beneficial for management staff to receive specific training about moral distress so that they can understand the situation better and provide more effective support to their teams. Conclusion Moral distress is a significant factor for nurses leaving the profession.   Combatting moral distress is important, not only for the welfare of nursing staff but also the patients themselves.   Healthcare institutions have a responsibility to minimise moral distress as much as possible by improving administrative issues such as staffing levels, team organisation and job satisfaction.   However nurses still have a responsibility to themselves and their patients to reduce moral distress and thus negate its impact on patient care (as well as their own health and wellbeing) by actively partaking in activities such as ethical discussion groups and peer support networks.   Together nurses, healthcare institutions and universities can reduce the impact of moral distress by cultivating an environment where nursing staff can participate in controversial care plan discussions. References Borhani, F., Abbaszadeh, A., Nakhaee, N. and Roshanzadeh, M. (2014). The relationship between moral distress, professional stress, and intent to stay in the nursing profession. Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, 7, p.3. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25512824 [Accessed: 25 June 2015] Bryon, E., Dierckx de CasterlÃÆ' ©, B. and Gastmans, C. (2012). Because we see them naked nurses experiences in caring for hospitalized patients with dementia: considering artificial nutrition or hydration (ANH). Bioethics, 26 (6), p.285à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"295. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21320145 [Accessed: 25 June 2015] Dalmolin, G. de L., Lunardi, V. L., Lunardi, G. L., Barlem, E. L. D. and Silveira, R. S. da. (2014). Moral distress and Burnout syndrome: are there relationships between these phenomena in nursing workers? Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 22 (1), p.35à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"42. [Online]. Available at : https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php [Accessed: 26 June 2015]. Deady, R. and McCarthy, J. (2010). A Study of the Situations, Features, and Coping Mechanisms Experienced by Irish Psychiatric Nurses Experiencing Moral Distress: A Study of the Situations, Features, and Coping Mechanisms Experienced by Irish Psychiatric Nurses Experiencing Moral Distress. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 46 (3), p.209à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"220. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1744-6163.2010.00260.x   [Accessed: 26 June 2015]. Em Pijlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?Zieber, Brad Hagen, Chris Armstrongà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?Esther, Barry Hall, Lindsay Akins and Michael Stingl. (2008). Moral distress: an emerging problem for nurses in longà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?term care? Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 9 (2), p.39à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"48. [Online]. Available at: https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/14717794200800013   [Accessed: 26 June 2015]. Fitzpatrick, J. J. and Wallace, M. (2011). Encyclopedi a of Nursing Research, Third Edition. Springer Publishing Company. [Online]. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jAE_s82NjtACdq=nursing+moral+distresshl=ensa=Xei=WMiLVfSZE8Ke7gaO4IGIBgved=0CD8Q6AEwBQ [Accessed: 25 June 2015]. Ganz, F. D., Wagner, N. and Toren, O. (2015). Nurse middle manager ethical dilemmas and moral distress. Nursing Ethics, 22 (1), p.43à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"51. [Online]. Available at: https://nej.sagepub.com/cgi/doi/10.1177/0969733013515490 [Accessed: 25 June 2015]. Jameton, A. (1984). Nursing practice: The ethical issues. 1st ed. Englewood Cliffs. [Accessed: 25 June 2015]. Karanikola, M. N. K., Albarran, J. W., Drigo, E., Giannakopoulou, M., Kalafati, M., Mpouzika, M., Tsiaousis, G. Z. and Papathanassoglou, E. D. (2014). Moral distress, autonomy and nurse-physician collaboration among intensive care unit nurses in Italy. Journal of Nursing Management, 22 (4), p.472à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"484. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jon m.12046 [Accessed: 26 June 2015]. Linnard-Palmer, L. and Kools, S. (2005). Parents refusal of medical treatment for cultural or religious beliefs: an ethnographic study of health care professionals experiences. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing: Official Journal of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses, 22 (1), p.48à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"57. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15574726. [Accessed: 25 June 2015] Matzo, M. L. and Sherman, D. W. (2009). Palliative Care Nursing: Quality Care to the End of Life, Third Edition. Springer Publishing Company. [Online]. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rTexGiX5bqoCpg=PA121dq=nursing+moral+distresshl=ensa=Xei=cciLVbDDK-fd7QbR6q3oDQved=0CEMQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepageq=nursing%20moral%20distressf=false [Accessed: 25 June 2015]. Morgan, B. and Tarbi, E. (2015). A Survey of Moral Distress Across Nurses in Intensive Care Units (FR416-A). Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 49 (2), p.360à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ â€Å"361. [Online]. Available at: doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2014.11.091 [Accessed: 25 June 2015]. Rees, C. E., Monrouxe, L. V. and McDonald, L. A. (2015). My mentor kicked a dying womans bedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Analysing UK nursing students most memorable professionalism dilemmas. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 71 (1), p.169à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"180. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jan.12457 [Accessed: 26 June 2015]. Severinsson, E. (2003). Moral stress and burnout: Qualitative content analysis. Nursing and Health Sciences, 5 (1), p.59à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"66. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.wiley.com/10.1046/j.1442-2018.2003.00135.x   [Accessed: 26 June 2015]. Stanley, M. J. C. and Matchett, N. J. (2014). Understanding how student nurses experience morally distressing situations: Caring for patients with different values and beliefs in the clinical environment. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 4 (10), p.p133. [Online]. Available at: https://ww w.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/jnep/article/view/5139 [Accessed: 25 June 2015]. Ulrich, C., Hamric, A. and Grady, C. (2010). Moral Distress: A Growing Problem in the Health Professions? Hastings Center Report, 40 (1), p.20à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"22. [Online]. Available at: https://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/hastings_center_report/v040/40.1.ulrich.html [Accessed: 26 June 2015]. Whitehead, P. B., Herbertson, R. K., Hamric, A. B., Epstein, E. G. and Fisher, J. M. (2015). Moral Distress Among Healthcare Professionals: Report of an Institution-Wide Survey: Moral Distress. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 47 (2), p.117à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"125. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jnu.12115 [Accessed: 25 June 2015]. Wilkinson, J. M. (1987). Moral Distress in Nursing Practice: Experience and Effect. Nursing Forum, 23 (1), p.16à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"29. [Online]. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-6198.1987.tb00794.x/abstract [Accessed: 25 June 2015]. Wilkinson, J. M. (1989). Moral Distress: A Labor and Delivery Nurses Experience. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, Neonatal Nursing, 18 (6), p.513à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"519. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1552-6909.1989.tb00503.x [Accessed: 26 June 2015]. Wilson, M. A., Goettemoeller, D. M., Bevan, N. A. and McCord, J. M. (2013). Moral distress: levels, coping and preferred interventions in critical care and transitional care nurses. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22 (9-10), p.1455à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"1466. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jocn.12128 [Accessed: 26 June 2015]. Wojtowicz, B., Hagen, B. and Van Daalen-Smith, C. (2014). No place to turn: Nursing students experiences of moral distress in mental health settings: Moral Distress in Mental Health Settings. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 23 (3), p.257à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"264. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/inm.12043 [Accessed: 25 Ju ne 2015].

Pateman On Locke Essays - 1259 Words

For years social contract theorists had monopolized the explanation of modern society. John Locke was among those who advocated this theory of a collectively chosen set of circumstances. Carole Pateman, on the other hand rejects many of the pillars of the social contract and specifically attacks certain aspects of Lockes argument regarding paternalism and patriarchy. Pateman defends her idea that the individual about which Locke writes is masculine, instead of the gender-encompassing form of the word quot;man.quot; Pateman also argues that Locke denies the individuality of women. Instead of scrapping his entire work, however, she grants him a couple of concessions, even acknowledging Locke as anti-patriarchal. If John Locke were around†¦show more content†¦Much like the other social contract theorists, Pateman believes that Locke leaves women out of the picture. In Patemans eyes Locke excludes women from quot;participation in the act that creates civil society.quot;(Sexual Contract: 21) Others have generously argued that Locke omitted women from the original contract in order to keep from alienating his (male) audience or, even though they are not mentioned directly, women still quot;could have been party to the social contract.quot;(Sexual Contract:21) Pateman believes his omission was the direct result of Lockes idea of an individual being masculine. When Locke speaks of man and mans role in the social contract, Pateman takes quot;manquot; literally to mean the male gender instead of as a universal term. Pateman also concerns herself with Lockes status as a believer in paternal or parental power. Although Locke stresses the Bibles fifth commandment (Honor thy father and mother) he does not extend womens equality to other arenas. Instead, according to Pateman, quot;the husband still exercises power over his wife, but the power is less than absolute.quot;(Sexual Contract: 22) It is in this manner that Pateman attributes male dominated government and politics to a traditional patriarchal system. To quote Pateman directly: The genesis of the (patriarchal) family is frequently seen as synonymousShow MoreRelatedWeaknesses Of Social Contract Theory928 Words   |  4 Pagesthat enforces the contract and the laws that come with it. Some political theorists, such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, have differing views as to what the state of nature is and what should constitute as a social contract. One difference is Hobbes’s theory of the Social Contract supports the idea of absolutism while providing very little to no value to the individual, whereas Locke supported the individual and not the government. These social contract theorists have elements which a feminist canRead MoreSocial Contract And The Civil Society979 Words   |  4 Pagescitizens. Indeed the human behaviour described seems alien to us, and Hobbes is criticised for his narrative of human behaviour and psychology (Hampton 1999). More importantly, the persons living in the state of nature of the classical theorists, Hobbes, Locke, and to a lesser extent, Rousseau, are simplistic generalisations. Dicus (2015) argues that the state of nature as a model needs more developed descriptions of persons, rather than generalised threats, to more effectively explain the shift from theRead MoreEducation: Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire Essay1435 Words   |  6 Pagesbe used by a nation and the problems it entails that would have to be discussed for modern uses. Locke begins by describing a state of nature that entails equality and a state of perfect freedom for mankind to live as they want within the laws of nature (Locke 2009, 370). Locke’s work argues for his view of property, where a man has the right to the fruits of his labor but not to another man’s (Locke 2009, 372). In his view, the government is meant to prevent on man from seeking punishment that isRead MoreThe Theory Of Social Contract Theory2326 Words   |  10 PagesBusiness Society Government The concept of social contract theory is that in the beginning man lived in the state of nature. They had no government and there was now law to regulate them. There are three main philosophers Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau that are best known for the social contract theory. In the twentieth century moral and political theory with John Rawls’ Kantian version of social contract theory and was then followed by David Gaunthier. Feminists and raceRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesmanagement’s right to manage is founded upon its ability to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness, justified and enabled by objective analyses of how things really are, has to collapse epistemologically (see also Fournier and Grey, 2000; Locke, 1996). Their inevitably subjective interpretations of what is going on can be no better than any other person’s equally subjective interpretations. Despite the recent appearance of this ‘subjectivist’ epistemological challenge to the dominance of

The Culture Organizational Structure

Question: Critically analyse a company called ABC and the culture organizational structure of that company. Answer: This essay will critically analyse a company called ABC and the present organizational culture organizational structure of that company. I was appointed as a new supervisor for this company to manage three new teams, which were contracted by the company X, who is the prime contractor for building internet network. This essay will analyse how the existing organizational culture and structure of this company, and evaluate the best organizational culture and structure that can be implemented without much commotion to improve performance and quality of this company. ABC is a company with 19 employees that are contracted to undertake the construction of NBN network to the premises in Central NSW region. It has three teams looked after by one supervisor and management of consisting of three people at the office and with the owner at the top. It also has an operation team, admin and accounting and a supervisor to manage the workers and 16 labours. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE Organisational Culture can be defined in many ways. Hence, they are dependent on which segment is to be discussed. An example of the definition of Organisational Culture is "A system of shared meaning held by members that distinguish the organization from other organizations" (Robins et al. 2011: 466). Another is "Cognitive framework, which consists of attitudes, values, behavioural norms and expectation" (Greenberg,Baron,1997). AGGRESSIVE/DEFENSIVE CULTURE There are many organizational cultural models available. However, this essay is particularly concerned with the one that is related to ABC. Aggressive/defensive culture more prominent in the task than workers and it is more focused on individual's achievement than group achievement (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015). There are four elements to Aggressive/defensive culture Oppositional More focussed on having the security and it is critical of other works. It questions the co-workers, which can result in disputes. However, it can also permit quality improvement. Such complications exists there in ABC, where workers questions the quality of other team members' work and it creates dispute rather than improvements. Power Power culture more concerned with prestige and power and it does not necessarily have anything to do with the senior management controlling the lower management. It can exist in small teams and many forms. For example, in small companies when new workers join they are not welcomed, and there is an issue of someone been working for the company for a long time and have the authority over new employees. This did exist with ABC, where new employees were doing the basic tasks and always found fault by senior employees. There was no room for the new employees to progress further. This often led to the disputes and most of the workers resigned. Competitive Individuals are focused on competing against each other and to protect their status by outperforming others. ABC rewarded bonus at the end of the month for those employees who have performed well. This was introduced to motivate employees as well as increase the turnover of the company. Although rewarding employees are great, it made no good for ABC with the existing organizational culture (Ou et al. 2013). There was great competition between the three teams and individual team members among each team. Initially, this bonus payment increased turnover for the company but later it declined as the quality was compromised and complaints increased. There were complaints made by customers to National Broadband Network (NBN). Then the workers were directed to follow the rectification work and this lead to loss of time and money. This whole process affected the company dramatically. It shows how this aggressive/defensive culture affected ABC, as employees had no collaboration in the workplac e as a team. Moreover, they were more focused on their individual achievement. Perfectionists The focus of this culture is to do everything to perfection and in a flawless manner. This is again due to the status and competition and to do well in everything than other people (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015). This sometimes results in high quality work but provides no room for teamwork. Overall, the members of Aggressive/defensive culture find themselves in an extreme level of stress. They also find themselves in a conflict situation and are not satisfied with their work. This culture has a negative impact on ABC, especially on the quality of their work and the level of consistency. Often aggressive and defensive members cannot interact with other co-workers and find themselves with impossible expectations. Members usually face conflict situations and not knowing whom to listen to and no assistance from other members. Members dislike their working environment and often leave the organization to find a job in another organization. Importantly this culture does not support teamwork, and such culture does result in job dissatisfaction for any individual as seen in the context of ABC. A power culture describes a non-participative organization structured on the basis of the authority inherent in members' positions. Members believe that they will be rewarded for taking charge, controlling subordinates and, at the same time, being responsive to the demands of superiors ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE It is important for any organization to decide a suitable organizational structure (Knights and Pedrero 2013). It is vital for any organization to decide a structure carefully so that it creates a positive organizational culture as well as achieves the organizational goal. Organizational structure defines who holds power, what responsibilities everyone holds and who makes the decision. There are six main key elements in organizational structure (Robins et al. 2011). They are work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization and decentralization, and formalization. The focus of this essay will be on that are related to ABC and evaluate some of the main elements that affect this company. The simple structure: According to Robbins et al. (pp445) the simple structure "it is a flat organization, it usually has only two or three vertical levels and a loose body of employees, and one individual in whom the decision making authority is centralized." The "simple structure" is utilized by ABC with the authority centralized to the owner of the company (Centralisation and decentralization). The simple structure mostly used by small organizations. It allows organizations to be fast, flexible, permits clear accountability while maintaining low operating cost (Fan et al. 2013). ABC's simple structure is a great example of this with the owner at the top and operations team and accounting/admin team at the next level down, as depicted in Diagram 1 (departmentalisation). The supervisor can directly report to the owner and the operations team and the workers can only report to the supervisor but can be in contact with the operations team and the owner to discuss any matter (Chain of command). This allows the organization to make quick decisions unlike other structures like matrix or bureaucracy. ABC has one site supervisor who is managing fifteen team members and reports the owner and the operations team (span of control) (Neubert et al. 2014). Work Specialization: Work specialization also is known as the division of labour. It allows the organization to allocate work among the individuals. Henry Ford utilized this method in the early time and had been very successful. Ford was able to produce a car every ten seconds, using employees who had relatively limited skills (Robins et al. 2011). Work specialization allows organizations to hire people who had relatively low skills and still assist them to be efficient because there were no need for change tasks. Similarly, at ABC the workers are hired with relatively low skills. As long as the workers have white card and first aid certificate, they are hired to do the task. Workers are allocated with repetitive tasks. For example, some workers are only required to dig trenches all day, some just have to operate machines every day, and some just have the job of installing NBN boxes on the wall and some others only do cable hauling. These repeated tasks lead to boredom, fatigue, and poor quality. This re sults in so many complaints by customers and declines the efficiency when workers are again allocated to the rectification work (Neubert et al. 2014). This results in loss of revenue and some workers have been sacked as a result of it. RECOMMENDATION Organisational Culture The use of Aggressive/defensive culture within ABC diminishing the company currently and it will continue to diminish, as the culture gets even more aggressive. ABC will have to focus on building a team that can work together not against each other. It should be working together to achieve a common goal. The most suitable culture for ABC will be Constructive culture. In Constructive culture, individuals are urged to be in correspondence with their colleagues, and work as groups, instead of just as individuals. The Constructive styles incorporate the Achievement, Self-Actualizing, Humanistic-Encouraging, and Affiliative customs in the workplace (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015). Self-Achievement It allows the task to be completed successfully with the team's own effort as well as be competent and able to do challenging tasks and believes that the achievements are based on personal skills (Ou et al. 2013). It talks about Setting realistic goals, thinking ahead and achieving the results. This is important for ABC as they are working beyond their capacity sometimes, this will allow them to have a realistic and sensible goal. Self-actualizing - It refers to the craving for self-fulfilment, that is, eagerness of a person to become actualized and understand the potentiality. It is about the realization or fulfilment of one's talents and potentialities considered as a drive or need present in everyone (think in unique and independent ways) (do even simple tasks well). Based on the needs for personal growth, self-fulfilment and the realization of one's potential people carry out their performance in a different way. People with this style demonstrate a strong desire to learn and experience things. They are creative yet realistic in thinking and obtains a balanced concern for people and tasks. Humanistic encouraging It is about helping the co-workers to grow and develop and gives high regards to people and their development (Chatman et al. 2013). This will allow the workers at ABC to be people focused and help one another, to develop skills as well being encouraging and supportive. This will eliminate existing issues with ABC where people are racing against each other and not being supportive and focusing on their individual needs. Affiliative: It helps the workers to be focused on people and relationship (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015). It will allow sustaining working relationship, and this will surely be significant for ABC. It is important for workers to have this culture and by following it; they will be able to pursue a great relationship. By changing ABC's organizational culture to constructive culture will enable this company to run in harmony. It will allow workers to be more people focused than to be task oriented. It will allow workers to be friendly and help each other and developing skills. Organisational structure The "simple structure" is the most suitable structure for ABC, but there are rooms for some improvements, which will make the operation effective. One particular concern is to do with span of control, where one supervisor is managing three teams (Knights and Pedrero 2013). Although one supervisor is sufficient to look after three teams of sixteen members, the problem is arising because of the work environment. Not all three teams can work together as they are operating on different sites and supervisor can only be on one site at a time. The supervisor will have to travel each site throughout the day to monitor tasks and to assure that the safety standards are being followed. It is recommended to hire another supervisor so the teams can be managed effectively and importantly a constructive culture has to be established and maintained. Another alternative option is to promote one worker from each team to be the team leader, and they can report to the supervisor. However, this is possible solution may create complexity by adding more chain of command. Since ABC is a relatively small company, it is important to have simpler chain of command and span of control. Therefore, the most suitable decision is to hire another supervisor. In addition, the bonus policy of the company should be taken into consideration. Instead of paying bonus for the individuals for their performance, it can be evaluated on the overall team performance. This will encourage workers to work together, and it will allow them to work as a team and help them to change into a constructive culture. Conclusion This essay has critically analyzed the organizational structure and the organizational culture followed by the organization named ABC. In conclusion, it can be said that the existing working, the organizational culture, and the organizational structure of the company named ABC is affecting the motivation and the employee turnover rate of the company. It is a prerequisite for a company to develop and maintain a good working culture. A strong and healthy organizational culture is talent-attractor. In addition to this, it also helps in changing the attitude of the employees to the job and the organization. The organizational culture of the company ABC is of the aggressive/defensive culture. The company needs to replace it with the constructive organizational structure to obtain the above-discussed advantages. On the other hand, the structural organizational pattern followed by the company ABC is being typically helpful for the growth and achievement of the strategic goals of the company . This company is developing a "simple structure" of the organizational structure. As they are operating in the small, scale this particular organizational structure, is providing them a simpler way of power control and a clear hierarchy. However, the undemocratic pattern of decision-making and the strict control over the power structure lead to the employee dissatisfaction and decreased level of employee engagement. Therefore, for the better operation, the ABC can go for this "simple structure" with a bit democratization and recruitment of some new staffs for the simplification of the working issues. Thus, these simple changes within the organizational setup can help ABC to perform better. References: Alvesson, M. and Sveningsson, S., 2015.Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress. Routledge. Chatman, J.A., Caldwell, D.F., OREILLY, C.A. and Doerr, B.E.R.N.A.D.E.T.T.E., 2013.Organizational Culture and Performance in High-Technology Firms: The Effects of Culture Content and Strength. Working Paper). Berkeley, CA: Haas School of Business. Csaszar, F.A., 2012. Organizational structure as a determinant of performance: Evidence from mutual funds.Strategic Management Journal,33(6), pp.611-632. Fan, J.P., Wong, T.J. and Zhang, T., 2013. Institutions and organizational structure: The case of state-owned corporate pyramids.Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization,29(6), pp.1217-1252. Knights, P. and Pedrero, F.V., 2013. Speed, coordination and individualistic behaviors: a pilot NK modeling study to investigate the moderating effects of organizational structure on performance in individual firms. Neubert, M.J., Hunter, E.M. and Tolentino, R., 2014, January. The Influence of Servant Leadership and Organizational Structure on Employee and Patient Outcomes. InAcademy of Management Proceedings(Vol. 2014, No. 1, p. 17320). Academy of Management. Ou, A.Y., Hartnell, C.A., Kinicki, A.J. and Karam, E.P., 2013, January. A Meta-Analytic Path Analysis of Leadership, Organizational Culture, and Unit Performance. InAcademy of Management Proceedings(Vol. 2013, No. 1, p. 10037). Academy of Management.

Should Sex Ed. Be Offered In Public free essay sample

Schools? Essay, Research Paper # 8220 ; Should Sex Education be offered in Public Schools? # 8221 ; Sexual activity can be traced back every bit far as Adam and Eve, the first two people on this planet. Today, all age groups encounter things associated with sex, but it is non a job that concerns everyone. The job that has been at manus for more than thirty old ages is should arouse instruction categories be offered in Public Schools? ( 1.Teaching Fear ; 1996 ) The ground such argument has arose over the old ages is because there are many diverse sentiments about the subject. Children are now faced with jobs at a much earlier age than old ages passed. There must be a manner to make the kids before they are in such demand of aid and are clueless about the lay waste toing jobs around them. Sexual activity instruction is one measure in the right way, when it comes to the wellness of our kids, and the warrant of a solid hereafter. Although some people disagree with the thought of sex instruction categories, in the public school system, the bulks seem to prefer it. On the other manus, some people agree with the thought of sex instruction, but feel like the job lies more in the manner that it is taught, instead than being wholly against the thought. Those who are against sex instruction in category feel as though all the categories would make is make more jobs. They are unsure about the result, whether or non it would do pupils to be more or less likely to prosecute in sexual activities and intercourse. ( 2.Keen, Cathy. Florida Teens Get Inadequate Sex Education ; 1999 ) The chief concerns for most people, particularly parents, are what can the pupils learn from the categories and how can they use it to their lives. In some instances, people feel as though new methods of learning the topic would convey better consequences, such as lower teenage gestations, a diminution in sexually transmitted diseases, more responsible thought, and possibly even lower the rate of sexual torment and colza. Another inquiry that people are inquiring is when should the categories be started. Recent surveies found that between the ages of six old ages old and twelve old ages old, kids are non cognizant of their gender. ( 3.Sex Education in Schools ; 1999 ) Once the kids begin to make pubescence and get down maturating more, that is when the job begins. If the plans would get down in kindergarten and continue through out the undermentioned 12 old ages of school, drastic alterations may be made in the age of first intercourse, or sexual activities. Parents must besides play a prima function in sex instruction. It must travel beyond the doors of the school, and into the places of the kids. Since parents are the chief pedagogues in a kid # 8217 ; s life, they need to discourse the subject of sex instruction in place every bit good. ( Sex Education in Schools ; 1999 ) Children who have neer had a talk about sex with their parents experience more uncomfortable when they have to speak about it in forepart of their schoolmates. In some instances, some pupils may even experience more comfy to speak to their instructor, instead than their parents. A really of import thought for parents to retrieve is, although speaking about sex can be hard, it makes it helpful on a kid to hear about the facts of life from their parents at first. ( 4.Woznicki, Katrina. Smarter Teens Likely to Delay Sex ; 2000 ) This besides makes it easier when they attend the sex instruction categories so they can understand the full impact of the category. Students themselves besides must lend to their ain consciousness of sex instruction, and STD bar. Just like schools offer plans where pupils make committednesss non to imbibe and drive, schools should besides offer plans where pupils can do the promise to remain abstentious until matrimony. A support group would assist the pupils by replying any inquiry the pupils might hold over sex, STD, or even sexual torment. The support group could even offer different types of plans that would learn pupils how to believe before any sexual brush. This would let pupils to be more mentally, and emotionally prepared for when they decide to hold sex. The plans could both detain the oncoming of sexual intercourse, and diminish the figure of sexual spouses. ( 5.Sex Education in Schools: Its Effectss on Sexual Behavior.1995 ) One of the chief inquiries that consequence the sex instruction plan, is what are the best topics to learn the kids. No affair what classes are offered abstention should ever be stressed the most. ( 6.Dunn, Vincy. Profile of A School Sex Ed. Program. ) Most of the sex instruction plans that are soon being used screens abstention, sexually familial disease, adolescent gestation, safe sex, and how to believe before they make a error. If instructors covered different ways to state no to sexual activities, and talked more about the emotional hazards of holding sex at an early age the effectivity of sex instruction would besides increase. Abstinence has the best warrant out of any method of safe sex. If a pupil patterns abstention, that is the lone manner he or she will neer contract a sexually familial disease, or increase the rate of adolescent gestation. The abstention merely plans offer pupils the ability to sharpen their decision-making accomplishments, and larn more about disease bar. ( Teaching Fear ; 1996 ) It besides teaches them to be more responsible for their actions and how to hold more self-denial, and self respect. Practicing safe sex is another topic that is taught in the plans. Today, there are several different methods of safe sex that could be taught. Statisticss show that about 50 % of most high school pupils are sexually active. ( 7.Do abstinence-only plans work? 2000 ) These pupils should besides be able to have the right information they need to understand the ways to be protected. Because one time some STD # 8217 ; S are contracted, the lone remedy is decease. Presently, out of all the population of the United States, adolescents hold the highest record of sexually transmitted disease, and that is out of any age group. ( 8.Decarlo, Pamela. Does Sex Ed. Work? ) Condoms and unwritten preventives are the two taking ways of safe sex, and disease bar. As said before, abstention is the merely 100 % safe manner, but unwritten preventives and rubbers are between 97 % and 99.9 % safe. ( 9.National Adolescent Reproductive Health Partnership ; 1998 ) Although unwritten preventives are merely used to forestall gestation in adult females, rubbers prevent disease transmittal and stop gestation from happening. Distributing rubbers in school, is besides another facet of sex instruction. If the school would supply the protection to any adolescent that was contemplating sexual intercourse, at least he or she would hold equal protection from gestation and STD # 8217 ; S. This could besides put a form for them to follow in the hereafter. That manner they would ever take to have on a rubber, and it could perchance salvage his or her life. The hazards of holding unprotected are really one mportant affairs that should be covered in deepness by the plan. Students should cognize that a hazard of holding unprotected sex and coming in contact with a sexually familial disease such as AIDS might ensue in losing his or her life. In 1994, four hundred and 17 new HIV instances were reported between the ages of 13 old ages of age, and 19 old ages of age. ( Decarlo, Pamela. Does Sex Ed. Work? ) In that same twelvemonth, two thousand six hundred and eighty four new instances were reported between the age of 20 and 24. ( Decarlo, Pamela ; Does Sex Ed. Work? ) If by some opportunity, all those who were infected with the HIV virus had an effectual sex instruction plan ; they might hold a opportunity to populate a life with positive wagess, alternatively of populating a life cognizing that you were closer to decease every twenty-four hours. Unwanted gestation is besides a hazard of unprotected sex. When this affair is covered in school, it would expose the message better to set the misss in the exact state of affairs. For case ; when a teenage miss is pressured into holding sex because it is purportedly love, and so she ends up pregnant, she will so recognize the importance of protected sex. But by so, it will be excessively late. A babe is on the manner, when the miss is still a kid herself. It is a shame to see society in a topographic point where all the ethical motives have vanished like clip. Not merely does this consequence the statistics on teenage gestation, but one time the miss realizes that she can # 8217 ; t be responsible plenty to raise a babe, she likely will make up ones mind to hold an abortion, which will besides increase the figure of abortions per twelvemonth. If the plans covered how it is to hold a babe at such an early age, the figure of gestations and abortions might besides worsen enormously. Not merely are sexually familial diseases, adolescent gestation and abortion the chief hazard of holding unprotected sex, but malignant neoplastic disease is besides. In immature misss, cervical malignant neoplastic disease can happen if sexual intercourse takes topographic point at an highly earliest age. Cervical malignant neoplastic disease and testicular malignant neoplastic disease, which is found in males, can besides be a consequence of a sexually familial disease. The dangers of these malignant neoplastic diseases are really serious. For adult females and work forces likewise, both malignant neoplastic diseases can forestall reproduction, and may even be life endangering. ( 10.Woznicki, Katrina. Some Girls Need Sex Ed. Earlier ; 1999 ) In the long tally, it would pay a adolescent to believe more than twice about holding sexual intercourse, particularly when the effects could destroy their life. Most misss and male childs that are get downing high school, that are already sexually active, evidently have non been told about ways to remain abstentious. It still isn # 8217 ; t excessively late for them to do the pick to prolong from sex until matrimony, and it rebelliously isn # 8217 ; t excessively late for those pupils who are still confused about if the privation to hold sexual intercourse or delay. Those are the chief two grounds that ways to remain abstainer should besides be covered in school. Teachers could discourse peer force per unit area towards sex, and how some cats will lie to girls merely so they can hold sex. They could besides discourse how misss or cats should neer blend drugs and sex because the consequences could stop up traumatic. Teachers could besides speak about the pupils self esteem. Most instances show that if a kid has low self-prides, they are more likely to prosecute in sexual activity earlier than 1s that have high self-prides are. ( 11.Alexander, Linda. Sex Ed. Coalition ) Recently, Dr. Sharon Thompson stated that # 8220 ; fright is a taking emotion that causes misss to hotfoot into holding sex. # 8221 ; ( 12.Weston, Louanne. Teaching Teenss to Think before Sexual activity ) Another conflicting affair at manus is the media # 8217 ; s influence on sexual behaviour. The plans that are shown on telecasting today merely promote the opposite thoughts of the sex instruction plans. When a kid turns the telecasting on, they so have entree to the Television shows that contain sexual affairs ; they can hear music with topics refering to sex. In the kids # 8217 ; s mind, all these things do are advance sexual desires. Television plans are get the better ofing the sex instruction plans, because the media is learning childs that sex is all right every bit long as they use protection. Alternatively of the media advancing safe sex and abstention, they continue to demo people holding sex, and neer reference anything about safe sex. The parents are so disenabling their kids for watching Television plans that contain immoral messages about sex. But it isn # 8217 ; t the kids who are making the injury. They should non be punished for watching Television, because everyth ing we see in today # 8217 ; s society is marketed by sex. In general, sex instruction has it # 8217 ; s pro # 8217 ; s and con # 8217 ; s. But the world of the affair is that sex instruction is our lone hope for the hereafter. The sexual educated categories produce as a consequence, healthy striplings that are good instruction and have been taught to believe any sexual activity wholly through. The ground many sex instruction categories have failed in past old ages is merely because society has been excessively afraid to encompass the truth. Once society decides to set morality back into instruction that is when the most advancement will happen. Unless the school system keeps a rigorous sex instruction course of study, sex instruction will be the same five old ages from now, as it was 10 old ages ago. The lone difference will be a higher figure of adolescent gestations, a higher rate of STD # 8217 ; S, and more instances of AIDS. a19 1. # 8220 ; Teaching Fear. # 8221 ; July 1996. Peoples of the American Way. 26 Sept. 2000 file: //A: PeopleofrtheAmericanWayAboutReligiousRights.html 2. Keen, Cathy. # 8220 ; Florida Teens Get Inadequate Sex Education. # 8221 ; UF Information Services 31 Oct. 1999. 7 Sept. 2000. 3. # 8220 ; Sex Education in Schools? # 8221 ; March 1999. Chiropracty, School Sex Education. 05 Sept. 2000. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.newsnet5.com/homezone/familymat # 8230 ; /hoemozone-familymatters-990326-144540.html 4. Woznicki, Katrina. # 8220 ; Smarter Teens Likely to Delay Sex # 8221 ; 29 Feb. 2000. 26 Sept. 2000 file: //A: OnHealthSmarterTeensLikelytoDelaySex.html 5. # 8220 ; Sex Education in Schools ; Its Effectss on Sexual Behavior. # 8221 ; Sept. 1995. HealthFacts. Vol. 20 Issue 196. 26 Sept. 2000. 6. Dunn, Vincy. # 8220 ; Profile of a Sex Education Program. # 8221 ; 1995. SchoolNurse.com. 09 Sept. 2000. 7. # 8220 ; Do Abstinence Only Sex Education Programs Work? # 8221 ; 15 July 2000 Kentucky Community College. Network-KCTCS Health Reference Center Academic. 26 Sept2000 8. Decarlo, Pamela. # 8220 ; Does Sex Education Work? # 8221 ; 7 Sept 2000. UCSF 9. # 8220 ; National Adolescent Reproductive Health Partnership. # 8221 ; 1998. What the Experts Say. 16 Oct.2000 10. Woznicki, Katrina. # 8220 ; Some Girls Need Sex Education Earlier. # 8221 ; 28 June 1999. 26 Sept. 2000 11. Alexander, Linda. # 8220 ; Sex Ed. Coalition. # 8221 ; 26 Sept 2000 12. Weston, Louanne. # 8220 ; Teaching Teenss to Think Before Sex. # 8221 ; 29 April 2000. 26 Sept 2000. SHOULD SEX EDUCATION BE OFFERED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?