Class of 2010 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: To examine the potential differences in attitudes between the colleges of pharmacy, nursing, medicine, and social work relating to the “Culture and Communication” IPE activity at the University of Arizona in 2007. METHODS: This was a retrospective study comparing the opinions and attitudes of different groups of healthcare students concerning the IPE activity “Culture and Communication” at the University of Arizona. The independent variable in this study was academic discipline: medicine, pharmacy, nursing, law, or social work. The dependent variables were the attitudes and opinions of the effectiveness of this IPE activity on Culture and Communication. RESULTS: A total of 589 questionnaires (medicine=119, pharmacy=89, nursing=77, social work=21) were completed and included in 2007. Overall, students felt the Culture and Communication IPE activity improved their knowledge of how to identify barriers to communication and reduce the likelihood of miscommunication with other healthcare professionals. The percent of students who believed they had a very high understanding of the barriers to effective communication among health care providers increased from 11.3% before the IPE activity to 34.5% after. The percent of students who believed they had a very high knowledge of how to reduce the likelihood of miscommunication increased from 6.6% before the IPE activity to 37.4% after. There were differences between the groups relating to the different questions that the questionnaire focused on. CONCLUSIONS: There were significant differences between the various healthcare professionals relating to the usefulness and effectiveness of the Culture and Communication IPE activities at the University of Arizona. Overall, students seemed to benefit from and enjoy the IPE activity and would recommend having future students participate in the activities. The majority of students felt the Culture and Communication IPE activity was benificial and allowed for the improvement of relationships and attitudes between the health care professions. There were similar responses between the medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work students.

Thesis (MPH)--University of Limpopo, 2010. / Relationships have been reported between job satisfaction, productivity, absenteeism and turnover among healthcare employees and as such it affects employees’ organizational commitment and the quality of healthcare services. The aim of the study was to determine the factors influencing job satisfaction among healthcare professionals at South Rand Hospital. The study was conducted among 103 participants. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from the participants. Data was then analyzed using statistical software SPSS 17.0. The results showed a low level of job satisfaction. Almost 80% (79.6%) of participants were not satisfied with their jobs, and there was no association between job satisfaction and socio-demographic characteristics. Variables such as opportunity to develop, responsibility, patient care and staff relations were found to be significantly influencing job satisfaction and there was a significant positive medium association between job satisfaction and opportunity to develop, responsibility, patient care and staff relations for both clinical and clinical support staff. Satisfaction with one’s job can affect not only motivation at work but also career decisions, relationship with others and personal health. Those who are working in a profession that is extremely demanding and sometimes unpredictable can be susceptible to feelings of uncertainty and reduced job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is also an essential part of ensuring high quality care. Dissatisfied healthcare providers give poor quality, less efficient care. Interventions need to be implemented in order to improve the level of job satisfaction among healthcare professionals at South Rand Hospital.

The contemporary mental health profession is facing a crisis of recruitment and retention. Services provided are complex, practically and conceptually. On one hand, assessments and treatments are provided, but on the other, staff become responsible for the administration of coercive security discourses and arrangements. This complex phenomenon can leave mental health personnel vulnerable to criticisms in exactly how best they should discharge their duties within an occupational remit of duality. Working in the correct or most appropriate way is a constant challenge for staff as they must meet with approval from both managers and colleagues negotiating a path between formal rules and informal norms. This exploratory study was undertaken within a mental health NHS Trust in the North of England. It interviewed twenty participants from a range of areas of work, namely hospital wards, occupational therapy departments and the community setting. A narrative interviewing technique has been used to collect occupational histories and stories which have been used in an attempt to illuminate the contemporary issues facing clinical staff. Findings suggest that their contemporary care delivery is much more complex than previously known and that there is a diverse range of background and conceptual challenges which workers face in addition to their organisationally prescribed practical mandates of work. Six normative orders of work have emerged from data that has been collected; bureaucracy, risk management, competence, morality, physical environment and care versus control. Participant reflections on professional autonomy and responsibility shed light on the perceived rationality of policies and procedures and 'governance at a distance' taking place in response to bureaucratic and risk reduction imperatives. Indeed, such work is demanding and the management of a professional 'performance', and the self regulating and adaption of emotion have been seen to be an important dimension in the observation of occupational competence and work-based socialisation processes. Furthermore, personnel are engaged in a complex and fluid role duality where they must personally reconcile their role as care provider whilst also maintaining levels of physical security in a contemporary and technologically advanced healthcare environment. In this thesis, it is argued that these normative aspects of work typify the social nature of mental health work and, in addition, take place under the auspices of Goffmanesque theorisations of the 'total institution', 'mortification of self and 'social contamination'. These findings draw particular attention to an under acknowledged aspect of mental health based inquiry where the formal and informal spheres of work are observed to co-mingle within the environment of psychiatry. In doing so, questions arise over the rationality of some systems of work which 'shop-floor' staff are engaged within, yet, at times, have very little opportunity to shape as individual practitioners.

This thesis reports on a three-part research project in which the images of mathematics and mathematicians held by lower secondary pupils were investigated. A survey tool which asked pupils to draw a picture of a mathematician at work, and which included a Likert-type scale and open-ended writing prompts, was designed and developed for use in an international study of pupils in five countries (n = 476). The results indicate that while some pupils hold stereotypical images in common, all pupils appear to know very little about mathematicians and the work they do. Mathematicians' invisibility to pupils of this age appears to affect their images of mathematics. The tool was refined and utilised again as part of two interventions in the United States: the first attempted to see if images would be affected by a unit in graph theory and discrete mathematics topics (n = 28); the second brought pupils (n = 174) together with a panel of mathematicians. Each intervention had different strengths, but both widened pupils' views of mathematics, enabling them to see it as more than just a study of numbers. In a third small study, professionals in the mathematics field (n = 106) from ten countries were asked in a short survey to comment on Who is a mathematician? and Who may call oneself one? Findings of this portion of the study indicate a lack of a unified vision among members of the mathematics community and some evidence of an elitism which would restrict who may define themselves as a mathematician.

No description available.

The contemporary information context is paradoxically antipathetic to the traditional information professions, and there are indications that, in order to survive, they will need to undergo radical transformation. This would require a re-conceptualisation of the "objects" of their knowledge domain, the entities and phenomena which comprise it, and the relationships between these entities (with particular reference to the concept of "information" itself). The term "information" is used in a multitude of contexts in the so called "Information Society", and this overuse has undermined the disciplinary and professional position of the information professions: the site of information work is contested. Furthermore, the changing context of the Information Society has challenged and diminished the essential task of the information professions: to deal with society's information problems and needs, as distinguished from the provision of information and communication technologies. In addition, access to information itself is contested as it is increasingly mediated by technology. The aim of this work is to develop a conceptual model by stabilising the defining concepts and constructs of information work, so that the social objectives and praxis of the field are elucidated and supported. The study proposes that such a theoretical framework could support an emergent metacommunity of information professionals.

The contemporary information context is paradoxically antipathetic to the traditional information professions, and there are indications that, in order to survive, they will need to undergo radical transformation. This would require a re-conceptualisation of the "objects" of their knowledge domain, the entities and phenomena which comprise it, and the relationships between these entities (with particular reference to the concept of "information" itself). The term "information" is used in a multitude of contexts in the so called "Information Society", and this overuse has undermined the disciplinary and professional position of the information professions: the site of information work is contested. Furthermore, the changing context of the Information Society has challenged and diminished the essential task of the information professions: to deal with society's information problems and needs, as distinguished from the provision of information and communication technologies. In addition, access to information itself is contested as it is increasingly mediated by technology. The aim of this work is to develop a conceptual model by stabilising the defining concepts and constructs of information work, so that the social objectives and praxis of the field are elucidated and supported. The study proposes that such a theoretical framework could support an emergent metacommunity of information professionals.

The thesis examines the nature and effectiveness of the communications system by which information about science reaches those not professionally involved with the subject. The range and diversity of individual engagements with science, has been explored, as have the links between such engagements and people's other non-professional activities and objectives.

Class of 2015 Abstract / Objectives: The purpose of this study was to measure and compare basic nutritional knowledge in first year health professional students. Authors hypothesized that nursing students would have more nutritional knowledge since a nutrition prerequisite was required. Methods: In fall 2013 authors’ surveyed 244 subjects at a University, comprising of first-year medicine, pharmacy, and nursing students. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed utilizing a print-based questionnaire containing 3 descriptive and 14 multiple-choice questions (21 total points). Each college’s average score was compared using chi-square analysis. The a priori alpha was 0.05 (Bonferroni correction = 0.016). Results: The overall response rate was 93%; 91%, 97%, and 92% for Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nursing, respectively. Average scores per college were: 6.50±1.76, 5.88±2.00, and 5.72±2.08, respectively. Analyses showed no significant difference between groups (p>0.016). Conclusions: Although no difference in nutritional knowledge was identified between groups, the low scores reflect insufficient knowledge and suggest the need to re-evaluate curricula.

Law enforcement organisations and intergovernmental bodies, such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), have become increasingly focused on the role that legal and financial professionals play in the facilitation of money laundering, with claims that stringent anti-money laundering controls and increasingly complex laundering methods have led criminals to become more reliant on the services provided by professionals to manage their illicit funds. As a result, a number of legislative and policy measures aimed at preventing professionals from becoming involved in money laundering have been implemented at national and international levels. However, the role played by professionals in the facilitation of money laundering has received limited academic attention and there has been little empirical research in the area, resulting in a lack of understanding about the nature of this role and allowing an official narrative about professionals’ involvement in money laundering to persist without challenge. This thesis explores the role of legal and financial professionals in the facilitation of money laundering, using the concept of ‘situated action’ to explain the actions of professionals involved in laundering criminal proceeds, and an analytical framework which directs attention towards the relationship between these actions and the organisational setting and wider contexts in which they occur. The thesis also considers the criminal justice and regulatory response to professionals’ involvement in money laundering in the UK. The research utilised a qualitative methodology, combining semi-structured interviews with individuals from law enforcement and criminal justice bodies, regulatory bodies, and the relevant professions, with data on 20 cases of professionals convicted of money laundering in the UK. The research found that the facilitation of money laundering by professionals is complex and diverse, comprising a variety of actions, purposes, actors and relationships. While some professionals are complicit in the laundering, many cases involve a more ambiguous ‘grey area’ of intent, which is not about making a deliberate choice to offend or taking opportunities to facilitate money laundering. Instead, decisions to proceed with transactions involving criminal proceeds are shaped by the nature of the occupational role, social relationships and dynamics, and the particular circumstances leading up to and surrounding the point at which the decision is made. A mixed response, involving both criminal justice and regulatory processes, may be the most effective approach to professional involvement in money laundering. However, there are a number of problems with such a model at the current time, including a lack of communication and trust between law enforcement and regulatory bodies, and limitations in the scope of regulation.