Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Ever since Rawls published The Theory of Justice (1971/2009), the theory itself, along with many of its components, have been subject to intense debate. Both the "original position" and the "veil of ignorance" have been argued to be too unrealistic since the restriction on information makes it impossible to apply in the real world. Furthermore, it is argued that this restriction is too extensive, in that it excludes information that is necessary for making a just decision, and thus, that it contravenes fundamental egalitarian principles, making it less just than it should be. However, there still seems to be something appealing about the concept of the veil of ignorance and results from various experiments that have used it have shown results that indicate it has an effect, which implies that the concept might have some use after all. In this paper, I will argue for a modified version of Rawls' veil of ignorance that, while limited in its available applications, might both serve a practical use in society to increase justice and have a low risk of obtaining inegalitarian results. I will do this by first summarizing Rawls' theory of justice with a focus on his veil of ignorance. Second, I will present and discuss the critiques from various philosophers. Third, I will discuss the implications of several experiments that make use of the veil of ignorance, including the issue that these experiments are 'one-shot', or single iteration, experiments. Finally, I will detail my version of the veil of ignorance and explain why it both meets the critiques of the original veil of ignorance and could potentially serve a practical use in society.

When people hear the word "nurse," they often think of qualities such as compassion and patience. While these are essential characteristics, nurses must go even further when striving for professionalism. Nurses also need strong morals and ethics and the commitment to always act in the best interests of their patients. The term professionalism embraces a set of attitudes, skills and behaviours, attributes and values which are expected from those to whom society has extended the privilege of being considered a professional. The core values of professionalism include: honesty, integrity, altruism, respect, responsibility, accountability, compassion, empathy, dedication, self-improvement, competency of clinical skills and knowledge. Professional nursing practice is a commitment to compassion, caring and strong ethical values, continuous development of self and others, accountability and responsibility for insightful practice, demonstrating a spirit of collaboration and flexibility. Rapid changes in the nursing sector have recently occurred across all areas and settings, making for a chaotic and seldom unstable work environment. All of these changes have impacted the ability of ENA learners to maintain high levels of professionalism and collaboration. In particular, the researcher, as an educator within a private NEI responsible for teaching ENA learners, experienced a lack of professionalism amongst ENA learners during the course of their training, as well as after their enrolment with the South African Nursing Council (SANC). Currently, there seems to be a difference between the professionalism portrayed by ENA learners and that which is expected of them. The overall aim of this research is to enhance the professionalism of ENA learners in a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West. The following objectives have been identified in order to reach this aim: * To explore and describe professionalism amongst ENA learners in a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West, and * To formulate recommendations to advance professionalism amongst ENA learners in a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West. This study was conducted by means of a case study approach as the selected topic focuses only on a private nursing education institution situated in Potchefstroom, North West. From the qualitative instrumental case study approach, a qualitative, explorative, contextual research design was followed. The population in the study was all the ENA learners of a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West. A sample was selected through non-probable, purposive sampling according to inclusion criteria (n=25). Data collection was conducted by means of a ―World Café‖ method and a focus group. The data collected through the World Café method was recorded and transcribed and reconstructed by means of thematic analysis. The main theme that crystallised from data analysis was that ENA learners viewed professionalism as a set of behaviours that are displayed in their external environment. The behaviours are grouped into the following five subgroups, namely punctuality versus absenteeism, adhering to scheduling and duty hours, responsibility of observations and awareness, the role of dress code and the image of nursing and finally obedience to organisational rules and regulations and tolerance towards others. The World Café and focus group results were integrated with case records according to repetitive themes. From the results and conclusions, recommendations were formulated for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research to enhance professionalism amongst ENA learners in general. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

When people hear the word "nurse," they often think of qualities such as compassion and patience. While these are essential characteristics, nurses must go even further when striving for professionalism. Nurses also need strong morals and ethics and the commitment to always act in the best interests of their patients. The term professionalism embraces a set of attitudes, skills and behaviours, attributes and values which are expected from those to whom society has extended the privilege of being considered a professional. The core values of professionalism include: honesty, integrity, altruism, respect, responsibility, accountability, compassion, empathy, dedication, self-improvement, competency of clinical skills and knowledge. Professional nursing practice is a commitment to compassion, caring and strong ethical values, continuous development of self and others, accountability and responsibility for insightful practice, demonstrating a spirit of collaboration and flexibility. Rapid changes in the nursing sector have recently occurred across all areas and settings, making for a chaotic and seldom unstable work environment. All of these changes have impacted the ability of ENA learners to maintain high levels of professionalism and collaboration. In particular, the researcher, as an educator within a private NEI responsible for teaching ENA learners, experienced a lack of professionalism amongst ENA learners during the course of their training, as well as after their enrolment with the South African Nursing Council (SANC). Currently, there seems to be a difference between the professionalism portrayed by ENA learners and that which is expected of them. The overall aim of this research is to enhance the professionalism of ENA learners in a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West. The following objectives have been identified in order to reach this aim: * To explore and describe professionalism amongst ENA learners in a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West, and * To formulate recommendations to advance professionalism amongst ENA learners in a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West. This study was conducted by means of a case study approach as the selected topic focuses only on a private nursing education institution situated in Potchefstroom, North West. From the qualitative instrumental case study approach, a qualitative, explorative, contextual research design was followed. The population in the study was all the ENA learners of a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West. A sample was selected through non-probable, purposive sampling according to inclusion criteria (n=25). Data collection was conducted by means of a ―World Café‖ method and a focus group. The data collected through the World Café method was recorded and transcribed and reconstructed by means of thematic analysis. The main theme that crystallised from data analysis was that ENA learners viewed professionalism as a set of behaviours that are displayed in their external environment. The behaviours are grouped into the following five subgroups, namely punctuality versus absenteeism, adhering to scheduling and duty hours, responsibility of observations and awareness, the role of dress code and the image of nursing and finally obedience to organisational rules and regulations and tolerance towards others. The World Café and focus group results were integrated with case records according to repetitive themes. From the results and conclusions, recommendations were formulated for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research to enhance professionalism amongst ENA learners in general. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Allocating production volumes across a portfolio of producing assets is a complex optimization problem. Each producing asset possesses different technical attributes (e.g. crude type), facility constraints, and costs. In addition, there are corporate objectives and constraints (e.g. contract delivery requirements). While complex, such a problem can be specified and solved using conventional deterministic optimization methods. However, there is often uncertainty in many of the inputs, and in these cases the appropriate approach is neither obvious nor straightforward. One of the major uncertainties in the oil and gas industry is the commodity price assumption(s). This paper investigates this problem in three major sections: (1) We specify an integrated stochastic optimization model that solves for the optimal production allocation for a portfolio of producing assets when there is uncertainty in commodity prices, (2) We then compare the solutions that result when different price models are used, and (3) We perform a value of information analysis to estimate the value of more accurate price models. The results show that the optimum production allocation is a function of the price model assumptions. However, the differences between models are minor, and thus the value of choosing the “correct” price model, or similarly of estimating a more accurate model, is small. This work falls in the emerging research area of decision-oriented assessments of information value. / text