Stress Management Training and Home Visit Scheduling System

Stress Management Training
Stress Management Training

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Stress Management Training and Home Visit Scheduling System

Introduction

Burnout has been identified as one of the main factors impacting the performance of home healthcare nurses. This mostly results from long working hours and many patients to attend to, such that they end up being too exhausted and stressed out. The nature of work that nurses do is also exhausting, given that it involves standing and running around all day, with insignificant breaks between one assignment and the other.

While the straightforward solution would be to increase the number of nurses so that the work is manageable, this may not feasible due to economic pressures, hence the need to come up with strategies to help the nurses manage their current situation better. This paper is a discussion of the impact of conducting stress management training and implementing a home care visit scheduling system to reduce burnout among nurses.

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Discussion

Stress management training

A stressed nurse is likely to have low productivity and energy levels and thereby more prone to burnout. Stress management training would be highly effective in helping nurses cope with everyday challenges and ensuring that they live a balanced life. Abel, Abel and Smith (2012), note that a majority of people are overwhelmed by stress because they are incapable of making proper decisions and plans to address their daily stressors.

Training would help the nurses in identifying their sources of stress and how these can be managed to make life easier. Training for example could help them learn how to prioritize issues and thus make proper personal plans based on the time available to them.

When people experience symptoms of stress including constant headaches, poor concentration, forgetfulness and insomnia among other signs, there is a significant likelihood that they are not aware that they are suffering from stress. Stress management training would provide nurses with an opportunity to understand stress, its causes and effects (Dhobale, 2009). This way, it is possible for the nurses to evaluate themselves and establish the stressors in their lives so as to deal with them.

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Knowledge of daily stressors ensures that they can be effectively addressed using various strategies in order to relieve the affected person (Dhobale, 2009). Once the causes of stress have been identified, it is easier to anticipate them and make necessary plans to ensure that they do not overwhelm the nurse again.

This in itself addresses the issue of burnout because absence of stress means that the individual has more energy to execute their duties. Dhobale (2009) notes that after training, self-management of stress through psychological techniques, physical exercise, breathing exercise, massage and indulgence in hobbies among other things is likely to be witnessed.

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Poor time management is a leading factor in triggering stressors as noted by Abel, Abel and Smith (2012). This is a common problem among home healthcare nurses and can be a major cause of stress. It is difficult for nurses to determine how much time they will spend with a patient because of lack of a properly laid out time plan. Stress management training places major focus on time management as a strategy to reduce stress.

Through this training, nurses would be taught how to schedule their home visits and how to plan their time to ensure that they only take the necessary amount of time to attend to a client. This will ensure that the nurses attend to more patients with lesser time, thus reducing burnout to a great extent. The fact that the nurse is likely to have adequate time for non-work activities in order to create a proper work-life balance leads to a reduction in the occurrence of burnout.

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Stress management training for nurses is not only useful to them but it can also help close acquaintances and colleagues. Milliken (2007) notes that the knowledge gained from the training may be passed on to other people, who would also benefit from better stress management. Assuming that the beneficiaries are mostly other nurses, the result would be a less burnt out workforce.

Home visit scheduling program

Designing a system that effectively schedules home visits would play a great role in reducing burnout among nurses. In the absence of a well designed system, nurses design their own schedules and often maintain unpredictable hours (Hall, 2011). In most cases, home visits are not well planned and nurses mostly end up spending so much time in one home and hence rescheduling consequent visits. They also have to travel frequently to keep up with the visits, hence increasing exhaustion.

Furthermore, a majority of nurses do not have a structured home visit plan to guide the visit and this often results in poor time planning (Mankowska, Meisel and Bierwirth, 2014). A system to schedule home visits would clearly indicate the number of homes to be visited each day, the number of hours to be spent in each house based on client needs and the issues to be addressed by the nurse during the visit. This would save time and thus reduce burnout.

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A scheduling system for home visits would ensure better coordination between healthcare workers and thus reduce conflicting schedules and information gap. Where there are different healthcare workers attending to the same patient, there may be conflict of schedules and thus difficulty in coordinating services (Pinelle and Gutwin, 2003). In the event that a nurse finds a patient being attended by another healthcare worker, they are forced to wait for them to finish with the patient or postpone the session and thus end up wasting a lot of time (Mankowska, Meisel and Bierwirth, 2014).

Due to the fact that each healthcare worker makes their own notes which are rarely shared because they are made on paper, it is difficult to track reports of other healthcare workers attending to the patient, which may bring confusion. It also becomes difficult for synchronous communication to be initiated because health workers cannot trace other healthcare workers’ schedules to know when they are available (Pinelle and Gutwin, 2003).

Such kind of communication breakdown can be addressed through the use of a scheduling system, which ensures that each healthcare worker logs in information concerning their sessions with the patient. Through the system, it is easy to follow schedules made by other healthcare workers, such that nurses can plan the most appropriate time to see clients to avoid time wastage, as well as identify the best time for synchronous communication (Pinelle and Gutwin, 2003). Improved efficiency is not only expected to increase productivity but it also reduces the probability of burnout among nurses.

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The home visits scheduling system is bound to improve efficiency in terms of number of homes visited per day and also save nurses long exhausting hours of travel (Mankowska, Meisel and Bierwirth, 2014). The system would cluster homes according to location in order to plan for effective travel. Visits would be scheduled in such a way that homes in the same area are clustered for same day visits as opposed to visiting different areas the same day. This would reduce the travelling time and also reduce exhaustion, consequently reducing burnout.   

Considering the fact that the system has all the information about clients in one place, the nurse can easily retrieve information and make well-versed decisions based on the information. This works better than using client files because not only is the information easily retrievable, the nurse can make updates and easily compare notes for different clients. Such information can guide the nurse on areas of care to concentrate on, based on client history. Availability of information at the click of a button would go a long way in reducing burnout among nurses and thus enhance productivity.

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Conclusion

It is undeniable based on the discussion that stress management training and introduction of a home visit scheduling system would be effective in reducing burnout among home healthcare nurses. Notably, training nurses on stress management will ensure that they are more aware of their daily stressors, why they occur and how to deal with them. Time management taught during this training is also highly important in promoting efficiency and reducing burnout.

The home visit scheduling system would make it easier for nurses to plan visits, avoid conflict visits and promote communication synchronization. Through this system, visits would be well planned and there would be reduced rescheduling of visits. This essentially translates into less burnout by the nurses. The stress management training and home visit scheduling would therefore impact home healthcare nurse burnout in a significant manner.

References

Abel, H., Abel, A., & Smith, R. L. (2012). The Effects of a Stress Management Course on Counselors-in-Training. Counselor Education & Supervision, 51(1), 64-78. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6978.2012.00005.x Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=a576b81a-91da-4e90-bca3-a6f0a26ae995%40sessionmgr114&hid=111

Dhobale, R. S. (2009). Stress Management Training: A Boon to Employee Wellness!. ICFAI Journal Of Soft Skills, 3(1), 39-44. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c67da53c-bbed-4343-b72b-da2da51c523f%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=111

Hall, R. (2011). Handbook of Healthcare System Scheduling. New York, Springer Science & Business Media.

Mankowska, D., Meisel, F., & Bierwirth, C. (2014). The home health care routing and scheduling problem with interdependent services. Health Care Management Science, 17(1), 15-30. doi:10.1007/s10729-013-9243-1. Retrieved from eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=12&sid=a576b81a-91da-4e90-bca3-a6f0a26ae995%40sessionmgr114&hid=111

Milliken, T. F. (2007). The Impact of Stress Management on Nurse Productivity and Retention. Retrieved from www.medscape.com/viewarticle/562717_5

Pinelle, D. & Gutwin, C. (2003). Awareness-Based Scheduling in a Home Care Clinical Information System. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480053/

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Low Paid Jobs: Positive or Negative?

Low Paid Jobs
Low Paid Jobs

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Low Paid Jobs: Positive or Negative?

Is the outsourcing of low paid jobs to the developing countries a strictly positive development for workers in that country?

Introduction

In the business industry, outsourcing of jobs is the contracting out of some business processes which belongs to an organization to other firms in the same business field. The term outsourcing comes from the early American way of referring to it as ‘outside resourcing.’ Outsourcing sometimes relates to the transfer of jobs and other assets to other firms, but this is however in rare cases.

In the government, outsourcing may apply to the handing over of public services to private organizations for profit organizations. Outsourcing of jobs may be domestic or international. Sometimes, a business may decide to shift all its services from one nation to another due to their strategic or personal reasons. This process is known as offshoring. The main objective and main advantage of offshoring are that the financial savings from that results due to the lower international labor rates are used to the advantage and motivation of offshoring (GLEWWE, 2014).

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Thesis statement

The outsourcing to the developing countries the low-paying jobs is strictly advantageous to the development and a clear way forward for the employees in those particular countries. Is it, however, true that the step is positive towards change or not?

Reasons for outsourcing of low-paid jobs

There are several reasons why the outsourcing of low-paid employees to the developing countries is important. One of the most important reason the low paid jobs should be outsourced to the developing countries is that there is plenty of cheap labor in those states. The high rates of unemployment in those countries when accompanied by the low levels of illiteracy, leads to the availability of cheap labor (BEST, 2011).

Also, another important reason for the outsourcing of the low paid jobs to the developing countries is that businesses will have the ability and the feasibility of concentrating on the other main sectors of the economy that are crucial business processes. It will lead to expertise and specialization within the major business processes. When the output is quality when the low-paid jobs are outsourced, it should be considered an important factor (DIDNER, 2015).

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Benefits

The outsourcing to the developing countries is positive and hence, come in handy with several benefits. One of the most significant benefits of the outsourcing is the cost advantage. When outsourced, jobs can be done faster and that are of quality and cheaper. Outsourcing also saves on the expense of infrastructure since once the jobs are outsourced to developing countries, all the processes will be catered for by the organizations in those countries.

The cost of technology in the production is also lowered since the outsourced jobs will take care of themselves. It helps reduce the job expense in the already developed countries since the same quality or even a higher quality can be provided at cheaper prices in the developing countries (GLEWWE, 2014).

When outsourced, business products are realized to be efficient, sometimes even more than when produced at the original place. Outsourcing brings about expertise in the production of goods and services. Specialization in a certain field brings in the years of experience in working, thus bringing in the skills and thus delivering quality goods and services.

Access to skilled resources is also another significant advantage since the developing countries have new skilled labor that will provide energy to the industries. It will hence cut off the costs of training and recruit expertise (BEST, 2011).

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Advantages

On the positive side, the outsourcing of the low paid jobs to the developing countries is of an advantage, both in the developing, the developed countries, and the workers in those countries. To the developing countries, there will be more chances of job employment and hence light at the end of the tunnel of unemployment. It will bring income to the developing world and hence reducing the unemployment rate and poverty. More products and services will have also been brought closer to the developing countries and hence no much spending on the importation of goods and services (DIDNER, 2015).

On the other hand, the developed countries will have numerous advantages when the low-paying jobs are shifted to the developing countries. When the low-paying jobs, are shifted, they enable the countries to deal with the most crucial employment and businesses that need more attention rather than the supporting or the secondary ones. Thus, outsourcing allows the developed countries to strengthen their core businesses and processes (BEST, 2011).

When the low-paying jobs are outsourced to the developing countries, a country can be able to streamline one’s business and hence a sense of business direction to the nation. It also makes an organization more flexible to change, and therefore, a significant advantage.

The process also reduces the congestion and neglecting of the jobs in the developed countries and hence more space for development in the job sector. Sharing up of business risks is also a major advantage in the outsourcing of employments. One may not be in a position to withstand all the risks incurred in business and thus getting rid of the low-paying jobs is a significant stake (NAYYAR, 2013).

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Why the low-paying job outsourcing is a negative approach

On the other hand, the outsourcing may be a gamble to a developed nation. It is because of the many disadvantages of the outsourcing process. One main problem of the job outsourcing is the leaking and exposure of the confidential data belonging to a country or a nation. Since the secrets of a nation are the secrets of a country, outsourcing may be a dangerous gamble to the secrets of that particular organization. Also, although outsourcing proves to cut costs, the same process of outsourcing may be expensive since it involves two countries and hence higher costs (DIDNER, 2015).

The management of jobs in a different country may be difficult, due to various reasons such as the various government policies and the business policies of those different countries. Also, the employees in an individual developing country may lack interest in the job required for them to carry out. It may be a critical issue for the host nation and hence a significant disadvantage to the developed countries (NAYYAR, 2013).

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Conclusion

Upon conclusion, the outsourcing of the low paying jobs to the developed countries is a positive step in both the developed country providing the employment and the developing countries being provided with the job benefit as a whole. However, there are also disadvantages in the low-paying job outsourcing since the developing countries may lack interest in the jobs, or other inconveniences incurred during the process. Every country has to find the right partner developing the country to deal with to foster an affirmative positive action.

References.

GLEWWE, P. (2014). Education policy in developing countries. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=577472.

ZARRELLA, D., & ZARRELLA, A. (2011). The Facebook marketing book. Beijing, O’Reilly. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=414846.

BRAGG, S. M. (2013). Outsourcing a guide to– selecting the correct business unit– negotiating the contract– maintaining control of the process. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=13990.

SPARROW, E. (20013). Successful IT outsourcing: from choosing a provider to managing the project. London [u.a.], Springer.

BAFFOE-BONNIE, J., & KHAYUM, M. (20013). Contemporary economic issues in developing countries. Westport, Conn, Praeger.

PULIZZI, J. (2014). Epic content marketing: how to tell a different story, break through the clutter, and win more customers by marketing less.

BEST, G. A. (2011). 42 rules for outsourcing your call center best practices for outsourcing call center planning, operations and management. Cupertino, CA, Super Star Press. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=45349.

NAYYAR, D. (2013). Catch up: developing countries in the world economy.

DIDNER, P. (2015). Global content marketing how to create great content, reach more customers, and build a worldwide marketing strategy that works. New York, McGraw-Hill Education. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=72496.

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Symbolic Interactionism Essay Paper

Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism

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Symbolic Interactionism

Without doubt, the households and properties would be so valuable to the stakeholders in symbolic interactionism. One of the most important things is ensuring that the roads are constructed well so that people can be able to commute to different places. It would be necessary for those living in low places where water might flood to vacate but if they fail to do so, they might be forced to so as to save lives.

Properties such as vehicles should be parked on higher grounds and one should never drive through a flooded bridge. For the people to take an appropriate and quick action, it would be important to communicate about the dangers flood can pose including destroying crops, killing, and carrying away houses and vehicles. Communication would be through showing them pictures and videos of other places that were affected, and the tone used should be a serious one (Jary & Jary, 2006).

Disasters cause a lot of suffering to mainly the poor and at risk individuals. For example, during a tornado, people suffer psychologically, others die, are displaced, lose property, and get injuries among others. However, disasters make the stakeholders to collaborate, act, and think of long-term solutions.

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            Structuralism argues that all things are made of components through which they can be studies (Jary & Jary, 2006). It relates to emergency management in that during an operation, all the systems or components present have to be considered for effectiveness. In the same way, all the stakeholders should do their part if there is to be success. Definitely, structuralism has a big role in public safety.

Communication theories and risk perception are related to emergency management in that different mode of communication should be used for success and people are likely to respond to risk based on how the perceive it. For example, sign language might be used during an emergency if the person being communicated to cannot hear what is being said.

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            Basically, the post discusses more about communication theory. It has been highlighted that lack of proper communication during an emergency results to deaths. Therefore, for preparedness, stakeholders should ensure that there are adequate and proper plans including phones and preset messages.

References

Jary, D., & Jary J. (Eds.). (2006). Symbolic interactionism. In Collins Dictionary of Sociology. London, United Kingdom: Collins.

Jary, D., & Jary, J. (Eds.). (2006). Structuralism. In Collins Dictionary of Sociology. London, United Kingdom: Collins.

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Renewable and Non-renewable energy Sources

Renewable and Non-renewable energy
Renewable and Non-renewable energy

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Renewable and Non-renewable energy Sources

The nine major energy resources available in this nation are categorised into two main categories, renewable and non-renewable energy categories. The non-renewable categories include coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy. These resources are limited as they take a longer time before they become replenished. Renewable energy is abundant, cleaner as they have low carbon emissions but production of energy from these resources is quite expensive.

They include solar, water, biomass, geothermal and wind. Renewable sources was the man source of energy in the past e.g. wood was used for heating and cooking, water and wind was used for milling and transportation purposes. A hundred and fifty years later, a technology used to extract energy from fossil was discovered; which rapidly replaced the renewable sources of energy (Pérez-Barahona, 2010).

In my community, large portion of energy is fossil fuels. It is the largest primary energy consumption, which is followed by coal, natural gas and renewable energy. This is attributable to the fact that fossil energy is cheap and easy to use.

However, the main concern is that these energy resources are becoming depleted; and the prices are soaring at an alarming rate. Additionally, our endangered resources are being damaged to in search of more non-renewable energy resources. The rates at which these resources are being utilized have caused detrimental effects in our environment. In fact, non-renewable toxic gases released in the air are the main cause for global warming (Eia.gov, 2016).

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There is need to seek for alternative sources of energy to save the environment for the future generation. There is need to source for sustainable, clean and renewable sources of energy.  The government must establish strategies that will help shift towards efficient renewable energies that will help stabilize our climate while simultaneously meeting the Nation’s power demands.  I believe that we have the power, knowledge and the capacity to make great strides in renewable energy and to conserve our planet (Pérez-Barahona, 2010).

Resources

Eia.gov. (2016). U.S. Energy Facts – Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy – Energy Information Administration. Eia.gov. Retrieved from http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=us_energy_home

Perez-Barahona, A. (2010). Nonrenewable energy resources as input for physical capital accumulation: a new approach. Macroecon. Dynam., 15(01), 1-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1365100509090415

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Pollution Prevention and Water Conservation

Pollution Prevention and Water Conservation
Pollution Prevention and Water Conservation

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Pollution Prevention and Water Conservation

Water is a very essential commodity in life. It supports the life of human beings, plants and animals. Additionally, water is used in various processes in the world. All production processes are supported by water. As a result of the great importance of water in life, it is important to ensure water conservation and pollution prevention all the time. It is important to conserve water to ensure that it is always available and in a safe state.

For water conservation, everybody should play a part through planting of trees. According to Ehlers, and Krafft (2011), planting as many trees as possible plays a major role in water conservation. This is through preventing direct heat from the sun. Plantations are known to prevent water sources from being interfered with. Additionally, trees are known to play a major role in the formation of rain. Additionally, everybody should be able to try as much as possible to create water reservoirs within their environment.

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Prevention of water pollution should be made the responsibility of every individual in the world (Unesco, 2006). So that water may be kept free from pollution, there are actions that should be taken by all means. Ensuring that sewerage systems are well managed is one of the things that are likely to avoid water pollution. With proper sewerage systems, all waste will be driven to the desired disposal areas and not the water points.

Secondly, proper garbage disposal is also necessary in the prevention of water pollution. Additionally, everyone should ensure that chemical substances are not poured or drained into water points. Chemical substances should be disposed off as per the requirements of the control boards. This will ensure that no water is polluted by anyone using chemicals in one way or another. Furthermore, everyone should try as much as possible to come up with proper sanitation systems. This is a good way of ensuring that all refuse is managed properly thus avoiding water pollution.

References

Ehlers, E. &Krafft, T. (2011), Intergrated Management of Water Resources, Springer

Unesco (2006), water: a shared responsibility, Berghahn Books.

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Overhearing Conversations: Communication Ethics

Overhearing Conversations: Communication Ethics
Overhearing Conversations: Communication Ethics

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Overhearing Conversations: Communication Ethics

According to research, overhearing a one-sided conversation is more annoying than eavesdropping (Bianca 2011). It’s even more annoying because you cannot avoid overhearing the conversation. The loud talks about one’s private life or how they behaved in a party are annoying. While I was in a restaurant taking a quiet lunch, a woman across the table made a call that was quite inappropriate.

She seemed to have been talking to her husband about their vacation and talked to him as if she was alone in the restaurant. She was loud and as she gave details about the requirements for the vacation one couldn’t help but overhear. She talked the entire time I was in the restaurant and the fact that everyone else was quite made it impossible to overhear her.

Overhearing one side of a conversation becomes uncertain and unpredictable making one’s brain get drawn to it to fill the other parts even when someone was not eavesdropping. According to Bianca (2011), though cell phones are making people rude, it doesn’t have to be that way. Top three phone etiquettes include lowering the voice while making calls in public, not being personal when there are other people present, and not taking calls while a person is already engaged in a face to face conversation.

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Cell phones can be so distracting if not used in a proper manner. With everyone now owning a cell phone, one becomes a party to unwanted conversations often. Otherwise, cell phones don’t have to be a bridging gap between people.

To avoid distractions and annoying others, it is advisable to lower one’s voice while in public, avoiding private discussions if there are other people near, and asking for permission from people close if you have to take a call when having a face to face conversation with others.

References

Bianca Bosker (2011). Cell Phone Etiquette: 15 Rules to Follow. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/26/cell-phone-etiquette-15-r_n_514927.html

Wood, J.T (2014). Communication Mosaics: An Introduction to the Field of Communication. Published by Wordsworth, Cengage Learning.

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Self Management and Self Development

Self Management
Self Management

Self Management and Self Development

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Introduction

For individuals to perform better there are things that they ought to do. According to Illand (2012, p.45), two of the fundamental things for good performance are self management and self development. These two aspects of performance are important for the purpose of ensuring that individual contribution towards the overall objective of an organization is capable of creating high level efficiency.

For better understanding of the above two aspects of an individual, the details of each one of them will be discussed in this essay. Additionally, this essay will focus on the concepts that surround each one of them. This essay will also try as much as possible to outline the theories that give more insight of self management and self development. A summary of all that surrounds self management and self development will be given in the conclusion section.

Self management

Self management refers to the taking up personal responsibility in all matters related to the behavior of an individual. In self management, it is the duty of a person to ensure that the decision to take a particular path in terms of action lies squarely on him or herself (Eicholz 2011, p.64). Self management stipulates that a person should be able to have self control when it comes to the way he or she handles personality related affairs.

For successful self management process, it is important to draw guidance from various aspects of an individual. Self management is more concerned with a person being able to understand more about oneself. It entails first being able to gather more self knowledge. With self knowledge identified, it is possible to have proper self management through inviting certain skills and aspects into the behavior of an individual.

One of the things that enhance self management is motivation. Motivation refers to the ability of a person to be able to develop interest in doing something (Nussbaum 2013, p.39). Therefore, with motivation an individual will always have a positive attention towards activities that he or she purposes to do.

Secondly, self management is usually supported positively by having self reflection. Self reflection refers to the process of looking deeply into the personality of an individual. Therefore, when a person is able to understand better about his or her personality and skills, it is always easy to have self management.

Self management is also supported by coming up with ambitious targets. Upon reflecting and knowing oneself better, an individual is supposed to set some bars that have to be hit (Merkle 2011, p. 21). These targets regarding self behavior should be set so that they offer a clear guidance towards achievement of full self management. Additionally, an individual should come up with a system for analysis and evaluation of the self management process. This is necessary for the purpose of ensuring that the process of self management does not spin out of control.

Self development

Self development refers to an individual activity where the aspects that define a person are improved consistently. Self development refers to a situation whereby an individual is able to improve on aspects of life such as the skills held, level of talent, the level of self awareness and knowledge. From self development, an individual is able to perform better each new day as a result of improving on the personal driving forces.

The importance of self development is emphasized by the fact that certain changes keep on occurring. The fact that the environment in which people operate in keep on changing calls for self development for the purpose of catching up. Additionally, work and employment situations of individuals keep on changing thus the need for individuals to embrace self development to ensure that there are no negative effects as a result of the dynamism.

An individual is supposed to ensure that the process of self development leads to positive results (Gall 2011, p. 245). This is necessary since it ensures that there is good progress that a person is experiencing. For positive effects to be experienced by a person, it is important to for a person to ensure that whatever needs to be improved is well defined. This means that the aspects that an individual wants to make better about him or herself need to be clear.

The importance of clear target for improvement lies in the fact that it is easy to make a clear self management plan and evaluate accordingly as the process continues (Reddy 2012, p.16). Additionally, for a successful self management process, it is extremely important for an individual to come up with a priority list of whatever is to be improved. The need for prioritizing what is to be improved is brought about by the fact that some aspects and skills are required first so that they may support the process of self management (Udo 2013, p. 18).

For example, the improvement of personal discipline is a priority for the purpose of supporting the improvement of others such as consistency. It is worth noting that the process of prioritizing in self development is made better through identifying what aspects or skills of an individual will be required in future. This means that efforts put on improvement should target aspects or skills of a person that will be useful in future.

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Theories supporting self management and self development

There are several theories that have content supporting self development. Developmental humanistic approach theory argues that employees should be given power through being taken for training. According to Masters and Wallace (2013, p.32), this theory argues that when the employees are given an opportunity to learn, they get to improve on some of their skills thus benefiting an organization.

Additionally, when people employees are taken through developmental processes, they feel appreciated and in return create more output for an organization. The other theory that supports self development is the human capital theory. The human capital theory argues that it is beneficial to put more resources into human resource development in an organization.

Conclusion

It is worth noting that it is only personal responsibility which is capable of moving a person to a higher level of self management and development. The consistency of the positive aspects of these personal activities should be grown every day. Every person should ensure that the skills that improve the level of self management and development are internalized for better results.

For efficient processes of self management and self development, it is necessary to have a good system for carrying out evaluation (Davis 2014, p,89). These processes should be evaluated regularly to ensure that they are within the plan. Any negative deviations identified in the process of evaluation should be controlled to ensure that the relevance of self management and self development is not lost.

The strengths identified and improved should be utilized to ensure that the performance of an individual is at a high level. Furthermore, if any weaknesses are identified, it is important to ensure that they are managed well and transformed into strengths.

References

Davis, F 2014, Personal Development In A Nutshell, Pagefree Publishing Inc

Eicholz, M 2011, Personal Development: Through Self-Awareness, Institute for Transformation Llc

Gall, MR 2011, How Internal Communication Can Contribute to Successful Personal Management, Grin Verlag

Illand, A 2012, Self-Management: Time Management, Life Management and Personal Management, Illand Business Pages

Masters, A & Wallace, H 2013, Personal Development for Life and Work, Cengage Learning

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Transocean Case Study Essay Paper

Transocean
Transocean

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Transocean Case Study

1.0 Introduction

The paper will evaluate the strategic position of Transocean, a major player in global offshore drilling services in the oil and gas industry. Strategic management is a process that entails formulating and implementing main objectives as well as initiatives a company takes based on the available resources. It also takes into consideration the evaluation of external and internal environment in which the firm operates.

Founded in 1953, the company is headquartered in Houston Texas. Transocean administrative division has since shifted to Vernier, Switzerland for tax and client servicing reasons. Various models such as STEEPLE, Ansoff and Porter’s Five Forces will be used to paint the company’s strategic position when it comes to, macro-environmental review, competition, diversification strategy, market development, product development and market penetration. To wrap up, the paper will make recommendations regarding the direction the company has to take to remain sustainable.

1.1 Analysis of Transocean Limited

Transocean is a prominent global provider when it comes to offshore drilling services for energy establishments. The company owns and operates the world’s most multipurpose flotillas that concentrate on deep-sea and extremely harsh environment drilling (Deepwater.com, 2016). With a fleet of sixty-one portable offshore drilling components, the company offers powerful rigs for deepsea drilling. Transocean helps clients to establish and develop oil as well as natural gas stockpiles.

The company offers an exceptional drilling performance that is anchored in a solid experience that spans more than a half a century. Transocean shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the acronym RIG and Swiss Stock Market under the acronym RIGN.Transocean operates more than 140 offshore rigs in almost all mainmarine markets. Apart from offering drilling services offshore, the company offersdrill management services globally. Transocean operates not just the largest extreme-deepsea flotilla of drill ships global, but it is also the largest offshore fleet worldwide.

The company hires more than 20,000 employees with the technical expertise that is the envy of their business rivals(Deepwater.com, 2016). Moreover, Transocean provides management and accomplishment services for assessment and production firms regarding offshore drilling schedules. The company’s mission is to become a leading offshore drilling organisation that provides rig-based services with a global reach, by incorporating a highly dedicated workforce,state of the art machinery and ultra-modern technology, while concentrating on technically demanding environments (Transocean, 2007b)..

The company is dedicated to values that represent its focus, innovativeness, safety, trust and reliability. The company promises to surpass not just the anticipations of theclient, but employees and shareholders as well (Deepwater.com, 2016). Transocean’s strategic goals include getting aligned with its customers when it comes to supporting and ensuring delivery of clients’ business objectives.

The company conducts its operations with distinction which is characterized by safety and efficientoffshore solutions (Deepwater.com, 2016). In addition,Transocean keeps on enhancing its corporate culture and processes to optimize returns. Lastly, the company not only attracts but also nurtures and retains the industry’s best employees.

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2.0 Industry Trends

Drilling oil and gas was previously dependent on backlogs. Contract bores alter their rates based on their rig charges relative to retailing oil and gas prices. Usually, contract bores tend to wait on the day down, and speedily adjust their prices upwards depending on how the markets are performing (Redall, 2012). There has been a widespread pattern of extreme deepsea rig business with strong daily charges.

However, there has been a downward trend in mid-water rig markets. The most lucrative market lies of the Gulf of Mexico and West African coastal line, down to the south of Africa. The demand for deep-sea rigs is anticipated to remain jerky in the short-term(Helman, 2015).As of now, approximately 206 floaters are operating under contract across the industry (Deepwater.com, 2016).A large percentage of the total number is idle for completing major contracts.

3.0 Analysis the different types of strategic options

3.1Ansoff Matrix:

    Existing Markets    Market Penetration      Product Development  
    New Markets  Market Development      Diversification    

Existing Products

New Products

Transocean is a dominant player in a market that is not highly saturated. However, to remain at an edge over its closest business rivals, the company has adopted different approaches. Based on the Ansoff matrix, Transocean has been using a low pricing model to penetrate the market. When it comes to market development, Transocean has been offering ultra-deepsea drilling and management services in various parts of the world. What makes the company the envy of its business rivals is the fact that Transocean’s product development strategy works magic. Apart from ultra-deepsea boring services, the company offers rig and deepsea drilling consultancy services which is certainly some form of diversification hence competitive edge.

In short, Transocean operates in the same market by adopting a horizontal strategy in terms of expanding the product line. Lastly, Transocean has a predominantly diversified portfolio. To diversify risks, the company has necessitated mergers and acquisitions when it comes to financial management and technical expertise. The company operates in various regions such as the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, West Africa, and Southeast Asia, Middle East and the Arctic.

3.2Porter’s Five Forces

3.2.1Competition

Transocean threat of competition is moderate to high. For example, following a merge in mid-2007 between Rig and Transocean’s chief rival Global Sante Fe, this attempt reduced competition particularly, in ultra deep-water segments. While Transocean has almost a monopoly in ultra deep-water drilling, It is likely to enjoy less competition in ultra deep-water, especially in harsh climates that require technical personnel.

In fact, this contributed to the need for anti-trust lawsuit following the merger between RIG and GSF. Nonetheless, the firm has exposure to different offshore markets such as jackupsegment that is associated with intense competition in various regions globally as well as pricing (Porter, 2008). By and large, the organisation has less competition in ultra deep-water segments, with a somewhat intense competition in mid-water floater and also jackup segments.

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3.2.2 New entrants

Transocean enjoys a low threat of new entrants. With respect to offshore contract drilling sector, it requires huge investment in fleet and rigs before getting inflows from gas and oil organisations (Porter, 2008). This makes nearly impossible for new firms to enter this sector.

3.2.3 Substitute

The main threat of substitute is the changing the energy source from hydrocarbon to renewable sources across the world, which is not likely in the short-run (Turner, 2007). Therefore, the threat of substitute is low.

3.2.4Purchasing power

Transocean’s purchasing power is moderate. Much as exploration and production firms have power when it comes to negotiating, especially in mid-water floaters and jackupsegments, they have sufficient ability and provision of idle rigs. In essence, the buyers are in aposition to negotiate low daily rates in the contracts while ultra deep water segments maintain stringent rates (Schlumberger, 2008).

3.2.5Suppliers’ power

The supplier power is moderate. Transocean providers have some degree of power. For instance, suppliers like National Oilwell Varco take part in the decision making in constructing Transocean’srigs andother essential parts. Luckily, this is crucial for Transocean since National Oilwell Varco has a few plans of increasing the fleet of drillships. In general, benefits from pricing since they are the main clients to themajority of their specialised providers (Porter, 2008).

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3.3 STEEPLE

3.3.1 Social

The organisation takes part in various social activities, including charitable contributions to developing environmental initiatives to increase its reputation.

3.3.2 Technological

Technology is necessaryfor drilling sector as such Transocean gets its strength in technological development. While oil drilling and the ecology are related, so is technology and demand. Drilling in deepwater is more and more vital from drilling organisations since they are considered to be more profitable. The firm is positioning itself to capitalize in this segment. For instance, in 2007, Transocean acquired a drillship worth USD 470m to take advantage of deep-water drilling, which allows the firm to drill up to ten thousand feet.

Due to advanced underwater drilling, there has been a decrease in jackup rigs demand (Associated Press, 2007). This presentsTransoceanwith the opportunity to beat their rivals like Noble Corporation in the struggle for innovation. Currently, the firm is leading in deep-water exploration (Katsaros & Christy, 2005).

3.3.3 Economic

Cost is a major challenge for drilling organisations. As oil price rises, the cash flow increases too, which makes organisationsinvest considerably in drilling activities? Furthermore, the new techniques of recovering oil though they are essential in the growth of petroleum production, are leading to an increase in the gasoline price. Implicitly, thehigh price of oilis required to make drilling firms profitable. High global investment drives drilling.

With great interest to drill in foreign regions, global investors are significantly investing, hence leading to expansionof oil and gas sector (Maksoud, 2007).Even though raising oil cost will adversely influence Transocean, in reality, will be beneficial in the long run. Oil cost is inelastic. In other words, afluctuation will insignificantly affect demand. Therefore, increasing oil prices willboost cash flow for Transocean, which means additional business like funding new drilling projects.

3.4.4 Environmental

On environmental protection, Transocean is committed to enhancing its stringent police on Environmentalmanagement system (EMS). Transocean’s EMS visitation is conducting its operations in a standardised manner that fulfills the high levels of stipulated laws to drive continuous enhancements while instilling ownership across its facilities (Transocean, 2007a). The organisation is environmentally sustainable by way of using green products and assessment is utilized as part of routine operations.

The firm also focuses on recycling. Additionally, Transocean has set up a recycling plan, where recyclables are sorted and compressed in rigs. After compression, they are transported to Tech Oil Products and donated to a recycling hub in the ARC of Iberia.

Transocean has collaborated with different oil and gas firms such as Subsea 7, and BP in the SERPENT project. Thisentails necessitating access to the installations, in partnership with their customers to present scientific knowledge to experts in the SERPENT project (Dictionary.Cambridge 2012). In turn, the analysts conduct various projects including assessing biodiversity and effects of drilling on the environment.

The analysts also work on the company’s rigs to study marine species (Transocean, 2007a). By and large, Transocean protects the environment in which it operates to demonstrate that the company recognises the consequences of natural demand shifters.

3.4.5 Political/Legal

Oil presents this organisation with a strong political force. Because oil is the primary source of energy internationally, thus, the supply of oil is related to power regardingpolitics; oil firms leverage authority over regimes (Dictionary.Cambridge 2012). With no oil organisations, United States is likely to lose its dominance in developing nations remarkably. Though oil drilling firms are fundamental in giving regimes the authority, they are still regulated and work as per government laws, such as prohibiting drilling in particular regions like the Gulf of Mexico to protect the environment.

In 2007, the Congress was promoting the closure of a quarter-century ban on the production of offshore energy. This decree banned 85 percent of all drilling in United States’ continental shelf, greatly affecting oil drilling firms including Transocean (Kamalick, 2007). Furthermore, the Congress were supporting the opening of additional shorelines, which was associated with renewable sources of energy, as such they sought for support from environmentalists. While regimes exercise their authority on oil and gas providers, these providers, in turn, have authority over the very regimes.

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3.4.6Ethical Standards

Transocean aspires to ensure financial discipline in their disclosure, honesty and candor in all their engagements with clients, ahigh esteem for employees, customers and suppliers, the safety of employees, property and the ecosystem and technical leadership. Loyalty to these core values demands the company to execute its operations in tandem with thelaw and the utmost standards of business ethics.

In advancing that objective, the company embraces the Code of Business Conduct and Morality, the firm’s environment is also a corrupt free zone and an Anti-Corruption and Business Conduct Policy takes care of that. Again, directors and employees are not allowed to enhance the culture of inside trading. Nonetheless, all employees should adhere to the privacy policy.

4.0 Recommendations

Since oil is directly associated with international authority, oil drilling organisations have authority over regimes, nevertheless, with another alternative, Transocean should continuously go this direction to maintain the lead if the primary source changes

Much as the company has advanced drillship tools, it should take a notch higher by researching new products in comparison to its rivals.When it comes to maintaining competitiveness in oil and gas industry, Transocean should use differentiation strategy that will be vital in developing clients’feedback and service delivery. The differentiation strategy should focus on quality rigs, particularlydeep-water drilling and ability to survive environmental disasters such as hurricanes.

While this threat of substitute islow, in future it may reduce the demand for oil. For that reason, Transocean should create awareness among clients about the benefits of oil in comparison to other energy sources. This can be carried out through advertisements. For instance, the organisation should use ads that demonstrate even with the use of alternative sources such as ethanol, which is considered environmentally sustainable compared to oil. Ethanol requires aconsiderable quantity of biomass. In the even that US, ethanol from corn is employed on a large scale, then it will contribute to increased costs of corn.

The prices of beef will also skyrocket remarkably as cows feed on corn products. On the other hand, if Brazilian corn is used thatis produced from sugar; rainforests in the region will be cut to provide land to grow sugar. Creating awareness through ads will help Transocean increase the demand for oil while increasing the demand for petroleum products from the company.

The company should embrace Ansoff model to diversify its portfolio. Instead of concentrating on drilling and consultancy, the company can take a leap of faith and venture in other business like marine transport, finance, healthcare, real-estate, heavy metal processing among others. Diversification is critical because it will help the company spread risks, when oil business is at its low.

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5.0 Conclusion

The study set out to evaluate Transocean position in the offshore drilling services. The company’s background, values and strategic goals were highlighted at the outset. To understand the company’s product and market development; market penetration and diversification, the Ansoff Matrix was used. The Porter’s Five Forces were employed to establish the intensity of the competition. However, STEEPLE model was used to evaluating the company macro-environment. In the end, the paper touched on the best practices as assured by ethics codes. Recommendations were made regarding the corporation’s future. 

6.0 Bibliography

Associated Press 2007. JP Morgan Securities analyst upgrades GlobalSantaFe, Transocean to “neutral.” Retrieved 17th March. 2016 from Factiva.

Berman, A. 2007. Drilling advances. World Oil, 19. Retrieved March 17, 2016 from Business Source Premier Database

Deep Sea Drilling Project 2015.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2015. Encyclopedia.com. 17 Mar. 2016 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Dictionary.Cambridge 2012. PESTLE analysis. [online] Available at: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionar0y/business-english/pestle-analysis?q=pestle+analysis [Accessed: 6th august 2012].

Helman, C, 2015. Forbes.com, Retrieved March 17, 2016 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2015/03/16/oil-layoffs-itemized-75000-andcounting/

Deepwater.com, 2016. Deepwater.com accessed on 18th March. 2016 at <http://www.deepwater.com/>

Katsaros, J.&Christy, P. 2005. Getting It Right the First Time: How Innovative Companies Anticipate Demand. Westport, CT: Praeger

Kamalick, J. 2007. Untitled. Chemical Business Americas, p. 26. Retrieved March 17, 2016

Maksoud, J. 2007. International investment pours into Africa. Pipeline and Gas Journal,pp. 42-44.

Porter, M. 2008. The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review, 15 January 2011.

Redall, B, 2012. Reuters.com, Retrieved March 17, 2016 from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-fieldservices-powerstruggleidUSBRE8AC05S20121113#y2LttEqUfwzf4Kja.97

Schlumberger 2008. Day rate. Oilfield Glossary. Retrieved March 17, 2016 from http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Display.cfm?Term=day%20rate

Transocean, Inc. 2007a. Responsibility. Retrieved March 17, 2016 from www.deepwater.com

Transocean, Inc. 2007b. Our company. Retrieved March 17, 2016 from www.deepwater.com.

Turner, H. (2007). Conversation about Transocean and alternative fuels.

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STIs Practicum Journal Entry

STIs Practicum Journal Entry
STIs Practicum Journal Entry

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STIs Practicum Journal Entry

This practicum is one of the most fascinating experiences in my clinical practice. Dealing with patients diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is challenging as most of the patient are hesitant to talk openly to a nurse or doctor about their experiences, which makes it challenging during clinical decision making processes (American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2011).

Mrs. Kate (pseudo name)  a 21 year old college student presented to the clinic with complaints of itchiness around her genitalia, sharp burning sensation during sexual intercourse and had noted whitish discharge that had foul smell. From the clinical manifestation, I gathered that the patient is suffering from an infection, which could be either sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or urinary tract infections (UTIs). There is a thin line that separated the two, which indicated the need for  further laboratory test.

According to Centre for disease control and prevention (CDC), UTIs and STIs clinical manifestations are non-specific and are a common to problem for females. This highlights the likelihood of misdiagnosis. The common clinical manifestation for the urogenital diseases includes a burning sensation during urination, vaginal discharges and pelvic pain. However, in UTIs infection, vaginal discharge with awful smell is normally absent. The patient with urinary tract infection tends to have fever. A pelvic exam, urine culture and vaginal culture results indicate that the patient had yeast vaginal infection (CDC, 2013).

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One of the challenges experienced during this practicum was during sexual history assessment. Initially, the patient was hesitant to disclose the information because it is a taboo and also she believed that disclosing this information would victimize her. After reinforcing the issue of confidentiality, the patient became relaxed and disclosed the sensitive information.

The sexual history assessment was done using the general guide of the ‘5 Ps.’ This included the number of sex partners, the type of sexual activity, the rates of use of protection, and use of contraceptives. This helped me understand the patient literacy and perspectives about UTI (Schuiling and Likis, 2013).

The patients seemed somewhat distressed when I gave her the diagnosis results. However, she was cooperative all through the care plan. The patient was advised to have regular check up with the gynaecologists. This is because sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have short and long term impacts that can be life threatening. The short term impacts include emotional disturbances due to physical changes.

The long term effects include genital sores, inflammation, infertility issues and pelvic inflammatory reactions. Fortunately, genital yeast infections like other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is manageable if diagnosed early and proper medication regimen is provided (CDC, 2013).

The patient had tried to manage the itchiness and pain using Tylenol (OTC) and vaginal cream, which yielded little success. The patient was given fluconazole 150 mg and Terconazole 80 mg both orally administered one suppository/day for at least 3 days. The medication ensured that the patient did not get recurrent infection. The patient was encouraged to observe hygiene and practice abstinence during the medication regimen. Other hygiene measures such as mutual monogamy, abstinence and avoid of douching practices.

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This practicum was very enlightening, especially on ways to practice cultural competency. I noticed that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) education focuses in specific information on signs and symptoms which seems to be the worst case scenarios and a taboo to most of the community.

The only down to earth guidance is abstinence and use of condom. If not handled with care, the interaction with the patient could affect patient psychosocial status. I have learnt a lot from this practicum and will use the knowledge to help other patients to identify risk factors and practice preventive measures (Schuiling and Likis, 2013).

References

American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2011). Guideline for adolescent health care (2nd ed.). Retrieved from http://www.acog.org

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2013). Incidence, prevalence, and cost of sexually transmitted infections in the United States. Retrieved from http://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/13174

Schuiling, K. D., & Likis, F. E. (2013). Women’s gynecologic health (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

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