Control of Infectious Diseases Vs Tobacco Use

Free Essays on Spain

Culture There are exhibitions, concerts, plays, films, conferences, and musical performances of almost anything in Madrid. The most fascinating among them are the International Theatre Festival, the International Film Festival, the International Opera Festival, the festival called â€Å"The Summers of the City†, and the Autumn Festival together with the seasons performances at the theater La Zarzuela and the Jazz, Pop and Rock Festivals not forgetting the Fair for Contemporary Art called â€Å"Arco†. Attractions Madrid has a large number of museums, where the great masters of Spanish and universal paintings are found. There are also museums for sculpture, archaeology, science, and much much more. Such as the Museum of the Romantic Period, Natural Science Museum, City Museum, or the Royal Arsenal. Special Events There are many special events in Spain one of which is the book fair, which brings together the most important national publishers. Other festival occasions that are important to Spain and Spain’s surrounding that are officially considered of interest to tourists are: Corpus Christi in Toledo and the celebrations at Atienza (Guadalajara), Camunas (Toledo), Mora (Toledo), Zamarramala (Segovia), Hita (Guadalajara), Candeleda (Avila). Finally, there is the festival excursion to the shrine of the Virgin of Hontanares, an excursion called â€Å"Romeria† in Spanish, Which takes place at Riaza, and the â€Å"Romeria† of El Cristo del Caloco. Just to name some. Holiday In the second half of May, Madrid celebrates in honor of San Isidro. The celebration is accompanied by typical Madrid folklore, including Fairs and Dances that are organized on the meadow of San Isidro, where the people of Madrid sing, dance and enjoy themselves next to the Hermitage of their Patrol Saint. At the same time, there are ballet and opera performances as well as the traditional bull fights at the bullring of Las Ventas. There are many holidays, ... Free Essays on Spain Free Essays on Spain Culture There are exhibitions, concerts, plays, films, conferences, and musical performances of almost anything in Madrid. The most fascinating among them are the International Theatre Festival, the International Film Festival, the International Opera Festival, the festival called â€Å"The Summers of the City†, and the Autumn Festival together with the seasons performances at the theater La Zarzuela and the Jazz, Pop and Rock Festivals not forgetting the Fair for Contemporary Art called â€Å"Arco†. Attractions Madrid has a large number of museums, where the great masters of Spanish and universal paintings are found. There are also museums for sculpture, archaeology, science, and much much more. Such as the Museum of the Romantic Period, Natural Science Museum, City Museum, or the Royal Arsenal. Special Events There are many special events in Spain one of which is the book fair, which brings together the most important national publishers. Other festival occasions that are important to Spain and Spain’s surrounding that are officially considered of interest to tourists are: Corpus Christi in Toledo and the celebrations at Atienza (Guadalajara), Camunas (Toledo), Mora (Toledo), Zamarramala (Segovia), Hita (Guadalajara), Candeleda (Avila). Finally, there is the festival excursion to the shrine of the Virgin of Hontanares, an excursion called â€Å"Romeria† in Spanish, Which takes place at Riaza, and the â€Å"Romeria† of El Cristo del Caloco. Just to name some. Holiday In the second half of May, Madrid celebrates in honor of San Isidro. The celebration is accompanied by typical Madrid folklore, including Fairs and Dances that are organized on the meadow of San Isidro, where the people of Madrid sing, dance and enjoy themselves next to the Hermitage of their Patrol Saint. At the same time, there are ballet and opera performances as well as the traditional bull fights at the bullring of Las Ventas. There are many holidays, ... Free Essays on Spain Spain occupies about 85 percent of the Iberian Peninsula and is bounded by water for about 88 percent of its periphery; its Mediterranean coast is 1,660 km long, and its Atlantic coast is 710 km long. The long, unbroken mountain chain of the Pyrenes, extending 435 km from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea, forms the border with France on the north; in the extreme south the Strait of Gibraltar, less than 13 km wide at its narrowest extent, separates Spain from Africa. The most important topographical feature of Spain is the great, almost treeless, central plateau, called the Meseta Central, sloping generally downward from north to south and from east to west, and with an average elevation of 600 m above sea level. The tableland is divided into northern and southern sections by irregular mountain ranges, or sierras, of which the most important are the Sierra de Guadarrama, the Sierra de Gredos, and the Montes de Toledo. Between many of the mountains are narrow valleys, drained by rapid rivers. The coastal plain is narrow, rarely as much as 30 km wide and, in many areas, broken by mountains that descend to the sea to form rocky headlands, particularly along the Mediterranean coast, where the sole excellent harbor is Barcelona. The northwestern coastal area has several good harbors, particularly along the Galician coast. The six principal mountain chains have elevations greater than 3,300 m. The highest peaks are the Pico de Aneto 3,404 m in the Pyrenees and Mulhacà ©n 3,477 m in the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain. The highest point in Spain and its insular territories is Pico de Teide 3,715 m on Tenerife Island in the Canary Islands. The lowest point is sea level along the coast. The principal rivers of Spain flow west and south to the Atlantic Ocean, generally along deep, rocky courses that they have cut through the mountain valleys. The Duero (Douro), Mià ±o, Tajo (Tagus), and Guadiana rivers rise in Spain and flow through Portug...

The practice of secondment and the goal of a more efficient and Essay

The practice of secondment and the goal of a more efficient and accepted implementation - Essay Example As will be discussed in this analysis, workers on secondment are often reticent to exert their full potential and treat the assignment with the same rigor and determination that they are inclined to do in their normal work. Furthermore, due to this approach, efficiency is lost and with that lost efficiency, profitability for the organization is also lost. As such, it is management’s desire to recapture this lost efficiency and work to promote the role of secondments, although temporary, as an integral role within the organizational structure and work to change cultural and personal perceptions that currently exist within the organization. 1.2 Identify the aim, scope and objective of the project. The purpose of this brief analysis is to discuss the process of conducting a project as it would relate to the process of secondment in the United Kingdom. These current issues include, but are not limited to: issues of reduced efficiency due to employee distaste for the system, loss o f overall profitability associated with the aforementioned loss of efficiency, and the overall reticence of employees throughout the organization to eagerly venture outside the norms and comforts of the routine they have grown accustomed to. As such, the purpose of this analysis will be to build a plan of action with relation to conducting a management project that is intended to better streamline and ensure the continued success of secondment; all the while working to reduce the negative aspects of the practice that have become so evident in company culture. 1.3 Justify the aim and objective of the project. The clear justification of this particular project is the direct need to redefine the process of secondment as something that can be a net positive for both parties involved and not a dreaded component of the work plan. As such, this analysis will draw upon the main goals of incentivizing the process in different ways, focusing on the needs of the employee and the employer, and maximizing the efficiency that had previously been lost due to dissatisfaction associated with interruption that secondment portends. The greater purpose intended is to create an environment in which secondment is looked upon in a different light; so that while valuable tangential work experience is obtained, the employee continues to maintain an open mind as to the process and is also mindful of the reward mechanisms that are associated with efficient and mindful implementation of the given secondment. 2.1 Identify sources of data and information for the project. For purposes of analysis as well as background information on secondment and the general views that are held with regards to it, this project has analysed multiple scholarly articles and journal entries which will work to shed a light on the common views regarding secondment, differing means of implementation, effects of employee distaste with the current system, specific shortcomings and strengths, loss of efficiency, and a multiplicity of ways in which the system might be improved. Secondly, in order to accurately measure the success of the project, a series of metrics will need to be established to measure employee response to the new rewards system which will be employed to foster success for secondment. Due to the fact that such a systemic

Performance in Drama and Poetry Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Performance in Drama and Poetry - Assignment Example In addition, the poem evidently demonstrates unity of action in that the activities are focused on one plotline and the illiterate protagonist. Unlike the more epic novels, spanning several plots, geographical locations, and historical eras, drama and poetry are far less overarching. For instance, in the play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Drobot (2012) said the story revolves around the protagonist, Blanche DuBois who is depicted as constantly bearing the brunt of ill-treatment, especially at the hands of Stanley. However, the other characters are depicted as playing subsidiary roles throughout the play. In light of the focus on a single item, the resulting drama and poem would always be performative. Plays and poems employ characterization, plot and mood to develop the themes, which are inherent throughout the literary piece in question. As a reader, I have noticed that unlike the narrative novels which tend to be â€Å"telling† the story from the narrator’s or the author’s view, plays and poems generally show readers the events as they unravel. As the result, I do have a feeling of a participant when reading plays and poems than when reading

Religious Expression's relation to ancient cultures through Greek and Essay

Religious Expression's relation to ancient cultures through Greek and Roman times - Essay Example II. Roman Temple Cultus (150 words) The temple cultus of Rome was what drove Roman society. Romans were expected to make sacrifices to the temple court on a regular basis, and no one was exempt—from the very wealthy to the very poor. However, early Christianity started to rise up in popularity. The Christians refused to pay sacrifices to the temple cultus, claiming that they only served one god alone. According to Hauer and Young (1998), â€Å"On one point devout Christians were obdurate in their resistance to Roman policy. This was teh cult of the divine emperor†¦The cult of the emperor was more popular in the provinces than in Rome itself [and the divine kingship in the eastern Mediterranean† (pp. 338). This was the beginning of the end of divine rule in Rome, as Christianity was spreading like wildfire. It is certain that the rituals that the Christians developed were based on traditions already in place. III. Pre-Christian Tradition in Rome (300 words) Early Ch ristianity was basically based on Judaism as well as Roman religious tradition. Everything from the Lord’s Supper (which was basically consisting of bread and wine)—to providing sacrifices for Jehovah or Yahweh—were rituals based on both Roman and Jewish tradition. While the Eucharist was based on a Jewish tradition, Roman love-feasts were also the basis for the Lord’s Supper. People got together in secret burial societies and had feasts, committing each other to themselves in order to ensure that after their deaths they would be properly buried. These burial societies were the precursors of early Christian tradition. It was only with the appearance of the early church fathers that these Jewish and Roman customs were totally extracted from Christian tradition, and new religious meanings were associated with the Lord’s Supper. In lieu of the Jewish tradition of celebrating in the mikveh ceremonies, the practice was renamed baptism and was required o f all Christian converts. There were so many traditions that were borrowed from Judeo-Roman religious tradition that many Christians are not even aware of these traditions. It is necessary for Christians to realize that Christianity indeed was a sprout forth from Judaism, and, indirectly, a branch of Judaism. The only difference was that Christianity declared Jesus not only their prophet, but the son of God, Yahweh—also known as Jehovah in some circles, depending upon one whether one used the Hebrew or the Greek translation. Even though the language of Jesus was Aramaic, many of Jesus’s followers were indeed Jewish before realizing that following Jesus meant converting into a Christian—which was a new way of life and unfettered by all the rules of Pharisaic Judaism. Indeed, it is true that the several traditions that still continue today in Christianity are evocative of religious Jewish and Roman tradition. IV. Greek Gods (200 words) Greek gods were frequently w orshipped in the Greco-Roman Empire as well. Since the histories of both Greece and Rome are so intertwined, some of their religious traditions overlapped. According to Newsom and Ringe (1998)â€Å"Many cities honored one particular god or goddess as primary, such as the worship of Artemis at Ephesus, but also honored other deities as well. Judaism acknowledged only one deity, Yahweh, the God of Israel†¦

Influential Costs to Healthcare Departments

Influential Costs to Healthcare Departments Patrick Bobst New federal laws, government regulations and the continuous rising costs of medical care have healthcare organizations facing financial revenue challenges stemming from fluctuating patient volumes to declining reimbursements. A major change in the healthcare industry has incentivized healthcare systems to keeping patients healthy and out of facilities instead of applying patient volume reimbursements. Healthcare organizations are shifting to value-based models that strategically focus on initiatives to not only reduce costs, but also improve efficiency while improving quality care. Challenges to maintain high quality care under tight budgets will be a continuous and arduous task for senior leaders. Budgeting practices are regarded as an organizational imperative if costs are to be predicted and controlled(Frow, Marginson, Ogden, 2010). Nurse Managers with a firm grip on relevant budget information are influential to patient care and insure the patient is receiving the best and safes t possible service(Dunham-Taylor Pinczuk, 2010). Budgeting increases efficiency through planning and coordination as well provides the ability to weave together all the disparate threads of an organization into a comprehensiveplan that serves many purposes (King, Clarkson, Wallace, 2009). Organizations today are implementing strategies to control the rising cost of healthcare are aimed at reducing medical resource consumption rates (Reiter Song, 2013). Research has shown that shifting budget strategies away from growth and expansion of high fixed costs associated with hospital care is shifting from growth and expansion toward a focus on efficiency, maintenance and existing capital in order to achieve cost control (Reiter Song, 2013). Cost Concepts in Healthcare Nurse Managers are rarely involved with revenue information but mainly involved with the spending aspect of the budget (Dunham-Taylor Pinczuk, 2010). Understanding the relationship of cost to volume is an important concept in a manager’s role for a departmental budget. Complexity surrounds the concept of volume, especially in volume-driven healthcare revenue planning and reporting. Volume in hospitals includes not only the patient census numbers but also takes into account the patient acuity, patient insurance type, patient minute/hours/days, and number of patient visits (Dunham-Taylor Pinczuk, 2010). â€Å"Direct supply costs are the only truly variable costs and a hospital that can be directly tied to patient volume and to cash expenditures† (Rauh, Wadsworth, Weeks, 2010, p. 61). Labor can be classified into two broad categories of direct labor and indirect labor. Labor is direct when working wages can be identified with specific costing units such as departments products or sales contracts and indirect labor is identified as all other employees that cannot be directly traced to the costing units (Chiang, 2013). Distinguishing between direct and indirect labor is vital to the budgetary process in determining accurate costs, measuring efficiency, decision-making and control, and minimizing overhead allocation inaccuracies (Chiang, 2013). Costs that have a direct correlation to the department could be either a variable or a fixed cost and the sum of these components equate to the total cost. Fixed costs are those that stay the same regardless the number of patients a healthcare facility treats or admits. The hospital still has to pay fixed costs even if their services are not used or even underutilized. Examples of fixed costs include insurance premiums, rent o n buildings or equipment, depreciation on buildings or equipment, taxes, utilities, and some salaried labor costs(Roberts et al., 1999). In healthcare, variable costs are expenses that fluctuate directly and proportionally with patient volume (Dunham-Taylor Pinczuk, 2010). Variable costs comprise all direct materials related in treating an individual patient including medications, testing agents, and disposable supplies as well as the salaries of nurses and technicians. Nurse Managers are considered a direct cost to the nursing department since the salary is the same reoccurring amount each month regardless of the quantity or volume of patients. The medical supplies furnished to the nursing department will be a direct cost that will be a variable cost if the total amount of supply used in the department increases or decreases as a volume in the department fluctuates. In estimating budgets, nurse managers determine the relationship between fixed costs, variable costs and total costs by utilizing a relevant range graph. The relevant range graph represents the likely range of activities within each cost behavior that is covered by the budget(Dunham-Taylor Pinczuk, 2010). Labor’s Influential Department Costs With enduring economic changes in healthcare, executives are continuously seeking how best to manage labor costs, how to efficiently allocate resources and optimize hospital staffing while reducing expenses all the while improving patient care. Twenty-five to 30% of the healthcare budget in a hospital organization stems from the nursing department (Dunham-Taylor Pinczuk, 2010) and the variable costs of labor are often 50 to 60% of total operating expenses(Rauh, Wadsworth, Weeks, 2010). Nursing departments are the only area where labor costs are directly related to patient volumeand the hospital’s profitability is very sensitive to changes in patient volume (Rauh et al., 2010). A hospital loses 100% of the patient revenue when volume is reduced but saves only on the cost of the direct supplies, whereas when patient volumes increase the next patient become highly profitable since revenue is captured(Rauh et al., 2010). Rauh et al. (2010) asserts, the true cost of caring for t he next patients is relatively small, as the additional cost is limited to direct supplies(p. 62). As a result, nursing management will focus their attention on utilization and throughput, the driving force in any fixed cost industry (Rauh et al., 2010). With labor cost containment and productivity initiatives scrutinized, managers are implementing flexibility in staffing. Strategically integrating a flexible staffing workflow provides the ability to adjust skill mix of core staff and volume of workforce when volume cycles demand. PACU Staffing and Productivity The labor force of the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) is directly patient volume driven and planned differently than other units. The PACU workload resets daily, with a daily variation in census, and the workload is peaked by time of day. The unit of service indicator used for the PACU department during the budgetary process is 2.5910 hours per patient. For example, with 40 surgical cases scheduled the PACU’s productive target hours will be 103.64. Hours per patient minute (HPPM) are the numbers of hours of nursing care provided, compared to the number of patients during a 24-hour period. Actual productive HPPM is calculated by taking the total nursing hours spent providing direct patient care each month and dividing it by the actual patient minutes spent in PACU. These hours include nurses, clerical, ancillary staff, and the assistant nurse manager. The nurse manager reviews weekly reports for the target HPPM with actual HPPM, monitoring vacancy rates, and maintaining the a verage nurse to patient ratio of 1:2. Understanding these reports help the nurse manager make data driven budget and staffing decisions. Due to the PACU’s fluctuating workload and census, adjustments are necessary to the HPPM. In order to ensure safe patient care the PACU manager evaluates the nursing skill level each day and makes the proper skill mix adjustments. Since shift overlap overtime raises the HPPM, the nurse manager analyzes productivity reports daily. Historical data supported management’s decision to mitigate expensive nursing care hours with an adjustment in our workforce to flex positions in order to meet changing volumes. Nonproductive non-worked hours and nonproductive indirect hours are also important budgeting factors in labor. Nonproductive, indirect hours referred to the hours reserved for activities, meetings, education and orientation. Nonproductive non-worked hours include paid time off for vacation, holidays, and sick time. References Chiang, B. (2013). Indirect labor costs and implications for overhead allocation. Accounting Taxation, 5(1), 85-96. Dunham-Taylor, J., Pinczuk, J. Z. (2010). Financial management for nurse managers: Merging the heart with the dollar (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Frow, N., Marginson, D., Ogden, S. (2010). Continuous budgeting: reconciling budget flexibility with budgetary control. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35, 444-461. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2009.10.003 King, R., Clarkson, P., Wallace, S. (2009). Budgeting practices and performance in small healthcare businesses. Management Accounting Research, 21, 40-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2009.11.002 Rauh, S., Wadsworth, E., Weeks, W. (2010). The fixed cost dilemma: What counts when counting cost reduction efforts. Healthcare Financial Management, 64(3), 60-63. Reiter, K. L., Song, P. H. (2013). Hospital capital budgeting in an era of transformation. Journal of Healthcare Finance, 39(3), 14-22. Roberts, R. R., Frutos, P. W., Ciavarella, G. G., Gussow, L. M., Mensah, E. K., Kampe, L. M. (1999). Distribution of variable versus fixed costs of hospital care. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 281, 644-650. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.281.7.644

Comparing Websties of Popular Newspapers -- News Internet Web Computer

Comparing Websties of Popular Newspapers The Internet has become a very powerful tool in gathering news and information. Websites can direct individuals to literally thousands of stories pertaining to world affairs, national news, arts, sciences etc. that would normally not be found in televised or printed news. Not only can the Internet provide a superior quantity of information, but it also gives individuals the freedom of choice in what they read and view. Normal news outlets cannot give an individual this freedom, and due to the flexibility of the Internet, many people are rejecting traditional sources for news and media and obtaining their daily news via the Internet. Still, the newspaper industry has not been blind to the building popularity of Internet news. In fact, many newspapers are discovering that the use of the Internet is a low-cost way to increase readership and to increase revenues through advertising. Because of this, familiar newspapers such as the â€Å"New York Times,† the â€Å"Wall Stree t Journal† and the â€Å"Washington Post† have begun posting daily editions of their papers online. Each newspapers’ website can be viewed via the following links - http://www.nytimes.com/: http://online.wsj.com/public/us: http://www.washingtonpost.com/?LOAD_PAGE&reload=true. The remainder of this paper will compare the strengths and/or weaknesses of each sites’ layout, evaluate the variety of news content on each site, and try to determine the possible readership each paper is attempting to appeal to. These three particular newspapers are chosen due to their comparable fame and resources. This is important when evaluating a paper’s content because limitations in resources could restrict how effectively a paper can cover brea... ...d easily explain the higher focus on the fine arts found the NYT. Although no single newspaper of the three is superior to another, one should easily be able make a selection after evaluating each newspapers’ website for quality layout, diverse and detailed content, and after examining each site in attempt to determine a typical readership for each paper. The NYT and the WP both have skillfully designed websites, while the WSJ website lacks certain elements that make the other two sites seem more clean. However if you consider yourself a businessperson, the WSJ provides a much greater volume of business related stories that either the WP or the NYT. For more coverage of world affairs and the fine arts and sciences, the NYT is the paper of choice. Finally, to obtain additional political information or stories of human-interest, the WP is the paper of choice.