Leadership, an Australasian Focus

The intention of this Australian adaptation of DuBrin is to bring an Australian/Asia Pacific focus to the theoretically strong American text on leadership. The book covers leaders performing a number of specific roles and functions in a wide variety of organisational positions in all sectors including private, political and community.

Refugees from Vietnam

"Refugees from Vietnam" sets out to identify the social policy issues that arise when mass settlement of refugees takes place, particularly in an unfamiliar social context. It also tries to offer ways forward which would allow the resettlement process to be more successful from the viewpoint of the refugees and of the host community. The refugee group chosen as a case study for this book was that group of refugees who fled from Vietnam as "the boat people" and arrived in Britain and many other Western countries between 1979 and 1981. Since 1979 the author has been involved in the resettlement in the UK of refugees from Vietnam. She has written a number of articles on this topic. She is also the author of the book "Illiteracy and the Offender.

The relationship between firm survival and innovation : an introduction to the literature

The rapid growth in use of the Internet as a business tool provides a new perspective in the study of the organizational challenges of new technologies. The innovation literature has grown vastly since its establishment in the 1920s, covering a broad range of disciplines (Foxall 1984) and measures a wide variety of variables (Rogers 1995). At first glance, studies that look at the relationship between innovation and firm survival appear contradictory. However, the results appear compatible when additional factors, such as industry type, organizational age, company size or the duration of the study are taken into account.

Basic education for offenders

ILLITERACY is now increasingly recognised as a serious social problem. UNESCO defines literacy in the following way :- "A person is literate when he has acquired the essential knowledge skills that enable him to engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning in his group and community" This is in fact seeing the problem in terms of functional literacy. As the demands of an increasingly industrial society grow, more and more people who are functionally illiterate are appearing. Many do not have the functional skills required to enable them to apply for a job. This inability to obtain work is common among clients of the probation service. Literacy has become so important in our society, that to be unable to read and write causes great feeling of isolation, of being different and inferior, which often leads the illiterate to join a group where this deficiency is unknown and where he can gain some status. This is often a delinquent group.

What information-related activities do people with ESKD use?

Background Information practice is an emerging area of research that seeks to reveal how people learn to connect with the complex multimodal information landscapes that informs their ability to make decisions. Previous research has identified that people with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) tend to adopt a ‘received’ or ‘engaged’ view of information but little is known about the activities of information practice. Objectives This research project sought to identify the: i) information-related activities; and ii) how information is used. Methods Using a constructivist qualitative methodology, ten people with ESKD living in a large metropolitan city were purposively selected and interviewed. Data was subject to thematic analysis by researchers from nursing and information science. Saturation of themes was achieved. Results Participants were between 38 and 72 years, had been receiving kidney replacement therapy from 2 weeks to 31 years. Eight participants reported having access to the internet but none participated in chat rooms. The activities were conceptualized into themes as listening, seeking, searching, sharing and observing. These activities enabled people to create, reflect on and evaluate the information needed to inform their decision-making Conclusion/Application to Clinical Practice The information practice research approach will enable a better understanding of the underlying relationship between information, knowledge and experience to be better understood. For renal nurses who are involved in patient education being able to recognise the way people use information will assist in individualizing educational sessions and tailoring teaching strategies to make it more meaningful.

Critical theory and literacy

This handbook chapter explores the relationship between critical theory and seminal studies of literacy which investigate inequities in education. It identifies new research questions to explore the connections between literacy and power, but go beyond promises of emancipation.

Socio-structural influences on the work participation of refugees : an exploratory systematic mixed studies review

This systematic mixed studies review aimed at synthesizing evidence from studies related to the influences on the work participation of people with refugee status (PWRS). The review focused on the role of proximal socio-structural barriers on work participation by PWRS while foregrounding related distal, intermediate, proximal, and meta-systemic influences. For the systematic search of the literature, we focused on databases that addressed work, well-being, and social policy in refugee populations, including, Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, and Sociological Abstracts. Of the studies reviewed, 16 of 39 met the inclusion criteria and were retained for the final analysis. We performed a narrative synthesis of the evidence on barriers to work participation by PWRS, interlinking clusters of barriers potent to their effects on work participation. Findings from the narrative synthesis suggest that proximal factors, those at point of entry to the labor market, influence work participation more directly than distal or intermediate factors. Distal and intermediate factors achieve their effects on work participation by PWRS primarily through meta-systemic interlinkages, including host-country documentation and refugee administration provisions.

The process and patterns of combining the use of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine in Taiwanese people with cancer

Objective: The nature of contemporary cancer therapy means that patients are faced with difficult treatment decisions about surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. For some, this process may also involve consideration of therapies that sit outside the biomedical approach to cancer treatment, in our research, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Thus, it is important to explore how cancer patients in Taiwan incorporate TCM into their cancer treatment journey. This paper aims to explore of the patterns of combining the use of TCM and Western medicine into cancer treatment journey in Taiwanese people with cancer. Methods: The sampling was purposive and the data collected through in-depth interviews. Data collection occurred over an eleven month. The research was grounded in the premises of symbolic interactionism and adopted the methods of grounded theory. Twenty four participants who were patients receiving cancer treatment were recruited from two health care settings in Taiwan. Results: The study findings suggest that perceptions of health and illness are mediated through ongoing interactions with different forms of therapy. The participants in this study had a clear focus on “process and patterns of using TCM and Western medicine”. Further, ‘different importance in Western medicine and TCM’, ‘taken for granted to use TCM’, ‘each has specialized skills in Western medicine and TCM’ and ‘different symptoms use different approaches (Western medicine or TCM)’ may explicit how the participants in this study see CAM and Western medicine. Conclusions/Implications for practice: The descriptive frame of the study suggests that TCM and Western medicine occupy quite distinct domains in terms of decision making over their use. People used TCM based on interpretations of the present and against a background of an enduring cultural legacy grounded in Chinese philosophical beliefs about health and healthcare. The increasingly popular term of 'integrative medicine' obscures the complex contexts of the patterns of use of both therapeutic modalities. It is this latter point that is worthy of further exploration.

Introduction to grounded theory

Grounded theory, first developed by Glaser and Strauss in the 1960s, was introduced into nursing education as a distinct research methodology in the 1970s. The theory is grounded in a critique of the dominant contemporary approach to social inquiry, which imposed "enduring" theoretical propositions onto study data. Rather than starting from a set theoretical framework, grounded theory relies on researchers distinguishing meaningful constructs from generated data and then identifying an appropriate theory. Grounded theory is thus particularly useful in investigating complex issues and behaviours not previously addressed and concepts and relationships in particular populations or places that are still undeveloped or weakly connected. Grounded theory data analysis processes include open, axial and selective coding levels. The purpose of this article was to explore the grounded theory research process and provide an initial understanding of this methodology.

What relationships exist between general self efficacy, locus of control and the nursing practice environment and caring efficacy and job satisfaction?

Research Question: What relationships exist between general self efficacy, locus of control and the nursing practice environment and caring efficacy and job satisfaction? Background: Important characteristics of current nursing practice include nurses having the ability to develop and continue therapeutic relationships with patients, nurses having autonomy and control over the practice environment and nurses having more involvement in decision making. In addition, employee satisfaction is enhanced when organisations offer access to authority. Despite this, nurses continue to complain of feeling powerless in their ability to make decisions. Sample: The study population and criteria for selection included Registered Nurses in Australia who were at the time members of an Australian professional and industrial organisation. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive and bivariate statistics, and structural equation modeling. Results: The model fit the data well (χ² = 2.3594, χ²/df = 2.3594 and CFI = 0.9987). Twenty four percent of variation in caring efficacy (CE) can be accounted for by general self-efficacy (GSE); work locus of control (WLC) and practice environment (PE) and 62% of the variation in job satisfaction (JS) can be accounted for by GSE, WLC and PE. All pathways were found to be significant except PE to CE. GSE positively explained CE (β = 0.38). WLC was negatively related to CE i.e., as CE scores increased WLC scores decreased (β = -0.23). Further testing of the model found CE was positively related to GSE (βZ = 0.38, p < 0.001) and negatively related to WLC (βZ = - 0.23, p = 0.001). PE was not significantly associated with CE (βZ = - 0.01, p = 0.85). JS was explained by PE, which was positively related (βZ = 0.69, p = < 0.001); GSE which was negatively related (βZ - 0 .09, p < 0.001) and WLC, which was also negatively related (βZ = - 0.20, p < 0.001). Implications for Practice Nursing and organisational leaders should ensure the development of strategies for professional development and orientation programmes which may enhance nurses’ ability to develop caring relationships and express caring behaviours to their patients and as a result improve organisational and patient outcomes. Nursing shortages and turnover rates are associated with job satisfaction and the nursing practice environment. Improving the nursing environment can produce benefits to the health system such as better job satisfaction, improved workforce retention and better patient outcomes.

Examination of factors affecting caring efficacy, job satisfaction in Australian registered nurses

Research Question: What relationships exist between general self efficacy, locus of control and the nursing practice environment and caring efficacy and job satisfaction? Background: Important characteristics of current nursing practice include nurses having the ability to develop and continue therapeutic relationships with patients, nurses having autonomy and control over the practice environment and nurses having more involvement in decision making. In addition, employee satisfaction is enhanced when organisations offer access to authority. Despite this, nurses continue to complain of feeling powerless in their ability to make decisions. Sample: The study population and criteria for selection included Registered Nurses in Australia who were at the time members of an Australian professional and industrial organisation. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive and bivariate statistics, and structural equation modelling. Results: The model fit the data well (χ² = 2.3594, χ²/df = 2.3594 and CFI = 0.9987). Twenty four percent of variation in caring efficacy (CE) can be accounted for by general self-efficacy (GSE); work locus of control (WLC) and practice environment (PE) and 62% of the variation in job satisfaction (JS) can be accounted for by GSE, WLC and PE. All pathways were found to be significant except PE to CE. GSE positively explained CE (β = 0.38). WLC was negatively related to CE i.e., as CE scores increased WLC scores decreased (β = -0.23). Further testing of the model found CE was positively related to GSE (βZ = 0.38, p < 0.001) and negatively related to WLC (βZ = - 0.23, p = 0.001). PE was not significantly associated with CE (βZ = - 0.01, p = 0.85). JS was explained by PE, which was positively related (βZ = 0.69, p = < 0.001); GSE which was negatively related (βZ - 0 .09, p < 0.001) and WLC, which was also negatively related (βZ = - 0.20, p < 0.001). Implications for Practice Nursing and organisational leaders should ensure the development of strategies for professional development and orientation programmes which may enhance nurses’ ability to develop caring relationships and express caring behaviours to their patients and as a result improve organisational and patient outcomes. Nursing shortages and turnover rates are associated with job satisfaction and the nursing practice environment. Improving the nursing environment can produce benefits to the health system such as better job satisfaction, improved workforce retention and better patient outcomes.