A proposed Model for Country Branding : an experimental Application on Nigeria

In the era of globalization, countries compete with each other for attention, respect and trust of potential consumers, investors, tourists, media and governments of other nations. Branding is the most powerful tool that a nation can utilize for effective differentiation strategies and for creating competitive advantage over other nations. Unfortunately, not every nations or destination marketers have a broad understanding of the concept of branding and how a country can be successfully branded. Hence, this study has proposed a model that could be used as a valuable guide for country branding. Also the model is recommended for countries struggling with image crisis; on the mission to improve the image internationally. Nigeria is a good example of countries with image crisis; it is one of the most populated countries in the world with a population of about 160 million inhabitants and growth rate of 2.553percent annually. Despite the abundant resources (e.g. coal, petroleum, natural gas etc.) that the nation is endowed with, it is quite disappointing that the population below poverty line is still at the alarming rate of 70percent of the total population. The mismanagement and poor leadership of the nation characterised by corruption, fraud, embezzlement of public fund etc. has culminated into serious image crisis that is slowing down the potential for investment and economic growth. However, there has been series of image rebranding campaigns but no tangible achievement has been recorded. It is quite questionable though, if image rebranding will provide the kind of future that Nigeria envisaged, considering the socio-political situation and the economic imbalance; compounded by the obvious fact that the nation has no known brand. Therefore, this paper argues that there is need to redirect the effort invested on image rebranding to the creation of a unique and competitive brand for the country. It was established from the study that a nation’s brand is capable of improving the reputation of the nation as well as stimulate the expectation of the target audience. However, it was also established from the study that a wrong approach to branding could mislead the target audience and attract negative publicity. Hence, as a contribution of the study to the field of branding, a model was proposed as a functional guide for country branding. Also, considering the abysmal performance of Nigeria’s image in the international community and to strengthen the argument that brand creation is required for the country; an experimental application of the proposed model was conducted using Nigeria as the case country. The first phase of the model suggested a major improvement in the society; this is required to further enhance the strengths of the country and to motivate the much needed community participation and confidence in the brand creation. It is the conclusion of the study that a strong nation brand can offset the image problem if it is built on something concrete, genuine, and uniquely identifiable with the country, capable of connecting to the cognitive psychology of the target audience.

Gravida kvinnors tankar om amning

Internationellt sett är amningsfrekvensen i dagens Sverige hög, men har minskat något senaste åren. Studier visar att inställningen till amning är positiv, men att kvinnor upplever svårigheter i samband med amning samt en brist på information och stöd. Syftet med fördjupningsarbetet var att belysa gravida kvinnors tankar om amning, amningsinformation och stöd. Studien genomfördes med kvalitativ ansats, där data samlades in genom fokusgruppsintervjuer med 18 gravida kvinnor hösten 2012. Data bearbetades med innehållsanalys. Analysen gav ett övergripande tema; Balans mellan förväntningar och svårigheter. Fem kategorier framkom; Att vara medveten om amningens fördelar, Att vara medveten om svårigheter med amning, Att planera för sin kommande amning, Att påverkas av sin omgivning och Att ha förväntningar på stöd inför kommande amning. Resultatet visade att gravida kvinnor var medvetna om amningens fördelar och svårigheter, omgivningen påverkade deras tankar och kvinnorna ansåg ofta att amningen ”löser sig naturligt”. Tydligast framkom kvinnors känsla av bristande kunskap om amningsproblem och en önskan att få amningsinformation sent i graviditet. Amningsinformation som ges under graviditet bör vara varierad, innehållsrik och förbereda föräldrarna på att amning kan vara påfrestande. Det är viktigt att involvera partnern i information och förberedelser för amning.   Nyckelord: amning, graviditet, amningsstöd, amningsinformation, amningsproblem

The core characteristics and nursing care activities in psychiatric intensive care units in Sweden

Internationally, research on psychiatric intensive care units (PICUs) commonly reportsresults from demographic studies such as criteria for admission, need for involuntary treatment, andthe occurrence of violent behaviour. A few international studies describe the caring aspect of thePICUs based specifically on caregivers’ experiences. The concept of PICU in Sweden is not clearlydefined. The aim of this study is to describe the core characteristics of a PICU in Sweden and todescribe the care activities provided for patients admitted to the PICUs. Critical incident techniquewas used as the research method. Eighteen caregivers at a PICU participated in the study bycompleting a semistructured questionnaire. In-depth interviews with three nurses and two assistantnurses also constitute the data. An analysis of the content identified four categories that characterizethe core of PICU: the dramatic admission, protests and refusal of treatment, escalating behaviours, andtemporarily coercive measure. Care activities for PICUs were also analysed and identified as controlling– establishing boundaries, protecting – warding off, supporting – giving intensive assistance, andstructuring the environment. Finally, the discussion put focus on determining the intensive aspect ofpsychiatric care which has not been done in a Swedish perspective before. PICUs were interpreted asa level of care as it is composed by limited structures and closeness in care.

Emergency department triage scales and their components : a systematic review of the scientific evidence

Emergency department (ED) triage is used to identify patients' level of urgency and treat them based on their triage level. The global advancement of triage scales in the past two decades has generated considerable research on the validity and reliability of these scales. This systematic review aims to investigate the scientific evidence for published ED triage scales. The following questions are addressed: 1. Does assessment of individual vital signs or chief complaints affect mortality during the hospital stay or within 30 days after arrival at the ED? 2. What is the level of agreement between clinicians' triage decisions compared to each other or to a gold standard for each scale (reliability)? 3. How valid is each triage scale in predicting hospitalization and hospital mortality? A systematic search of the international literature published from 1966 through March 31, 2009 explored the British Nursing Index, Business Source Premier, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and PubMed. Inclusion was limited to controlled studies of adult patients (≥15 years) visiting EDs for somatic reasons. Outcome variables were death in ED or hospital and need for hospitalization (validity). Methodological quality and clinical relevance of each study were rated as high, medium, or low. The results from the studies that met the inclusion criteria and quality standards were synthesized applying the internationally developed GRADE system. Each conclusion was then assessed as having strong, moderately strong, limited, or insufficient scientific evidence. If studies were not available, this was also noted. We found ED triage scales to be supported, at best, by limited and often insufficient evidence. The ability of the individual vital signs included in the different scales to predict outcome is seldom, if at all, studied in the ED setting. The scientific evidence to assess interrater agreement (reliability) was limited for one triage scale and insufficient or lacking for all other scales. Two of the scales yielded limited scientific evidence, and one scale yielded insufficient evidence, on which to assess the risk of early death or hospitalization in patients assigned to the two lowest triage levels on a 5-level scale (validity).

An analysis of Samoan reaction to The Orator (O Le Tulafale)’s Fāgogo defining Samoan identity

The Orator (O Le Tulafale) was promoted as the first Samoan language film shot in Samoa with a Samoan cast and crew. Written and directed by Samoan filmmaker Tusi Tamasese, the film succeeded at several of the movie industry’s prestigious festivals. The Orator (O Le Tulafale) is about an outcast family of a dwarf (Saili), his wife and her teenage daughter. As the main protagonist, Saili battles to overcome his fears to become a chief to save his family and land. The film’s themes are courage, love, honour , as well as hypocrisy, violence, and discrimination. A backlash by Samoans was predicted ; however, the opposite occurred. This raised the following questions: first, what is it about the film causing this reaction? It is a 106 -minute film shot in Samoa about Samoans and the Samoan culture . D espite promotional claims about the film , there have been Samoan -produced films in Samoa . Secondly, to what are Samoans really responding? Is it 1) just to the film because it is about Samoa, or 2) are they responding to themselves , and how they reacted during the act of watching the film? This implies levels of reactions in the act of watching, and examining the dominant level of response is important. To explore this, t he Samoan story telling technique of Fāgogo was used to analyse the film’s narration and narrative techniques. R. Allen’s (1993, 1997) concept of projected illusion was employed to discuss the relationship between Samoans and the film developed during the act of watching. An examination of the term Samoan and a description of the framework of Fa’a Samoa (Samoan culture) were provided. Also included were discussions of memory and its impact on Samoan cultural identity. The analysis indicated that The Orator (O Le Tulafale) acted as a memory prompt through which Samoans recalled memories confirming and defining cultural bonds. These memories constituted the essence of being Samoan. These memories were awakened, and shared as oral histories as fāgogo. The receivers appeared to interpret the shared memories to create their own memories and stories to suit their contexts, according to Facebook postings. An interpretation is that the organic sharing of memories as fā gogo created a global definition of Samoan that Samoans internationally claimed.

Reading That Matters : A Literature Review on Meaningful Reading Experiences in the EFL Classroom

This thesis is a literature review on literature reading in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom, of mainly upper secondary schools. The underlying objective for this work is that meaningful reading experiences can have a positive impact on a developing young individual on his or her way into adulthood. The aim of this thesis is to explore what theories and methods are used when trying to create prerequisites for meaningful reading experiences, and how these experiences actually are realized. Qualitative methods are mainly used, except for a small section of the methodology of finding the sources, which is quantitative in nature. Since very little previous research has been done in the field, the six sources used in this review are internationally spread over five continents. They are mainly analyzed from a theoretical background of reader response and critical literacy perspectives. The main findings show that a number of theoretical approaches and methodologies can be useful in creating meaningful reading experiences. What may have proven most effective was addressing actual problems in the students’ everyday lives through applied critical literacy.

Nya möjligheter för stratifieringsforskning i Sverige : Internationella yrkesklassificeringar och stratifieringsmått över tid

New opportunities for social stratification research in Sweden: International occupational classifications and stratification measures over time The Swedish occupational classifications have in recent years been changed to a version of the international standard ISCO-88(COM), i.e. SSYK 96. As a consequence, a wide variety of internationally well-known stratification measures can be applied to Swedish data sets. In this article some tests of the validity of translation keys between the older national classifications and SSYK 96 are presented. The keys seem to work satisfactorily. Thus, it is possible to create long time-series with ISCO/SSYK and use these well-known stratification measures over time. Hence, the international interest in Swedish data sets, and empirical results based on these data sets, could rise. Moreover, in the article an empirical regularity, which is quite astonishing, is paid attention to; stratification measures based on different theoretical rationales indicate very similar hierarchies of occupations.

Barnmorskans uppfattning om indikationer och effekter av förlossning med elektiva kejsarsnitt på humanitär indikation utifrån arbetslivserfarenhet : En intervjustudie

Bakgrund: Statistik visar på ökat antal elektiva kejsarsnitt internationellt och nationellt. Ett kejsarsnitt kan rädda liv på mor och barn om komplikationer uppstår, elektivt kejsarsnitt är även liksom andra stora operationer förenat med risker för komplikationer. Antalet elektiva kejsarsnitt på humanitär indikation har ökat i Sverige och cirka 17 % av alla förlossningar sker via kejsarsnitt. Att vårda och stödja kvinnor före, under och efter en förlossning med kejsarsnitt hör till barnmorskans arbete. Syftet med studien var att beskriva barnmorskors uppfattning om indikationer och effekter av förlossning med elektiva kejsarsnitt på humanitär indikation belyst utifrån arbetslivserfarenheter. Metod: kvalitativ metod: semistrukturella intervjuer med nio barnmorskor. Materialet analyserades via fenomenografisk analys i sju steg. Resultat: Fyra beskrivningskategorier framkom, Elektivt kejsarsnitt på humanitär indikation är ett etiskt dilemma, Elektivt kejsarsnitt på humanitär indikation är en stor operation, Elektivt kejsarsnitt på humanitär indikation påverkar organisation och barnmorskans arbetsmiljö och Elektivt kejsarsnitt på humanitär indikation påverkar kvinnans förlossningsupplevelse. Vidare framkom nio kategorier som beskriver barnmorskors uppfattningar. Slutsats Barnmorskor uppfattar elektiva kejsarsnitt som något komplext, att de med sina yrkeskunskaper värnar det naturliga vid kejsarsnitt på humanitär indikation och att de har brist på mandat att stödja och stärka kvinnors informerade val om elektivt kejsarsnitt på humanitär indikation. Klinisk tillämpbarhet: Resultatet kan användas vid undervisning kring barnmorskans stödjande och vårdande arbete i samband med förlossning via kejsarsnitt. Vidare kan resultatet vara underlag till diskussioner inom mödrahälsovård och förlossning i syfte att ge barnmorskor stärkt mandat till sina stödjande och informativa uppgifter.