Agency-nursing work : perceptions and experiences of agency nurses

This paper explores agency-nursing work from the perspective of agency nurses to gain in-depth understanding of their clinical practice, their relationships with the employing agency, hospitals and permanent nurses, and their professional status. For this study, individual interviews were conducted with ten agency nurses who were registered with one of three nursing agencies in Melbourne, Australia. Five major themes emerged from interview data: orientation, allocation of agency nurses, reasons for doing agency-nursing work, experiences with hospital staff, and professionalism. The findings reveal that the primary reason for nurses engaging in agency-nursing work is for the flexibility it offers. While agency nurses described a commitment to professionalism, the findings emphasise the need to establish effective communication networks between agency nurses, nursing agencies and hospital institutions. Such communication between stakeholders is important to facilitate discussion of issues such as appropriate notification of shift availability, appropriate assignment of work and recognition of the agency nurse as a valuable member of the health care team. In particular, the findings highlight the importance of comprehensive orientation and education for agency nurses to shift the focus of their daily work from task completion to more comprehensive patient care.<br />

Learning for/at work : Somali women "doing it for themselves"

This article draws on the understanding of the lives and experiences of two Somali women, as case studies, to examine the relationship between identity, work and language learning. It begins with a brief discussion of embodied knowledge, with a view to exploring how &ldquo;know how&rdquo; intersects with literacy and identity. The article then moves to the two case studies to illustrate how certain experiences of work, and of seeking work, embody vital knowledge. The article concludes by considering how this practical embodied knowledge can be confirmed and harnessed to enrich adults&rsquo; learning for the workplace.<br />

Factors that predict work ability : incorporating a measure of organisational values towards ageing

This research conducted in an Australian public sector organisation aimed to identify the main factors that predict work ability for employees. According to Ilmarinen's (1999) model of work ability, an individual's work ability is influenced by their general health, attitudes, values and motivation interacting with workplace and other environmental demands. However what is unknown is the influence of value incongruence (i.e. the lack of fit between individual and organisational values), particularly when that incongruence results in age discrimination. This is important in an Australian context where youth and symbols of youth are over-valued in business environments and where older workers themselves perceive age discrimination as the single most important cause of early exit from the labour force.<br /><br />109 participants completed a survey about work ability. Differences between work ability and health were not found between older and younger workers suggesting that strategies for improving work ability could be targeted at all employees rather than just older employees. However there were significant differences found between older and younger workers on reasons that would influence employees to stay longer in the organisation. Older workers tended to be more influenced by the provision of less demanding work, and positive attitudes towards older workers. Younger workers tended to be more influenced by opportunities to be employed in another section of the organisation, skills training opportunities and career advancement opportunities.<br /><br />Results from hierarchical regression analyses suggested that good physical and mental health, and low occupational stress related to workplace culture were significant predictors of increased work ability. Results also suggested that occupational stress is likely to decrease with: high work ability and work satisfaction; and high value congruence. Implications for wellbeing programs to include the development of targeted organisational values are discussed.<br />

Work readiness in graduate recruitment and selection : a review of current assessment methods

Graduate recruitment and selection differs from other contexts in that graduate applicants generally lack job-related experience. Recent research has highlighted that employers are placing increasing value on graduates being work ready. Work readiness is believed to be indicative of graduate potential in terms of long term job performance and career advancement. A review of the literature has found that current graduate recruitment and selection practices lack the rigour and construct validity to effectively assess work readiness. In addition, the variety of interchangeable terms and definitions articulated by employers and academics on what constitutes work readiness suggests the need to further refine this construct. This paper argues that work readiness is an important selection criterion, and should be examined systematically in the graduate assessment process, as a construct in itself. The ineffectiveness of current assessment methods in being able to measure work readiness supports the need to develop a specific measure of work readiness that will allow more effective decision practices and potentially predict long term job capacity and performance.<br />

Piecing together the puzzle of graduate employment : factors that shape the graduate work expectations of human resource management students

Providing graduates with a set of skills and attributes relevant to their future employment remains a key topic in both higher education policy and research. This paper reports findings from a pilot study of human resource management (HRM) students' perceptions of the graduate work experience. Specifically, it focuses on how these perceptions are shaped, driven by a concern for the uncertainty - and even fear - expressed by the study's participants in relation to their future workplace experiences. The influences of three key factors in shaping participants' expectations are discussed: the graduate recruitment experience, previous work experiences and 'graduate work folklore' from the stories of family and friends. With these influences not always providing students with a realistic picture of their future work experience, we conclude that educators need to improve the opportunities for practical experience and industry knowledge through work placements, stronger links with industry and increased exposure to the practicalities of work within the curriculum. <br />

Evaluation of the use of Assessment Centre methodology to enhance development planning, work placement outcomes and work readiness for postgraduate students : a pilot

<b>Background:</b> Placements as a form of Work Integrated Learning are widely recognised for the positive impact they have on improving student employability and work readiness. Students can maximise strengths, improve areas of weakness, and develop a strong understanding of the requirements of their chosen field within the confines of a well monitored and rich learning environment. Assessment Centres (ACs) are commonly used in corporate settings for recruitment, selection and more recently to provide developmental feedback to participants. Based on a recent literature review, the present the present project evaluates the application of AC methodology as a developmental tool within the placement milieu. The review, which is also included the current conference proceedings details the benefits of utilising the AC process forming the impetus for the present pilot (Sturre; von Treuer &amp; Keele 2010).<br /><b>Aims:</b> The primary aim of the paper was to evaluate the application of AC methodology as a tool for measuring and subsequently enhancing professional competencies in a sample of postgraduate students in organisational psychology (n=15).<br /><b>Method:</b> A longitudinal design was utilised with numerous evaluation points from placement stakeholders. This paper presents the first wave of findings. Students undertook a range of activities, including an in-tray exercise, role play, written report, leaderless group discussion and a personality assessment. Comprehensive feedback was provided by organisational psychologists who also fulfil the role of placement co-ordinators. With the assistance of Placement Co-ordinators, students prepared development plans relating to the competencies identified as requiring development. These plans were to be addressed and progress monitored during consecutive placements.<br /><b>Results:</b> Initial perceptions gathered from students regarding the AC process were very encouraging. Performance<br />evaluations collected to date, as measured by behaviourally based ratings scales completed by the students themselves and their workplace supervisors illustrate the positive effect of this methodology. The rigour and comprehensive techniques offered by the methodology enabled students to focus on and improve areas identified for development.<br /><b>Conclusions:</b> It is important to note that the present design formed a pilot study and as mentioned was undertaken with a limited sample. Future implementation is planned with larger samples, enabling a more comprehensive analysis of the methodology. Nevertheless, the methodology appears to provide a much needed strategy for the assessment and ongoing development of students prior to and during work placements. The application provides early intervention enabling students to address development needs with input from both university and organisational stakeholders based on an established, standardised process.<br />

The effect of the work environment on accounting students' moral reasoning and development

Puxty et al. (1994) claim that professional accountants are induced to act ethically through two aspects of their socialisation, the education process, and the influence of work experience and role models who show what it means to be ethical. The education of accountants is not simply a matter of becoming technically competent, it is also a process of internalising accepted norms of professional conduct. Student accountants learn acceptable behaviour by learning the principles of good conduct in their education, and receiving advice and observing what significant others do in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of the work environment on accounting students moral reasoning and development by comparing the DIT P-scores of accounting students pre and post cooperative education. Cooperative eduction is an industry placement program where students are required to work in commerce and industry for one year. Findings indicate that DIT P-scores decrease during cooperative education suggesting that accounting students, whilst in the work environment, do not reason according to their capability as measured by their pre-test scores.<br />

Model of the conflicts of student work and study

Excessive work demands cause students to have less time available for study, which results in them missing lectures and tutorials. This study seeks a more accurate understanding of why students undertake part-time work to the level that they do. This paper examines the extent of employment of undergraduate students enrolled in property and construction at RMIT University. Students responded to a questionnaire on the duration and nature of their part-time work.<br /><br />The results of the paper suggest that one of the major issues facing educators is that students themselves believe that part-time employment benefits their long term career. Hence they are reluctant to reduce their work commitment. Past research suggests that there is sufficient evidence that this will create work-study conflicts. The paper concludes by suggesting that some form of work-integrated learning process may benefit both the student&rsquo;s leaning and their need to obtain work skills.<br />

Pathways to industry : work practices of undergraduate students in construction programs in Australia

This research reports the impact of work on undergraduate students enrolled in construction programs. Students responded to a questionnaire on the nature of their paid work while enrolled in full-time study in six universities across Australia. The results indicate that students are working on average 19 hours per week during semester time. The results indicate that students in the early years tend to undertake casual work that is not related to their degree. However, this pattern changes in the later years of the program, where students switch to roles in construction that does relate to their coursework. The students start working on average 16 hours in the first year of their degree, and the number rises to 24 hours in their final year. Past research suggests that students may be working to an extent beyond what is considered beneficial to their studies. Past research has shown that working long hours has a negative effect on the study patterns of undergraduate students. The implications of the amount of time working and the type of work are discussed. The paper concludes by suggesting that universities need a greater awareness of the impact of paid employment on student engagement.<br />

Beyond caricature : exploring theories of educational policy production and implementation

Since the mid 1980s there has been a growing interest amongst sociologists in the study of education policy, which has coincided with a decline within the tradition of educational administration - having been subsumed by educational management - of 'detailed historical work, or work concerned primarily with politics or policy content' (Olga 1987. p. 138). While in the past other traditions associated with social policy and social administration, government and politics. and the history of education have also been concerned with education policy. most recent and substantive work (for example. Olga 1987 1990. Dale 1989, 1992, Dale &amp; Olga 1991, 1993. Ball 1990, 1993, Bowe, et al. 1992. Lingard 1991,1993)has come &quot;from within the sociology of education. especially from those working within, or influenced by, the 'new' sociology of education, and, especially, those of a Marxist or neo-Marxist persuasion or at least concerned with the relationship of the state to education as a central problem (Olga 1987. p.139)&quot;.

Foreign correspondents and fixers: an investigation of teamwork in international television newsgathering

This thesis considers the relationship between television foreign correspondents and their locally-hired 'fixers' in order to ascertain the centrality and significance of this relationship in facilitating international news production. The design of this research project, with its emphasis on news production practice, was guided by scholars in the sociology of news tradition, such as Jeremy Tunstall, Michael Schudson, Stephen Reese, Pamela Shoemaker and Simon Cottle. The main research question asks to what extent, and how, is the relationship between the correspondent and the fixer important to newsgathering? Drawing on the theories of Pierre Bourdieu concerning the journalistic field and the acquisition of cultural capital, this research demonstrates how fixers possess vital stores of capital which foreign correspondents borrow in order to be successful in the field. This thesis explores in depth how the players work in tandem to overcome the difficulties posed by multi-skilling, parachuting, instant live reporting, and the 24-hour news cycle. Current newsgathering practice in Iraq is investigated as a case study, which reveals the difficulties of reporting from this dateline and reflects on how the level of danger has changed the nature of the correspondent-fixer relationship. Within this relationship, where a correspondent has the ultimate power to hire and fire, a fixer nonetheless brings significant influence to bear on story generation and story coverage. But does this influence bring into the Western news agenda stories that genuinely reflect localised, indigenous viewpoints? Or, in this globalised world, are fixers simply 'People Like Us' (PLU), who have absorbed Western news values and will reinforce them through the stories that they propose? In other words, are correspondents likely to gain an insight into localised communities and their problems that they might not otherwise have understood, or will they have their own views and presumptions reflected back at them? This thesis examines what the use of fixers reveals about the political economy of news and the changing context of international news production. It asks whether the growing importance of fixers in newsgathering reflects a move by media companies to eventually outsource international newsgathering to local employees. This thesis employs a qualitative methodological approach involving semi-structured interviews with foreign correspondents and fixers to explore their modus operandi and to investigate the building of overseas news teams.

The multiple relationships between the discipline of social work and the contributions of Michael White

Michael White, the Australian narrative practitioner, died in April this year. Given White trained in social work and has had a large impact on many social workers, it is timely to investigate the opaque relationships linking White and his work with his discipline-of-origin. The present examination proceeds in three steps. First, a schematic outline of White&rsquo;s intellectual influences and achievements is set out; second, the alignments, as well as tensions, between White&rsquo;s work and his discipline-of-origin are considered; and, third, it is argued that White was informed by, and went on to produce a body of work that further informed, the contesting spirit that is the wellspring of the discipline of social work. This conclusion is reached mindful of the fact that White remained antagonistic to the role played by the professions in general and that he did not identify with the title &lsquo;social worker&rsquo; in particular.<br />

Work and study in construction education : practices of undergraduate students in Australia

<b>Purpose of this paper</b> The aim of this paper is to determine the amount of time construction management students spend engaged in paid work and study during semester time. Past research has shown that working long hours has a negative effect on the study patterns of undergraduate students.<br /><br /><b>Design/methodology/approach</b> Students responded to a questionnaire on the nature of their paid work while enrolled in full-time study in a sample of universities across Australia.<br /><br /><b>Findings </b>The results showed that students are working on average 18 hours per week during semester time. The results indicate that students in their first two years tend to undertake casual work that is not related to their degree. However, this pattern changes in the later two years of the course, where students switch to roles in construction that do relate to their coursework. The students start working on average 15 hours in the first year of their degree, and the time spent rises to 23 hours in their fourth year.<br /><br /><b>Practical implications</b> Past research suggests that students may be working to an extent beyond what is considered beneficial to their studies. The implications of the amount of time working and the type of work are discussed.<br /><br /><b>Originality/value of paper</b> The long-term impact of high levels of work and study on construction students are unknown. The paper concludes by suggesting that universities need a greater awareness of the impact of paid employment on engagement with their learning.

An ethnography of housing : public housing work in Victoria

This thesis examines the everyday practices of housing officers working in the Victorian Office of Housing, a large public sector statutory authority providing rental housing to low&ndash;income households. Housing officer work has changed substantially associated with the shift from the provision of &lsquo;public housing&rsquo; in the post&ndash;WWII period to the provision of &lsquo;welfare housing&rsquo; from the early 1980s. These changes are evident in both the formal organisation of work and day&ndash;to&ndash;day practices. The principal research question addressed is &lsquo;How has the work of staff in the Victorian Office of Housing changed as a consequence of the shift from the provision of &lsquo;public housing&rsquo; in the post&ndash;WWII period to the provision of &lsquo;welfare housing&rsquo; from the early 1980s?&rsquo; <br /><br />This question is addressed by presenting an historically informed ethnography of the Office of Housing. Research was undertaken over a twelve&ndash;month period through interviews, participant observation and the collection of documents. The data collected through the use of these methods provided the basis for the presentation of &lsquo;thick descriptions&rsquo; of the work of staff employed to provide rental housing to low&ndash;income households. <br /><br />The research into this large hierarchical formal organisation was undertaken in three offices: a local suburban office, a regional office and head office. This enabled connections and tensions in direct service delivery work and policy work to be identified and analysed. It revealed that the experience of the shift from the provision of public housing to the provision of welfare housing has not been uniform and underscores the importance of understanding organisations as socially constructed. <br /><br />Staff work was analysed by distinguishing four overarching problems consistently referred to by staff and highlighted in formal reviews. First, &lsquo;problems with tenants&rsquo; refers to the changing profile of tenants and staff responses and interactions. Second, the &lsquo;problem with rent&rsquo; centres on setting and collecting rents from very low&ndash;income tenants. Third, the &lsquo;problem with housing standards and assets&rsquo; focuses on housing quality, maintaining properties and the tenant use of properties. Fourth, the &lsquo;problems with the organisation&rsquo; are found in the constant searching for the best ways of defining roles, leading and communicating within a large and geographically distributed organisation. These are the features of work which present dilemmas for those who seek to produce better services for households who live in public housing. <br />

Betwixt And between – Practical legal training practitioners – Scholarship of (which) practice?

I am interested in how Australian lawyers who teach lawyers&rsquo; skills at the post-graduate pre-admission stage (&ldquo;PLT practitioners) engage in scholarly activities regarding their teaching practice. This presentation will relate Bourdieu&rsquo;s &lsquo;reflexive sociology of law&rsquo; to my doctoral research in which I focus on how PLT practitioners engage in scholarly activities around their teaching work. Drawing on Kemmis&rsquo;s &lsquo;practice table&rsquo;, Bourdieu and Passeron&rsquo;s theory of &lsquo;reproduction&rsquo; in education and culture, and de Certeau&rsquo;s theory of &lsquo;practice in everyday life&rsquo;, I will describe how PLT practitioners&rsquo; professional identity, as lawyers, constrains scholarship around teaching and mentoring practice.