High stakes principalship-sleepless nights, heart attacks and sudden death accountabilities: reading media representations of the United States principal shortage

The possible shortage of applicants for principal positions is news in both Australia and abroad. We subject a corpus of predominantly United states (US) news articles to deconstructive narrative analysis and find that the dominant media representation of principals' work is one of long hours Iow salary high stress and sudden death from high stakes accountabilities. However, reported US policy interventions focus predominantly on professional development for aspirants. We note that this will be insufficient to reverse the lack of applications and suggest that the dominant media picture of completely unattractive principals work, meant to leverage a policy solution, will perhaps paradoxically perpetuate the problem. The dominant media picture is also curiously at odds with research that reports high job satisfaction among principals. We suggest that there is a binary of victim and saviour principal in both media and policy which prevents some strategic re-thinking about how the principalship might be different.

High stakes principalship - sleepless nights, heart attacks and sudden death accountabilities: reading media representations of the US principal shortage

The possible shortage of applicants for principal positions is news in both Australia and abroad. We subject a corpus of predominantly US news article to deconstructive narrative analysis and find that the dominant media representation of principals' work is one of long hours, low salary, high stress and sudden death from high stakes accountabilities. However reported US policy interventions focus predominantly on professional development for aspirants. We note that this will be insufficient to reverse the lack of applications, and suggest that the dominant media picture of completely unattractive principals' work, meant to leverage a policy solution will perhaps paradoxically perpetuate the problem. This picture is also curiously at odds with research that reports high job satisfaction among principals. We suggest that there is a dominant binary of victim and saviour principal in both media and policy which prevents some strategic re-thinking about how the principalship might be different.

The career development year : responding to the emergency nursing shortage in Australia

Background: The Career Development Year (CDY) is a 12 month supported entry program at one health care service in Victoria, Australia. The program targets Division One Registered Nurses with little or no emergency nursing experience. The intent of CDY is to improve recruitment to, and retention in, emergency nursing by educational and experiential preparation for emergency nursing practice.

Method: This study used a retrospective exploratory design to examine recruitment and retention of emergency nurses recruited via CDY (n = 72) and compare these findings with recruitment and retention data for a cohort of non-CDY participants (n = 15). CDY data was collected by self-report questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, correlations and inferential statistics were calculated using SPSS.

Results: CDY was found to promote recruitment of novice nurses to emergency nursing, with almost half the respondents (n = 25, 48.1%) reporting they would not have entered emergency nursing were it not for the supported entry program. Further, comparison with non-CDY participants revealed that CDY promoted retention within emergency nursing, with both short-term (n = 47, 90.4% vs. n = 8, 53.4%) and long-term retention doubling (n = 50, 96.1% vs. n = 7, 46.6%) following the introduction of CDY.

Conclusion: CDY was a valuable recruitment tool and successful retention strategy in the ED. Future research using a larger sample may demonstrate potential applicability to other clinical areas.

Does the shortage of diabetes specialists in regional and rural Australia matter? Results from Diabetes MILES – Australia.

Aim: To investigate differences in access to services and health outcomes between people living with Type 1 (T1DM) and Type 2 (T2DM) diabetes in rural/regional and metropolitan areas.

Methods: Diabetes MILES—Australia was a national postal/online survey of persons registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme. Selected variables, including utilisation of health care services and self-care indicators, were analysed for 3338 respondents with T1DM (41%) or T2DM (59%).

Results: Respondents from rural/regional (n=1574, 48%) and metropolitan areas were represented equally (n=1700, 52%). After adjusting for diabetes duration, demographic and socioeconomic variables, rural/regional respondents with T1DM (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83–0.97) and T2DM (RR 0.69, 95% CI 0.59–0.81) were less likely to report consulting an endocrinologist during the past 12 months. Rural/regional respondents with T1DM were more than twice as likely to have accessed a community/practice nurse for diabetes care (RR 2.22, 95% CI 1.25–3.93) while those with T2DM were more likely to have accessed a diabetes educator (RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.07–1.36) or dietician (RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.07–1.36). For the T1DM and T2DM groups were no differences between rural/regional and metropolitan respondents in self-reported hypoglycaemic events during past week and the majority of self-care indicators.

Conclusions: Despite a lack of access to medical specialists, respondents with T1DM and T2DM living in rural/regional areas did not report worse health or self-care indicators. The results suggest that multidisciplinary primary services in rural areas may be providing additional care for people with diabetes, compensating for poor access to specialists.

The occupiers' burden: tackling food shortage and related health problems in post-war Germany 1945-47

The end of the Second World War brought much relief to its combatants, but a range of problems remained that would plague post-war Europe for years to come. Chief among them was food shortage. The breakdown of agricultural systems, essential services, and the state itself laid fertile ground for food shortage to develop in parts of post-war Germany occupied by the victorious powers. There is much to be gained from comparing the occupiers’ responses to this Horseman of the Apocalypse. The most fruitful comparison lies between the Soviets and British. Unlike the Americans whose economic might in the post-war period allowed them to better feed and supply Germans living in their occupation zone, domestic economic weaknesses hamstrung both Soviet and British responses to the more severe advent of food shortage which confronted them. Their responses were very different—some successful, others not—but all instructive for understanding the impacts of natural and policy factors on the development of food shortage and the consequences to the health of the population. The variety of these impacts have been obscured by the absence of this comparison in the literature, which is now made more feasible by the greater availability of the extensive resources that each occupier devoted to recording food and health data, particularly in the Soviet case. The data is not only relevant to the occupation period from 1945 to 1949, as it suggests long-term health impacts on those most exposed to the risk of food shortage then, and most at risk to the consequences of malnutrition decades later. In fact, as the available data defines regional differences in food rations and, accordingly, comparative food shortages in Soviet and British occupation zones, the situation in post-war Germany provides an excellent platform for future research linking differences in early nutrition to adult health outcomes.

Migrants as Homo economicus : explaining the emerging phenomenon of a shortage of migrant labor in China's coastal provinces

The problem of a shortage of migrant labor is a new development in China's coastal provinces. We discuss the reasons for this emerging phenomenon using a conceptual framework that extends the traditional Lewis dualistic labor market model to incorporate a migrant labor market. We emphasize that migrant labor shortage in China not only reflects a declining wage gap between what peasants receive and what migrants can earn in the cities, but also the institutional legacies of the planning era such as the hukou (household registration) system which discriminates against migrants vis-a-vis urban residents in terms of access to social insurance and other social services. We proceed to draw on a unique survey of migrants and urban residents collected in Jiangsu to show that migrants receive lower incomes, and they have poorer access to social insurance than those with an urban registration in China's cities. Our findings have important implications for the alleviation of the migrant labor shortage problem.

EFFECT OF FOOD SHORTAGE ON GROWTH, ENERGETIC RESERVES MOBILIZATION, AND WATER QUALITY IN JUVENILES OF THE REDCLAW CRAYFISH, CHERAX QUADRICARINATUS, REARED IN GROUPS

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of food shortage on growth performance, by means of energetic reserves (proteins, glycogen and lipids) mobilization and hepatopancreas cells analysis in C. quadricarinatus juveniles maintained in groups, as well as the effect on culture water quality. Two experiments were performed, each of them with two feeding regimes during 45 days. The Control feeding regime, in which crayfish were fed daily (once a day) throughout the experimental period (DF), and the Cyclic feeding regime, in which juveniles were fed for 2 or 4 days (once a day) followed by 2 or 4 days of food deprivation (2F/2D and 4F/4D, respectively) in repeated cycles. Cyclic feeding influenced growth, biochemical composition from hepatopancreas and muscle, and water quality. Juveniles cyclically fed were unable to maintain a normal growth trajectory during 45 days. Apparent feed conversion ratio, apparent protein efficiency ratio, hepatosomatic index and relative pleon mass were similar in cyclic and daily fed animals and no structural damage was found in the hepatopancreas of juveniles subjected to cyclic feeding. The novelty of this study was the significant accumulation of proteins in pleonal muscle in both cyclic feeding regimes (approx. 18%) suggesting that the storage of this constitutive material during food shortage may be an adaptation for a compensatory growth when food becomes abundant again. The cyclic feeding regimes had a positive effect on water quality decreasing inorganic nitrogen concentration. This was due to the reduction in the amount of animal excretes and feces in the group that received approx. 50% less feed. Additionally, water pH was higher in cyclic feeding tanks, as a result of lower organic matter decomposition and consequent release of CO2. Accordingly, total ammonia in the water was significantly lower for the cyclic feeding regimes compared to their respective controls. This study suggests that the protocol of cyclic feeding could be applied at least 45 days in 1 g juveniles maintained in group conditions, without affecting the energetic reserves and hepatopancreas structure, emphasizing the high tolerance of this species to food restriction.

Changes in the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics after cefepime shortage: a time series analysis

The original cefepime product was withdrawn from the Swiss market in January 2007 and replaced by a generic 10 months later. The goals of the study were to assess the impact of this cefepime shortage on the use and costs of alternative broad-spectrum antibiotics, on antibiotic policy, and on resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa toward carbapenems, ceftazidime, and piperacillin-tazobactam. A generalized regression-based interrupted time series model assessed how much the shortage changed the monthly use and costs of cefepime and of selected alternative broad-spectrum antibiotics (ceftazidime, imipenem-cilastatin, meropenem, piperacillin-tazobactam) in 15 Swiss acute care hospitals from January 2005 to December 2008. Resistance of P. aeruginosa was compared before and after the cefepime shortage. There was a statistically significant increase in the consumption of piperacillin-tazobactam in hospitals with definitive interruption of cefepime supply and of meropenem in hospitals with transient interruption of cefepime supply. Consumption of each alternative antibiotic tended to increase during the cefepime shortage and to decrease when the cefepime generic was released. These shifts were associated with significantly higher overall costs. There was no significant change in hospitals with uninterrupted cefepime supply. The alternative antibiotics for which an increase in consumption showed the strongest association with a progression of resistance were the carbapenems. The use of alternative antibiotics after cefepime withdrawal was associated with a significant increase in piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem use and in overall costs and with a decrease in susceptibility of P. aeruginosa in hospitals. This warrants caution with regard to shortages and withdrawals of antibiotics.

The Domestic Natural Gas Shortage in China

This thesis analyzes the domestic shortage in the Chinese natural gas market. Both the domestic supply and demand of natural gas are growing fast in China. However, the supply cannot catch up with the demand. Under the present pricing mechanism, the Chinese natural gas market cannot get the equilibrium by itself. Expensive imports are inadequate to fill the increasing gap between the domestic demand and supply. Therefore, the shortage problem occurs. Since the energy gap can result in the arrested development of economics, the shortage problem need to be solved. This thesis gives three suggestions to solve the problem: the use of Unconventional Gas, Natural Gas Storage and Pricing Reform.

An analysis of the shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in acute care hospitals in El Paso, Texas

The purpose of this analysis of the shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) in acute care hospitals in El Paso, Texas, was to evaluate twenty-two specific organizational and/or patient care unit (nursing unit) characteristics that effect the retention and turnover of professional nurses. Vacancy Rates were used to measure the level of the shortage in each hospital and nursing unit in the study. Vacancy Rates are a function of both RN retention and RN turnover. Seventy-three patient care units in five acute care hospitals were included in the study population.^ Fredrick Herzberg's motivational - hygiene theory was used to explain the types of characteristics or factors that can effect worker dissatisfaction. Dissatisfiers (hygiene factors) are those work place characteristics that influence workers to leave the job. The twenty-two potentially dissatisfying work place characteristics were either organizational or patient care unit specific in nature. The focus of the study was to evaluate high vacancy rates caused by both low retention of RNs and high turnover rates. Retention and turnover are a function of workers (RNs) not staying in their jobs, therefore hygiene factors were appropriate characteristics to study.^ Various multivariate analysis techniques were used to assess both the individual and combined effects of the hygiene factors on Vacancy Rates, Retention and Turnover. Results suggest that certain organizational and patient care unit characteristics are associated with and have a statistically significant effect on vacancy rates, and the retention and turnover of RNs. The type of Hospital was of particular interest in this regards. For-Profit facilities were less effected by most of the study variables than the Not-for-Profits. ^