An Outsiders View of the American Educational System

In The Educational Dilemma in Saudi Arabia, Talal M. Alhammad, a college junior studying at Harvard University, compares the American educational system with the system in place in his native Saudi Arabia. Mr. Alhammad notes that where the Saudi system emphasizes conformity, and "ineffective memorization," our American system emphasizes critical thinking. He is particularly impressed by the emphasis, within the American model, on deep immersion into a subject area and the requirement that students think about the material from a variety of perspectives, even when that means their opinion may be at odds with that of a professor. Mr. Alhammad's essay gives us the opportunity to see our own system through the eyes of someone outside our culture. While it is clear that there are many things about the American system of education that need to be improved and/or repaired, it is important to remember that we also do a lot of things right. Our tradition of what Mr. Alhammad calls "the liberal education environment" teaches students to think critically about the world around them and gives them the tools to analyze information independently. Those are two skills whose value cannot be overstated in the increasingly complex world in which our children will be living as they make their own journeys into adulthood.

Pursuing Democracy An Analysis Of The Development Of...

Pursuing Democracy: An Analysis of the Development of American Government The passing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 marks the beginning of of the United States of America, but the ideas that influenced the development of American government have roots extending to the dawn of civilization. As long as humans have lived in community, the desire to keep order has spawned many experiments in finding an effective system of government. Examination of the development of American government reveals the influence of several civilizations, including ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, British and other European civilizations, and Native American civilizations—particularly the Iroquois Nation. The political theory and government system used by each of these civilizations impacted the thoughts and actions of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, resulting in the government system seen in America today. Influences of Ancient Civilizations Influence of Ancient Greece The Greek city-state of Athens governed itself through a direct democracy, a system of government in which all citizens participate in government through casting a vote (DeLorenzo, 2000). Participation in Athenian democracy was mandatory for all citizens, punishable by monetary fines and physical public humiliation. Athens was unique among Greek city-states because it had one of the largest democracies in terms of population. Responsibilities of citizens in Athens includedShow MoreRelatedDevelopment And Democracy : The Wider Field Of Political Economy2013 Words   |  9 Pageswhether citizens of poor countries, as they experience rapid development, are willing to concede certain of their democratic liberties in exchange for development. Once they have attained a certain level of development, do they demand for more of those democratic rights? This research question fits into the wider field of political economy. The scholarship available on the broad topic of development and its relationships to democracy is numerous, however the key schools of thought can be groupedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Three Us National Strategies For Combating Terrorism1803 Words   |  8 PagesANALYSIS OF THE THREE US NATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR COMBATING TERRORISM (2003, 2006 and 2011) Introduction The US response to terrorism after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, marked a major departure in its policy since before then, terrorism was handled as a law enforcement issue with hardly a strategy in place. The aftermath shock still determines the forging of policies for counterterrorism. By 2003 the official position of the United States was set by framing the threat as a war againstRead MoreIs Economic Development a Prerequisite of a Functioning Democratic System?3861 Words   |  16 PagesIs Economic Development a Prerequisite of a Functioning Democratic System? 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Almost all the sources utilized came to the consensus that the chief purpose for U.S. intervention was to st op Communism from spreading. NeverthelessRead MoreEssay about Pestel Analysis Russian Federation3424 Words   |  14 Pages4.1.1 PESTEL Analysis This part of the dissertation will analyze main political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal issues within the Russian Federation. 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Over the following twenty years, however, U.S.-China relations have experienced repeated cycles of progress, stalemate, and crisis, with the events in TiananmenRead MoreThe Racism Of The United States2154 Words   |  9 Pagesinformation and to dissect human activities, â€Å"essential universalism† and â€Å"contingent universalism† are defined its components and purpose with the limited discernment of humans and their undertakings. A large portion of this section is devoted the development of human behavior in this phenomena. My research paper will talk about the genre of racism, political racism in United States. A number of groups at present —blacks, Latinos, South Asians, and Arabs find themselves racially profiled almost everywhereRead More Colombian Democracy Essay5929 Words   |  24 PagesColombian Democracy There is a practical problem to capturing a cogent understanding of Colombia in a single snapshot. There are two realities of Colombia scholars use to frame analysis of the birthplace of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s magical realism: â€Å"armed conflict† and â€Å"political democracy.† These phenomena are a defining feature of modern Colombia. They have coexisted since 1958 when the National Front political pact ended intra-elite conflict in La Violencia but failed to guarantee a stableRead MoreOn Different Values of Individualism in Chinese and American Cultures3861 Words   |  16 PagesOn Different Values of Individualism in Chinese and American Cultures 1. Introduction Everyone, every social class and every country have their own unique values. It is the fact that value is the core of cross-culture communication and the differences of culture among countries depend on different values. Value exerts great influence on everyone’s daily life. Scores of people rely on value to obtain knowledge, master the basic skills and foster correct world outlook. China and America are two

Health Fair Blood Pressure - 2115 Words

Health Fair: Blood Pressure Carpia Daniels Wendy Ferguson Anne Maina Christine Peterson RN10 San Joaquin Valley College July 18, 2016 It’s no surprise that in today’s society many suffer from longer working hours and a more chaotic lifestyle. These in turn could lead to unhealthy eating habits and health conditions that one may not be aware of. According to the American Heart Association, â€Å"High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a disease. Even though it typically has no symptoms, HBP can have deadly health consequences if not treated, about 80 million U.S. adults have been diagnosed with high blood pressure.† This paper will discuss in detail what blood pressure is, how it’s measured, how it can be treated, and ways that†¦show more content†¦Hypertension is the most common diagnosis in the United States. One in three Americans have hypertension. Hypertension is classified as a sustained systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Mg or higher, or a sustained diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Mg or higher according to the Seventh Joint National Committee (Kivi). Chances of developin g hypertension increases with age. Hypertension does not only occur in adults, it also occurs in children. Hypertension is usually symptomless unless left untreated and reaches dangerously high levels; then a person might experience symptoms such as headaches, shortness of breath or nosebleeds (Staff, High Blood Pressure). Hypertension is classified by three different types: Primary Hypertension, Secondary Hypertension and Complicated Hypertension (Staff, High Blood Pressure). In Primary Hypertension there is usually no cause but it is thought to be brought on by genetic and environmental factors such as diet, stress, and being overweight. Secondary Hypertension is caused by an underlying disease, ex. Kidney problems, adrenal gland tumors. Complicated Hypertension is brought on once Hypertension becomes severe and chronic and can cause tissue damage and target organ damage (Staff, High Blood Pressure). Hypotension is classified as a blood pressure reading of 90 mmHg systolic or less and 60 mmHg diastolic or less according to the Mayo Clinic (Staff, Low Blood Pressure).

Nursing Reflective Essay Clinical Knowledge

Question: Discuss about theNursing Reflective Essayfor Clinical Knowledge. Answer: Introduction Reflective practice allows health care professionals to assess how they use their clinical knowledge in realistic situations. After getting my clinical placement, my role as a student nurse was associated with many challenges, however these challenges gave me the opportunity to learn and develop as a registered nurse. This reflective essay describes my experience related to a clinical scenario that I faced in my clinical placement. The reflection will be done using the Taylors reflect model to describe the case scenario and the challenges that I faced while caring for the patient. Taylors model of reflections will help me as a nurse to critically reflect on the challenges I faced, how I overcame them and what I learnt from the experience that helped me to develop as Registered nurse. The practical reflection approach is selected to describe what happened and how my role affected the patient. Evidence also suggests that reflective learning related to delivery of nursing care enhances the knowledge and skills of registered nurse. It makes them aware of their own values in nursing and develop nursing plan accordingly in the future to deliver patient-centered care (Vikstrm et al., 2015). Taylors REFLECT model of reflection is based on the following aspects- Readiness, Exercising thought, Following systematic processes, Leaving oneself open to answer, Enfolding insight, Changing awareness and Tenacity in reflection. My readiness to reflect comes from my commitment to continuously learn and enhance my nursing competencies by reflecting on past experiences and taking lessons from them. I am going to exercise my thought by describing lived experience of a clinical situation that I faced in my clinical placement (Taylor, 2014). By the process of practical reflection, re-experiencing questions describes my clinical scenario. During my clinical placement, I came across a deteriorating patient who had been admitted to the emergency department with an overdose. At that time I was newly placed in the hospital as a student nurse and my role was to be with the preceptor who had the responsibility for maintaining the airway of the patients. I was informed by my preceptor that such patients with drug overdose develops seizures, circulatory collapse and they also have the risk of dying. Acute intoxication also leads to respiratory depression, slurred speech, pulmonary edema, coma and death (Zhang et al., 2016). Hence, the first immediate step for the nurse in this situation was to insert the endotracheal tube as precautionary measures and use assisted ventilation to stabilize the patients (Bolen, 2016). My preceptor ordered me to go to the resuscitation area and assist the senior nurse. As I had never been to the res uscitation area before, I was very nervous. I had no idea about how the patients are incubated and what equipments are needed for the process. When I was put into this situation, I realized my lack of nursing skills in the area of maintaining airway potency. I was not aware of the equipments required for intubation and I knew that I will have a hard time assisting the senior nurse. Based on reinterpretation of the situation where I encountered the deteriorating patients in the resuscitation room, my hope was that I will try my best to assist the nurse and make no delay in my actions to prevent any harm to patients. I was aware of my nursing values of being accountable and fair to the patients and use my expertise to safe guard health and well-being of patients (Iacobucci et al., 2013). In the resuscitation rooms, a physician was overseeing the patient and asked the senior nurse to arrange the equipments for intubation quickly. The patients condition was deteriorating and intubation either with endotracheal tube or tracheostomy might solve airway complications in the patient. I was given a checklist of intubation equipment which I had to provide to the nurse as fast as possible. It mainly included equipments like endotracheal tube, laryngoscope, face mask, bag valve mask, oxygen source, cardiac monitor, IV kit, stethoscope, lubricating gel, syringes and batterie s (Bean et al., 2016). I was familiar with some of the equipments and the airway trolley. Finally I decided to communicate this to my senior nurse as for me patients safety was my first priority and did not wanted to cause any harm to patients because of my lack of knowledge. I told her that I am not familiar with many of the equipment. She immediately understood and told me this is normal at this stage as I had just been newly placed at the hospital. Hence, I at least managed to achieve my communicative role and avoided any confusion or risky situation in the clinical setting (Williams et al., 2016). I was highly relieved by the nurse comment; however I resolved that I will ask about the equipments and its use from my preceptor after my end of shift. Earlier I had the perception that physicians only play a role in the intubation process, however after assisting the nurse, came to learn that nurses also play a vital role in management of patients in the resuscitation room (Schneiderhahn Fish, 2014). I observed the senior nurse and stepwise process she performed as part of preparation for intubation. She oxygenated the patient using the bag valve mask and attached the patient to a pulse oximeter (Hatch et al., 2016). Another observation by me was that professional nurses and other health care staffs delegate task efficiently so that everyone is aware of their role in the process and the medical intervention takes place at a rapid rate (Valentine, Nembhard, Edmondson, 2015). The senior nurse instructed me to position the patient. However this was not simple, the patient had to pos ition according the height of the bed so the physicians get a comfortable position to insert the tube. Other responsibilities were to prepare and administer sedative medications which I did and I had no problem in this because I had done this earlier during my nursing education. During the preparation for the intubation process, I was clueless most of the time regarding why certain equipments are being prepared. I wanted to get back to my preceptor to learn about the equipment as soon as possible (Prekker et al., 2014). At this stage, all the preparation related laryngoscope and battery check was done. Finally the physicians placed the endotracheal tube accurately and the senior nurses attached the patient to ventilator as per physcians order. I thought this is the end of the process and my responsibility. However, the senior nurse interrupted me and told me that nursing management after the patient is intubated is very crucial. She was constantly giving me new knowledge and I was feeling empowered after being aware of different nursing responsibilities to manage airway problems. The reflection about the above scenario and my experience at the resuscitation room taught me many lessons. It was a form of relearning for me even after my completion of nursing education. I realized that whatever knowledge so far I have garnered as part of my nursing education is not enough and my real learning and professional development will start when I will face real patients in clinical setting. I was at least confident after this experience that next time I will not struggle during the intubation process. I learnt that even after inserting the tube, nurses need to constantly monitor the patients. For example they need to assess the clients respirator status every 2 hours and assess their nasal mucosa for any redness or irritation. Secondly, they need to close monitor the cuff pressure of patients to minimize any risk of tracheal necrosis. Patients under intubation also have risk of oral infection, so nurse has the responsibility to provide oral care after every 4 hours (Sole Bennett, 2014). Another most important lesson that I learnt about airway management and care of such patient was that we should communicate frequently with such patient. As they cannot speak, they should be given communication aids such as white board so that we can understand their issues and build a therapeutic relation with them. Furthermore, after my shift time, I cleared all my doubts regarding the use of different equipment and airway trolley tube from my preceptor. Now I was confident that this knowledge will come in handy during the airway management of patients coming in the emergency room in the future. As part of my ethical responsibility, I will also ensure that I will perform all my nursing responsibility in accordance with the current standard of nursing practice and hospitals protocol. Hence, airway management is a skill dependent on knowledge of airway anatomy, equipments for airway manipulation and judicious use of pharmacological agents. I am also sure that my nursing skills will i mprove by experience and more time spent in clinical setting (Lewis et al., 2015). The essay on practical reflection on the challenges faced in clinical practice summarized the problems encountered by a nursing student while dealing with a patient admitted to the hospital after medication overdose. The use of Taylors REFLECT model helped in setting the stage for reflection and describing the detailed process regarding the challenges faced in practice and the manner in which the problem was resolved. It finally gave detail on the key lessons learnt from reinterpreting the situation and using it to develop in professional nursing career. Reference Bean, J. F., Arensman, R. M., Srinivasan, N., Maheshwari, A., Ambalavanan, N. (2016). Medical and Surgical Interventions for Respiratory Distress and Airway Management.Assisted Ventilation of the Neonate, 392. Bolen, J. (2016). From Patient Evaluation to Opioid Overdose Prevention: Ten Steps to Make the Law Work for You and Your Patients. InControlled Substance Management in Chronic Pain(pp. 187-226). Springer International Publishing. Hatch, L. D., Grubb, P. H., Lea, A. S., Walsh, W. F., Markham, M. H., Maynord, P. O., ... Ely, E. W. (2016). Interventions to Improve Patient Safety During Intubation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.Pediatrics, e20160069. Iacobucci, T. A., Daly, B. J., Lindell, D., Griffin, M. Q. (2013). Professional values, self-esteem, and ethical confidence of baccalaureate nursing students.Nursing ethics,20(4), 479-490. Lewis, S. L., Maltas, J., Dirksen, S. R., Bucher, L. (2015).Study guide for medical-surgical nursing: Assessment and management of clinical problems. Elsevier Health Sciences. Prekker, M. E., Kwok, H., Shin, J., Carlbom, D., Grabinsky, A., Rea, T. D. (2014). The process of prehospital airway management: challenges and solutions during paramedic endotracheal intubation.Critical care medicine,42(6), 1372. Schneiderhahn, M. E., Fish, A. F. (2014). The clinical nurse specialist as resuscitation process manager.Clinical Nurse Specialist,28(6), 343-348. Sole, M. L., Bennett, M. (2014). Comparison of airway management practices between registered nurses and respiratory care practitioners.American Journal of Critical Care,23(3), 191-200. Taylor, B. J. (2014). Walking my talk: applying the REFLECT model to personal-professional intersections while re-signing in academia.Reflective Practice,15(2), 240-251. Valentine, M. A., Nembhard, I. M., Edmondson, A. C. (2015). Measuring teamwork in health care settings: a review of survey instruments.Medical care,53(4), e16-e30. Vikstrm, S., Sandman, P. O., Stenwall, E., Bostrm, A. M., Saarnio, L., Kindblom, K., ... Borell, L. (2015). A model for implementing guidelines for person-centered care in a nursing home setting.International psychogeriatrics,27(01), 49-59. Williams, K. N., Ilten, T. B., Bower, H. (2016). Meeting communication needs: topics of talk in the nursing home.Journal of psychosocial nursing and mental health services,43(7), 38-45. Zhang, P., Austin, E., Thompson, M., Lin, S. (2016). Challenges in a large mixed drug overdose patient.BMJ Case Reports,2016, bcr2016215554.