Reaching agreement: The structure & pragmatics of critical care nurses’ informal argument

The hospital critical care unit provides an authentic, high-stakes setting for studying reasoning, argumentation, and discourse. In particular, it allows examination of structural and pragmatic features of informal collaborative argument created while participants are engaged in familiar, meaningful activities central to their work. The nursing change of shift report is a workplace ritual which includes communication of extensively detailed patient data and nursing decisions as well as the justifications for those decisions. Nurse pairs (N = 20 pairs) from three hospitals and four critical care units were observed and recorded during authentic change of shift reports, then interviewed or surveyed about the reporting process. The nurses in this study showed a number of argumentative strengths including frequent use of evidence to back claims and the construction of a complex and nuanced process for achieving agreement about the patient situation. Nursing variations from traditional structural argument models, including emphasis on first-hand information and efforts to reach agreement, are effective pragmatic strategies for justifying claims related to patient care in a dynamic, time-pressured environment. The study of nursing workplace discourse has implications for progress in argumentation and educational psychology as well as nursing education and health care delivery.     

Sometimes It's Good to be Short: The Serotonin Transporter Gene,Positive Parenting,and Adolescent Depression

In threatening environments, the short (S) allele of 5-HTTLPR is proposed to augment risk for depression. However, it is unknown whether 5-HTTLPR variation increases risk for depression in environments of deprivation, lacking positive or nurturant features. Two independent longitudinal studies (n = 681 and 176, respectively) examined whether 5-HTTLPR moderated associations between low levels of positive parenting at 11–13 years and subsequent depression at 17–19 years. In both studies only LL homozygous adolescents were at greater risk for depression with decreasing levels of positive parenting. Thus, while the S allele has previously been identified as a susceptible genotype, these findings suggest that the L allele may also confer sensitivity to depression in the face of specific environmental challenges.     

Infant Crying,Testosterone, and Paternal Provisions: A Positive Take on a Punishing Signal

SYNOPSIS

Author replies to commentaries on a paper reporting that different crying levels in infant simulators produce divergent testosterone (T) responses. Major points considered include that: human infant crying is similar to the crying of other mammalian young; increases in T following exposure to infant crying may mobilize paternal protection rather than paternal care; T changes in response to crying are embedded within a larger constellation of interdependent hormonal responses; more refined behavioral measures and more frequent hormone sampling would enhance researchers’ ability to detect individual differences in fathers’ caregiving behavior and make causal inferences. Implications for intervention and parent education are discussed.     

Learning in the Absence of Direct Supervision: Person-Dependent Scaffolding

Contemporary accounts of learning emphasise the importance of immediate social partners such as teachers and co-workers. Yet, much of our learning for work occurs without such experts. This paper provides an understanding of how and why new home care workers use scaffolding to learn and enact safe manual handling techniques in their workplaces, and suggests how their learning may be supported in the absence of direct supervision. A qualitative approach was adopted for this inquiry, in which newly recruited workers were directly observed and interviewed in their workplaces following classroom training. When learning without direct supervision, these workers were found to use the scaffolding in person-dependent ways. They constructed, engaged with, and subsequently dismantled their scaffolding as personally required, rather than relying on their teacher to decide how and when these forms of learning support should be used and withdrawn. Consequently, a range of scaffolds should be provided in the workplaces of these individuals, without rigid stipulations about how and when they are to be accessed. That is, the learners themselves should be encouraged to decide on the type and frequency of their interaction with the scaffolding provided, and to access or withdraw this support as required.     

Simulations with Elaborated Worked Example Modeling: Beneficial Effects on Schema Acquisition

Worked examples have been effective in enhancing learning outcomes, especially with novice learners. Most of this research has been conducted in laboratory settings. This study examined the impact of embedding elaborated worked example modeling in a computer simulation practice activity on learning achievement among 39 undergraduate students within a classroom environment. The students from one introductory forensic science course were randomly assigned to one of two groups that worked through computer-based simulations containing worked example modeling conditions presented in varied order. The computer software administered the modeled simulations, prior knowledge test, pretest, posttests, and a second domain test. Findings from this study suggest that embedded worked example modeling within practice simulations can be an effective method for transfer of learning with novice learners. This article describes the dissertation study completed by Debra K. Meier under the guidance of David W. Brooks at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.     

Performance Indicators in Business Decision Making

It would be difficult to identify an educational group or agency at the national or state level that is not involved in identifying and observing educational indicators (Smith, 1988). The use of such indicators really came to the forefront during the 1980s. With the increased emphasis on accountability and the quality of education in the U.S., one can only expect that the quality and use of educational indicators will increase during the 1990s. A parallel situation canbe found in the private sector. While the terminology may be somewhat different, the use of such indicators in business and industry became important during the 1980s and is expected to increase during the 1990s, as well. Previous studies have demonstrated the utility of performance indicators to educational decision makers in a business setting (McLinden, 1987). In this paper, we discuss two studies which have influenced policy by assessing program impact and influencing strategic direction. The paper concludes by grounding our work in the tradition of secondary research (Kiecolt & Natlar, 1985) and discussing both the pros and cons of this evaluation method.     

Lessons for Managers: England's Human Resource Dilemmas

Educating the current and future workforce is an extremely important issue. Historically, the UK has not been concerned with educating and training the masses. In the 1990s, talent will be short in the UK and within the European Community (EC). By 1992, the trade barriers will be lifted for the 12 member nations of the EC. Companies that are creative and open to utilizing avenues to train present and potential workers are going to be more competitive in the EC. If the UK continues to produce an unskilled work force, it will not survive the competition. Business leaders realize the need to develop a work force that is equally or better equipped than the work force that is available to their competitors. core lessons learned from the international visit include (1) HRD is not a “perk,” (2) the changing work force is real, (3) quality is the key to competitiveness, and (4) managers need to stick to the basics of human resource management.     

The kinetic family drawing: The reliability of an objective scoring system

This study shows that it is possible for an objective scoring system to be developed for the KFD with high interjudge reliability. Since interrater reliabilities tend to be high, it appears that differences in drawings may be due to a child's mood changes, rather than to the instability of the instrument.