Service Quality Improvement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Service Quality Improvement - Essay Example According to Sheth & Kellstadt (1992), a normative model of service quality improvement is built on the concept of continuous improvement. The company that I have been working in has been using this kind of approach to address its issues of quality improvement. This is because the key objective of the company is to achieve sustained improvements in its services delivery. Therefore, throughout my career, I have had an opportunity to experience a situation in which this model was applied. Moreover, I have been able to experience some of the benefits of this kind of a model when used to improve service quality as well as some of its shortfalls. This benefits and shorts could form a very good basis for my evaluation in this paper. Normative model of service improvement is divided into stages. The stages include management commitment, employee commitment and participation, employee education and training, communication, assessment and modification, outcomes and targets, and integration (H ernon & Whitman, 2001). These stages are interconnected in an intertwined manner. This means that a stage does not necessarily result to its next stage. However, each stage is independent of the other. The company that I am working in has been undertaking almost all the above stages in its approach to service quality improvement. Some of these stages in service quality improvement have been very conspicuous. This makes them to be easy to identify even to the people who are not top managers. However, some are inconspicuous thus can only be identified by top managers. Sheth & Kellstadt (1992) also identifies this approach of service quality improvement as both multi-disciplinary and requires individuals with different functions in the company. This is because it requires efforts of managers belonging to different disciplines. Moreover, it involves employees with varying roles in the company. In the company I work with, service quality work has not been the work of the marketing department only. In every case that the company has attempted to improve its quality of service, all the departments have been required to play almost equal roles. This is because the company believed that improvement in quality of its services could only come from an improvement in the effectiveness of every department in the company. Benefits of the model to service quality improvements The most essential component of any organization is its management since it controls all the decisions made in the organization in its various operation stages. Use of a normative model for service quality improvement by the organization I work with has enhanced the participation and commitment of the management team to the process of improving quality of services. This is because it has been requiring every manager to show his commitment to the process. Moreover,

The long term effects of drug abuse on the unborn fetus of a pregnant Dissertation

The long term effects of drug abuse on the unborn fetus of a pregnant mother - Dissertation Example It is believed that drug abuse by pregnant mothers causes maladaptive behaviors stemming from Axis II diagnosis including (but not limited to) bipolar disorders, borderline personality disorders, schizophrenia, conduct disorders, antisocial and learning disorders. Introduction Substance abuse is linked to a number of different physical and mental defects in the offspring of abusers. A large volume of research exists on the phenomenon and its various dimensions. The physical and mental disabilities endowed to the fetus of substance abusers are complex and have thus been categorized into various systems for closer examination. This research will largely be concerned with a systematic study of long term effects on the fetuses of substance abusers based on Axis II diagnosis alone. A large amount of rich material both of a qualitative and quantitative nature exists for the current research area. The current research will rely on the examination of existing literature since it has both qua ntitative findings and quantitative findings. This will allow the current research to utilize qualitative methods in order to derive qualitative findings that are supported by quantitative results. The current research could have been geared for a pure mixed methods research but the shortage of time and resources precludes any such methods. In order to investigate fetuses that are born from substance abusing mothers, a large sample set and an adequate amount of time is required. The typical time required for such research would be at least a few years since the born child would only display Axis II disorders when they reach their early learning years. However, the shortage of time and the lack of access to a large sample set ready to participate in quantitative research require that the current research be geared towards qualitative methods alone. As mentioned before, the provision of both qualitative and quantitative results also supports the contention that a comprehensive literat ure review would suffice for the current research. Background to Drug Abuse during Pregnancy Drug abuse refers to the consumption of drugs without direct medical advice or supervision. It is widely believed that drug abuse relates to the recreational abuse of mood altering substances but the use of any drugs for performance enhancement is also essentially drug abuse. Based on this classification, drug abuse involves drugs that are mood altering, performance enhancing as well as psychoactive in character. The use of any forms of drugs, whether legal or illegal, is considered as drug abuse as long as there is no medical justification for their use (Ksir & Ray, 2002). Another major feature of drug abuse is the dependence created by drug use. Drug abusers or substance abusers require continuous consumption of the subject drug in order to satisfy their body’s urges. The number of drugs being abused around the world is too large to be discussed within the framework of this research alone. However, the most common feature displayed by all used drugs is the tendency of the user to rely excessively on the subject drug for mood altering or performance enhancement purposes (Barrett, Meisner, & Stewart, 2008). The dependency of the drug abuser on the drugs causes the greatest problems during pregnancy because the drug abuser is unable to

The Theories of Sex and Gender Essay -- Comparison Compare

The Theories of Sex and Gender Sex and gender are two very separate factors in the debate of how gender acquisition occurs. Sex is a biological fact determined by the chromosomes inherited from parents. Gender however, refers to the behaviour, beliefs, attitude and sense of identity that society perceives as being appropriate for either a male or a female, and therefore gender is regarded as a social fact. MOGHADDAM (1998, as cited in HARALAMBOS et al, 2002). There are four main theories in the gender acquisition debate, Evolutionary Psychology, Psychoanalytical Theory, Social Learning Theory and Cognitive-development Theory. This paper aims to describe and evaluate Social Learning Theory and Cognitive-development Theory. Social Learning theorists believe the development of gender occurs as a result of a child’s social experience and think much of this learning can be explained by conditioning and observational learning. Sex-role and gender behaviours are learned in the same way as any other behaviour. In terms of conditioning, parents socialise their children, preparing them for adult gender roles by providing them with gender-appropriate toys. In many societies girls are given dolls and cooking equipment in preparation for the maternal and domestic aspects of their adult gender role. BANDURA & WALTERS (1963, as cited in HARALAMBOS et al, 2002) Social Learning theorists also think that children learn gender roles from same sex role models such as parents, peers, teachers and media figures who provide children with opportunities to observe and imitate behaviours, this is known as observational learning. O... ...r cognitive and motivational factors. This new theory, Social Cognitive Theory, suggests that a child has it’s own ability to regulate his/her own activities according to the rules of gender appropriate behaviour. This combines Social Learning Theory with Cognitive Development Theory and shows a move from parental control over this process to an understanding that children actively evaluate situations and adapt their behaviour accordingly. This more recent theory aims to broaden and combine earlier approaches and to develop them further. Reference List ============== Cardwell.M, Clark.L, Meldrum.C (2000) Psychology for A Level London Harper Collins Haralambos.M, Rice.D, Foreman.N, Jones.S, Stenner.P, Brown.S, Kinderman.P, Sharp.K (2002) Psychology in Focus for A Level Lancashire Causeway Press

How Is Peak Load Staffing, Unit Hour Utilization and System Status Management Used in the Fire Service and Ambulance.

The majority of non EMS/Fire related people believe that the EMS and Fire calls are sporadic. In reality there is a predictable trend where the call volumes are higher and lower. There are 3 concepts that I will discuss further, first, System Status Management. SSM is simply what its name implies, the management of a EMS/Fire system’s resources before and between calls. It is the process of preparing the system for the best possible response to the next EMS or Fire call. Second, the concept is of Unit-Hour Utilization. UHU is an equation to find out what percent of the time a specific unit is being used on a specific day.Third, Peak Load Staffing will be discussed. PLS is a pretty simple topic to understand, For instance, Industrial areas and commercial office building usually have the highest call volume during the 9am-5pm business day when residential areas have a higher call volume after 5pm, lessen at night and start again around 6am the next day. The concept of PLS is to have more resources in the higher call volume times and areas. I work as a Paramedic for the Medical Express Ambulance Service (Medex) where both SSM and PLS are used. First, the concept of System Status Management.Our 2 most northern posts at Medex are Swedish Covenant Hospital (northeastern chicago) and Resurrection Medical Center (northwest chicago). The dispatchers attempt to keep 2 ALS and 3 BLS ambulances around the hospital. However if all of our ambulances out of Swedish Cov. Hospital get dispatched, Our dispatchers will move a few ambulances from Resurrection over to Swedish Cov. to cover the area and decrease overall response times. There have been times where we have not been relocated to either hospital and had to travel more than 30-45 minutes lights and sirens to get to a patient.If SSM had been implemented appropriately, that response time could have been greatly decreased. â€Å"UHU, or unit hour utilization, itself is fairly straightforward. It's calculated by divi ding the number of transports by the number of â€Å"unit hours,† with one unit hour defined as a fully equipped and staffed vehicle in your EMS system. If your system has 10 ambulances around the clock, there are 240 unit hours in a 24-hour period. If those 10 ambulances do 120 transports in 24 hours, you would calculate your system's UHU as follows:120 transports/240 unit hours = . 5 UHU† (http://www. ems1. om/ems-management/articles/1365144-How-to-explain-UHU-from- UFOs-to-your-city-manager/) Back to personal experience at Medex for the implementation of PLS. On average, our Medical calls on the week days are nearly double that of which we get on the weekend. In addition, the number of calls during the day is cut in half at night. On average, I run 6 medical calls per 12 hour shift on a week day, 3 at night and 3 on the weekend. If you look at those numbers, if you were to staff the same amount of ALS and BLS ambulances on the weekend or at night as you did during th e day, the UHU ratio would be extremely low.On average, Medex has around 12 ALS and 24 BLS ambulances on the street during the week. For the weekend, they only have 6 ALS and 10 BLS ambulances on the street. This effectively reduces the running cost for the company but does not strain the line staff. The EMS and Ambulance companies utilize these three concepts quite effectively, however they can also be applied to municipal Fire/Rescue departments. Most people see the Fire Departments as a rigid system, The stations are where you sit. However this does not always cover the most amount of area.For instance, town ABC has 2 fire stations both on the main road in town 5 miles apart. Both have 2 ambulances at each station, If both ambulances at one of the stations go our on a call. One of the towns regions around the station would experience a long ETA for an ambulance. However if one of the 2 ambulances sitting at the other station would go and cover the empty station until a unit clear ed from a call, the ETAs would be greatly reduced. This system is partially implemented with the station coverage neighboring departments participate in.The concept of UHU would be implemented in the Fire service more for evaluation purposes. This can help identify if addition resources are required, which units are near operational limits and which units are not utilized to their potential. Finally PLS is a topic which is not often used in the Fire service. This if properly implemented can reduce line staff strain, more adequately cover the areas required and save money. For instance, a town like Rosemont is primarily commercial business that are open 9-5 with very little residence on off hours and weekends. The majority of their Fires are 9-5 weekdays.To have more staff on duty during those hours would simply make more sense and save the town money. The Ambulance services have less complications than the Fire services does implementing the above concepts. The Fire service provides a larger spectrum of services and has many different apparatus for different uses. In the ambulance service they only have ALS and BLS ambulances which can sometimes work for eachother. For instance, a ALS ambulance can run a BLS call easily. However in the Fire service, a ALS ambulance cannot have the firefighting capabilities of a Truck or Engine crew.In addition, Ambulance companies have a plethora of resources that they can call on, to get another ambulance on the street is easy as calling a few people in since they have many spare ambulance that can be deployed if needed. The largest problem with the Firefighting side of this concept being implemented is that fires, sizes and resources needed truly is a sporadic event. Yes you can predict in the winter there will be more fires but the resources needed to combat a fire cannot be predicted as accurately.The UHU is extremely variable as is the ability to effectively implement PLS on Fire Apparatus. For the 4th of july scenario sh ows the utilization of Peak Load Staffing by having more resources on duty for events and days shown to require more resources. City XYZ FD is using System Status Management to cover the high call volume areas between the hours required. The final example uses Unit Hour Utilization to most effectively distribute the resources. The three above concepts of properly applied to the fire service can greatly reduce strain on the staff and running costs.

Overview of Three Interpretations of Samuel Becketts...

Samuel Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot between October 1948 and January 1949. Since its premiere in January of 1953, it has befuddled and confounded critics and audiences alike. Some find it to be a meandering piece of drivel; others believe it to be genius. Much of the strain between the two sides stems from one simple question. What does this play mean? Even within camps where Waiting for Godot is heralded, the lack of clarity and consensus brings about a tension and discussion that has lasted over sixty years. I will look at what I have determined to be the three most predominant interpretations of the play, including anti-Christianity, existentialism, and nihilism. By also examining Beckett’s life and influences, I believe†¦show more content†¦ESTRAGON. From hell? VLADIMIR. Imbecile! From death. ESTRAGON. I thought you said hell. VLADIMIR. From death, from death. ESTRAGON. Well what of it? VLADIMIR. Then the two of them must have been damned. ESTRAGON. And why not? VLADIMIR. But one of the four says that one of the two was saved. ESTRAGON. Well? They dont agree and thats all there is to it. VLADIMIR. But all four were there. And only one speaks of a thief being saved. Why believe him rather than the others? ESTRAGON. Who believes him? VLADIMIR. Everybody. Its the only version they know. ESTRAGON. People are bloody ignorant apes. (Beckett, Act I) Furthermore, Basaninyenzi writes a fairly common claim. He says, â€Å"Godot, as many critics maintain, is a diminutive of God. He is a supremely powerful being, for it is he who holds in his hand the future of mankind – Vladmir and Estragon (Basaninyenzi 70).† Godot is an entity who is ever-present, but is never explicitly there and yet controls the entire movement – or lack thereof – in the show stands directly parallel to God as a spiritual entity. Basaninyenzi believes that based on these two similarities that Waiting for Godot is an inherently anti-Christian text. Ashkan Shobeiri agrees to an extent, but takes his stance a bit further. In his article for the International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Shobeiri provides a reason as to why Beckett could be so anti-religion, with specialShow MoreRelatedSamuel Becket s Waiting On Godot1861 Words   |  8 Pagesagain, but taken to the extreme. This was known as the postmodern era and writers began to use their works to convey their sense of how strange the world around them was. The works that will be discussed are Samuel Becket’s Waiting on Godot, a play about two friends who wait for the titular Godot over two day with the second questioning the existence of the first. House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski, is a cult classic about man trying to understand a manuscript about a movie about a family who moves

Themes and Values of the Beat Generation as Expressed in...

Themes and Values of the Beat Generation as Expressed in Allen Ginsbergs Poetry Perhaps one of the most well known authors of the Beat Generation is a man we call Allen Ginsberg, who expresses the themes and values in his poetry. He was, in fact, the first Beat Writer to gain popular notice when he delivered a performance of his now famous poem, #61505;Howl#61504;, in October of 1955. The Beat Generation is typically described as a vision, not an idea and being hard to define. It is characterized as #61505;a cultural revolution in process, made by a post-World War II generation of disaffiliated young people...without spiritual values they could honor#61504; (Charters XX). Although first condemned and criticized, it became†¦show more content†¦Kaddish is a poem written by Ginsberg for his mother. It is 2. a relatively confessional poem and indirectly addresses the reader, or in this case, his mother. It is also seen as an autobiographical elegy that reveals many private experiences which shaped Ginsberg#61501;s life and a confession of personal necessity. Kaddish, the term, comes from a Judaic prayer and suggests the poem is in memory of his mother. Kaddish becomes a song for the dead indicated by the first six words: #61505;Strange now to think of you.#61504; This indicates one of the poem#61501;s#61501;s themes, his mother. For instance, it is written, #61505;Death is that remedy all singers dream of#61504; (Litz 319). The singer represents the poet and his own turmoil. The fourth section, #61505;Lament#61504;, is a list of regrets for his mother, illustrating his obsession with her. The fifth, called #61505;Litany#61504;, reiterates major episodes of Naomi#61501;s sickness. Finally, the fifth section of #61505;Kaddish#61504;, #61505;Fugue#61504;, represents his own turm oil of emotion and problems which render the poet incapable of articulating anything other than the poems ending, #61505;Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw#61504; (Charters 98). #61505;Howl#61504; also describes Ginsberg#61501;s own mental problems shown when he locates the core of corruption as a #61505;monster of mental consciousness#61504; (Ginsberg 48), or Moloch, aShow MoreRelatedConfessionalist Characteristics Of Allen Ginsberg And The Beat Generation1540 Words   |  7 PagesBeat Generation Research Paper During the 1950s, many different literary movements came to the spotlight. Two such movements were Confessionalism and Beat poetry. There are many commonalities between these movements, and often, authors and works from the Beat movement incorporate various Confessionalist characteristics. Allen Ginsberg, one such author, combined both Confessionalism and Beat poetry in a variety of his works, including Howl and Kaddish. The Confessionalist aspects of Allen GinsbergRead MorePost Wwii Culture On The United States2399 Words   |  10 Pagesimportantly during this time period a group of men who formed together in Greenwich Village, NY would start a cultural revolution that would inspire an entire generation to stand up and rebel against the conformist system they had been raised in. Allen Ginsberg was a member of this revolutionary literary group known as the â€Å"Beatniks†, or â€Å"Beats†. He served as the backbone for cultural change through his most famous collectio n of poems, Howl and other poems which included: California Super Market, Sunflower

Information Technology And Its Effects On Patient Care

In today’s healthcare industry, medical professionals when providing the best patient care, must commit to continued learning and performance improvement. Medical professionals must stay current with the new trends in healthcare while decreasing costs. Evidence based medicine is key in providing care to patients, and medical professionals utilize this evidence in designing the best plans of treatment. In today’s rapidly changing medical industry, physicians, nurses and all medical personnel need to stay current with the new trends available for the best outcomes in patient care. There are numerous problems that currently face healthcare, increased costs, medical errors, accidents and infections. The medical industries recognize these problems and are making real changes to correct them. Information technology is one solution that can help have a positive impact on patient care, while decreasing errors, costs and infections. To provide safe care there must be a jo int effort and innovative solutions when sharing information and developing clinical expertise. Information in healthcare needs to be meticulous, detailed, appropriate and up to date. It is critical the information we obtain and share on patients is accurate and easily available in an instant. The growth of the information technology industry has grown dramatically in the last 10-15 years, and the healthcare industry recognizes its importance. The mandate set forth in 2004 by the Office of the NationalShow MoreRelatedHealth Information Technology : Effect On Patient Care1697 Words   |  7 PagesHealth Information Technology: Effect on Patient Care Introduction The prevalence of health information technology (HIT) has become very popular in the United States. This innovation continues to grow indicating no end and marks the current trend in the healthcare industry and will continue to play a major role in the later future. What impact does technology play on patient Care? According to Cliff, (2012) patient care technology is designed to meet the patients’ personal needs, values and preferencesRead MoreImportance Of Information Technology And The Healthcare Industry1452 Words   |  6 PagesIMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTHCARE. Jude Alumuku, SEIS 605-07 Alum0001@stthomas.edu I. Introduction. II. Background Information A. What is Information Technology B. Information technology and the healthcare industry. C. Facts about Information technology and its application in Healthcare 1.0 Strategic Analysis – Industry. 1.1 Strategic Analysis – Competition III. Healthcare Information Technology Adoption, Quality and Costs IV. Problems With health Information technology V. PotentialRead MoreHealth Care, Different Types Of Data, Information, And Knowledge Of Nurses981 Words   |  4 PagesInformatics In health care, different types of data, information, and knowledge surround nurses. 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We also need to remember that health care has become a booming business and patients have shifted into consumers changing the health care delivery models in a variety ofRead MoreInformation Systems ( Inss )1537 Words   |  7 PagesDespite recent progress in information technology, health care institutions are constantly confronted with the need to adapt to the resulting new processes of information management and use.[1] Nusing information systems(INSs) are promoted as a technology supporting collaboration and improving health care decision making at the point- of –care and ultimately health care outcomes. An NIS contains data collection and intetration functionality for nurses and could be used as a part of an electronicRead MoreThe Impact Of Technology On Patient Care957 Words   |  4 PagesTechnology plays a critical role in the twenty-first century as it continues to improve everyday life. Technological benefits have expanded into the healthcare setting and has greatly impacted the medical field. Specifically looking at the nurse’s role, technology has eased interdisciplinary communication, accurate documentation, and reduced medical errors-at least that is the idea. Since a large portion of the nursing population was neither raised nor educated with technological knowledge, thisRead MoreMedication Reconciliation Is The Process Of Gathering All The Medications901 Words   |  4 Pagesmultivitamins a patient is taking regarding their care. Within the parameters of mediation reconciliation, dosage, frequently, name,and route are the prime factors of developing a medication regimen. The goal of knowing all medications of a patient before continuing with care or being admitted to specialized settings like hospitals or clinics will avoid over-medicated adverse effects and possibly death. According to the article, Medication Reconciliation to Facilitate Transition of Care after HospitalizationRead MoreHistorical Perspectives Of Health Care Delivery System926 Words   |  4 PagesTechnological advances Technology has been advancing every day, which has tremendous effects on the lifestyle of people. People are dependent on technology, and as a lifestyle of people change, a demand of advance technology grows. Technological advancement has both positive and negative effects, for instance, benefits of technological advancement are time saving, increases the production, simplifies the communication, improved the health care and education and others. On the other hand, technology has decreasedRead MoreBenefits Of Electronic Health Records1313 Words   |  6 Pagessurvey of doctors revealed the following key information: The percentage of the healthcare providers who reported that the electronic health records are readily available at the point of care is 94% and the percentage of the providers who stated that the electronic health records showed the clinical benefits is 88%. The percentage of the physicians who reported that the electronic health records enable them to provide the enhanced care to the patients is 75% (Jamoom, Patel, King, Furukawa, 2012)Read MoreTechnology Article Review 2931 Words   |  4 Pages Technology Article Review HCS/212 2 March 2014 Alphus Bishop Technology Article Review Being new to the health care professions I am not very familiar with most of the technologies used today in our health care system and have also been fortunate enough to not need much care beyond a checkup here and there. However, being very interested in science I know how great the benefits of medical technology advancements can be to our nation and the world. I am choosing to focus on the technology of