The Undergraduate Learning Profile - Assignment Example

Assignment 1 Your name:   Course name:         Professors’ name: Date: Part A: Undergraduate Learning Profile The undergraduate Learning Profile (ULP) has help me to narrow the gaps between practice and theories, and most importantly it has helped me heightens my felt needs of constantly monitoring my learning progress. ULP has given me an insight into my strengths and weakness in the learning process. The feedback from my tutors about my learning approaches has helped me improve on my strengths and weaknesses. During the assessment I recorded above 80 per cent in all three learning approaches with the highest result on the strategic approach. This may be as a result of me being employed in a job that had a lot of pressure on its workers. The whole study has had an impact on myself; it has taught me to be consistent with what I do, plan my time; look for time saving strategies and to be sensitive to the needs and expectation of my tutors. Moreover, ULP has helped me to use the life skills strategies that I have learned and applied them into practical life. The three specific strategies that I will put into place to improve my learning in this semester will include the following: i. Time management: I know good time management is an important component for the success of my learning. I will use a daily "to-do" list and weekly or monthly planner help you stay on track. In addition, I will identify my greatest time-wasters and begin to examine ways to reduce them. ii. I will regular attend class since textbooks that have been prescribed in the lectures are just “supplement” to my classroom lecture materials, not a “substitute.” iii. I will take lecture notes in a systematic manner that will make revision during exam time easier. The following principle will be kept in mind: I will not try to take lecture notes word-for-word” and I will take dates to identify each set of notes. Part B: Student interview The transition from high school to university is a difficult one for most student, an yet, it is a transition that is often overlooked. Freshers are usually told that their time in campus is going to be the “best 4 years of their lives,” but the thing on the ground are quite different. Very few individuals are graduating in four years. While it is impossible to prepare a person completely for the university transition, but there are steps that can be taken by the students to make university transition more smoothly. It is from this backdrop that I interviewed Joseph Jones, a Third year student on how he managed to have a smooth transition at the university. I asked Joseph a number of question such as: 1) What does personal transition involve?, 2) In order for a student to make a successful transition, what must an individual understand about university education?, 3) Were there any other personal transitional challenges worth noting?, and 4) Tell me about relationships in college. What has been most challenging about the social transition?  The interview I held with Joseph has helped me to have a smooth transition on my stay at the campus. I have seen the high school to university transition experience as three primary pieces which form a "triangle of transition"-the Academic, Personal and the Social. I have also learned that many university students get in turbulent seas because they don’t anticipate problems ahead of them. I have also learned that student transition involves intrinsic personality traits an individual brings to university and also the attitudes and beliefs that an individual has about life. In conclusion, I also learned that if student comprehend what was said by Joseph during the interview, they will have a better understanding than most of the transitions challenges that are ahead of them. Part C: Academic writing Thesis statement The use of a waterless, alcohol-based hand rub or hand washing with water and soap is the most effective than using a regular hand washing technique with soap and water. Supporting main points The side effects of rubbing with a waterless alcohol-based rub-in cleanser are rarer than the side effects caused by using soap and water (Jarvis, 2005). Waterless alcohol-based rub-in cleansers are more accessible than soap and water (Jarvis, 2005). Another reason why waterless alcohol-based rub-in cleansers are more effective is because they are less expensive in the long term (Jarvis, 2005). Paragraph Compared to hand washing, alcohol-based hand rubs have been found to be effective in reducing health-care-associated infections on hands (Dempsey et el, 2009). This is because can be made more accessible at the point of care, require less time to use, and the disinfectant itself causes less hand irritation and dryness with repeated use (Rhinehart & Friedman, 1999). Handwashing can be used when nurses hands is visibly seen to be contaminated, and also when nurses care for patients who are suffering with diarrhea. Including patients with Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea, before eating, and after use of the restroom (Dempsey et el, 2009). Alcohol-based hand rubs has also been found to have most rapid bactericidal action of all antiseptics, and are preferred agents for hygienic hand rubs, so-called “waterless hand disinfection” (Rhinehart & Friedman, 1999).In addition, alcohols have also been found to have rapid evaporation and excellent spreading quality. At equal concentrations of liquid, ethanol is the least effective alcohol being the most. Alcohol-based disinfectant is well suited to disinfect nurses’ hands for the following reasons: rapidity of action, it is easily availability at bedside and no need of washing basin, and it is active against clinically important viruses, yeast, fungi and all bacteria. Since alcohol based disinfectant has been found not to have a prolong effect, but another antiseptic compound can be added to the alcohol based solution to prolong the effect (Pittet, Allegranzi & Storr,2006). References Dempsey et el. (2009).Fundamentals of nursing & midwifery: a person centred approach to care, Australian and New Zealand edition, Broadway, NSW Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Jarvis WR. (2005). Selected aspects of the socioeconomic impact of nosocomial infections: morbidity, mortality, cost, and prevention. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 17:552–7. Pittet D, Allegranzi B, Storr J, et al.(2006). ‘Clean care is safer care’: the global patient safety challenge 2005–2006. Int J Infect Dis 2006;10:419–24. Rhinehart, E., & Friedman, M. M. (1999).Infection control in home care. Maryland: Aspen Publishers. Part D: Article selection and evaluation Pittet D, Hugonnet S (2003). ‘Hand hygiene: improved standards and practice for hospital care’. Lancet Journal, vol. 35, no.5, pp.1307–1312. Article summary System change must be addressed in most health facilities such as hospitals and clinics where alcohol based handrubbing has not be made to be a standard of care. Strategies that can be used to improve hand hygiene compliance in hospitals must be multi-modal and include health care staff motivation and education, the use of performance indicators, and health facility management support. Successful campaigns against hand washing will result in reduce antimicrobial resistance spread, reduced infection rates and enhance patient safety. This article describes standard principles for infection control and prevention focusing on health facility environment hygiene and hand hygiene, both of which are crucial to the prevention of healthcare associated infection (HCAI). (113) Article Structure An abstract has been used to introduce the article which introduces the thesis that has been developed by the article as well as description of main points. The rationales behind the article were also included. The paragraphs behind the main body in the article were short and therefore it was easy for a reader to access the information with ease, however, there were more than ten (10) sub topics which meant that there was a lot of quite detailed information contained under each heading. This article has described a study that was conducted by various author, this article has been found to contain various conventional information that are normally provided in such research study. For example there are section in the article that are related to the background and the significance of the research study. A review of the literature and the methodology as well as the data collection and analysis techniques used. Finally, the article published the findings and then conclusion was made towards the end of references was developed according to APA style (174). Article evaluation Currency, authority and accuracy are important indicators of the article credibility. The authors of the article are highly qualified and have written many different articles which have added credibility to the finding that has been presented in this article. The article has been written by one author, Professor Didier Pittet MD MS, Director, Infection Control Program, University of Geneva Hospitals. His associates have included other professors from other renowned institutions of higher learning such as Moi University, Medical School, University of Glasgow and University of Michigan Medical School. The journal Nature is a weekly international journal publishing peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology. Also, this journal is being ranked highly because is being cited in many interdisciplinary science journals. The journal has been active since 1869 and has been officially recognized science journal which makes it highly credible and therefore gives the article authority. The article was received by the journal on July 27, 2000 and formally accepted on November 26, 2002. It was then published in the January 28, 2003 edition of the journal. Its references date back as far as 1987 and are as current as 2009. The journal has been publishing an edition every week so new research study is found very quickly and if a theory or study has not been well researched it can be contested and if found to be untrue it can then be corrected. The literature review that have been used in this article covers a 20 years and bring out both established facts with new research giving a blend of knowledge that may help to make a breakthrough in injury prevention. In addition, the article can also be found online at the Nature website. And all articles that have been published in the Nature Journal face rigid editing process by a team of professional editors that have a background in scientific studies that can be found in a link on the journal’s website. Therefore, this article has been found to demonstrate high levels of currency, authority and accuracy (340). Read More