Journal articles on the topic 'Team Upholding'

Increased work-related stress and burnout has been reported in nursing. Jennifer Odell explores the impact of leadership on the wider team An awareness of the impact of leadership is central to the challenge of understanding and upholding the delivery of compassionate patient care. The increasing scope of nursing practice in primary care and the challenge of meeting rising patient and colleague expectations to alleviate pressure and improve access has led to increased work-related stress. An understanding and evaluation of leadership in the nursing team, and the wider practice team, will help promote cohesion and a renewed focus on a positive and optimistic team attitude.

Speech-language pathologists and audiologists have historically been attuned to protecting the privacy of their clients. The recent proliferation of Internet-based communication for telepractice has resulted in new and constantly evolving threats to client privacy. This article provides an overview of key legal protections to privacy. With a focus on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP; e.g., Skype), the authors present an approach to risk assessment that includes a HIPPA Compliance Checklist (Watzlaf, Moeini, & Firouzan, 2010) and a team approach to oversight. Upholding Internet-based privacy within the current environment is an ongoing and challenging responsibility.

In 2011, British Columbia (BC) First Nations came together to speak with one voice and by consensus made the largest self-determining decision made in this country: to take control over their own health and wellness. Guided by First Nations perspectives, values, and principles, the First Nations Health Authority works alongside the First Nations Health Directors Association and the First Nations Health Council to advance a shared vision of “healthy, self-determining, and vibrant BC First Nations children, families, and communities.” Strong leadership, rooted in the knowledge and teachings that have sustained BC First Nations for thousands of years, is integral to achievement of the vision. This article reflects on Indigenous approaches to health and wellness leadership in the BC context, drawing from traditional teachings shared by BC First Nations Elders and knowledge keepers in four areas: upholding governance and self-determination, “change starts with me,” building a leadership team, and reconciliation and partnership.

The Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group (PPAG) understands the dilemma and varying factors that many institutions face concerning the routine participation of pharmacists in emergency resuscitation events. Acknowledging these obstacles, the PPAG encourages all institutions to strongly consider creating, adopting, and upholding policies to address pharmacists' participation in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as evidenced by the impact pharmacist participation has shown on the reduction of hospital medication error and mortality rates in children. The PPAG advocates that pharmacists be actively involved in the institution's CPR, medical emergency team committees, and preparation of emergency drug kits and resuscitation trays. The PPAG advocates that all institutions requiring a pharmacist's participation in CPR events consider adoption of preparatory training programs. Although the PPAG does not advocate any one specific program, consideration should be taken to ensure that pharmacists are educated on the pharmacotherapy of drugs used in the CPR process, including but not limited to basic life support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, and Pediatric Advanced Life Support algorithms; medication preparation and administration guidelines; medication compatibility; recommended dosing for emergency medications; and familiarity with the institutional emergency cart.

AbstractFor decades, histopathology with routine hematoxylin and eosin staining has been and remains the gold standard for reaching a morphologic diagnosis in tissue samples from humans and veterinary species. However, within the past decade, there has been exponential growth in advanced techniques for in situ tissue biomarker imaging that bridge the divide between anatomic and molecular pathology. It is now possible to simultaneously observe localization and expression magnitude of multiple protein, nucleic acid, and molecular targets in tissue sections and apply machine learning to synthesize vast, image-derived datasets. As these technologies become more sophisticated and widely available, a team-science approach involving subspecialists with medical, engineering, and physics backgrounds is critical to upholding quality and validity in studies generating these data. The purpose of this manuscript is to detail the scientific premise, tools and training, quality control, and data collection and analysis considerations needed for the most prominent advanced imaging technologies currently applied in tissue sections: immunofluorescence, in situ hybridization, laser capture microdissection, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization imaging mass spectrometry, and spectroscopic/optical methods. We conclude with a brief overview of future directions for ex vivo and in vivo imaging techniques.

Promoting Buddhism through Modern Sports: The Case Study of Fo Guang Shan in TaiwanIn the past, traditional Buddhism in China focused on chanting and meditation that detached itself from the society. However, after generations of strenuous efforts to promote ‘Humanistic Buddhism’, several Masters have been encouraging religion to engage more in daily lives. One of the proponents was Master Hsin Yun, who was born and raised in mainland China and subsequently moved to Taiwan along with the ‘Monk Rescue Team’. It was in Taiwan that Master Hsin Yun founded Fo Guang Shan, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites on the island. At the beginning, he started the place from scratch, setting up basketball courts for the followers to take part in basketball games. Upholding the notion that Buddhism needs to engage the public, Master, therefore, has a unique way of combing religion with modern sports in an attempt to let more people get in touch with religion. Accordingly, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, and other sports were promoted and sponsored under the auspices of Fo Guang Shan, which certainly topples public stereotypes around sedentary Buddhism. In the end, Master hopes that, in the future, sports can unite healthy Fo Guang followers worldwide and bring honor to Taiwan.

Sports medicine professionals are facing new dilemmas in light of the changing dynamics of sport as an enterprise. These changes have considerable ethical implications as sports medicine team members are placed in challenging ethical decision-making situations that often create values tensions. These values conflicts have the potential to threaten and degrade the trust established through the mutual expectations inherent in the social contract between the health care providers and society. According to Starr,1 the social contract is defined as the relationship between medicine and society that is renegotiated in response to the complexities of modern medicine and contemporary society. Anchored in expectations of both society and the medical professions, this tacit contract provides a strong compass for professional practice as it exemplifies the powerful role and examines the deep responsibilities held by health care providers in our society. Although governed by professional boards and organizational codes of ethics, sports medicine professionals are challenged by the conflicts of interest between paternalistic care for the athlete and autonomous decisions often influenced by stakeholders other than the athletes themselves. Understanding how the construct of sport has impacted sports health care will better prepare sports medicine professionals for the ethical challenges they will likely face and, more importantly, facilitate awareness and change of the critical importance of upholding the integrity of the professional social contract.

Introduction: Millennial nurses are beginning to accept leadership roles and will soon take over governance in the nursing profession and healthcare industry. This study aimed to describe the perspectives on leadership and their practice environment of millennial nurse administrators working in tertiary hospitals in Iloilo City, Philippines. Methods: Eight (8) millennial nurse administrators were purposively chosen. Through a qualitative descriptive inquiry by Sandelowski (2000), data were gathered using semi-structured interviews and analyzed employing qualitative content analysis. Results: Twelve (12) meaningful categories were derived directly from the interview transcripts. Millennial nurse administrators perceive leadership by way of (1) directing, (2) guiding, (3) empowering and (4) modeling to staff. They viewed their practice environment as (5) having a harmonious relationship while (6) maintaining professional relationship among the healthcare team members, (7) upholding standards and (8) ensuring client satisfaction as a measure of quality care. Millennial nurse administrators shared feelings of being (9) overwhelmed at the start yet (10) fulfilling in the end. Lastly, they had challenges in (11) dealing with older staff and in (12) assuming the full responsibility and accountability of their unit. Conclusions: Considering the complexities in the healthcare profession, millennial nurse administrators cope with the responsibilities brought by their position as major key players to ensure that unit operations abide with practice standards. Millennial nurse administrators must be provided with understanding, support, and mentoring, to enhance their leadership competencies as they progress into higher leadership positions.

Bali is one of the tourist destinations; many come for a vacation and enjoy the beauty of the island of Bali, both foreign nationals and local tourists. The number of local tourists and foreign nationals who come to Bali is used by a handful of people to commit crimes, as recently happened in the jurisdiction of the East Denpasar Police. The joint team of Densus 88 Police Headquarters, Task Force CTOC and Brimob Polda Bali, on Tuesday, June 26 2018 at 20.30 WITA, raided one of the houses on Jl. Gandapura related to Radicalism Group. This study explores two issues, namely Bhabinkamtibmas efforts in maintaining security from radicalism and the factors that can influence the development of radicalism. The method of research used in this study is normative legal research using a statutory approach. Bhabinkamtibmas are police officers who work at the village to sub-district level and carry out a preventive function by partnering with community members, and have an important role in preventing the development of radicalism. The conclusion from the results of this study is that radicalism appears as a notion or ideology that demands change and renewal of social and political systems by means of (Sztompka, 1993; Odea, 1996). As an effort by Babhinkamtibmas to prevent the development of factors that can cause radicalism, legal guidance and counseling and social security are provided to increase legal awareness and social security by upholding human rights (HAM) in the jurisdiction of the East Denpasar Police.

Cluster randomised clinical trials present unique challenges in meeting ethical obligations to those who are treated at a randomised site. Obtaining informed consent for research within the context of clinical care is one such challenge. In order to solve this problem it is important that an informed consent process be effective and efficient, and that it does not impede the research or the healthcare. The innovative approach to informed consent employed in the COMPASS study demonstrates the feasibility of upholding ethical standards without imposing undue burden on clinical workflows, staff members or patients who may participate in the research by virtue of their presence in a cluster randomised facility. The COMPASS study included 40 randomised sites and compared the effectiveness of a postacute stroke intervention with standard care. Each site provided either the comprehensive postacute stroke intervention or standard care according to the randomisation assignment. Working together, the study team, institutional review board and members of the community designed an ethically appropriate and operationally reasonable consent process which was carried out successfully at all randomised sites. This achievement is noteworthy because it demonstrates how to effectively conduct appropriate informed consent in cluster randomised trials, and because it provides a model that can easily be adapted for other pragmatic studies. With this innovative approach to informed consent, patients have access to the information they need about research occurring where they are seeking care, and medical researchers can conduct their studies without ethical concerns or unreasonable logistical impediments.Trial registration numberNCT02588664, recruiting. This article covers the development of consent process that is currentlty being employed in the study.

Purpose Building on the complex adaptive systems (CAS) framework, this paper aims to investigate the detrimental effect of virtual teams’ (VTs) challenges and the upholding role of trust on the members’ ratings of VTs’ performance. Also, the study examines the mediating role of the preferences for VTs and investigates the moderating function of the openness to experience personality trait on the relationship between challenges, trust and preference for VTs. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional survey data were collected from a sample of 498 university students in Romania and path analysis was used for data analysis. Findings The results show evidence of the harmful effect of VTs’ challenges on members’ ratings of VTs’ performance and reveal that trust boosts members’ ratings of VTs’ performance. The findings highlight the mediating role of members’ preference for VTs and show evidence that the openness to experience personality trait strengthens the negative effect of the challenges on members’ preference for VTs. Research limitations/implications Given the cross-sectional design of the study, inferences regarding the causal relationship between the variables cannot be made, and further longitudinal research is called for. Originality/value The study builds on the CAS framework and addresses the call for research to explore the variables that might contribute or impede VTs’ performance.

Abstract Emergency medical services (EMS) providers respond more frequently to calls for older adults with serious illness than for people in other age groups. Recent legislation that makes it possible to document healthcare decisions has facilitated an era of choice in end-of-life care. EMS teams make time-sensitive decisions about care, resuscitation and hospital transport that influence how and where a seriously ill older adult will die and how his/her family will experience the death. Yet, EMS providers’ perspectives on urgent decision-making and how they work with families are unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the decision-making process that occurs how EMS teams respond when someone is dying from a serious illness (vs. an injury). In-depth in-person interviews were conducted with 50 EMS providers (24 emergency medical technicians [EMTs] and 26 Paramedics) from four ambulance services. Participants’ ages ranged from 21-57 (M=37.9) and 70% were male. Qualitative data was coded using Atlas.ti software. Three themes illuminated participants’ experiences with end-of-life calls: (1) How legally binding documents (e.g. Do Not Resuscitate [DNR] orders, Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment [MOLST]) inform care; (2) Decision-making about foregoing or halting resuscitation (e.g. no hospitalization, death at home); and (3) Family care, support and education. The results suggest that EMS providers have critically important roles in upholding the wishes of seriously ill older adults and helping caregiving families through the end-of-life transition. Implications: Discussions about the meaning of legally binding documents (e.g. DNR, MOLST) and EMS calls are important in advance care planning.

ABSTRACT People rights enforcement is the duty of the executive officers from the function of government institutions in carrying out its duties and functions. Similarly, Agrarian Institution / BPN in serving the public in the land field of this country. Remembering its strategic program referred to, in the implementation of agrarian involves officials from the center to the following areas Governor, the Regent, Mayor, Head of sub district and villages officials. Besides to support the success of this activities, also involved the Agricultural Special Teams arrangement involve Opstib membership as a security element which at that time was very well respected in the main settlement of land disputes. PRONA. Prona is a program that can be categorized as a flagship program of Agrarian / BPN service to the people, because as an early breakthrough for the sake of upholding the rights on public land with the concept of fast, accurate and simple. As a national movement, this program is called flagship program remembering in this concept of specificity in service. Keywords: Land Certification, Prona, Scramble Image

One of the hallmarks of young adult literature is its focus on adolescent protagonists who struggle to reconcile what they want with what they are supposed to want. Indeed, some of the most enduring works of young adult literature, from L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables (2006) to Judy Blume’s Forever (1975), place their young characters at a crossroads between cultural convention and individual desire. Foundational scholarship in the field of young adult fiction has suggested a recurring conflict in novels for young readers in which a protagonist finds himself or herself directly at odds with social expectations (McCallum, 1999; Trites, 2004). Furthermore, critics such as Trites (1997), Wilkie-Stibbs (2003), and Mallan (2009) have noted that many of these works concern an adolescent search for identity that is complicated by issues of gender politics, in which a protagonist’s grappling with conventional notions of masculinity and/or femininity is fundamental to a completed coming of age. In Waking Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Voices in Children’s Literature, Roberta Seelinger Trites (1997) argues that this kind of novel “demonstrate[s] characters ‘turning inward’ in ‘a search for identity’ because some form of environmental pressure has made them aware that they are not upholding socially sanctioned gender roles” (p. 2). In turn, these novels can become cathartic for adolescent readers, who may be facing similar struggles in the throes of real-life adolescence. Relying on the definition of a feminist novel established by Elaine Showalter (1977), Trites (1997) defines a “feminist children’s novel” as one “in which the main character is empowered regardless of gender,” or a novel in which “the child’s sex does not provide a permanent obstacle to her/his development. Although s/he will likely experience some gender-related conflicts, s/he ultimately triumphs over them” (p. 4). Though many novels fit this description, two bestselling young adult novels distinguish their adolescent female protagonists’ search for identity as inspired by the legends of Arthurian literature. Meg Cabot’s Avalon High (2006) and Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty (2003) each reference the Arthurian legend of the Lady of Shalott—specifically the version that was retold and adapted by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in his 1842 poem “The Lady of Shalott.” Both novels use the characters, language, and symbolism from Tennyson’s poem to provide their heroines—and by extension, their adolescent readers—with a template through which they can understand, examine, and potentially reject the social codes that attempt to determine their behavior. In capitalizing on the ways in which Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott” enhanced and adapted the traditional Arthurian legend for a Victorian audience, Cabot and Bray access what Ann Howey (2007) calls the “constellation of association and meanings” (pp. 89–92) connected to the Lady of Shalott in the medieval and Victorian texts, many of which are distinctly feminist by Trites’s definition. In this article, I will argue that in drawing inspiration specifically from Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott,” Cabot’s and Bray’s novels develop their feminism through the framework of a Victorian narrative that is more thematically complex and more politically charged than any earlier, medieval version of the Lady of Shalott legend. Specifically, Cabot’s and Bray’s novels reflect the impact of feminist criticism of Tennyson’s poem found in the works of Victorian scholars Nina Auerbach (e.g., The Woman and the Demon: The Life of a Victorian Myth, 1982) and the team of Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar (e.g., Madwoman in the Attic, 1984). This foundational work identifies in Tennyson’s adaptation of the Lady of Shalott a dualistic and subversive set of alternatives that is not present in the medieval sources: her status as both a docile, passive figure who is “powerless in the face of the male” (Gilbert & Gubar, 1984, p. 618) and, simultaneously, as an icon of deviant and potentially powerful feminine desire. To identify the ways in which Cabot’s and Bray’s novels revise the Lady of Shalott narrative and embrace this subversion of traditional gender roles, I will first examine the Lady of Shalott narrative in medieval Arthurian literature and in Tennyson’s poem, focusing on how Tennyson’s enhancements to the tale transformed the Lady of Shalott into an iconic image of Victorian femininity. I will then demonstrate how Cabot and Bray employ revisionist strategies to adapt the gender politics of Tennyson’s poem for a 21st-century young adult readership, creating heroines who reject the passive qualities of the Lady of Shalott in favor of a more autonomous alternative and who, in doing so, model for adolescent readers a search for identity that results in self-identification and empowerment.

The Nurse Practitioner–Aged Care Models of Practice Program involved diverse models of practice comprising multiple stakeholders located in more than 30 locations across Australia, in remote, rural, urban, and metropolitan settings. Funded by the Australian government, the aims of the program included supporting development of effective, economically viable, and sustainable aged care nurse practitioner models of practice; and enabling improvements in access to primary health care for people aged older than 65 years.This article describes the process by which a framework was developed to support the evaluation of this program. A particular challenge for the nurse researchers involved in the evaluation was to ensure the unique values of the nursing profession were upheld alongside economic, biomedical, and empirical imperatives in the diverse processes involved in collecting and interpreting data. The evaluation framework developed provides an important means of enabling research teams who undertake complex evaluations of diverse nursing models of practice to maintain a common goal—to unify the various stakeholders involved, while at the same time upholding what is most important to the profession of nursing. This article highlights how nurses can play an influential role when involved in the multidisciplinary evaluation of new and innovative approaches to practice.

Purpose This paper aims to provide insights into how the New Zealand Office of the Auditor-General (NZOAG) legitimised the selection of topics for performance audit in the New Zealand public health sector over a 10-year period, 2003-2013, by fulfilling the key actors’ “taken for granted beliefs” of the dual roles of the NZOAG: its independence and accountability. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses evidence gathered from interviews with representatives of the District Health Boards, the Ministry of Health (including Health Advisory Committee members) and NZOAG staff, along with publically available documentary evidence over a 10-year period. The authors draw on Suchman’s (1995) authority on institutional legitimacy to inform the research findings. Findings The New Zealand Auditors-General (NZAGs) get inputs from various sources such as their own audit teams, parliamentary deliberations, the Ministry of Health, the District Health Boards, media and public concerns and complaints. These sources initiate ideas for performance audits. Subsequently, the NZAGs use the recurring themes and risk assessment criteria while simultaneously consulting with the auditees (the MOH and the DHBs) and other actors, such as health advisory groups, to select topics for such audits. This signals to the key actors, such as the MOH and the DHBs, that the NZOAG is addressing the topics and concerns relevant to the former while discharging its public accountability role. Furthermore, the consultative approach acts as a catalyst, ensuring that the actors involved with public sector health service delivery, specifically the auditees, accept the selected topic. This leads to a lack of resistance to and criticism of the topic; the selection process, therefore, is legitimatised, and credibility is added to the audits. Because of the consultative approach taken by the NZAGs, the actors, including the performance auditors, continue to believe that the Office acts independently from third party influence in selecting their audit topics, elevating the NZAGs’ moral legitimacy with respect to their public accountability role. Research limitations/implications The study’s focus group does not include parliamentary representatives, only representatives from the DHBs, the MOH and the NZOAG; therefore, the conclusions on effective discharge of the NZOAG’s accountability role and Parliamentary acceptance is not conclusive – the NZOAG acts on behalf of the Parliament in discharging its accountability role and the latter is also the formal recipient of the reports. Practical implications The implications for practitioners and policymakers are that the use of a consultative approach to select topics for performance audit in the absence of performance auditing standards ensures auditee readiness and acceptance of such audits. This also promotes mutual benefits and “trust” between the AG and auditees. Such audits can be used to bring about efficacy in health service delivery. Social implications The selected topics for audits will have an impact on citizens’ lifestyles, with improved health services delivery. Originality/value There is a dearth of research on who initiates the ideas for performance auditing and how the Office of the Auditor-General selects topics for such audits. This study adds a new dimension to the existing performance auditing literature. The authors reveal how the NZOAG seeks to legitimise the selection of topics for such audits by consulting with the auditees and other actors associated with public sector health service delivery, while upholding its independent status and making transparent how it discharges its accountability role within the context of performance auditing.

AbstractWe describe the University of Toronto Adult Neurology Residency Program’s early experiences with and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including modifications to the provision of neurologic care while upholding neurology education and safety. All academic and many patient-related activities were virtualized. This maintained physical distancing while creating a city-wide videoconference-based teaching curriculum, expanding the learning opportunities to trainees at all academic sites. Furthermore, we propose a novel “split-team” model to promote resident safety through physical distancing of teams and to establish a capacity to rapidly adapt to redeployment, service needs and trainee illness. Finally, we developed a unique protected code stroke framework to safeguard staff and trainees during hyperacute stroke assessments in this pandemic. Our shared experiences highlight considerations for contingency planning, maintenance of education, sustainability of team members and promotion of safe neurologic care. These interventions serve to promote trainee safety, wellness, and resiliency.

The Big Five theory suggests that five components in teamwork are essential for team effectiveness in stressful environments. Furthermore, three coordinating mechanisms are claimed to be decisive to upholding and informing vital teamwork processes. Although much research has been conducted into the Big Five theory and its components, to the best of our knowledge, no study has yet been made of the relative importance of the three mechanisms and their impact on team effectiveness. Also, only a few studies have tried to investigate whether the components and the coordinating mechanisms are trainable. This study aims to make a theoretical contribution to the part of the theory focusing on the coordinating mechanisms. Secondly, it investigates whether training can improve team performance. Working in teams of two, 166 police officers participated in a simulated operational scenario. Correlational analyses indicated that all Big Five teamwork behaviors and coordinating mechanisms relate to external ratings of team performance. Only the mechanisms of Closed Loop Communication (CLC) and Shared Mental Model (SMM) predicted performance indicators, with SMM predicting above and beyond the effect of CLC. No effect of the training program was found. The study provides new evidence in a police situation that the most important coordinating mechanism of the Big Five theory is that of shared mental models, which in turn has consequences for the type of training needed.

ABSTRACTObjectivesA health services research organization in Toronto, Ontario, Canada conducts population-based research to improve the health of Canadians in seven main areas: (1) cancer, (2) cardiovascular disease, (3) chronic disease and pharmacology, (4) health system planning and evaluation, (5) kidney, dialysis and transplantation, (6) mental health and addictions, and (7) primary care and population health. The Information Management (IM) team within the Data Quality and Information Management (DQIM) department at our non-profit organization is an integral component for upholding privacy and confidentiality policies and procedures while facilitating quality research using different types of data such as health administrative, third-party, primary data collection, and electronic medical records (EMR). MethodsThe IM team is responsible for receiving data, encoding direct personal identifiers, screening for unnecessary identifiers, performing probabilistic data linkage when necessary, importing the data to the Research Analytics Environment (a client/server Linux-based system), and destroying the data according to the terms stipulated in the executed data sharing agreement. The purpose of the presentation is to detail the above steps of processing data to protect individuals’ identities yet preserve the usefulness of carrying out research. The presentation will include aspects from importing data into SAS to storage and encoding of personal identifiers to probabilistic data linkage, which involves maximizing linkage with other datasets at the organization. Linking data at the organization involves the encryption or encoding of health card numbers to “Key Numbers.” ResultsThe processing practices used at the organization comply with Canadian privacy laws such as the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) as well as organizational policies and Research Ethics Board approvals. The approaches used to conceal individual identities yet allow linkage to various data sources can be modelled by other health agencies, ministries, and non-health related organizations that work with sensitive data but face challenges in maintaining both privacy and research quality. Our organization strives to make processing as efficient as possible and create maximum linkability to the various data sources in house while upholding privacy and confidentiality.

BPR (Business Process Re-engineering) is an organizational mechanism leading organization towards change management as and when it is required. In the form BPR, Agile practices have had a remarkable impact on Software Engineering Management (SEM) in software development organizations across the world. It has enhanced collaboration and productivity of Software Engineering (SE) teams and improved the level of quality of software products. Nowadays Scrum has been trending into software development organizations as a standard SDLC approach. Scrum is the framework of the Agile methodology, built on empiricism control theory, asserts that experience brings knowledge and increases decision making capabilities. The empiricism control theory is built on three pillars: Adaptation, Inspection and Transparency. This research study presents Scrum as a trending SDLC framework using empirical analysis. We have analyzed literature reviews, case studies, and research surveys; and implemented Scrum in our software development unit and carried out the reasons, why Scrum is trending in software development organizations. How the scrum artifacts, events and values play a vital role in upholding the Scrum pillars and strengthen the capabilities of Scrum team members to address the software engineering management challenges; compared to traditional software development approaches.

Background: Vision deficits are highly prevalent in children with neurodevelopmental disorders including those with motor delays, learning and reading difficulties, and maladaptive behaviors. These deficits can interfere with their participation and performance in everyday life activities and therefore, require a comprehensive approach to therapy. As such, optometrists and occupational therapists are an optimal team to provide interprofessional collaborative care, reported in research as best practice, in the treatment of these children. However, little is known about the long-called-for collaboration between these professions. The purpose of this study was to explore factors and implications associated with a collaborative practice between optometrists and occupational therapists in the co-management of vision deficits in the pediatric population. Methods: A qualitative, descriptive design was employed to explore perceptions of collaborative practice among teams of optometrists and occupational therapists in the remedial care of children with visual deficits. Following IRB approval, co-located optometrists and occupational therapists were recruited for this study. Semistructured interviews served as the primary data collection tool to investigate the factors and implications of collaborative practice. Results: Eleven professionals provided informed consent and took part in this study, including five occupational therapists and six optometrists. Following thematic analysis, four overarching themes emerged including 1) professional boundaries, 2) co-located, integrated practice, 3) professional growth, and 4) improved patient care. Participants indicated that although barriers exist, exercising humility, upholding patient-centered focus, maintaining mutual respect, communicating frequently, and co-location were factors that enable collaboration. Positive outcomes related to both the provider and the patient were further highlighted supporting the interprofessional collaboration between these professionals. Conclusions: The findings of this qualitative study add to the body of evidence underpinning interprofessional collaborative practice. Furthermore, this study supports the coordination of care, through optometry and occupational therapy collaboration, in the treatment of visual deficits in children with special needs.

On behalf of the editorial board of Pan African Science Journal (PASJ), I take this opportunity to introduce to you Pan African Science Journal (PASJ) which is a new journal with focus on physical and life sciences. The PASJ publishes on a bi-monthly basis. We publish editorial notes, review articles, full research articles, letters to and case studies on all aspects of physical and life sciences under the topics of Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Public Health, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Botany, Zoology, Environmental Ecology and Fisheries & Aquatic Ecology. PASJ editorial team consists of young and vibrant scientists and academicians from various parts of the world whose scientific specializations covers all the designated journal topics. The highly qualified and dedicated expert editorial team will endeavor to professionally guide the entire PASJ publication process. PASJ comes as a unique international journal whose major focus is to promote African scientific works and publication standards through contribution to the dissemination of scientific knowledge and opinion that emanate from Africa and beyond. PASJ’s main aim is to upscale the quality of scientific output, specifically by Africans/within Africa, through playing a pivotal role in affordably, effectively and efficiently publishing of high-quality scientific work, while adhering to and upholding all the internationally binding scientific publication ethics and standards. It aims at bridging the wide gap that exists in scientific publication output between the researchers/academicians from developed and developing countries such as African nations. The inauguration of PASJ comes at a time when the contribution of science to solving major global problems such as climate change, food insecurity, environmental pollution and emerging infectious diseases such as the COVID 19 is key. I hope that we will support each other in this journey to progress and ensure that the PASJ professionally drives its mandate and continue to achieve the purpose for its formation to ensure that it becomes a reputable Journal of choice in Africa and beyond. Thank you, and we welcome you as we engage and corporate in this new and exciting journey.

The rapid expansion across sectors of global economy has changed the way we should educate and train our future engineering professionals. Upholding of the old standards by engineering institutions can not help much to improve the quality of engineers as well as impose difficulty in adapting to the rapidly changing global market. This paper addresses various holistic development models such as internships, self / online / blended / design-based learning through goal oriented activities, adopted worldwide and what we propose and implemented at TCET, the challenges we faced and the learning we developed. Embedding Diversity, Equity, and Excellence to the institute is critical. Further, stating future plans for the same which consists of selfefficacy beliefs, Intrinsic growth and Confidence in students. Major focus for over all development should be on work ethics, time management, team work and taking personal responsibility, conduct basic research, critical thinking skills and lack of interest in reading beyond curriculum. Through various tests and trials in order to develop engineering graduates on all front, it has been observed that beyond component learning cannot be imposed and different category of students are to be treated differentially to groom them. With that, positive feedback system helps student to understand his/her passion and identify the future scope in that domain. In all, online courses, project development and internships have shown acceptance by student community. The goal is to enhance personal, physical, emotional, and creative potential of students. They further appreciate hands on sessions and industry exposure through Industrial visits and Alumni Connect Programmes

Objective Health equity considerations have not been incorporated into prior Canadian Rheumatology Association guidelines. Our objective was to identify the challenges and possible solutions to mitigate threats to health equity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) care in Canada. Methods A consultation process informed selection of priority populations, determined to be rural and remote, Indigenous, elderly with frailty, first generation immigrant and refugee, low income and vulnerably housed, and diverse gender and sex populations. Semi-structured interviews were completed with patients with lived experience, healthcare providers and equity-oriented researchers. These interviews probed on population factors, initial and ongoing healthcare access issues, and therapeutic considerations influencing RA care. Known or proposed solutions to mitigate inequities during implementation of service models for the population group were requested. The research team used a phenomenological thematic analysis model and mapped the data into a logic model. Solutions applicable to several population groups were proposed. Results 35 interviews were completed to identify realities for each population in accessing RA care. Five themes emerged as primary solutions to population-based inequities, including actively improving the patient-practitioner relationship; increasing accessibility and coordination of care through alternative models of care; upholding autonomy in treatment selection while actively addressing logistical barriers and individualized therapy needs; collaborating with health supports valued by the patient; and being advocates for policy change and health system restructuring to ensure appropriate resource redistribution. Conclusion The challenges for populations facing inequities in rheumatology care and promising solutions should inform guideline development and implementation, policy change and health system restructuring.

Abstract Background Inuit experience the highest cancer mortality rates from lung cancer in the world with increasing rates of other cancers in addition to other significant health burdens. Inuit who live in remote areas must often travel thousands of kilometers to large urban centres in southern Canada and negotiate complex and sometimes unwelcoming health care systems. There is an urgent need to improve Inuit access to and use of health care. Our study objective was to understand the experiences of Inuit in Canada who travel from a remote to an urban setting for cancer care, and the impacts on their opportunities to participate in decisions during their journey to receive cancer care. Methods We are an interdisciplinary team of Steering Committee and researcher partners (“the team”) from Inuit-led and/or -specific organizations that span Nunavut and the Ontario cancer health systems. Guided by Inuit societal values, we used an integrated knowledge translation (KT) approach with qualitative methods. We conducted semi-structured interviews with Inuit participants and used process mapping and thematic analysis. Results We mapped the journey to receive cancer care and related the findings of client (n = 8) and medical escort (n = 6) (“participant”) interviews in four themes: 1) It is hard to take part in decisions about getting health care; 2) No one explains the decisions you will need to make; 3) There is a duty to make decisions that support family and community; 4) The lack of knowledge impacts opportunities to engage in decision making. Participants described themselves as directed, with little or no support, and seeking opportunities to collaborate with others on the journey to receive cancer care. Conclusions We describe the journey to receive cancer care as a “decision chain” which can be described as a series of events that lead to receiving cancer care. We identify points in the decision chain that could better prepare Inuit to participate in decisions related to their cancer care. We propose that there are opportunities to build further health care system capacity to support Inuit and enable their participation in decisions related to their cancer care while upholding and incorporating Inuit knowledge.

This study undertakes an analysis of the conceptualization of gender identity in neuroscientific studies of (trans)gender identity that contrast the brains of cisgender and transgender participants. The analysis focuses on instances of epistemic injustice that combine scientific deficiencies and the exclusion of relevant bodies of knowledge. The results of a content analysis show how the ignoring of biosocial, developmental, mosaicist, contextualist, and depathologizing approaches leads to internal conceptual inconsistencies, hermeneutical deficiencies and the upholding of questionable paradigms in the research field. Interviews with researchers involved in these brain studies reveal targeted and diffuse forms of testimonial injustice against alternative approaches, promoted by the hierarchical arrangements of research teams in combination with the careerist and economic logic of research. The analysis points to the exclusion of critical epistemologies of science and the historical oppression of trans people as epistemic agents as the underlying hermeneutical deficiencies.

Wind resistance is the primary external factor riders have to overcome in cycling. In order to share this burden members of opposing teams often cooperate e.g. to secure the existence of a breakaway. To avoid free-riders a tacit social contract of sharing the work-load is formed among the riders in question. Taking its point of departure in qualitative interviews with Danish elite cyclists, this article demonstrates how the social contract sometimes becomes explicit and an agreement of the podium placing is formed between riders in the final break-away before they arrive at the finish line. The article examines riders’ explanations of and attitudes to these arrangements, and it discusses to what extent the arrangements can be understood as match-fixing. While the available evidence suggests that the arrangement are best understood as an integrated element of cycling culture with a purpose of upholding a certain social order, the article also demonstrates how the social contract and the accompanying agreements implies a corruption of the sport in germ form. On this basis the article concludes that it is only the sport’s culture and individual riders’ self-discipline that can

The Journal of the International Child Neurology Association (JICNA), was officially launched in February 2015 although the proceedings of the 13th International Child Neurology Congress in 2014 was, published under the platform in the previous year. The JICNA editorial team was announced, and constituted of members of the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA) executive board with representation from all geographical regions and across all major child neurology disciplines. The launch of JICNA represented a major milestone in the history of the association, founded in 1973 with the goal of promoting education and research in child neurology worldwide. Open access publishing in child neurology hardly existed before, and JICNA thus became the first fully open access multidisciplinary peer reviewed ejournal in child neurology. JICNA has steadily progressed over its initial years and now in its 7th year, is poised to establish itself as a major open access platform for disseminating scientific research in child neurology. Closely integrated with its parent organization the ICNA and ICNApedia, the association’s flagship knowledge environment platform, JICNA editorial policy is aimed at both facilitating access to and disseminating research, particularly from resource poor settings. As part of this remit, JICNA adopts the association's consensus position on scientific issues treated within its published articles. The special articles published from the ICNA Advocacy Committee on genetic testing for rare disorders [1] and other articles in the pipeline on “vaccination against measles” and “stem cell therapy in neurological disorders” reflect the journal’s ethos. The ongoing global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov2) and its disease (COVID-19) has highlighted more than ever the importance and need for open science. The dissemination of scientific research following the outbreak has no doubt brought to attention the significant changes that have occured in the field of scientific publishing, with how research is communicated and how researchers engage, share and contribute. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a spate of preprint articles, which, while potentially life-saving, also risk dissemination of poor-quality work. While we are not against such author-led rapid publication workflows, we would advise caution against its potential risks. The pandemic again has shown that timely access of researchers to information and knowledge is key to fighting global diseases and problems that threaten humanity. It remains a sad truth that researchers across the world remain cut off from a vast body of information and knowledge that ought to have been readily accessible by them. The scientific community has long been aware of the hindrance of traditional publishing models to the dissemination of scientific research. Research can only flourish through collaboration, and it is imperative that research is made more visible by breaking cost, language and geographic barriers. Although governments, major universities and funders, such as Harvard University and the Wellcome Trust, have long acknowledged and taken steps to promote this, urging their academics to consider open access venues for publishing their work, there still remains much progress to be made. The four main factors considered by authors in deciding their choice of journal are visibility, cost, prestige and speed. “Brand-name” journals are still favoured by authors to promote their academic career prospects. While an open-access publishing model in itself is not a hindrance to a journal’s success, it is acknowledged that JICNA should gain an impact factor and improve its visibility further. JICNA has now been consistently publishing, following a stringent peer review, original articles, trial reports, case studies and timely reviews, since its inception in 2015. JICNA is currently indexed in Google Scholar, CrossRef and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and will, this year, be making a submission to PubMed Central® & MEDLINE®. The journal also subscribes to robust archiving systems including CLOCKSS & PORTICO. In the current environment, where the open access publishing model is at danger of being exploited by predatory publishers with lax editorial policies and peer-reviews risk perpetuating bad research, a journal like JICNA certainly assumes greater significance. The ICNA is committed to maintaining JICNA free of cost to its readers, with an expedited publication workflow while ensuring strict peer-review standards. The JICNA editorial board is extremely thankful to all the peer reviewers and members of the editorial board, without whose support this would not have been possible. JICNA follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Best Practice Guidelines and is committed to upholding standards of ethical behaviour at all stages of the publication process. The journal is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, permitting any user to “distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work,” provided that they credit the original authors in all cases, ensuring the copyright remaining with the main author. We would like to once again thank all authors, peer-reviewers and the editorial board for their valuable contributions to the success of the journal. We are looking to further expand our panel of reviewers and editorial board from across the various subspecialties in child neurology.

<p>The art of medical writing and science of scientific publishing has made tremendous progress during the last two decades. The revolution in information technology while on one hand has brought lot of ease and benefits, it has also created tremendous pressure and problems for the medial editors who are trying to come up to the expectations of authors who are very keen to see their manuscript published soon after submission.^1,2</p><p>     One can be a good physician or a good surgeon but it does not mean that he/she can also be a good Editor as one has to learn this art. That is why starting with the International Committee of Medial Journal Editors (ICMJE)^3,4 which was formed in 1978 and later World Association of Medical Editors formed in 1995⁵ have been working to improve the professional skills of medial editors by regularly organizing conferences, Hands on Workshops as well as seminars to train the editors. Their websites offer lot of useful information and training material. American Medial Writers Association (AMWA),⁶ European Medical Writers Association (EMWA)⁷ and European Association of Science Editors (EASE)⁸ founded in 1982 have also been doing a commendable job helping the authors and researchers. They too organize their annual conferences and training workshops on regular basis. Then came the various regional bodies like Eastern Mediterranean Association of Medical Editors (EMAME) and Asia – Pacific Association of Medial Editors (APAME) which have been busy in promoting the discipline of medical journalism in their respective regions.^9,10 Numerous countries in these regions have also formed their own associations of medical journal editors to improve the professional capacity of their member editors in their respective countries. Pakistan which had taken an active part in establishing the EMAME in 2003 did not lag behind and established Pakistan Association of Medial Editors (PAME) in 2010. Since then it has not only hosted EMMJ5 Medical Journals Conference in 2010 which was attended by thirty four foreign delegates and guest speakers from eighteen countries but has also organized three national conferences and a large number of Hands on Workshops all over the country.¹¹</p><p>     PAME organized training course for medical journal editors at Karachi on July 14, 2012, at PIMS Islamabad on September 15, 2012, at Khyber Medical University at Peshawar in Khyber KPK on September 16, 2012 and at University of Health Sciences Lahore on April 25, 2013. PAME organized yet another training course for medical journal editors at University of Health Sciences Lahore on March 4-5^th 2016. All this was aimed at to build up the professional capacity of editors of biomedical journals published from Pakistan.</p><p>     Journalology has now emerged as an important discipline with numerous subspecialties. Publishing a good quality peer reviewed journal is an uphill task which requires a team work. Publishing a medical journal is not economically viable for many institutions and organizations. The problems are further compounded with the non-availability of good Peer Reviewers, willing and interested Editorial Board Members which play a vital role in improving the contents and quality of a journal. If this was not all, the issues like plagiarism, scientific misconduct and upholding professional ethics has made the job of the editors more difficult. Institutions like Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) UK has come up with very informative Flow Charts to guide the editors on dealing with scientific misconduct including plagiarism, duplicate and redundant publication etc., but it has not made the life of medical journal editors easy.¹²It is extremely important that one should opt for professionalism, seeks help and assistance from the respective government institutions, organizations to find a solution to the various problems with the medical journal editors are facing. It was in this context that PAME in its Third National Conference held at UHS Lahore from April 1 – 2, 2016 had devoted a special session to  “Professionalism and Medical Journal Editors” where representatives of Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&amp;DC) were also invited. However, it was unfortunate that none of them came to attend the meeting thus deprived themselves to update on latest developments and problems faced by Editors.</p><p>     Some of the issues concerning both these institutions which were highlighted during the conference were as under:</p><p> <strong>Pakistan Medical and Dental Council</strong></p><ol><li>Its website is not updated regularly.<ol><li>List of PM&amp;DC recognized journals is not update and lacks lot of information and there is no mention of Publication Ethics.</li><li>There is a communication gap between the PM&amp; DC and the Editors. Not enough time is given when asking for some documents or holding meeting of Journals Evaluation Committee.</li><li>Communications sent to the PM&amp;DC remain unanswered and it makes no differentiation between those journals who fulfill all the requirements, are published regularly and those who do not follow the laid down criteria.</li><li>Communications received from the Journals Committee of PM&amp;DC from time to time have a threatening tone and they need to show respect to the Editors.</li><li>PM&amp;DC wants the journals to submit plagiarism report but provides no help or assistance to the journals in this regard.</li></ol></li></ol><p> <strong>Higher Education Commission</strong></p><ol><li>Communications received from Quality Assurance Department regarding meeting of Journal Evaluation Committee does not give enough time.</li><li>In the past HEC used to provide the facility of checking manuscripts for plagiarism using the Turnitin software but now it has been restricted to medical universities only.</li><li>HEC website is also not updated regularly.<ol><li>Communication gap between the HEC and Medial Journal Editors also needs improvement.</li></ol></li></ol><p>     It will be unfair not to mention the generous grant the Higher Education Commission has been providing to its recognized biomedical journals for the last many years but it will be much better if it is replaced by providing much needed services and software facilities.</p><p>     Pakistan Association of Medical Editors with its meager resources has been doing a commendable job to help improve the professional capacity of Editors through various ways. Its website also contains some useful material for the training of the new editors.¹¹ Regulatory bodies like PM&amp;DC and HEC working in close collaboration with PAME can work wonders and go a long way in improving the standard of biomedical journals published from Pakistan. Commission on Iranian Medical Journals based in Ministry of Health in Islamic Republic of Iran apart from providing financial assistance also provides software for checking plagiarism, helps the journal in preparing their websites, helps them provide facilities of XML which has helped a large number of Iranian Medical Journals to go to PubMed Central and has thus increased their visibility and readership manifold. The number of medical journals published from Iran was ninety in 2005 which has now increased to over four hundred. Seventy two of these Iranian Medical Journals are visible on PubMed, PubMed Central and Medline while twenty are covered by ISI Thompson Reuter known for Impact Factor.¹³ On the contrary only about half a dozen medical journals from Pakistan are covered by Medline, PubMed and PubMed Central and only four medical journals from Pakistan has an Impact Factor.¹⁴</p><p>     Our regulatory bodies can learn from Iran and that is what the HEC should be doing in Pakistan. Instead of offering any financial grants it can better utilize the same resources to provide facilities for checking plagiarism, software to prepare XML files for submission to PubMed Central, organizing training workshops for Editors and support staff on Open Journal System, electronic publishing, peer review, publication ethics etc. PAME has the professional capacity to help PM&amp;DC and HEC to realize these objectives. What is missing is the proper liaison and understanding between Medical Journal Editors and these regulatory bodies like PM&amp; DC and HEC. A study presented at the PAME Third National Conference by the author had also heighted some basic and serious deficiencies in the journals which are recognized by PM&amp;DC as well as HEC because the members of their respective Journal Evaluation Committees are not fully conversant with the latest developments in the field of medical journalism. These committees need to be further strengthened by inducting competent, knowledgeable professional editors and PAME has time and again offered its help and assistance in this regard. Even once the PM&amp;DC had also issued a notification making PAME President an exoffico member of the Journals Evaluation Committee but no meeting was ever held.¹⁵</p><p>     To improve the present situation and find a workable, feasible, practical solution to the various problems being faced by the medical journal editors in Pakistan is not an uphill task. The objective of every one, the editors and regulatory bodies like PM&amp;DC and HEC are the same i.e. improvement in the quality of contents, standard of medical journals so that we can increase our contribution to the world medical literature and promote research culture in Pakistan. Intentions of everyone are good but what is lacking is cooperation, coordination and bridging the communication gap. It is never too late and let us makes a new beginning in our relationship. The role of the regulatory bodies is to facilitate and not to create hurdles and discourage those who are working under difficult circumstances with meager resources and facilities available.</p>