Jayesh Bhatt, Christine Nye and Vincent Kirkbride
Gentamicin is one of the most frequently used antibiotics in neonatal units and there are many regimes in use based on weight and/or gestational age (GA). Direct costs include…
Abstract
Gentamicin is one of the most frequently used antibiotics in neonatal units and there are many regimes in use based on weight and/or gestational age (GA). Direct costs include prescription and therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). A retrospective audit (loop 1) identified 48 per cent trough and 51 per cent peak levels outside the desirable range (trough: ≤2; peak: 5‐10 mg/L). A prospective re‐audit (loop 2) showed improved results (15 per cent and 29 per cent), which improved further (11 per cent and 26 per cent) in loop 3. For loops 1, 2, and 3 the mean (±SD) trough levels were 2.16 (±1.04), 1.30 (± 0.63) and 1.23 (±0.62) respectively and peak levels were 5.05 (±1.87), 6.64 (±2.48), and 6.2 (±1.81) respectively. Cost savings occurred as the number of doses required was reduced by one‐third to 50 per cent, depending upon the infant characteristics. Furthermore, in 27 per cent of cases, gentamicin was discontinued before TDM was necessary. By completing the audit cycle improved quality of therapeutic care has been achieved, with more accurate drug monitoring targets achieved and reduced drug costs.
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Mariah Yates and Michael J. Urick
This chapter explores the essence of transformational leadership through Taylor Swift’s unique perspective on fearlessness, highlighting the importance of resilience and…
Abstract
This chapter explores the essence of transformational leadership through Taylor Swift’s unique perspective on fearlessness, highlighting the importance of resilience and perseverance. Swift’s leadership style exemplifies key principles such as inspirational motivation, idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. By inspiring fans with a compelling vision, fostering trust through authenticity, engaging creatively with her audience, and supporting individual growth, Swift demonstrates how transformational leadership can drive remarkable success. This chapter provides valuable insights on how transformational leadership (Downton, 1973) can positively impact any team or organization.
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Reexamination and reinterpretation of the process of deinstitutionalization of public mental hospital inpatients.
Abstract
Purpose
Reexamination and reinterpretation of the process of deinstitutionalization of public mental hospital inpatients.
Methodology/approach
A comprehensive review of related research is presented and lessons learned for the sociology of mental health are identified.
Findings
The processes of both institutionalization and deinstitutionalization were motivated by belief in the influence of the social environment on the course of mental illness, but while in the early 19th century the social environment of the mental hospital was seen as therapeutic, later in the 20th century the now primarily custodial social environment of large state mental hospitals was seen as iatrogenic. Nonetheless, research in both periods indicated the benefit of socially supportive environments in the hospital, while research on programs for deinstitutionalized patients and for homeless persons indicated the value of comparable features in community programs.
Research limitations/implications
While the process of deinstitutionalization is largely concluded, research should focus on identifying features of the social environment that can maximize rehabilitation.
Practical implications
The debate over the merits of hospital-based and community-based mental health services is misplaced; policies should instead focus on the alternatives for providing socially supportive environments. Deinstitutionalization in the absence of socially supportive programs has been associated with increased rates of homelessness and incarceration among those most chronically ill.
Originality/value
A comprehensive analysis of deinstitutionalization that highlights flaws in prior sociological perspectives and charts a new direction for scholarship.
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In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…
Abstract
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.
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Sapna Popli and Irfan A. Rizvi
The purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of leadership style and employee engagement (EE) as drivers of service orientation (SO). The competing models approach used in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of leadership style and employee engagement (EE) as drivers of service orientation (SO). The competing models approach used in this study examines three models of influence on SO. The first model evaluates the influence of leadership on SO, the second focuses on the influence of EE on SO and the third explores the influence of leadership on SO through EE. The study provides evidence to support that the relationship between leadership styles and SO is impacted by EE. The results suggest that organizations need to develop systems and processes that focus on the employee and EE for definitive service outcomes. At a theoretical level, the paper provides a direction for further exploration of an integrated theory of leadership and engagement to drive SO in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This empirical study uses a cross-sectional descriptive design. Hierarchical regression and mediation analysis were applied to process the data that were collected from more than 400 front-line employees from five service sector organizations in the Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR) of India using validated instruments.
Findings
The results from this study reveal both direct and indirect relationships among the variables. EE emerged as a critical variable that influences SO of employees. EE partially mediates the transformational leadership style-SO relationship and also the passive-avoidant-SO relationship and it fully mediates the transactional leadership-SO relationship. While all relationships of leadership-engagement, leadership-SO and engagement-SO are significant, the mediating effects accentuate the importance of EE in organizations.
Practical implications
Leadership style on its own has a direct bearing on EE and SO of employees, the three associations are significantly impacted under the mediating influence of EE. With EE emerging as a critical factor, organizations need to ensure engaging behaviors are measured and enhanced throughout the employee-life-cycle including hiring, training, rewarding and managing performance. The results of the study suggest that an integrated approach of developing and inculcating leadership styles that drive EE could be the basis for leadership development programs especially in the service sector organizations.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper is derived from the three variables studied in the context of the sample characteristics (front-line employees, young), industry sector (across service sector) and geographical location (Delhi-NCR-India). Not many empirical studies on these variables are available from the region. The empirical evidence on the influence of EE adds weight to the growing strategic importance of EE in organizations. The research also highlights leadership and EE together influence specific employee attitudes and behavior (SO).
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Muhammad Ali Asadullah, Jean Marie Peretti, Arain Ghulam Ali and Marina Bourgain
The purpose of this paper was to test the mediating role of training duration in relationship between firm characteristics and training evaluation practices. In this paper, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to test the mediating role of training duration in relationship between firm characteristics and training evaluation practices. In this paper, the authors also investigated if this mediating effect differs with respect to the size of the firm.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data from 260 professionals of 90 call centers.
Findings
The authors found that training duration mediates the relationship between firm size and training evaluation. The authors also found that indirect effect of firm size on training evaluation through training duration differs across different levels of firm size but not across different levels of ownership.
Research limitations/implications
This is a cross-sectional study that emphasized on training evaluation practices only.
Practical implications
The study has implication for both evaluation researchers and practitioners in terms of designing training evaluation policies and practices.
Originality/value
This is the first study in its nature that explains the intervening role of training duration in relationship of firm characteristics and training evaluation practices.
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Roberta Julian and Sally F. Kelty
The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss key risk factors in the use of forensic science in the criminal justice system by adopting a holistic and systemic approach…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss key risk factors in the use of forensic science in the criminal justice system by adopting a holistic and systemic approach that examines the collection and use of forensic evidence from crime scene to court.
Design/methodology/approach
The research on which the paper is based was a mixed-method five-year study of the effectiveness of forensic science in the criminal justice system in Australia using qualitative and quantitative methods. The paper draws on the in-depth analysis of qualitative data from 11 case studies of investigations of serious crime to identify key risk factors in the use of forensic science from crime scene to court.
Findings
Six key risk factors in the forensic process from crime scene to court are identified: low level of forensic awareness among first responders; crime scene examiners (CSEs) as technicians rather than professionals; inefficient and/or ineffective laboratory processes; limited forensic literacy among key actors in the criminal justice system; poor communication between key actors in the criminal justice system; and, financial resources not directed at the front end of the forensic process. Overall the findings demonstrate that forensic science is not well embedded in the criminal justice system.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that the risks inherent in the current practice of forensic science in the criminal justice system can be reduced dramatically through: forensic awareness training among first responders; the professionalisation of CSEs; continued improvements in efficiency and effectiveness at the laboratory with a focus on timeliness and quality; greater forensic literacy among actors in the criminal justice system; appropriate avenues of communication between agencies, practitioners and policymakers in the criminal justice system; and increased allocation of resources to the front end of the forensic process.
Originality/value
By adopting a holistic, systemic approach to the analysis of forensic science in the criminal justice system, and identifying inherent risks in the system, this paper contributes to the emerging body of research on the social processes that impact on the effectiveness of forensic science.
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Fred Cooper and Charlotte Jones
This paper explores the dissonance between co-production and expectations of impact in a research project on student loneliness over the 2019/2020 academic year. Specific…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the dissonance between co-production and expectations of impact in a research project on student loneliness over the 2019/2020 academic year. Specific characteristics of the project – the subject matter, interpolation of a global respiratory pandemic, informal systems of care that arose among students and role of the university in providing the context and funding for the research – brought co-production into heightened tension with the instrumentalisation of project outputs.
Design/methodology/approach
The project consisted of a series of workshops, research meetings and mixed-methods online journalling between 2019 and 2020. This paper is primarily a critical reflection on that research, based on observations by and conversations between the authors, together with discourse analysis of research data.
Findings
The authors argue that co-producing research with students on university contexts elevates existing tensions between co-production and institutional valuations of impact, that co-production with students who had experienced loneliness made necessary space for otherwise absent support and care, that the responsibility to advocate for evidence and co-researchers came into friction with how the university felt the research could be useful and that each of these converging considerations are interconnected symptoms of the ongoing marketisation of HE.
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel analysis of co-production, impact and higher education in the context of an original research project with specific challenges and constraints. It is a valuable contribution to methodological literatures on co-production, multidisciplinary research into student loneliness and reflexive work on the difficult uses of evidence in university contexts.
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Patrick Hopkinson, Andrew Voyce and Jerome Carson
The purpose of this paper is to compare the stories of Syd Barrett musician, with Andrew Voyce, and their respective recovery journeys.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the stories of Syd Barrett musician, with Andrew Voyce, and their respective recovery journeys.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use collaborative autoethnography to share their own perspectives on Syd Barrett and to contrast his story with that of Andrew, a co-author.
Findings
Both Syd and Andrew experienced serious mental distress. While Syd had only limited contact with mental health services, Andrew’s contact was extensive, with a 20-year history of admissions and discharges. In the end, when the psychiatric services listened to Andrew’s concerns and acted on them, he was able to enter into the journey of recovery.
Research limitations/implications
The authors are restricted in the amount of available information on Syd Barrett, especially that related to mental health problems. The story of Andrew shows how recovery is possible even after years of serious mental illness.
Practical implications
Andrew’s story shows why professionals should never give up on people, with even the most seemingly severe and intractable problems. Could services have done more for Syd?
Social implications
Mental illness still attracts huge stigma. Today there is a much more open culture. Would Syd have come out about his own struggles with mental health had society been more open?
Originality/value
Bringing together two stories of mental distress enables the authors to explore the concept of recovery.