Clerical Assistance Research Articles

Audit of a complete home nebulizer service provided by a respiratory nurse specialist

A retrospective audit was performed of a home nebulizer service managed entirely by a Respiratory Nurse Specialist (RNS). We examined (i) the role and workload of the RNS, (ii) the outcome of referrals to the service and (iii) the subsequent compliance with treatment of patients prescribed home nebulized bronchodilators. The case notes and RNS records of all patients referred for consideration of home nebulized bronchodilators over a 9-month period were reviewed. The nebulizer service encompassed patient assessment, trials of nebulized therapy, nebulizer tissue and patient registration and an exchange and servicing system. The non clerical aspects of the service took 9 h per week, 24% of total RNS time. A further 15 h weekly of clerical time was also required. Of 76 referrals, 57 (75%) patients had chronic airflow obstruction (CAO). In CAO patients, 41 had a trial of nebulized therapy and in 27 (66%) such therapy was considered beneficial. In the other 16 CAO patients the RNS deemed a trial inappropriate or impractical and 12 such patients were prescribed nebulized therapy. Overall, therefore 39/57 (68%) of CAO referrals were prescribed home nebulized therapy. At 3-6 months, seven (18%) patients were using their nebulizer infrequently or not at all, 25 (64%) one to four times daily, and seven (18%) four times daily. We conclude that a RNS can manage a complete nebulizer service, but at a considerable cost in professional time. Clerical assistance is essential if appropriate use is to be made of the skills of an RNS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Transitioning Students with Physical and Multiple Disabilities to Supported Employment

Until recent years the primary responsibility for the vocational preparation and employment of persons with significant disabilities rested with the adult service system. After leaving school, these students typically entered a rehabilitation facility which provided them with skill training intended to prepare them for competitive employment. Today, the supported employment model of service delivery for people with significant disabilities is being adopted by rehabilitation programs. Using this approach, these agencies have shifted their focus from preparation to the establishment of employment opportunities for persons given the skills and abilities with which they come to the program. 1,2 Within the supported employment model, school programs are expected to playa much greater role in both the vocational preparation and employment of students. 3,4 Schools must assume major responsibility for teaching students those joband job-related skills that will permit them to work as independently and productively as possible. In addition, the school program is responsible for ensuring that a student is employed before or soon after departing school and that the supports the student will require to maintain the job are in place. Much attention has been given to identifying effective vocational preparation and employment strategies for individuals with disabilities. However, the focus of these efforts has been on students who experience cognitive disabilities; little attention has been given to the unique vocational preparation and employment challenges posed by students who experience physical and multiple disabilities, such as Angel and Kelly. 5,6 Angel experiences cerebral palsy and moderate cognitive disabilities (i.e., mental retardation). She is unable to read and has only limited number skills (counting and number recognition). She has no functional use of her left hand, but some use of her right hand. She uses a power wheelchair to drive long distances and a manual chair for short distances. She is able to speak, although in a slow and labored fashion. Angel has been employed as a clerical assistant at a credit union for approximately two years, beginning the job in her last year of school. Kelly also experiences cerebral palsy, moderate cognitive disabilities, and very limited academic skills. He has little functional use of both hands and uses a power chair for mobility. He is able to speak, but is difficult to understand. Kelly has been employed by a deli as a sandwich delivery person for three years, ajob created for him before he completed school. Angel and Kelly are two students who participated in a project called the Oregon Transition to Employment Project (OTEP), the purpose of which was to identify and put into practice strategies that districts can use to assist

Computer Management of Student Performance

12 P h ysical educators face increasing demands to justify that their teaching makes a difference in student learning outcomes and that their programs are effective, accountable, andjustified (Dauer & Pangrazi, 1986; Siedentop, Mand & Taggart, 1986). Although the need to document their effectiveness is apparent to many physical educators, their ability to respond to this need is inhibited by the enormous data management task they face (Wendt & Morrow, 1986; Wessel & Kelly, 1986). The average physical educator may be responsible for teaching between 250 to 500 different students each week. Ifa physical educator wanted to distribute quarterly progress reports to the students and their parents, this would entail computing and preparing somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 separate reports a year. Short of adding staff or clerical assistance, both which are highly unlikely, the only feasible solution to the student performance management task facing physical educators is to harness the power of microcomputers which are readily available in most public schools (Ingersoll & Smith, 1984; Morahan, 1985). With the use of a microcomputer and a student performance management program, 500 student reports could be generated in a matter of hours. A student performance management system could also address other questions such as what objectives were taught most or least effectively and whether instruction led to significant gains in student performance. This information, compiled into reports and distributed to administrators, would document the effectiveness of the physical education program. Finally, the use of computer technology would allow physical educators to more efficiently deal with the time-consuming task of managing student performance data, thus freeing more time to devote to planning and improving the quality of instruction. Two major categories of database management programs can be used by physical educators to manage their student performance data: generic database programs and specialized application database programs. The major advantage of generic database management programs is that the user can decide exactly what data will be managed, how the data will be manipulated, and what the reports will contain and look like. A commercial example of a generic database management program would be dBASE III Plus (Ashton-Tate, 1985). The major disadvantage of generic database programs is that they require more time and expertise to set up and use. Generic database programs are therefore really only a viable option for physical educators with above average computer skills or previous experience with database management programs. Specialized application database programs, on the other hand, have been designed to be simple to use and to minimize the amount of set-up time and expertise required of the user. The major advantage of specialized application database programs is that they can be used by a novice after only a short period of exploration with the program. The major disadvantage of specialized application programs is that the user has less control over what is managed by the program. To make these programs easier to use, the programmers have decided what data can be managed, how the data can be manipulated, and what the output reports will contain and look like. Given physical education budget restraints and the probability that most physical educators will possess only entry level computer skills, the primary option for most physical educators will be to begin their student performance management with a commercial management program designed specifically for physical education. This article describes what should be contained in a student performance management program and what should be considered when evaluating such a program for use in physical education. General guidelines are provided to assist physical educators in evaluating and selecting management programs to meet their specific needs.

Neonatal screening for congenital hypothyroidism in a developing country: problems and strategies.

Neonatal screening in India poses more organisational and socio-economic rather than medical challenges. Based on the pilot study of 450 cord sera, the plan for screening considered cord TSH 80 as indicative of hypothyroid state, with recall by home visits. Of the 17,240 live births only 12,407 cord sera were collected. Envisaging follow-up difficulties, T4 was assayed in cord sera when TSH was>30 μ U/ml. 2·81% (350) babies needed recall. Only 30% of 302 (2·43%) babies with cord TSG 30 to 80 responded, to recall letters and were normal; availability of both cord TSH and T4 helped in excluding hypothyroidism in majority of non-respondents. Forty-eight (0·38%) newborns had TSH>90 μU/ml; 80% of this group and 100% with TSH> 100 μU/ml were traced by home visits. Hypothyroidism was confirmed in 5/48, biochemically and by thyroid scan. All five hypothyroids had cord TSH>300 μU/ml. The incidence in this nonendemic region of India was 1∶2481. Thus false elevation of cord TSH 30 to 300 μU/ml was noted in 0·34% with a chance of detecting a hypothyroid 1 in 10 when TSH>80 μU/ml. Screening strategies in a developing country must ensure meticulous clerical assistance, co-operation and education of nurses and parents, precise and cost effective technics and facilities for continued surveilance of detected hypothyroids.

Increased Salary as an Alternative to Group Term Life Insurance

Increased Salary as an Alternative to Group Term Life Insurance

Scholarly Productivity of Faculty at ALA-Accredited Programs of Library and Information Science

This study examines the relationship between scholarly publication of faculty teaching at American Library Association-accredited programs of library and information science and selected variables. The findings have implications for accreditation of library and information science programs, faculty development planning, tenure requirements, and persons seeking faculty positions in these programs. A stratified proportional random sample of faculty was taken. Data were collected from questionnaires, faculty vitae, online databases, and standard biographical and reference sources. Statistics stepwise logistic regression and chi square analysis were employed. Four variables entered the logistic regression equation highest degree earned, size of the university, availability of nonstudent clerical assistance for faculty, and number of different courses taught. Chi square analysis found 6 of the 1 8 independent variables related to the dependent variable, scholarly publication. They are highest degree earned, number of years elapsed from bachelor's degree to highest degree earned, program type, size of faculty, prestige of program, and teaching load.

PROBLEMS AND STRATEGIES IN NEONATAL SCREENING FOR CONGENITAL HYPOTHYROIDISM IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

Neonatal screening in India poses more of organizational and socioeconomic rather than medical challenges. Based on our data on hypothyroid infants and pilot study of 450 cord sera, the plan for screening considered cord TSH 80 as suggestive, with recall by home visits. Of the 17240 live births only 12407 cord sera were collected. Envisaging follow up difficulties, T4 was assayed in cord sera when TSH was > 30 μu/ml. 2.81% (350) babies needed recall. Only 30% of 302 (2.43%) babies with cord TSH 30 to 80 responded to recall letters and were normal; availability of both cord TSH and T4 helped in excluding hypothyroidism in majority of nonrespondents. 48 (0.38%) newborns had TSH > 80 μu/ml; 80% of this group and 100% with TSH > 100 were traced by home visits. Hypothyroidism was confirmed in 5/48, biochemically and by thyroid scan. All 5 hypothyroids had cord TSH > 300. The incidence in this nonendemic region of India was 1:2481. Thus false elevation of cord TSH 80 to 300 μu/ml was noted in 0.34% with a chance of detecting a hypothyroid 1 in 10 when TSH > 80. Maternal TSH of these newborns were normal. The approximate cost of screening per newborn was Rs.9.14. Screening strategies in a developing country besides other requirements must ensure meticulous clerical assistance, co-operation and education of nurses and parents, precise and cost effective technics and facilities for continued surveillance of detected hypothyroids.

Test of a Bonding/Association Theory of Adolescent Drug Use

A theoretical model of adolescent drug use is developed which integrates propositions derived from social control and differential association theories. The path model includes parental attachment, religious attachment, educational attachment, conventional values, and drug-using friends as precursors of drug use. For a sample of 2,626 adolescents from the southwestern United States, the model explains 34 percent of the variation in self-reported lifetime alcohol use, 27 percent in lifetime cigarette use, 42 percent in lifetime marijuana use, 26 percent in lifetime use of amphetamines and depressants, and 50 percent in overall lifetime drug use. The best single predictor of drug use is association with drug-using friends. The processes leading to involvement with drugs appear to be very similar across drug types. Adolescent drug use is widespread in America. Numerous recent authors suggest that involvement in such behavior has become a national concern, whether the substance is tobacco (Grunberg and Baum 1984; Humble et al. 1985; Lichtenstein 1982), alcohol (Barnes 1984; Pandina et al. 1984; Wechsler et al. 1984), marijuana (Hendin et al. 1981; Smith et al. 1982; Smith 1984), or other drugs (McDermott 1984; Marcos and Bahr 1985; Weidman 1983). Macdonald (1984) refers to adolescent drug use as a national disaster because of the high proportion of adolescents who use drugs and the negative consequences associated with use. By the time they are seniors in high school, over 90 percent of American adolescents have tried alcohol *Paper presented at the 1985 meeting of the Pacific Sociological Association. We acknowledge the cooperation of the schools that participated in this project, particularly the students who completed the questionnaires. We are grateful to Grant Rose and Tom Martin for computer assistance, to two anonymous referees for their suggestions, and to Norene Petersen and Brenda Johnson for clerical assistance. Address correspondence to Anastasios C. Marcos, Department of Sociology, 800 SWKT, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602.

Black American Doctorates in Sociology: A Follow-Up Study of Their Social and Educational Origins

* revised version of a paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the North Central Sociological Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, April 26, 1984, based on research supported, in part, by a small grant from the Indiana State University Research Committee. Acknowledged is the research assistance provided by: Linda Fleming, Patrick Handa and Jerre Cline and the clerical assistance of Doris Panagouleas. Milton Firestone of the Computer Center at Indiana State University supervised key-punching of the data. Dr. Betty Maxwell of the National Research Council provided national data on doctorates in America. Dr. William V. D'Antonio, Doris Wilkinson, Paul Williams and Bettina Huber, all from the executive office of the American Sociological Association, provided valuable data on sociologists. Special appreciation is reserved for Professor Martin Levin of Emory University who provided a host of activities associated with statistical programming and computer technology. 'Harry W. Greene, Holders of Doctorates Among American Negroes (Boston, 1946); G. Franklin Edwards, Professional Class (Glencoe, 1959); Horace Mann Bond, The Scholar and Professional, pp. 54889, in American Reference Book, ed. by John P. Davis (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1966); James A. Moss, The Integration of Teachers in Predominantly White Colleges, Journal of Education 27 (Fall 1958): 451-62; Daniel C. Thompson, Patterns of Teachers in Colleges, Social Forces 36 (March, 1958): 270-76 and Joseph S. Himes, The Teacher of in the College, Social Forces 24 (March, 1951): 302-05. 2 James E. Conyers, Negro Doctorates in Sociology: Social Portrait, Phylon 29 (Fall 1968): 209-23; also see Conyers and Edgar G. Epps, A Profile of in Sociologists, ed. by James E. Blackwell and Morris Janowitz (Chicago, 1974), Ch. 8, pp. 231-52. 3 Lauren Wispe. et al, The Psychologist in America, American Psychologist 24 (February, 1969): 14250; Edgar G. Epps and Glenn R. Howze, Survey of Social Scientists (Report to Russell Sage Foundation, 1971); Edgar G. Epps and Glenn R. Howze, The Status of Americans in the Field of Sociology (paper presented at 66th Annual Meeting of American Sociological Association, Denver, Colorado, 1971); Kent G. Mommsen, Professionalism and the Racial Context of Career Patterns Among American Doctorates, Journal of Education 42 (Spring 1973): 191-204; Kent G. Mommsen, On Recruiting American Sociologist 8 (August, 1973): 107-16; Kent G. Mommsen, Black Ph.D.'s in the Academic Marketplace: Supply, Demand and Price, Journal of Higher Education (April, 1974): 253-67; Kent G. Mommsen, Black Doctorates in American Higher Education: Cohort Analysis, Journal of Social and Behavioral Science (Spring 1974): 101-17; James W. Bryant, Survey of American Doctorates (The Ford Foundation, 1970); James M. Jay, Negroes in Science: Natural Science Doctorates (Detroit, 1971); Willie Pearson, Jr., The Social Origins of American Doctorates in the Sciences, Sociological Spectrum 2 (April/June 1982): 13-29; William Moore and Lonnie H. Wagstaff, Educators in White Colleges (San Francisco, 1974).

AUDIT OF SURGICAL AUDIT

A clinical audit, run by surgeons with modest clerical assistance, has been incorporated into the routine clinical practice of all hospitals in a large health authority. Data on operations and deaths are integrated into routine clinical recording, and feedback is by annual report containing statistical analyses and critical commentaries and by discussions with colleagues. The results of the first five years show statistically significant falls in the number of reoperations for intra-abdominal complications, retained gallstones, arterial grafts, and amputations and in operative mortality following surgery for benign biliary and pancreatic disease, resection of large bowel for benign disease, operations on aortic aneurysms, and arterial grafts except for aneurysms. Although the audit was designed originally for monitoring and improving quality of care, other uses include monitoring of increasing specialisation and changes in clinical practice, planning surgical services and postgraduate training, and showing the effects of changes in the availability of resources.

Feeding of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in Oxygen and Serum

ornatum is 22 for females and 21 for males, and the sex determining mechanism is XX: XO. We thank Dr. W. J. Gladney for sending us specimens of A. inornatum from which our laboratory colony originated. Thanks are also extended to Dr. J. Mathews Pound for help with the figure and to him and Cheryl Morris for editorial and clerical assistance. This research was supported in part by Grant AI-09556 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH) and Contract N-00014-80-C-0546 from the Office of Naval Research.

Intraoperative Awareness and Hypertensive Crisis during High-Dose Fentanyl-Diazepam-Oxygen Anesthesia

Department of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Address correspondence to Dr. Mark, Department of Anesthesia, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston MA 02115. The authors thank Ms. Geraldine Myers for her clerical assistance and Drs. Jan Horrow and Donald Lambert and Mr. Edward E. Ball for their critical review. Accepted for publication February 24, 1983.

Selecting Clerical Assistants

THE Public Service of Victoria recruits about 500 Clerical Assistants each year, and in mid-1978 it introduced new selection procedures for these positions. These use a behaviourally-oriented test of specific job-related skills (developed within the Service) and an interview to develop a skills and preferences profile for each suitable applicant. The old selection procedure used only an interview to assess applicants 'skills — comparison of the results of the old and the new procedures shows that the interviews failed to select those with significantly greater job-related skills than those it rejected.

Taxes and the Optimal Capital Structure of the Firm

The Journal of FinanceVolume 35, Issue 1 p. 119-127 Article Taxes and the Optimal Capital Structure of the Firm MEIR I. SCHNELLER, MEIR I. SCHNELLERThe Hebrew University, Jerusalem and The Wharton School. This study was completed while visiting at the University of California at Berkeley. The author expresses his thanks to the Institute of Business and Economic Research, University of California, Berkeley, for clerical assistance in preparing this manuscript. I am indebted to Menachem Brenner for stimulating discussions of this subject.Search for more papers by this author MEIR I. SCHNELLER, MEIR I. SCHNELLERThe Hebrew University, Jerusalem and The Wharton School. This study was completed while visiting at the University of California at Berkeley. The author expresses his thanks to the Institute of Business and Economic Research, University of California, Berkeley, for clerical assistance in preparing this manuscript. I am indebted to Menachem Brenner for stimulating discussions of this subject.Search for more papers by this author First published: March 1980 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1980.tb03474.xCitations: 10 Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume35, Issue1March 1980Pages 119-127 RelatedInformation

Arthur O'Shaughnessy: a poet among the Lacertidae

This first verse of O'Shaughnessy's Ode, from a collection of poems entitled and Moonlight, not only establishes the mood of its haunting setting by Edward Elgar, in The Music Makers, but also serves to remind zoologists, literary students and musicians of an imaginative and oddly fascinating character whose achievements in natural science and poetry can today offer grounds for curiosity and re-appraisal. Arthur O'Shaughnessy, born 1844, a nephew1 of Edward Lytton Bulwer, joined the British Museum,2 after nomination by an ex officio trustee at Bulwer's request, as a Transcriber in the Department of Printed Books in 1861. After taking an examination in Systematic Zoology he was in 1862 appointed (Junior) Assistant, Second Class, in the Department of Zoology. He seems to have been by nature retiring and something of a dreamer and was in fact reported on as nearsighted, uncoordinated and lacking in scientific fervour! So in 1864 he was transferred to the Department of Geology, which had recently acquired a new keeper who is said to have been meek as well as inexperienced. This did not last long, however, and he became firstly Professor Richard Owen's clerical assistant in Palaeontology and afterwards clerk in the Spirit Room (Reptiles and Fishes). Then, after five years, he became a Senior Assistant, Second Class and carried out curation duties and research on lizards. However, there continued to be complaints from certain of his superiors that he was not an accurate systematist (it is recorded that there

The librarian as manager

Further education in Britain is beginning a period of severe economic restraint, with colleges being obliged to operate on static or even falling levels of finance and staffing. Libraries in FE are, naturally, subject to these same pressures: the effect of inflation on book‐funds needs no underlining. Librarians in many colleges are trying to provide a college service with dwindling resources—in real terms—without lowering standards. Whatever the designation of the librarian in charge (tutor librarian, college librarian etc,) his main task must be to maximise benefits from the given level of resources allocated to the library. This paper aims to describe very briefly some of the management techniques which may be helpful to, but often ignored by the typical librarian in charge of 1 or 2 clerical assistants, and, at the most, a professionally qualified deputy.

Making a Big Lecture Section a Good Course

A good course should have at least these elements: (1) It should impart a substantial amount of knowledge, including information, techniques, and sum maries. (2) It should attempt to meet individual needs and differences. (3) It should provide some personal contact between student and teacher. (4) It should meet a variety of objectives with an appropriate variety of instructional techniques. (5) It should instill in the stu dents a positive attitude toward the course. Can all of these requirements for a good course be satisfied in a large lecture section of say 120 students? Many will im mediately answer in the negative. I will disagree. I be lieve that, given a certain amount of technical and cleri cal assistance, a large lecture section can still be a good course.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) content of liver with hemorrhagic shock.

SummaryNicotinamide adenine dinucleotides were determined in the liver of rats subjected to three stages of hemorrhagic shock and treatment. Total nucleotide content was decreased in all stages. The oxidized form, NAD+, appeared to decrease more rapidly than the reduced form, NADH; however this was likely the result of a shift from oxidized to reduced state due to decreased tissue perfusion. Increased enzymic degradation of NAD did not appear to be the mechanism whereby NAD content was lowered; NADase activity of shock liver was not different from that of control liver. These results also indicate that the decreased NAD content in shock is restored to normal by nonspecific treatment by replenishment of circulatory volume.The authors are grateful for the technical assistance of Betty Henton and the clerical assistance of Gail Perry.

How success nearly wrecked a residency experience.

The number of residents in a second-year program increased almost threefold between 1965 and 1971. Total patient visits increased by almost 100 percent. However, the average number of monthly patient visits per resident decreased, indicating a loss of efficiency. After discussing how the clinic dealt with this problem, the author concludes that increases of this magnitude require the addition of more supervising psychiatrists, changes in administrative style, and adequate clerical assistance and space.

Psychopathological correlates of anthropometric types in male schizophrenics.

Journal of Clinical PsychologyVolume 28, Issue 4 p. 474-478 Psychodynamics and Psychopathology Psychopathological correlates of anthropometric types in male schizophrenics† Charles G. Watson, Charles G. Watson Veterans Administration Hospital, St. Cloud, MinnSearch for more papers by this author Charles G. Watson, Charles G. Watson Veterans Administration Hospital, St. Cloud, MinnSearch for more papers by this author First published: October 1972 https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(197210)28:4<474::AID-JCLP2270280410>3.0.CO;2-RCitations: 1 † The author is indebted to Drs. Raymond Collier and Douglas Anderson for statistical analyses to Helen Buerkle, Teresa Kucala, and Kate Tidd for clerical assistance, and to John Honebrink, Charles Schmidt, Steve Dess, Warren Vollmar, William Caldwell, Timothy Derksen, and Joseph Bailey for data collection. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Citing Literature Volume28, Issue4Special Issue: Special Monography Supplement: Seven Scales for the Minnesota‐Briggs History Record with Reference Group DataOctober 1972Pages 474-478 RelatedInformation