Private Passions and Moral Responsibilities: Hamlet Essay

Many great works of literature often focus on personal tragedy and ways of overcoming it. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, however, the inability of the main characters to confront their problems properly leads to the destruction of all. The antagonist of the play, Claudius, allows his personal ambition for power to overshadow the will of his conscience. Hamlet opens at the royal castle of Elsinore where a ghost bearing the visage of the recently deceased King Hamlet is seen walking the halls in battle gear. Later it is learned that his brother, Claudius, has taken to the throne with King Hamlet’s ex-wife, Gertrude, after only two months since the King’s passing. The son of the deceased King, Hamlet, sees the marriage as a travesty stating, â€Å"(Oh God! A beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer) married with my uncle; My father’s brother, but no more like my father than I to Hercules.† (Shakespeare 13) Clearly, Hamlet sees the marriage as incestuous in the beginning ; but he doesn’t take action until he is visited by the apparition of his father who proclaims that Claudius killed him in lust for power. Hamlet is asked, â€Å"If thou didst ever thy dear father love – oh God – Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.† (27) Here begins Hamlet’s quest to avenge his father by laying ruin to King Claudius. To be certain of the King’s guilt, Hamlet puts on a play bearing a resemblance to how the ghost described the murder. When King Claudius views it, he feels a sudden pang of conscience and abruptly leaves. This flinch provides a first glance by the reader, and Hamlet that Claudius is guilty and is at odds with himself for his foul actions. From a soliloquy after storming out of the play, the reader becomesaware of the personal anguish Claudius possesses. â€Å"O, my offense is rank, itsmells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, A brother’s murder! Pray can I not, though inclination be as sharp as will. My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent.†(84) For Claudius the act of killing his brother was a grievous one that he now regrets. His strong intent and ambition for  the throne has caused him turmoil in heaven’s eyes. The primary  consequence of Claudius’s actions on his character is that he will now have to make a huge decision as is delineated further into the soliloquy. â€Å"But, o, what form of prayer can serve my turn? Forgive me my foul murder? That  cannot be; since I am still possessed of these effects for which I did the murder – My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. May one be pardoned and retain offense?† (84) Will he give up the worldly things he now possesses for forgiveness or will he keep on, undaunted by his guilt  and remain stained by his ultimate sin? It seems that the king cannot give up his precious power, but instead asks others to join him in an attempt to oust Hamlet and retain the crown. Claudius asks Laertes, † Will you be ruled by me (†¦) I will work him to an exploit now ripe in my device under which he shall not choose but fall; and for his death no wind of blame shall we breath.† (116) Power hungry and greedy, King Claudius has rejected the notions of morality by attempting to kill his nephew and has sealed his fate in the eyes of God. Shakespeare’s Hamlet pivots on the theme of mastering passionbefore it is too late. Although Claudius confronts his sins committed in search of title and authority, he never takes the steps needed to achieve absolution. Instead, the King opts to use violence to solve his dilemma  which results in both the downfall of his royal family and the turning of his â€Å"envenomed†(144) blade upon him.

Selecting Patient Escorts Essay Example

Selecting Patient Escorts Essay Example Selecting Patient Escorts Essay Selecting Patient Escorts Essay City Hospital is located in the heart of a large midwestern city. It is one of major hospitals in the area and has recenfly built a small addition for treafing well- known patients, such as professional football players, top company execufives, and singing stars. Visiting or local celebrities always choose City Hospital if they need treatment. City Hospital has about 1,200 hospital beds and employs 4,500 individuals, including about 40 patient escorts. The job of patient escort is a rather simple one, requiring only minimal training and no special physical talents. When patients need to be moved from one location to another, patient escorts are summoned to assist in the move. If the move is only a short distance, however, a nurse or orderlycan move the patient. Of particular importance is the fact that patient escorts almost always take patients who are being discharged from their hospital room to the front door of the hospital. A wheelchair is always used, even if the patient is able to walk unassisted. Thus, the typical procedure is for the nurse to call for a patient escort. The escort then gets a Wheelchair and goes to the patient’s room, assists the patient into the wheelchair, picks up the pauent’s belongings, wheels the patient down to the hospital’s front door or to his or her car in the parking lot, and retnrns to the work station. The job of patient escort is critical to the hospital since the escort is always the last hospital representative the patient sees, and hence has a considerable influence on the patient’s final perception of the hospital. Of approximately 40 escorts, about three- fourths are men and one- fourth are women. Most are high school graduates in their early twenties. Some, particularly those on the early morning shift, are attending college at night and working for the hospital to earn money to pay college expenses. Pour of the escorts are older women who had previously served as hospital volunteers and then decided to become full- time employees instead. Turnover among patient escorts is quite high and has averaged 25 percent in recent years. In addition, upward mobihty in the hospital is quite good, and as a result, another 25 percent of the escorts transfer to other jobs in the hospital each year. Thus, about half of the patient escorts need to be replaced The hospital a standard procedure When hiring patient escorts. When a vacancy occurs, the human resource department reviews the file of applications of individuals who have appfied for the patient escort job. Usually the file contains at least 20 applications because the pay for the job is good, the work is undemanding, and few ski]ls are required. The top two or three applicants are asked to come to the hospital for interviews. Typicafly, the apphcan’ts are interviewed by the human resource department and then by the patient escort superviser. The majority of those interviewed know some other employees of the hospital, so the only reference check is a call to these employees. Before being hired, apphcants are required to take physical exams given by hospital doctors. Every new escor’t attends an orientation program the day on the job. This is conducted by a member of the hospital’s human resource department. The program consists of a complete tour of the hospital; a review of all the hospital’s HR policies, including a description of its promotion, compensation, and disciplinary policies; and a presentation of the hospital’s mission and phflosophy. During this orientation session, employees are told that the hospital’s image in the community is of major importance and that all employees should strive to maintain and enhance this image through their conduct. After orientation, all patient escorts receive on-the-job training by their immediate superviser. During the last two years, the hospital has experienced a number of problems with patient escorts, which have had an adverse effect on the hospital’s image. Several patients have complained to the hospital administration that they were treated rudely, or in some cases roughly, by one or more patient escorts. Some complained that they were ordered around or scolded by an escort during the discharge process. Others stated that their escorts were careless when wheehng them out of the hospital to their cars. One person reported that an escort carelessly tipped him over. AH escorts are required to wear identification tags, but patients usually cannot remember the escort’s name when lodging a complaint to the hospital. Additionafly, the hospital has difficulty determining which escort served which patient because escorts often trade patients. even when the hospital can identify the offending escort, the employee can easily deny any wrongdoing. He or she counters that patients are generally irritable as a result of their illness and, hence, are proue to complain at even the slightest provocation. At the hospital admhfistrator’s request, the human resource manager asked the chief supervisor patient escorts, the head of the staffing section within the human resource depaflment, and the assistant human resource director to meet with her to review the entire procedure used to select patient escorts. It was hoped that a new procedure could be devised that would efiminate the hiring of rude, insulting, or careless patient escorts. During the meeting, a number of suggestions were made as to how the selection procedure might be improved. Criticisms of the present system were also voiced. The chief superviser of patient escorts argued that the problem with the hospital’s present system is that the application form is void of any useful information. He stated that the questions that really give insights into the employee’s personality are no longer on the application form. He suggested that applicants be asked about their hobbies, outside activiues, and their personal likes and dislikes on the application form. He also suggested that each applicant be asked to submit three letters of recommendation from people who know the applicant well. He wanted these letters t0 focus on the prospective employee’s personality, particularly the applicant’s to remain friendly and polite at all times. The assistant human resource director contended that the hospital’s interviewing proce- dure should be modified. He observed that, during the typical interview, little attempt is made to determine how the apphcant reacts under stress. He suggested that if applicants were asked four or stress-producing questions, the hospital might be in a better position to judge their ability to work with irritable patients. The head of the staffing section noted that patient escorts require little mental or physical talent and agreed that the crucial attributeescorts need is the ability to always be courteous and polite. He wondered whether an attitude test could be developed that would measure the apphcant’s predisposition toward being friendly, helpful, sensitive, and so on. He suggested that a job analysis could be donc on the patient escort position to determine those attitudes that are critical to being a successful patient escort. When the job analysis was complote, questions could be developed that would measure these critical attributes. The test questions could be given to the hospital’s present patient escorts to determine whether the test accurately distinguishes the best escorts from the worst. The head of the staffing section reahzed that many of the questions might need to be eliminated or changed, and if the test appeared  to show promise, it would probably need to be revaudated in order to meet govemment requirements. He felt, however, that a Wefl- designed test might be worth the effort and should at least be considered. The meeting ended with all four participants agreeing that the suggestion of trying to develop an attitude test was probably the most promising. The assistant human resource director and chief superviser of patient escorts stated that they would conduct a thorough job analysis covering the patient escort position and develop a list of attitudes that are critical to its success. A second meeting would then be scheduled to prepare the actual test questions. QUESTIONS Critique each of the alternative approaches suggested for solving the problem of selecting patient escorts at City Hospital. Recommend a procedure for recruiting and hiring patient escorts. Besides improving its selection procedures, What other actions could the hospital potentially take to improve the behavior of the patient escorts?

Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power

Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power Do the advantages of using nuclear power outweigh the disadvantages and thus making it a safe and economical method of generating electricity? At this time it is believed that there are far more disadvantages than advantages when it comes to the use of nuclear power. This report will list the advantages and disadvantages and prove that nuclear power is the next stepping stone in technological advancements and a cleaner future. HYPOTHESIS The advantages of utilizing nuclear power will by far demean the disadvantages and therefore prove that it will be beneficial to make use of nuclear power as an energy source. DISCUSSION ADVANTAGES One of the main advantages of nuclear power is that it does not emit a large quantity of green house gases such as CO2 [1] [2] and thus does not contribute to global warming. In turn this allows for a cleaner global environment. As seen in the below diagram, Coal-fired power stations release 5912000 tons of CO2 per year. Nuclear power stations use less th an a twenty-fifth of that because they only release 230000 tons of CO2 per year. Therefore in the environmental aspect, nuclear power is safe and beneficial for the world s future. Figure 1: A graph of the CO2 Emission by Each Power Source Another advantage of nuclear power is that it has relatively low costs involved in its production [5]. It yields much more electrical energy for each unit of nuclear fuel (uranium rods) used than the conventional fossil fuel power stations (coal) [1] [2]. Due to this it will also cost less to ascertain the resources needed to produce the same amount of energy as fossil fuels as is made evident in the below graph. This results in nuclear fuel costing much less per kilowatt hour for a consumer than any other method of producing electricity [fig. 2]. Therefore nuclear power will be economically beneficial for the world s electricity consuming population. Figure 2: A graph showing the US Electricity Production Costs for 1995 – 2008 An organizat ion known as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is in place to ensure that all nuclear power stations and nuclear activity which occur anywhere in the world is done without error which ultimately makes the use of nuclear power a safer option [7]. They implement standards and regulations which must be adhered to by all nuclear facilities [7]. One of their main tasks is to oversee the installation of the nuclear systems and transportation of nuclear materials to insure safety and security [7]. These monitoring protocols allow the usage of nuclear energy to be safe and secure. Over time improved designs have come about for nuclear reactors such as the advanced reactor in Japan which has been operating since 1996 [6]. The major safety feature in this reactor is its passive safety system. In the event of a malfunction, no intervention from an operator is required thus eliminating the chance of a human error [6]. If this type safety feature was to be implemented in all the curr ent and future nuclear reactors, it would significantly enhance the safety of the nuclear plants. There is a variety of safety features for nuclear reactors one of which is the three barriers between the fuel rods and the environment [6]. The fuel rods are in a solid ceramic pellet which forms the first barrier [6]. These pellets are inside a closed zirconium tube, which forms the second barrier [6]. The final barrier is the containment of the fuel rods. They are stored in a steel pressure vessel and this vessel has walls up to 30cm thick therefore preventing all radioactive radiation from escaping. Other than those safety barriers the whole containment structure has one meter thick reinforced concrete walls [6]. Thus in the event of a human error there are provisions in place to minimize the severity of the error. These measures will increase the safety of using nuclear power plants even more.

New Malaria Vaccine Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

New Malaria Vaccine - Research Paper Example One of the reasons why formulating vaccines have proved challenging is due to the constantly adapting nature of malaria parasites. The latter either evolve drug-resistance or the mosquitoes themselves constantly change and become insecticide resistant. It is in this context that the thrust of new research should be based. The article by Anthony Watts, posted in his website ‘Watts Up With That?’ presents recent discoveries in this area. The article is a summary of the research paper presented in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA in September of 2010. Usually, malaria parasites use certain pathways to infect human cells. The identification of one such key pathway is believed to provide scientists will crucial leads. The research team at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute has been credited with this identification. They now believe that a new vaccine target can be produced, through which contact with malaria could be avoided. The most lethal form of malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium Falciparum. The ability of this parasite to invade red blood cells through numerous channels is what makes it difficult to contain. It is conventional knowledge that the parasites enter red blood cells by using proteins called glycophorins. What the researchers found is another way through which the parasite enters red blood cells. This pathway â€Å"does not involve glycophorins, instead requiring the binding of a parasite molecule named PfRh4 to Complement Receptor 1 (CR1), a common protein found on the surface of red blood cells. PfRh family of surface proteins is involved in the recognition of red blood cell receptors, which allows the parasite to attach to the red blood cell surface and gain entry.† (wattsupwiththat.com, 2010) Professor Alan Cowman, who leads the research project at Walter & Eliza Hall Medical Research Institute, offers more insights into the identified mechanism. For example, he thinks that the malaria par asite uses this protein as a guide. The protein helps the parasite identify red blood cells upon which it can attach itself. Cowman reckons that the PfRh4-CR1 pathway is key for successful entry of malaria parasites into RBC. By virtue of this discovery, biologists can now device the ideal combination of proteins to serve as a vaccine. It is believed that by blocking both glycophorin and CR1 pathways, the chances of malaria infection is nearly eliminated. These results indicate â€Å"that if a vaccine were to stimulate the immune system to recognize and generate antibodies to the prevalent invasion pathways, there is a good chance it would lead to a significant decrease in malaria infection.† (wattsupwiththat.com, 2010) This area of research is still in its infancy and pending robust clinical longitudinal trials. Paralleling the work done by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, a team in Michigan State University has created a malaria vaccine, which combin es the â€Å"use of a disabled cold virus with an immune system-stimulating gene – that appears to increase the immune response against the parasite that causes the deadly disease.† (www.news-medical.net, 2011). Similarly, another group of researchers under the mentorship of Andrea Amalfitano of the College of Osteopathic Medicine have discovered a immune-system stimulating agent. But unfortunately, this agent has proven