Sports Corruption in Ghana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Sports Corruption in Ghana - Essay Example The 2010 report of the World Bank regarding corruption in Ghana claimed that as many as 95 percent of the total health resources in the country end up going in the hands of the private individuals. In addition, the public only benefits from only 5 percent of the total spending of the government on the health sector (National Development Planning Commission (Ghana) & International Monetary Fund, pp. 14-19). The people of the country are suffering greatly due to the poor living standards and austerity measures in the country but they fail to realize that they are sitting on mineral resources of gold, oil, timber, diamond, bauxite, manganese, sliver, limestone, and others worth trillions of dollars (Rosner & Shropshire, pp. 88-89). In short, Ghana is one of those countries in Africa which have great potential due to the location, history and demographics, however, they country is far from realizing its potential due to the rising corruption in the country. It was on September 29, 2011 t hat Ghana Anti Corruption Coalition admitted the fact that Sports Corruption is eating away the credibility of Ghana football and if serious actions are not taken in the near future then the officials may be left with nothing to save (Nicholls, Daniel, Bacarese & Hatchard, pp. 342-345). The following few lines will attempt to lay down a framework by discussing the importance of sports in everyday life and the theoretical impact of corruption on sports. The damage which corruption does to the sport, its dignity, and perception is the most ruthless out of all (Levy & Wong, 359-362). Men and Women turn to sports so that they could seek escape from the tiring and mechanistic day-to-day activities. Sports are an alternative to... The paper tells that sports serve an important purpose of inducing and inhabiting healthy lifestyles in the hearts and minds of the children and the adults. Educational institutions, parents, experts, researchers and academicians and others encourage sports for students because it helps them steer the children away from unhealthy activities. The time available to students can be classified into two categories, one that is spent on healthy and productive activities, and other being the one spent on unhealthy and nonproductive activities. Nonproductive activities would include watching TV, sitting idle, excessive eating, excessive internet browsing, chatting and cell phone use, and use of drugs, parties, and others. However, productive use of the leisure time includes activities such as completing the homework, studying, engaging in sports, physical exercises, workouts and others. Research indicate that when children engage in sports, they are crowding out the possible time that could have been allocated to unhealthy leisure time activities and at the same time, they are getting physical and mental exercise which is always crucial to the performance of the mind and the body. The problem occurs when talented, confident, and hardworking players do not get a chance to be the part of the national teams or they fail to get exposure that they think they deserve. Players work extremely hard throughout their life to represent their country, city of region in sports tournaments. Usually they end up comprising their studies, friendships, families and others in order to focus more on their sports career.

China & Art Essay Example for Free

China Art Essay China is probably the most influential and powerful civilization in Asia and is a good source of a very rich cultural and artistic heritage. In its early centuries, Buddhism, as the major religion of China has had a great influence in the country’s artistic imagery. Other art forms that thrived during this period were painting and calligraphy. It is also during this early time periods that China invented one of its greatest contributions to art and to the world – paper. Very early in during this period, the Chinese made what they called the mingqi. These are sculpted figures of soldiers, attendants, entertainers, and also of usual objects that people need and use such as houses, wells, stoves, and more. This is in part of their belief that even after death they would still need those things and continue living their usual routines as when they were still alive. Some of the early proofs of Buddhism in China were the carvings of Buddhist Images on the cliffs at Kungwangshan in Jiangsu Province. These images were dated back to around the 2nd century. At around 100 A. D. the Chinese had started working on developing paper. Rag paper (probably the first forms of paper) that was found was dated to as early as the 2nd century B. C. The first hemp paper however that had writings on it were dated to around 109 A. D. Cai Lun was one of those people who helped developed the method for mass-producing paper made from tree bark, hemp and linen. It was by the 3rd century that paper had been widely used in China. China also has their share of Ceramics. Ceramic products that hailed from the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu are most admired. These provinces also had reputation in the creation of burial urns shaped like animals. The period from 220 to 265 A. D. was the period of the Three Kingdoms. Known for its Chivalric and Romantic nature, it became the setting and inspiration of one of China’s favorite historical novel. Written by Luo Guanzhong entitled Sanguo zhi yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) was published during the 14th century. Towards the end of these first 5 centuries at 317 to 420 A. D. , the arts flourished even more in China particularly at Nanjing in Jiangsu Province. It was also the period of development of Chinese literature. Some important Chinese personalities that arose from that time were Wang Xizhi for calligraphy, Gu Kaizhi for figure painting, and Tao Qian (aka Tao Yuanming) for poetry. And at the 5th century Xie He wrote the Guhua pinlu (Classification of Ancient Painters). Being one of the most famous Chinese critics, he wrote this book stating six laws which he thinks are the good characteristics of a work of art and the person who created it. His ideas have been recognized and considered in Chinese painting ever since. Conclusion It is quite apparent that in the three East Asian Cultures that were discussed, it seems that the Chinese really had a lot to contribute in terms of creating art and understanding art during the ancient times. And these contributions and ideas are still apparent even to the present day. Let us not fail to consider that other Asian cultures also had their own influences and contributions to , Asia and the World but China probably just had the most influential ones because they were probably the first in doing and developing many things also considering how big and powerful the Chinese civilization is. In looking for a commonality, it seemed that all three had their share of ceramic and pottery craft. Naturally, they did not yet have plastic back then and they were still quite new to metals which was why clay would be the main material they would likely use in creating things. They also had a different use for some pottery; they used some urns as sort of coffins in which they placed their dead. In understanding today’s culture, it would be good to look back and understand the ancient forms of art that had a great role in the development of a culture and how it influences other surrounding cultures up to the present days. Works Cited China, 1–500 A. D. . In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www. metmuseum. org/toah/ht/05/eac/ht05eac. htm (October 2000)Haniwa Boar [Japan] (1975. 268. 418). In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www. metmuseum. org/toah/ho/05/eaj/ho_1975. 268. 418. htm (October 2006) Japan, 1–500 A. D. . In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www. metmuseum. org/toah/ht/05/eaj/ht05eaj. htm (October 2000) Korea, 1–500 A. D. . In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www. metmuseum. org/toah/ht/05/eak/ht05eak. htm (October 2000)

The Success of the First Crusade

The Success of the First Crusade The first crusade was a military expedition by European Christians to regain the holy lands and occurred in 1095. It was viewed as an unprecedented success by historians of the day and by contemporary historians. The reasons for this great success, if it can be named great at all, are numerous. From Pope Urban IIs fiery call to arms at the Council of Clermont, to the lack of preparation from the Turks, there are many reasons for this success. Indeed the extreme faith displayed by the crusaders, the quality of their leaders, and the allies which they gained during their extensive journey were further factors which contributed to their success. After receiving the call for military aid from Alexius I, the Byzantine Emperor in 1095, Pope Urban II seized upon this opportunity for him to renew Papal control and influence in the east and to reunite the churches of Rome and Constantinople. Through his highly charismatic sermon given on 27th November 1095 at the Council of Clermont, Urban was able to arouse enthusiasm from the clergy and nobles present for a Holy War on the Muslims in the east. They then went out to their diocese and spread the command of a call to arms from God. This call to arms created a huge influx of people from all works of life and they were all keen to embark on this pilgrimage to the holy land. This was a good thing as more people would mean a larger army for which to defeat the Muslims with. However a lot of people who showed enthusiasm for this pilgrimage were not knights or trained soldiers but were ordinary men, women and children, and so they can be seen as more of a hindrance than of help. On the o ther hand, by there being women, usually wives, on the journey they would have undoubtedly helped the men on this hazardous journey by providing them with the necessary motivation needed to complete this pilgrimage. However the crusaders did not answer the call for arms from Pope Urban likely; they knew that it would be an arduous journey. But for most it was their undoubted faith which made them embark on this journey and it was faith which was a key factor that carried them to Jerusalem. Until recently it has been thought that one of the main motives for people embarking on the crusade was power and profit which could be gained in the supposedly lucrative east. But contemporary historians now believe that a lot of the crusaders were just devout Christians and wished to secure their place in heaven which the Pope had stated would happen if they liberated Jerusalem from the infidel. Faith is a powerful tool; it can make people push beyond their limits and to achieve unattainable goals, as is stated by Setton and Baldwin ‘without zeal and a burning faith it could never have been achieved and hence it was definitely a positive factor in helping the success of the crusaders. The crusaders wer e from all different parts of Europe and spoke many different languages. It was their belief in achieving the one aim of capturing Jerusalem that made them work effectively together as a fighting force. This can be seen when the crusaders captured Antioch. As soon as they captured Antioch, after a gruelling siege of seven months, the crusaders themselves were besieged by an army of Kerbogha of Mosuls. The crusaders were hungry and tired. Furthermore their morale was dangerously low, they were fighting night and day to keep the besiegers out, and just when they thought that all was lost a minor monk called Peter Bartholomew claimed to have discovered the holy lance in the city. This was enough of a sign to give the crusaders faith that they would win and made them fight on. On June 28th they defeated Kerboghas forces. This is a prime example to prove that it was their faith which encouraged the Crusaders to go forth and to face the enemy head on instead of giving up. The first crusaders were indeed many but they were in foreign lands, far away from home and without a reliable source of supplies and so it was important for them to make allies within the region. Though there were some troubles between the crusaders and the Byzantines, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I was very willing to help the crusaders with supplies, a small military force and engineers. The engineers were extremely useful and necessary for the building of siege engines from which they made the capture of towns much easier. Hence the alliance with Alexius was a necessity for the success of the crusade. A further asset to the crusaders was the help from the Armenians. With their help some of the crusaders were able to conquer Edessa and hence form the first of the crusader states called the County of Edessa of which Baldwin was their ruler. Also it was an Armenian guard who Bohemond bribed at Antioch to open the cities gates. Furthermore, it was also an Armenian commander who help ed the crusaders capture Jerusalem by surrendering his tower on the main walls to them. Otherwise the crusaders quite possibly would have had to have gone through a lengthy siege in which many of them would have died. Baldwin of Boulogne also had an Armenian called Pakrad on his staff whom he relied on for advice on the area and the diplomatic stance between states and rulers. Another main ally who the crusaders had but were not as prominent was the Christian people who were already there. They tried their best to help the crusaders by giving them what provisions they could spare and by trying to help overthrow the garrisons of towns of which the crusaders were trying to capture. But there is evidence that a lot of Christians within these Muslim states were quite content with their Muslim overlords and so were not keen in helping a foreign army even if it was a Christian one. Another key factor which can be seen during the first crusade is that of the competency of the crusaders leadership. The crusaders were in the hands of experienced princes whom had seen combat in various wars. This can be seen through the tactics which they employed, such as them used on June 30th 1097 when Bohemonds army was surrounded by a Turkish army. The papal legate Adhemar of Le Puy performed an ingenious diversion of crossing the mountains to flank the enemy and come up on their rear, ‘which caused them to flee in panic and confusion'[1]. But even though the crusaders leaders were highly skilled at leading they were not always a unifying force. There was a growing tension between Raymond and Bohemond. But other than that there was not much quarrelling within the army itself. Some of the main leaders were driven to a degree by their own ambition and this sometimes led to atrocities occurring. An example of this is the massacre of 300 Norman troops who Baldwin of Boulogne had forced to camp outside the walls of his newly captured town of Tarsus because he did not trust them and hence they were slaughtered by the towns former garrison under nightfall. But through all of the bad decisions, most of the time when they were needed to unify and attack together they did just that. They worked as one army, even if they disagreed on tactics when they assaulted and besieged major cities such as Antioch and Jerusalem. Indeed the assault on Jerusalem was impeded time wise by the arguing between the leaders over who should be given Antioch, but when they eventually got there the remaining princes worked together to gain success. But the fact that most of the princes true ambitions lay in their own personal gain is shown by Bohemond who selfishly never took any further part in the crusade after becoming Prince of Antioch. He never even went to Jerusalem. This was a major reason in why it took so long for the crusaders to take Antioch, because Raymond had wanted t o storm the city but Bohemond refused and wanted to besiege it even though there wasnt enough troops to encircle the city. Bohemonds decision to siege was due to his own greed; he wanted Antioch for himself and so wanted it intact. The siege was perhaps harder on the crusaders than the defenders as they quickly ran out of food which led to desertion and cannibalism. Even though these blasphemous events were occurring, Bohemond still held the siege which shows that he didnt care much about the religious side to the crusade but by taking Antioch he did succeed in completing his own agenda and furthered the crusaders cause. One of the most important reasons for the success of the first crusade was the disunity within the Muslim nations in and around the holy land and their underestimation of the threat to which the crusaders posed. During the time of the first crusade, Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt were all under Muslim control. But they were politically and, to some extent, culturally fragmented and hence this would have certainly contributed to the success of the first crusade. These differences can be seen through the internal rivalry which had been going on between competing territories. Anatolia and Syria were controlled by the Sunni Seljuks, and used to be unified in one big empire but in 1092 Malik-Shah, the Seljuk sultan, died and his sons quarrelled over who would succeed him. So the sultans once large empire was split between the competing sons. Hence when the crusaders came marching through, these states were on the whole more concerned with consolidating their own territories and gai ning control of their neighbours, than with cooperating against the crusaders. There was also a failure to react quickly enough to the crusading threat by the Turks and the rest of the Muslim states. During the Peoples crusade The Turkish king Kilij Arslans capital, Nicaea was situated close to where the crusaders were based. He was happy enough to watch them ravage the countryside but as soon as they threatened his city he easily defeated them. This easy defeat of the Christian forces lulled him into a false sense of security. When he heard that another Christian force had amassed at Constantinople he assumed that it would be of the same type of incompetent soldiers as before and so took the majority of his army to attack a rival state, ‘he had not foreseen that the crusading army would be so strong'[2]. This same sort of misconception of the crusading forces was common among many of the Muslim leaders, and hence played a major part in the success of the first crusade. This can be proven by the failure of the second crusade. It contained around the same amount of people as the first crusade but by this time the Muslim leaders were more prepared and swiftly defeated the crusaders in two battles[3]. Even though the main reason for the success of the first crusade was the disunity between the Muslim states, all of the factors mentioned contributed to the crusades success. The crusaders allies played their part in helping the crusaders to succeed in their goals. Also the faith of the people played a major part. Their faith cannot be underestimated, it kept them going and forced them onwards to Jerusalem; it was their faith which stopped them from turning back even when they were dying from starvation and disease. It was ultimately their faith which drove them to succeed. Bibliography Asbridge, T. S. , The First Crusade: A New History,(London, 2004). Baldwin, M. W. ed. , A History of the Crusades Volume I: The First Hundred Years, (Philadelphia, 1958), pp. 177 343. Phillips, J. P. , The First Crusade: Origins and Impact, (Manchester, 1997). Phillips, J. P. , ‘Who Were the First Crusaders?, History Today 47:5 (Manchester, 1997), pp. 16-22. Riley-Smith J. , The Crusades: Idea and Reality 1095-1274, (London, 1981). Riley-Smith, J. , The First Crusade and the idea of crusading, (London, 1986). Rochester, R. W. , Military Operations in the First Crusade 1097-1099 A.D.,(Liverpool, 1955). Runciman, S. , The First Crusade, (Cambridge, 1980). Wolf, K. B. , ‘Crusade and Narrative: Bohemond and the Gesta Francorum, Journal of Medieval History 17 (Oxford, 1991), pp. 207-16. [1] M. W. Baldwin, ed. , A History of the Crusades Volume I: The First Hundred Years, (Philadelphia, 1958), p. 293. [2] M. W. Baldwin, ed. , A History of the Crusades Volume I: The First Hundred Years, (Philadelphia, 1958), p. 289. [3] J. Riley-Smith , The Crusades: Idea and Reality 1095-1274, (London, 1981), p. 14.

Aesthetics Of Aging Essay -- Age Aging Visual

An Aesthetics Of Aging Recall, reader if ever in the mountains a mist has caught you, through which you could not see except as moles do through skin †¦ Dante, Comedy1 ARGUMENT: THE RELEASE FROM THE BODILY EGO Many recent studies on visual culture highlight the representation of the body in photography as a signifier of social constructions. Photography however has always played an important part in the construction of the subject, a perspective that I suggest in what follows, one that combines analytical concepts with aspects of the phenomenology of perception, indispensable for the understanding of art works and of our relation to them. By contrast with the overexposure of the body in commercial photography, photographers in the art field today represent the body as a visual metaphor for configurations of interiority engaged in subject construction. Their insistence on formal aspects (of composition and technique) displaces the focus from the physical to the psychic body so as to â€Å"capture† unstable phenomena of change, of conflict in the subject’s relation to time. In Joyce Tenneson’s photographs ordinary referents are obliterated to liberate space for other dimensions * This paper is an abridged and adapted version of a chapter in an unpublished manuscript devoted to photography, aging, and subject construction, entitled Touching Surfaces: Photography and the Fabric of the Subject, in Time 1 This Dante fragment coming from Charles Singleton’s prose version of the Comedy seems to me evocative of the  « misty  » visual effect in Tenneson’s photographs, and also of her placing the lens of the camera much like a mole through the skin, to look at the human body from an interstice, as it were, between the inside... ... Collector’s Photography Magazine. June, 1987. FREUD, Sigmund. The Ego and the Id. The Standard Edition London: Hogarth Press & The Institute od Psychoanalysis, 1953-1974, vol. XIX. GLISSANT, Edouard. Poà ©tique de la relation. Poà ©tique III. Paris: Gallimard, 1990. GOLDBERG, Vicki. â€Å"Unwritten Myths.† Preface to Transformations. MERRILL, James. â€Å"Divine Poem,† in Recitative. Prose by James Merrill. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1986. RICHIR, Marc. Le Corps. Essai sur l’intà ©riorità ©. Paris: Hatier, 1993. WINNICOTT, D.W. â€Å"Ego Distortion in Terms of True and False Self,† (1960). The Maturational Process and Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development. London: Hogarth Press & The Insititute of Psychoanalysis, 1965. WOLLHEIM, Richard. â€Å"The Bodily Ego,† The Mind and Its Depths. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univeristy Press, 1993. 10 11 Aesthetics Of Aging Essay -- Age Aging Visual An Aesthetics Of Aging Recall, reader if ever in the mountains a mist has caught you, through which you could not see except as moles do through skin †¦ Dante, Comedy1 ARGUMENT: THE RELEASE FROM THE BODILY EGO Many recent studies on visual culture highlight the representation of the body in photography as a signifier of social constructions. Photography however has always played an important part in the construction of the subject, a perspective that I suggest in what follows, one that combines analytical concepts with aspects of the phenomenology of perception, indispensable for the understanding of art works and of our relation to them. By contrast with the overexposure of the body in commercial photography, photographers in the art field today represent the body as a visual metaphor for configurations of interiority engaged in subject construction. Their insistence on formal aspects (of composition and technique) displaces the focus from the physical to the psychic body so as to â€Å"capture† unstable phenomena of change, of conflict in the subject’s relation to time. In Joyce Tenneson’s photographs ordinary referents are obliterated to liberate space for other dimensions * This paper is an abridged and adapted version of a chapter in an unpublished manuscript devoted to photography, aging, and subject construction, entitled Touching Surfaces: Photography and the Fabric of the Subject, in Time 1 This Dante fragment coming from Charles Singleton’s prose version of the Comedy seems to me evocative of the  « misty  » visual effect in Tenneson’s photographs, and also of her placing the lens of the camera much like a mole through the skin, to look at the human body from an interstice, as it were, between the inside... ... Collector’s Photography Magazine. June, 1987. FREUD, Sigmund. The Ego and the Id. The Standard Edition London: Hogarth Press & The Institute od Psychoanalysis, 1953-1974, vol. XIX. GLISSANT, Edouard. Poà ©tique de la relation. Poà ©tique III. Paris: Gallimard, 1990. GOLDBERG, Vicki. â€Å"Unwritten Myths.† Preface to Transformations. MERRILL, James. â€Å"Divine Poem,† in Recitative. Prose by James Merrill. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1986. RICHIR, Marc. Le Corps. Essai sur l’intà ©riorità ©. Paris: Hatier, 1993. WINNICOTT, D.W. â€Å"Ego Distortion in Terms of True and False Self,† (1960). The Maturational Process and Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development. London: Hogarth Press & The Insititute of Psychoanalysis, 1965. WOLLHEIM, Richard. â€Å"The Bodily Ego,† The Mind and Its Depths. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univeristy Press, 1993. 10 11

Ruther Gruber – American Jews

Ruther Gruber is a Jewish writer, journalist and photographer originally from US, who is known for her work in rehabilitant several Jews who were persecuted in Europe. She belonged to a Russian Jewish family. She was born in Philadelphia in September 30, 1911, lived year life as a child in Pennsylvania, and later moved to Europe for studies. She is known for rescuing several Jews from oppression under the Nazi Germany of Hitler (Servin, 2001). Ruther Gruber had completed her Ph. D.studies in Cologne when she was only 20 years old, and at that time the youngest person in the world to earn a Ph. D degree. She had completed her Ph. D studies in Art History, Modern English Literature and German Philosophy. Gruber was shocked at the threats dictatorship under Hitler proved against the Jews. She was also concerned about Hitler’s feeling about other countries of the world such as US, Europe, etc. Once she completed her studies she returned to the US in the year 1931.She joined a care er as a journalist in the year 1932 and joined the New York Herald Tribune in the year 1935. She initially wrote a series of books about women facing communism and dictatorship. Ruth Gruber traveled to several countries including Siberia, Eastern Europe and the Northern parts of Soviet Union, which was first for any American journalist. Following this she was given an assignment by the President’s Roosevelt Sectary (Harold Ickes) for determining the whether Alaska could be militarized after the World War 2 (Jewish Virtual Library, 2009).In the year 1944, Ruther Gruber was given the most important assignment of her life to lead a secret special mission in rescuing 1000 Jewish people from Nazi Germany who were imprisoned in concentration camps in Italy and bringing them back alive to America. Ruther Gruber worked as a General for this particular project. During her travel in the American ship from America to Europe, it was continuously attacked by German fighter planes and subm arines.Ruther Gruber managed to save the 1000 Jewish refugees from the concentration camps in Germany, but there was no law in the US that permitted the refugees to be free or to have residency in the US. The refugees were stationed in a decommissioned training camp in New York for 2 years, after which President Roosevelt decided to give them permanent residency in the US (due to strong recommendations from Gruber). These Jewish refugees later became radiologists in the US, developing new radiological techniques such as CT-scans and MRI-scans.In 1946, once her role in the rehabilitation of the Jewish refugees was enabled, Gruber returned to her former profession with the New York Post. She was asked to cover the formation of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine (Gruber, 2003). Gruber played a role in ensuring the settlement of more than 100, 000 European Jewish refugees in the newly created state of Palestine in 1947. Gruber often accompanied the UN Special Committee on Palestine to missions to Europe and Middle East, representing the New York Herald.She had captured the incidents of the attack by British destroyers on the American Pleasure Boat Exodus carrying Jewish refugees and orphans. Gruber strongly criticized the event and created a lot of awareness of the Nazi-like attacks of Britain on Jewish refugees. She was terrible troubled by the pain and suffering that Britain had given to Jewish people (Jewish Virtual Library, 2009). Gruber got married in the year 1951 and was more into writing for magazines and newspapers. She often travels to Israel and spends time in her farmhouse in Italy (Gruber, 2003).Gruber is definitely a role model for the responsibilities she played whilst saving the 1000 Jewish refugees in Italy from the Nazi rule, ensuring that the 1000 refugees were effectively rehabilitated and also allowing the 100, 000 Jewish refugees to be resettled in the state of Israel. She was highly intelligent and motivated is clearly bein g suggested by her fulfilling her PhD when she was only 20 years. She was strongly against fascism and communism that created problems for women. Her photographs and writings strongly spoke her mind and what she wanted to fulfill in life.She was against abuse of Jewish people in Europe and strongly felt that providing them with a separate state would create a new home. Gruber is one of the few persons in the world who worked for a strong cause and was motivated in her work. References Gruber, R. (2003). Inside of Time: My Journey from Alaska to Israel, New York: Carroll & Graf. Jewish Virtual Library (2009). Ruth Gruber, Retrieved on June 6, 2009, from Web site: http://www. jewishvirtuallibrary. org/jsource/biography/gruber. html Servin, M. (2001). Ruth Ellen Gruber, Retrieved on June 6, 2009, from Web site: http://www. giotto. org/jesse/gruber. html

Ethics in the American Nurses Association essays

Ethics in the American Nurses Association essays Broadly understood, ethics consist of principles, which direct the conduct of individuals, groups or professions (Wilkins 2007). Nurses as professionals make independent decisions on the care of patients. But they are still answerable to their profession as a whole as regards these independent decisions. A nurses conduct has been under scrutiny from the start. The famous Florence Nightingale pledge in 1893 included the vow to abstain from anything deleterious and mischievous... or harmful drug. The profession evolved into a very complex arena in the last century. Nurses now must confront life-and-death decisions and in short periods, even on an hourly basis. Medical advancements in new technology have the equal potential of benefit and harm. Todays nurse makes her own decisions, that is, without the influence of her employer. But how she does is under the control of a Code of Ethics to which she swears (Wilkins). In general, nurses are employed by a hospital, clinic or some private entity (Wilkins 2007). Yet seemingly independent decisions made on patient care not really totally independent. Each decision, especially a critical or end-of-life decision, creates a ripple effect, which extends to anyone in the health care sphere. A code of ethics enables nurses to remain attuned to perspective and retain a balanced view in making decisions. That Code, however, cannot remain stagnant. There will always be changes in the professions and healthcare practice. These unavoidable changes must be appropriately and promptly confronted and incorporated into or included in the Codes formal statement. On the other hand, it is the responsibility of professional nurses to know changes made to the Code and to incorporate these into their daily practice (Wilkins). The American Nurses Association is the oldest, biggest and perceived to be the best professional organization of registered nurs...