Paul Jewell

The Concept of Advocacy in Nursing: A Critical Analysis.

As health care professionals practice as a team, they take on responsibilities that are specific to their roles—responsibilities that are recognized and understood by the team and management as pertaining to their professional domain and expertise. Is advocacy part of the role of the nurse? Members of the nursing profession commonly maintain that it is, but is there a consensus on this issue, both within the profession and among other stakeholders? Is there a clear understanding of the term advocacy, and is this reflected in Codes of Practice and research into practice? An examination of significant documents and reports of empirical research reveals conflicting conceptions and opinions. There is potential for a common definition, but agreements need to be reached on whether advocacy is an essential function of nursing within the management of health care, and if so, what is advocacy’s importance, focus, and limits.

Gifted Education in a Democracy: Refuting the Critics:

Gifted education practitioners care about the needs of individual children. They strive to promote cognitive, moral and social development, and celebrate the fulfilment of human potential. In a democracy, educators struggle to provide for the differing needs of individual students. The Australian democracy is similar to other democracies in this respect. Recently, the Australian Senate conducted an inquiry on ‘The Education of Gifted Children’ (2001). The Senates concern to balance individual fulfilment with inclusive practices is echoed by the OECD report ‘Understanding the Brain’ (2002). Yet gifted education in Australia still has vocal, even vituperative critics. They describe gifted education as elitist, unjust, undemocratic, and even intentionally eugenic. These are serious charges, and demand a response. Such critics, it must be said, do not understand democracy. The very nature of democracy requires an acknowledgment of individual differences in its citizens, and respect for individuality. In contrast, the critics confuse equality with identity, and demand that justice requires identical treatment for all. This error is avoided in gifted education, which addresses the satisfaction of individual educational needs and the recognition of individual potential. This paper provides arguments that support the role of gifted education in societies that cherish fairness, freedom and fulfilment.

Policy as Ethics: Sterilisation of Girls with Intellectual Disability

Abstract Any public policy could be seen as an ethical issue, but only some are represented as such and debated using ethical terms. If a policy is generally accepted by the community, then it will not be seen as a controversy meriting debate. If a policy is contentious, protagonists may call upon a variety of paradigms to advance their positions or seek resolution, using, for example, legal arguments, or medical justifications. If there is no such agreed paradigm, the controversy may be framed as an ethical issue. An illustrative example is the debate concerning the sterilisation of young women who have intellectual disabilities. Are there any circumstances in which it is justifiable for parents to arrange for the sterilisation of their daughter who has an intellectual disability such that she is unable to make such a decision for herself ? There is a debate about the role and responsibilities of the family in deciding whether or not to seek sterilisation, and, in contrast, the role of the state in demanding that such decisions be monitored and authorised. The issue is fundamentally ethical, but attempts to resolve it have been medical and legal. The debate has been conducted through the procedures of guardianship boards and courts, through academic articles, and in mass media. The problem is seen by some as a private matter, by others as a medical one, by some as an example of prudence and care and by others as an example of eugenics. This paper offers an explanation of why some issues are deemed by the community to be ethical in nature. It provides an ethical analysis of the sterilisation debate, reveals an over-emphasis on rights at the expense of other ethical strategies and concludes that informed ethical commentary can further resolution where medically informed legal approaches have been unsatisfactory.

Mind the gap between school and adulthood for people with intellectual disabilities

ABSTRACTConsiderable research has explored the “transition to adulthood” but few studies have considered the conceptualisation of emerging adulthood or adulthood for young people with intellectual disability. This article reviews the current literature about developmental and social constructions of adulthood for people with intellectual disabilities and explores how these definitions align with the perspectives of families, service providers, and policymakers. The article suggests that “transition to adulthood” would be better termed “transition from school” and into adult services, as such transitions rarely coincide with other typical markers of adulthood for many people with disabilities. Instead, it highlights the notion of “emerging adulthood” as an extended life stage for people with disabilities, which is supported by families and service providers. However, the article notes that differences in personal and political constructions of adulthood by these stakeholders contribute to tensions during s...

'Where dId that Fokker CoMe FroM?' The Age's ADVeNTURes OF NAkeD MAN Cartoon CaPtIon CoMPetItIon

The Adventures of Naked Man is a cartoon series that features one naked man in a drawn setting where, because of some convenient object or body position, his penis is obscured from sight. Entrants to the competition submit a caption to complete the drawn setting and, with the obscured penis as their implicit focus, many entrants construct a penis joke. In this article, we show that the apparently simple humour of Naked Man disguises considerable complexity. As well as the traditional gender and power analysis, we note some interesting aspects of contemporary newspaper media, including the appeal of reader engagement in the construction of humorous word play and the incorporation of mildly sexual content.

Medicare Item 319 after 10 years: a range of concerns

Objective: The aim of this paper was to re-examine, via a risk benefit analysis, the rationale of restrictions to long-term intensive psychotherapy and psychoanalytic treatment through the mechanism of the Commonwealth Medicare Benefits Scheme (CMBS) in light of side effects on patients’ access to treatment, their self-esteem, and their privacy. Conclusion: The application of the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale and the specificity of CMBS Item 319 on individual patients’ medical records carry risks that are not offset by demonstrable communal benefits that were predicted when the item was introduced 10 years ago.