To what extent can agricultural biotechnology can hold the key to Essay

To what extent can agricultural biotechnology can hold the key to sustainable food security in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) - Essay Example This essay as well shows the prospective of public†private joint ventures and gives recommendations of policy courses along with ventures that can centre more research in biotechnology on the issues of the poor and lessen some of the alarms concerning the biotechnology influences. The Biological Diversity conference describes biotechnology as: "use of living systems and organisms to develop or make products, or "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use". With this explanation, the definition of biotechnology covers various methods and tools that are common in production of food and agriculture. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety2 describes â€Å"modern biotechnology† more narrowly as the appliance of: b. Cells fusion further than the taxonomic family, which surmount recombination barricades or natural physiological reproductive and which are not methods used in assortment and conventional breeding. A narrow interpretation which simply considers the innovative DNA methods, molecular biology along with application of reproductive technology, the description entails several diverse technologies like manipulation along with transfer of genes, cloning and typing and cloning the DNA of animals and plants. Even though the media has covered technology extensively in the last few years, this technology that has an extensive history that dates as far back as 6000 B.C. Progress in technology and science have altered conventional biotechnology methods, like hybridization, mutagenesis and selective breeding, into current ones, like tissue culture and recombinant DNA methods. This makeover has presented an opportunity extra applications in many areas like health care, forestry, industrial processes, the environment, and many others. The existing

Principles and Practice of Social Work - Theoretical Assignment Essay

Principles and Practice of Social Work - Theoretical Assignment - Essay Example On one hand, an individual’s activities have an effect on other people that interact with him or her, and in turn, the actions of others affect him; the total effect of their actions is evident in the society. On the other hand, society affects the individuals in it, expecting them to do according to its demands. By so doing, society ensures its survival by making its various components live together in harmony, and individuals build their society by interacting with each other constructively (Berberoglu 2005; Baert and Silva 2010). The role of a social worker is to use social work values, principles, and methods for counselling, helping a society or a community help itself or individuals in it; acting as the agent that maintains balance in society. For instance, a social worker would be involved in the provision and improvement of social, health, and legislative services. The principles of social work include, acceptance, affirming individuality, purposeful expression of feelings, non-judgementalism, objectivity, controlled emotional involvement, self-determination, and confidentiality. According to Ritzer and Goodman (2004), social work is the art and science of identifying conflicts in society analysing them, and using the various available theories on society to come up with possible solutions. However, the work of a social worker does not end at identifying and recommending solutions, it extends using the recommendations to solve the conflict at hand practically. Therefore, a social worker is an essential component of a society that acts as a bridge between the needs of an individual and those of the society, by ensuring that individual do not suffer in silence due to the pressure of society expectations. The aim of this essay is to identify two social work theories, relate them to social work principles and relate them to domestic violence, in addition to discussing power imbalances, between the social worker and his or

Video Games and Violence Essay Example for Free

Video Games and Violence Essay Video Games and violence a topic that has caused many a spirited debate both in the classroom, and amongst parents and children. There are plenty of arguments both for, and against the issue. However, there is research out there that shows that large amounts of time spent playing violent video games can contribute to aggressive behaviors, poor academic performance, and desensitization to violence in adolescents. The debates all begin withviolent video games contributing to aggressive behavior both in and out of the classroom. Reports show clear evidence that exposure to violent video games increases aggression in terms of behavior, cognition, and effect, including serious real world aggression, and violence. (Kutner, Baer, Beres, Warner, Nicholi II, 2009). Things such as trait anger increase the odds. Violent game play was linked to high aggression in people that had high anger traits, as well as to a lesser extent to those with moderate and low anger traits. (Kutner, Baer, Beres, Warner, Nicholi II, 2009). Studies showexposure to M rated games is a strong and significant predictor for adolescents engaging in aggressive behaviors like bullying, and fighting. Results also showthat the results are dose related, meaning the more time the child spends playing the game the higher the odds. The numbers go up as much as 45%. M rated game play was an even stronger predictor for this behavior appearing in adolescent girls. (Kutner, Baer, Beres, Warner, Nicholi II, 2009). The classroom is also where the effects of violent video games can be seen. Concerns are rising among parents, educators and health care professionals that there is a dark side to 1 excessive game play. Studies show that parts of the brain that trigger feelings of addiction are activated during game play. Sign of video game addiction include lying about time spent playing, plummeting grades, loss of key relationships, scholarships, and isolation. Children begin to choose the game over participating in school activities, social activities, chores, and homework. For example a ninth grader plays a game with members of the group from around the globe, his parents tell him it’s time to get homework and chores done. The child sends an email to the group saying he is dropping off line. This causes chaos, he gets responses like† are you nuts! We are in the middle of a mission. † The group dynamic takes priority over everything else. An anonymous mother and physician tells of howher son went from a thriving student to user. His grades plummeted, he failed all his classes, lost his scholarship, and is now trying to rebuild his life. Membership becomes so important it becomes hard for the child to separate the fantasy from reality. The more they play the more they begin to identify with the character, and members of the group. Once this happens some type of intervention is usually needed. (Wagner, J. (2008). Professionals feel that violent video games can also contribute to desensitizing adolescents to every day violence, and human suffering. What are seen as horrific, and violent events are just an everydayoccurrence. Most people would never expose their children to violent, or mature content depicting killing law enforcement, and civilians. However, one of the most top cited, and played games among adolescents is Grand Theft Auto, which includes all of the above, and more . (Kutner, Baer, Beres, Warner, Nicholi II, 2009). Professionals feel games like this have an even greater effect on adolescents than slash, and gore movies. Studies show that games like Quake IIeffect how a child sees things after gameplay. If they were angry going into the game, it affected their outlook after gameplay. 2 The debates will continue on video games and violence. Will there be problems with every child? No, of course not. However, evidence is out there to support the fact that video games and violence cancontribute to aggressive behaviors, poor academic performance, and desensitization to violence in adolescents. Parents, educators and Medical professionals can work together to lessen the odds. However, monitoring, boundaries, and playing an active role in the child’s activities are still the best defense. 3. References Kutner, L. A. , Baer , L. , Beres Olson, C. K. ,in, E. V. , Warner, D. E. , Nicholi II, A. M. (2009). M-Rated Video Games and Aggressive or Problem Behavior Among Young Adolescents. Applied Developmental Science, 13(4), 188-198. doi:10. 1080/10888690903288748 Green, J. , Dunn, E. C. , Johnson, R. M. , Molnar,B. E. (2011). AMultilevel Investigation of the Association Between School Context and Adolescent Nonphysical Bullying. Journal Of School Violence, 10(2), 133-149. doi:10. 1080/15388220. 2010. 539165 Report, Wagner, J. (2008). When Play Turns to Trouble. U. S. News World 144(14), 51-53.

The Spanish Language

The Spanish Language Spanish is part of the Indo-European family of Romance languages and is closely related to Italian and Portuguese. It is a major language with approximately 400 million native speakers worldwide. Spanish is spoken in Spain; South America (except Brazil and Guianas); Central America; Mexico; Cuba; Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic; Western Sahara; north Morocco; Equatorial Guinea; and some parts of America. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) In 2004, 71.3% of English Language Learners in Florida spoke Spanish. (MacDonald, V., 2004) II. Phonology (pronunciation) A. Native speakers of Spanish sometimes have a hard time producing initial consonant clusters without using an extra vowel at the beginning because there are no initial clusters in the Spanish language. For example, because there is no initial cluster of /sp/ in the Spanish language, native speakers would probably say, I espeak eSpanish. (Nasr, R.T., 1997) For the most part, all vowels have a shorter pronunciation in Spanish than in English. Spanish only has five pure vowels and their length, unlike English vowels, is not a distinctive feature. Typically, at least two English vowels share the phonetic space occupied by one Spanish vowel. This is seen in the difference between /i:/ and /I/ in English which correspond to the Spanish /i/, so meet and mitt, sheep and ship, etc. are easily confused. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) The letter /z/ does not exist in Spanish. English language learners use /s/ for /z/ therefore, lacy is said for both lacy and lazy, sip for both sip and zip, etc.. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) The Spanish language has a /b/ and /v/ allophone (two different versions of the same sound) and to an English speaking ear it sounds the same. The Spanish language adds friction to the /b/ sound which makes it sound similar to the /v/ sound. Therefore, the pronunciation of Por favor may sound like Por fabor. (B/V Confusion in Spanish, 2011) Spanish speakers also often pronounce a final d similar to an unvoiced th. Additional pronunciation problems at the end of words are d and t as well as thing/think and sometimes thing/thin or even ring and rim. This is because Spanish consonant sounds usually differ more by their position in a word than English consonants do. (Case, A., 2012) B. The sample recording I used was from a 34 year-old male from Veracruz, Mexico. He began learning English at the age of 29. In the sample recording, the use of an intrusive vowel at the beginning of initial consonant clusters was repeated. Words that were changed include: Stella eStella; spoons espoon; snow esnow; snack esnack; small esmall; snake esnake; station estation. C. For Spanish speaking students having the e before s-consonant cluster difficulty described above, create a passage for students to read aloud, in which each sentence starts with a word beginning in an s-consonant cluster. Prior to the students taking turns reading the passage aloud, help them practice for a minute by saying short words that start with an s-consonant cluster like spit, stick, and spell. Pronounce the words along with the student, exaggerating the beginning s sound. This will help to create a new muscle memory that doesnt leave room for students to include the beginning e sound. (How do you teach adult EL students English pronunciation?, n.d.) III. Morphology (word structure) A. Spanish EL students tend to make morphological errors in their speech when they over generalize a morpheme such as plural s. The Spanish speaker would say: The deers are brown, instead of, The deer are brown. Spanish EL students also often have confusion with pluralizing adjectives. This is because in Spanish adjectives and the nouns they modify must agree in number, while in English, plural nouns are not modified by adjectives in plural. For example, a statement in Spanish would be Carlos tiene los ojos azules., which translates to Carlos has got blues eyes. (Mingorance, Y, 2010) The Spanish language does not have contracted verb forms and this can be a problem for EL students. They have problems in understanding will or would in: Ill go to the store; theyd come with us and construe them to mean I go; they come, etc.. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) Spanish has high sound-to-spelling correspondence, so spelling in English is difficult for EL students. Spanish speakers often reduce double letters to single ones: aple, diferent, necesary, etc.. and since they do not distinguish English phoneme contrasts, words can be confused, like: hoping / hopping, this / these, etc.. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) In writing, Spanish EL students are likely to not use capital first letters for days of the week, months, or national adjectives since they are not used in the Spanish language. Examples of this would be and EL student writing: tuesday, february, or english. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) B. Instructional activities for Spanish EL students to teach them the proper use of contractions in the English language are very important and can be a challenge. Teachers should review the use of contractions and make sure that students understand the difference between general contractions, such as shes for she is as well as informal contractions like gonna for going to. Then explain the main exceptions to the rule like, you are unable to contract will not as willnt. It would be wont. Have students listen to audio recordings or a movie in English and have them write down all of the contractions they hear. Help students identify the words that are contracted and state the type of contractions used. (Latham, n.d.) IV. Syntax / Grammar (word order and sentence structure) In the Spanish language, subject-verb agreements do not always correspond to the statement. Due to this freer word order, EL students often put the emphasized word last in a sentence. For example: Yesterday played very well the children. 1. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) In Spanish, adjectives and nouns usually come after the head noun. An EL student may write I drive the car blue, instead of I drive the blue car. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) EL students often mix up the word order of questions such as Marta has cooked the food could be written as Cooked the food has Marta? This is because there is no set word order for questions in the Spanish language. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) EL students also commonly put a rising no at the end of questions or statements. This is done in the Spanish language to urge agreement to any positive statement. It is common for them to say or write sentences like: She has a job, no? or You are going home tomorrow, no? (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) Double and even sometimes triple negatives are standard in the Spanish language as they are viewed as reinforcing, rather than contradicting each other. This leads to EL students making the common errors of sentences like: I dont have none or My son doesnt eat nothing. (Swan, M. and Smith, B., 2001) B. As they say, practice makes perfect. For Spanish EL students, I would recommend repeated practice of word order. This can be done through worksheets, interactive programs on SmartBoards where they can manually manipulate the word order by touch, or even with the words in a sentence written on separate cards where the student can line them up in the correct order. The more they practice the precise placement of words in the English language, the easier it will come to them. V. Conclusion A. As previously mentioned, Spanish EL students face many challenges in learning the English language. The biggest challenge facing them is not only learning basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS), but also cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) so that they can proceed with content area learning. The longer it takes an EL student to master CALP, the further behind they will get in learning the required subjects in school, or if they are moved along in the school system, the less they will be able to retain and learn. B. The pedagogical value of understanding Spanish EL students predictable errors is that it provides educators with essential tools to help students learn. The more knowledgeable an educator is about the most common types of mistakes that EL students make, the more aware they are of the students actual comprehension levels, and the better able they are to provide differentiated instruction to ensure success of the EL students. (Rico, 2012)

The Victims of Elder Abuse Essay -- Elderly Abuse Crisis

Elder abuse has been present in society from past times. Evidence of elder abuse can be found in Shakespeare writings and literature, and also in Greek mythology. Despite its’ constant presence throughout time, it is only recently that serious attention has been given to elderly violence. The main reason for the new recognition of this old problem is the increasing number of aging Americans. (National Center for Victims of Crime). Elderly abuse in modern times is more prevalent that in ancient times, because of the few that were tasked with the duties. In past generations, the duties of caring for the elderly were shared among the members of large extended families. However, due to the emergence of a strained economy, and smaller nuclear families there is less time and family members to care for the elders within each family. The definition for elderly abuse varies from state to state within the US. A common middle ground in all definitions is that elderly abuse is an y physical, psychological, or maternal abuse towards an elderly person. In summary, it is the violation of the elder’s rights to safety, security and adequate healthcare. (Wyandt). Due to the various definitions of elderly abuse across the board, the act has been categorized in different typologies. Physical abuse, Verbal/Psychological abuse and Financial abuse are three main types of elderly abuse. TYPES OF ELDER ABUSE The physical abuse of elderly may include restraining, slapping, hitting, bruising, and other forms of physical abuse that result in pain or injury, sexual abuse, sexually molestation, and rape. Verbal abuse or psychological abuse usually involves inflicting mental anguish, humiliation, intimidation, yelling, and threats. Keeping an ... ...ca." National Research Council (U.S.). Panel to Review Risk and Prevalence of Elder Abuse and Neglect. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press, 2003. 238-240. †¢ Hudson, M. F. and J. R. Carlson. "Elder abuse: Expert and public perspectives on its meaning." Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect 9.4 (1998): 77-97. †¢ Hudson, Margaret F, et al. "The Gerontologist." Elder Abuse: Two Native American Views 1998, 38 ed.: 538-548. †¢ Le, Q. K. "Mistreatment of Vietnamese elderly by their families in the United States." Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect 9.2 (1997): 51-62. †¢ National Center for Victims of Crime. ELDER ABUSE. 2004. 07 MAR 2010 . †¢ Wyandt, A. Mary. "A Review of Elder Abuse Literature: An Age Old Problem Brought to Light." Californian Journal of Health Promotion 2.3 (2004): 40-52.

Liability in Homebuilt Aircraft :: Essays Papers

Liability in Homebuilt Aircraft Homebuilt aircraft are considered to be the fastest growing segment of aviation during the last two decades. Naturally with the increase in these aircraft will also come an increase in accidents. Accidents like the 1997 Long E-Z crash that killed John Denver have raised questions about who is legally liable: the kit manufacturer, amateur builder, or pilot? (Kolczynski, 1) Homebuilt aircraft liability litigation is expected to develop into a booming new industry in the coming future. During the 1970s and 80s production of single engine factory built aircraft has virtually come to a halt. With many product liability lawsuits, which led to large verdicts against the manufacturers of the single engine aircraft, manufacturers slowly dropped out the single engine aircraft business. With no more single engine aircraft being built used single engine aircraft have dramatically increased in price. These events have led to an increase in homebuilt aircraft that cost a fraction of the price of a previously owned Cessna, Beechcraft, or Piper. Another boost to homebuilt aircraft has been the FAA. In the role of promoting air commerce, the FAA has supported regulations and advisory circulars that encourage the development of homebuilt aircraft; for example Advisory Circular 20.27d. (Kolczynski, 2) According to this anybody can buy plans and parts and obtain a special airworthiness certificate to operate the aircraft in the experimental category if the amateur builder doe s more than 50% of the fabrication or assembly, and does solely for his own education or recreation. (Kolczynski, 2) Homebuilt aircraft are built a few different ways. Some of these aircraft are built from scratch using plans from a designer. Others are purchased in kits consisting of plans, pre-fabricated parts, and some raw materials. Once a builder acquirers a kit he/she is required to do the majority of the fabrication and assembly of the kit. During the assembly the homebuilder needs to have the aircraft inspected by a FAA approved inspector. (Kolczynski, 4) A construction log needs to be maintained with photographic documentation of the building process. After the aircraft is completed, it is required to have the marking â€Å"Experimental† on the fuselage. (Kolczynski, 4) Next, the homebuilder must submit a FAA form 8130.7 along with the progress log to the FAA for a post-construction inspection of the new aircraft. After the inspection, a special airworthiness certificate is issued with operating limitations that the airplane may be flown only within a limited geographical te st area for a certain number of hours.

Leadership and Management Essay

The implementation of the care of the dying policy at the writer’s area of practice involved the process of change. This involved the use of both leadership and management theories which are essential to increased effectiveness as supported by Moiden (2002). The change was a political one due to the government initiatives to improve end of life care (Department of Health 2008). Antrobus (2003) states that political leaders aim to deliver improved health care outcomes for patients. The essay will critically analyze both leadership and management theories from the top of the organization to the bottom. These theories were used to implement this change to enhance quality care in this clinical area. The essay will also critically analyze and evaluate the nurses’ self management skills in fulfilling their role as clinical managers within interdisciplinary and the changing context of the healthcare. Similarly, the essay will discuss the implications upon quality assurance and resource allocation for service delivery within the health care sector. These will be related to current government strategies. The effects of government strategies in involving the user and carer or significant others in decision making process within current clinical and legal frameworks (Department of Health 2000b) will also be debated. Similar debate will also be on the nurses’ involvement in policy making (Antrobus 2003). Further discussion on government strategies will be discussed on the introduction of clinical governance and essence of care. Braine (2006) states that the purpose of implementing change is to improve effectiveness and quality. The whole process of change was based on the introduction of the care of the dying booklet which meant that all healthcare professional documented their notes in the same booklet. The change took place in a large hospital to implement a new policy which was politically driven by the government to improve quality of care. Like most hospital organizations, the hospital traditionally uses a bureaucratic management approach (Marquis and Huston 2006) reinforced with authoritarian leadership to facilitate efficiency and cost effective care. This is done through planning, coordination, control of services, putting appropriate structures and systems in place and monitoring progress towards performance activities (Finkelman 2006 and Faugier and Woolnough 2002). According to Marquis and Huston (2006) bureaucracy was introduced after Max Weber’s work to legalize and make rules and regulations for personnel to increase efficiency. The ward manager as a change agent had to design and plan the process of change. Designing change involved understanding the purpose of change and gathering data as supported by Glower (2002). Planning included identifying driving forces and ways to reduce restraining forces (Glower 2002). Unlike the top management who used bureaucratic management theory, the ward manager applied the human relations management theory (Marquis and Huston 2006) at ward level. This management theory is designed to motivate employees to achieve excellence. The human relations theory was introduced in attempt to correct what was believed to be the shortcoming of bureaucratic theory which failed to include the human aspects (Marquis and Huston 2006). Often referred to as motivational theory, Lezon (2002) agrees that this theory views the employee in a different way and helps to understand people better compared to the autocratic management theories of the past. It is based on theory Y of Douglas McGregor’s (1960) X and Y theories cited in (Lezon 2002). Theory Y assumes that people want to work, are responsible and self motivated, they want to succeed and they understand their position in the organization. Perhaps the appropriateness of this theory can be linked to the implementation of clinical governance which emphasizes that it is the responsibility of health care professionals to ensure effectiveness, high standards and quality (Braine 2006). This puts health care professionals in a responsible position and motivates them to provide high quality care. This explains why theory Y was used as opposed to theory X which according to Lezon (2002) assumes that people are lazy, unmotivated and require discipline. According to the human relations theory, there are some positive management actions that lead to employee motivation thus improving performance (Marquis and Huston 2000). Some of these actions used by the change agent were empowering and allowing employees to make independent decisions as they could handle, training and developing, increasing freedom, sharing big picture objectives, treating employees as if work is natural and other ways of motivating staff as supported by Marquis and Huston (2006 and Lezon 2002). The use of human relations theory in the implementation of this policy is well justified in contrast to other management theories. For example, theory X presumes that people must be coerced, controlled, directed and threatened with punishment (Lezon 2002). This theory adds that an average person has inherent dislike of work and prefers to avoid responsibility (Marquis and Huston 2006). In other words, theory X prefers autocratic style while theory Y prefers participative style. Managers using theory y seek to enhance the employee’s capacity to exercise high levels of imagination, ingenuity and creativity solving organizational problems. With the human relations theory, members feel special and involved rather than being controlled by threats and sanctions from the change agent (Dowding and Barr 2002). The team of health care professionals was aiming to achieve the same goal. This goal was to provide high quality care to patients approaching end of life. This involved a lot of organizational psychology and motivation to facilitate effective teamwork. Among the factors that facilitate effective teamwork, leadership is the most significant as stated by Clegg (2000). Toofany (2005) supports that leadership is on government’s modernization agenda for the National Health Service and is an influencing factor. Therefore, the change agent needed equally effective leadership style. To facilitate this, she applied the transformational leadership style. Markhan (1998) cited in Clegg (2000) defines transformational leadership style as a collaborative, consultative and consensus seeking. These are the same characteristics of the leadership style used by the change agent. Contrary to this leadership style is the transactional leadership style which is based on power of organizational position and authority to reward and punish performance (Moiden 2002). Based on Rosner (1990)’s research, Clegg (2000) states that gender affects leadership style and women prefer transformational style. Perhaps this explains why the change agent chose this style for this particular change. As in any form of change process, resistance, which falls under the unfreezing stage of Lewin’s (1951) cited in Murphy (2006) change theory is one of the common obstacles that needed to be dealt with (Curtis and White 2002). By inspiring a shared vision within the team (McGuire and Kennerly 2006) the change agent managed to increase driving forces and reduce resisting forces at the same time. Clegg (2000) values vision as a very important ingredient of transformational leadership, adding that it should be engaging and inspiring. Transformational leadership was first put forward by James Burns (1978) cited in Marquis and Huston (2006). According to him, a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation converts followers into leaders, a fact shared by Murphy (2005). If a leader can stimulate followers, he or she can engage followers into a problem solving attitude (McGuire and Kennerly 2006). In addition, people engage together in a way that allows leaders and followers to raise each other to higher levels of motivation and morality (Marquis and Huston 2006). This approach emphasizes on the leader’s ability to motivate, coach and empower the followers rather than control their behaviors (McGuire and Kennerly 2006). Moiden (2002) states that this style is widely used in all types of organizations in dealing with change. Frequently, it is contrasted with transactional leadership which is a traditional way in which followers’ commitment is gained on the basis of exchange of reward, pay and security in return of reliable work (Mullins 2002). However McGuire and Kennerly (2006) state that if transactional leadership is predominantly used, followers are likely to place limits to organizational commitment and behave in a way only aimed at contract requirements. Despite the differences in various leadership styles, most researchers conclude that there is no one leadership style that is right for all circumstances (Reynolds and Rogers 2003). Fidler (1967) cited in Moiden (2002) agrees that a single leadership style is rarely practiced. Therefore situational theories were introduced in order to deal with various situations. Perhaps this is why the leader used the situational approach to leadership in order to meet the demands of different situations, an idea also shared by Marquis and Huston (2000). Reynolds and Rogers (2003) suggest that the effectiveness of day to day activities depends on balancing between the task at hand and human relations to meet everyone’s needs. Different competence levels, motivation levels and commitment levels of staff on this clinical area justify why a situational approach was used in conjunction with transformational leadership style. Reynolds and Rogers (2003) support that situations like this require the leader to adapt their style. However, they warn that it is important to know when to lead from the front, when to empower and when to let go. This situational approach enabled the leader to work on followers’ strength and weaknesses. Moreover, Reynolds and Rogers (2003) warn that it is not always easy to find leadership styles that suite the needs of every situation and not everything falls into place from the beginning. Marquis and Huston (2000) criticize that situational theory concentrate too much on situation and focus less on interpersonal factors. Support was given to followers according their needs. Supportive behavior, as supported by Reynolds and Rogers (2003) helps people to feel comfortable in their situations. This was facilitated by the use of a two way communication system which involved listening, praising, asking for help and problem solving. Consequently, as performance improved, the leader’s supportive behavior shifted to delegation. Delegation was mostly directed to staff with high competences, commitments and motivation. Reynolds and Rogers (2003) support that the style of leadership alters as performance improves from directing to coaching to supporting to delegation. Basing on research studies, Reynolds and Rogers (2003) warns that using different approaches to different staff can practically difficult in terms of developing the whole group as well as maintaining fairness. This further exposes the limitations of situational approach. Nevertheless, it is equally important to assess followers’ capabilities and developmental needs so this explains the relevance of situational approach to this clinical area. The delegation was directed to some members of the team while others still wanted to be directed. In addition, this was because of the leader’s trust in people, working to their strength and sharing the vision as supported by Kane-Urrabazo (2006). Delegation is defined as transferring responsibility of an activity to another individual and still remain accountable (Sullivan and Decker 2005). Davidson et al (1999) caution that critical thinking and sound decision making must be applied before delegating because it increases rather than decrease nurses’ responsibility. They clarify that to ensure safe outcome, delegation must be the right task, right circumstances, right person, right instructions and right supervision. Pearce (2006) shares the same thoughts and adds that you must be clear about what you delegate, inform other members, monitor performance, give feedback and evaluate the experience while remembering that you remain accountable. However, Kane-Urrabazo (2006) and Taylor (2007) argue that delegation is another way of empowering the subordinates. However, like every team going through the process of change, problems arose and were solved as they came. Apart from dealing with problems like resistance and lack of resources, there was an even bigger problem of interdisciplinary working for both the change agent and the subordinates. Although this policy was predominantly nurse orientated, it needed authorization by a doctor in order for a patient to be commenced on care of the dying pathway. Whether inside or outside health care, interdisciplinary working was introduced with the same concerns of improving quality (Hewison 2004). Interdisciplinary working has been emphasized by a number of government initiatives (Martin 2006b), more recently the NHS Plan (Department of Health 2000a). To ensure the demand for interdisciplinary working is met, there has been a lot of emphasis on professional education and training. Effective interdisciplinary working is meant to facilitate delivery of quality services and is fundamental to success of clinical governance (Braine 2006). However, Hewison (2004) argues that there is little evidence to support the effectiveness of interdisciplinary working. There is also insufficient evidence to support that collaboration improves quality of care given to patients (Hewison 2004). Nevertheless, if interdisciplinary working is to be achieved it is important to appreciate the potential barriers to this type of working. In this particular organization there were some barriers that impeded interdisciplinary working. These barriers needed problem solving skills from both the change agent and the nurses. In many cases there were some disagreements between nurses and doctors as to when to commence the care of the dying pathway for a patient. Although the policy was self explanatory in terms of when to commence it, doctors were often reluctant to authorize it. Hewison (2004) states that occupational status, occupational knowledge, fear and distrust of other occupational groups are some of the barriers to effective interdisciplinary working. Additionally, different backgrounds, training, remuneration, culture and language can contribute to professional barriers, mistrust, misunderstanding and disagreements (Hewison 2004). To solve this problem the change agent and senior members of the medical team held regular meetings to discuss problems like this. This way of problem solving is well recommended by Hewison (2004) who explains that if interdisciplinary working is to be successful, structures and procedures should be in place to support it. This is a way in which organization reflects emphasis on teams rather than individual professional groups. Hewison (2004) adds that if this is reinforced with communication between managers and other professional groups, it is likely to be successful. Perhaps in future interdisciplinary learning may be necessary to overcome some of the barriers to interdisciplinary working. Despite lack of evidence for its effectiveness, interdisciplinary learning has been identified as a government priority (Hewison 2004). Therefore study programmes for health care professionals are important to facilitate this approach to learning.