Engineering & Technology (410)
Sci-tech in the Nursing Field
Nursing is a knowledge based profession. Nurses require different kind of information in order to execute their functions. These duties include; registering new patients; taking patients history; running test on the patients; administering medication and ensuring that patients stay in fair conditions. Information has become a vital part of fulfilling these nursing duties. Nurses must find data and information that will enable them to offer customized care to the patient. This information is usually obtained from a number of sources. Nurses depend on various types of technologies to perform their duties. This paper has analyzed resources use in the application of duties within the nursing field. Jane was one of the participants in this sci-tech project. Jane is my best friend's sister.
She works as a registered a nurse in the pediatric units of one of the hospitals in the city. Jane is below the 30 years age bracket. She works at an entry level nursing post. The salary for an entry level nurse within the state falls within the range of $40,000 to $80,000 per year. Jane also introduced me to her colleague, Helen. Helen is senior nurse within the pediatric department, where Jane works. Helen was the second participant in this project. Jane is with the 30- 60 years age bracket. The salary for senior nurse with the state falls with the range of $ 80,000 and $120,000 per year. Robert was the final participant in this project. Robert works a radiologist specialist in the same hospital as Jane. Robert is within the 30 and 60 years age bracket. The average salary of radiologist specialist falls within $ 80,000 and $120,000 per year.
Method
We approached the first participant, Jane, and requested her for participation. We explained to her that this was a sci-tech project, and the objective of the project was to examine how technology is applied in the nursing field. Jane accepted to participate. She further introduced us two of her colleagues, Helen and Robert, who also agreed to participate. We met with the participants on face to face basis. Data was collected through various techniques including observation and interview. During our visit to the hospital, we observed how nurses went about with their responsibilities. We also conducted a brief face to face interview on our three participants. The participants were required to describe their daily routine within the work place. The participants were also asked to illustrate how they access information required for them to execute their functions.
Results
According to the participants, on a normal day for nurses at the pediatric unit begins at 7.00am. This when nurses change shift, with the day time nurses coming in to release the night time nurses. The nurses begin their duties by checking how the patients faired during the night. The nurse has to review the patients' medication and care plan and prepare the medication for each patient. The nurses would then begin to administer care and medication to patients at 8.00 am beginning with high priority cases. After administering the morning care, the nurses have to make round prior to and following breakfast and lunch breaks us well as before ending the shift in order to check on the progress of the patients. During the day, the nurses also have to fulfill other responsibility including; admitting new patients into the unit and processing the release of discharged patients.
Nurses require varying information in order to fulfill their duties. One of the most utilized information is information about the patient's health history. This information includes; the patients past medical records; allergies, patient medication; history of drug or alcohol use; mental health history and others (Wozar & Worana, 2003). This information is necessary to enable nurses to offer the right kind of intervention to patient. According to the participants, this information was previously obtained by interviewing the patients. However, this became a challenge especially in cases where patients are brought while unconscious. Today, the health history of most patients is available in electronic format and can be accesses through the electronic medical records. The electronic medical record has become a vital source of information in the nursing profession.
Another source of information that was popularly identified by the participants is the online library resources (Wozar & Worana, 2003). According to participants, nurses encounter new and challenging situation when delivering care to the patient. In order to effectively address these cases, nurses look for information concerning how similar cases were addressed in other areas. This information is mainly available in nursing libraries, journals and other publications. Many nurses prefer to use online libraries to access this publications. According to the participants, access to online resource has made easier by the heavy investment in information technology. Most departments with the hospital have a computer with an internet connection. Prevalence of the mobile computing devices has also made it easier for nurses to access the online publications (Johnson, 2008).
The participants also mentioned that they often turn to their fellow colleagues in the same or different establishment in order to fulfill their information needs (Hansen & Erdley, 2009).
Inexperienced nurses always turn to the more experience nurses to get advice on how to address a certain situation. Nurses would also consult across department when a patient demonstrates different symptoms. For example, a nurse who has specialized in pediatric care can consult a nurse who has specialized radiology matter for assistance on certain matters. Modern technology has also made it possible for nurses to consult colleagues in different establishments and cities. The participants reported that today nurses can make use of technologies such as Skype, emails, You Tube and other social sites to communicate with nurses from other geographical location (Hansen & Erdley, 2009). Thus, inter and intra office communication has become a vital source of information in the nursing field.Another source of information is the print text books and journal. Though the use of these resources has decline in recent times due to arrival of new technologies, these sources still play a vital role in providing information for nurses. Nurses use these print books and journal to update their skills and get information concerning certain intervention.
Discussion
The daily routine of a nurse is extremely demanding. Nurses have to deal with different patients and different cases of illness every day. Sometime, nurses encounter medical issues that they have never addressed before. Thus, information becomes essential in enabling nurses to address such situations. Similarly, nursing and medicine is a highly dynamic field. New discoveries are continuously being made in the field. New and more efficient ways of address medical cases are discovered while previous methods quickly become obsolete. Certain condition becomes resistant to certain drugs necessitating a change of approach. Due to the highly dynamic nature of this profession, nurses must constantly update themselves with new events within the field. In order to this nurses rely on different sources of information.
The need for reliable sources of information has always been present in the nursing profession.
In the past nurses were heavily reliant on print materials in order to obtain information. These include; books; journals; magazines and other publications. While these sources offered accurate and reliable information they had various disadvantages. One of the disadvantages of print media is the inability to provide information that is up to date (Tennery, Wessel & Gadd, 2007). It takes a considerable amount to publish a book or journal and distribute into the field. In most cases, by the time the book or publication reaches the nurses in remote locations the information would be overtaken by events. Another constraint of the print media is that it is not convenient for nurses. Nurses usually deal with a lot of work load. The participants claim that, on a normal day, they report to work before 7.00 am and leave past 5.00 pm. Thus, nurses would hardly find get enough time visit the library and borrow a print text book and go through it to find the required information.
Development of information technology has revolutionized the accessibility of information to nurses. Today most publication in the field of nursing can be accessed from online resource libraries (Wozar & Worana, 2003). Online resources offer various advantages to nurses. One of these advantages is flexibility. Unlike print text books and journal, nurses can access online resources from any location as long as they have access to the appropriate technology. Prevalence of technologies such as hand held devices and personal computers have made it easier for nurses to have access to online resources (Johnson, 2008). The nursing field has also invested a lot of resource in developing online library resources. The "Center for Biomedical Informatics" and " The Health Sciences Library System" are among the most common online library resources that are available to nurses (Wozar & Worana, 2003). This has led to a significant reduction of nurse's workload.
Consulting colleges is also a vital source of information in the nursing field. In the past, nurses required to consult on a "face to face" basis or by use of traditional technologies such as telephone (Hansen & Erdley, 2009). Face to face consultation was time consuming and added onto the workload of nurses. Telephone consultations were also less efficient as nurses could not get a clear demonstration on how to perform a particular procedure. However, advancement in technology has since changed all these. The participants have reported using communication technologies such as; videos; youtube; skype and other advanced media (Hansen & Erdley, 2009). Through such technologies, nurses who are geographically apart can engage in consultation and offer visual demonstrations on how to perform certain procedures.Technology has also made it the process of delivering care easier and more efficient. Today nurses have technologies that enable them to record and track the patient's treatment. There are also advanced technology that can be applied to assess the patient progress. Imaging, monitoring and even surgical equipment are today controlled by use of technology (Hansen & Erdley, 2009). Technology has also led to development of parameters that help nurses to determine how to administer medication to different patients.
Conclusion
Information is a vital part of the nursing profession for two reasons. The first reason is that nurses usually encounter different patients and new medical cases every day of their career. Thus, the nurses need information that would enable them to address the challenges brought about by the new events in the fields. The second reason is that nursing is a highly dynamic field. New medical procedures, drugs and ways of doing things are discovered while older ones become obsolete. Thus, nurses need information in order to keep in touch with changes within the field. Nurses rely on various sources to get this information. These sources include; online library resources; electronic medical records; consultation of colleagues; and print textbooks and journals.
References
Wozar J. & Worana P. (2003). "The Use of Online Information Resources by Nurses". Journal of Library Association. 91 (2): 216- 221
Tennery H. Wessel C & Gadd C. (2007). "Hospital Nurses' Use of Knowledge Based Information Resources" Nurse Outlook Journal. 55 (1):15- 29
Johnson C. (2008). "Nurses and the Use of Personal Digital Assistance at the Point of Care". September 5, 2012. http://fdt.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/fdt/article/view/4906/1766
Hansen M. & Erdley S. (2009). You Tube and Other Web 2.0 Applications for Nursing Education. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics. 13 (3)
Metadata
Metadata is data that provides information about different aspects of data. The article will examine the creation of metadata standards for use in a digital environment and compare the important elements of various metadata schemes. This will help people understand the merging of the bibliographic control perspective and data management perspective in a distributed environment like the internet. Metadata has been examined using two approaches. That is the bibliographic control and data management approaches. The bibliographic control has been used to develop information system. This approaches concentrates on grouping the physical containers of information using bibliographical information, classification and subject in order to locate and retrieve the container quickly.
This approach has not concentrated on information, but location, retrieval and description of the containers to enable users to find the containers easily. The data management approach has been used in organization and data management. The data management perspective has not concentrated on retrieving, locating and describing information only, but also data security, sharing and integrity. Hence, the two approaches are different. In order to develop metadata standards, one should understand the bibliographic control and data management approaches. He should understand their purpose and focus. Understanding the approaches, one needs to compare various metadata formats so as to develop an integrated concept of metadata to merge the two perspectives (Burnett, Park & Ng, 1999).
The two perspectives differ in terms of theories, practices, but they utilize metadata scheme to identify information, retrieve and manipulate it. Modifying the schemes of the bibliographic and data management approaches enable people to disseminate and use information in a distributed environment. This enables them to adjust to the new environment and overcome challenges they face in a distributed environment (Burnett, Park & Ng, 1999).
Reference
Burnett, K., Park, S.,& Ng,K.B.(1999).Control or Management. J ASIS
Computer Forensics Analyst, CS Worldwide Corporation.
WRITTEN_BY AdministratorComputer Forensics Analyst, CS Worldwide Corporation.
In general, the role comprises analyzing, prioritizing, reporting, and coordinating cases relating to information security (Experis, 2012). Specific roles include 1) investigating misuse and abuse of computer resources (internal and external) involving CS worldwide. 2) Assisting organization's investigators and law enforcement authorities in preparation of search warrants and subpoenas so as to obtain the relevant evidence (electronic media). 3) Analyzing and performing retrieval services for seized evidence. 4) Identification, analysis, and coordination of countermeasure mitigation strategies. 5), ensuring the organization's ability to prevent, respond, and investigate information security anomalies. 6) Providing consultancy to risk reduction programs, and 7) Conducting research on industry risk issues for training and preparation of awareness materials.
Skills
Essential qualifications and skills to showcase for this position include a bachelor's degree in computer forensics, computer science, computer engineering, mathematics, and related disciplines. It also requires three years of experience in information risk and security management. Strong technical computer knowledge and problem solving are also a requirement. Other skills include exceptional communication skills, client relationship, and ability to present technical information in basic terms. A job applicant must showcase an excellent understanding of information security vulnerabilities and strong system administration skills.
Sample Evidence of Student SkillsPivotal projects and reports to use as evidence of qualities may include sample team projects (laboratory investigation reports on cyber crime), digital forensic analysis reports, internship reports from relevant organizations, certifications that proof mastery of new information technologies. These sample work reports are essential to express information analytical skills (Vacca, 2005).
References
Experis. (2012). "IT Computer Forensics Analyst". Careerbuilder.com. Jobs, Sep. 12, 2012.
Vacca, I. (2005). "Computer Forensics: Computer Crime Scene Investigation". Hingham, MA:
Charles River Media, Inc.
Computer Security
In the current world of technology, computer technology has taken a different direction. Most organizations, companies, and firms encounter computer security issues during their operations. Computer security is the aspect of protecting specific computers from unauthorized users and access. A lot has been done in order to deal with the issue of computer insecurity but there still cases of threats and attacks. Prevention measures helps an individual stop unauthorized usage of computer hence prevent attacks and threats in the organization. Having control over the usage of the computer is one of the key aspects in ensuring that computer has been kept safe from hackers, crackers, and attackers. Although sophisticated computer technical has been developed to provide security measures, human factor is the most essential aspect in dealing with computer security issues.
Discussion
Individuals should be aware of computer risks
Computer security has been a day to day topic that has developed a lot of issues. The main idea of computer technology is to help the world develop hence know a lot as well as learn new things. Despite that, there are hackers, crackers, and attackers on the other hand who work hard in interfering with this aspect. There have been cases of computer insecurity where individuals hack information or data that they were not supposed to get. This is a situation that has developed the aspect of computer security. Organizations, companies, as well as firms should deploy computer security aspect in order to have a safe operating system. Human factor in developing computer security has been neglected by most of security manufactures, (Asai. & Waluyan, 2008).
Policies and procedures
Most companies focus on hardware and software security measurers forgetting that those measures they develop will be used by human. An important aspect to consider when developing any computer security measure is to determine the cause of insecurity. Attacks, virus, and hackers or computers are individuals with knowledge of computer technology. Even if hardware and software measures are put in place, those individuals will still hack and crack measures that has been put in place. The first line of developing sound computer security system is to establish all possible causes of computer insecurity. This is the start point where organizations should lay their foundation. Research shows that most organization mainly focuses on other security measures and forgets about the human factor, (Abouzakhar & Manson, 2002).
Any organization should meet regulatory and legal requirements when operating with computer technology. This helps an organization a develop measure that employees should follow in order to oversee computer insecurity issues. It is the work of enforcement authorities to ensure that companies maintain a high level of data protection policies. Although this has not been the case, organizations must implement information security policies so as to meet security requirements required for operation. This is one of the main human factors that have been neglected by companies as well as authority enforcing agencies, (White & Pearson, 2011).
Simple human errors
Some computer insecurity develops as a result of simple human errors that could have been corrected in the course of work operation. According to computer security research a third of criminal activities arise due to simple human errors. A lot of money has been spent in search of computer security measures without any success. Although focusing on technology may yield possible solutions to the current computer security problem, it should also be discovered that some of the computer insecurity issues are developed by simple errors. If proper computer use is maintained, some security problems may not develop. This is another important human factor that has been left when developing computer security measures, (Yates, 2004).In order to deal with the issue of simple error development, there should be awareness of the common usage of computer. Customers and employees should be taught on how to use computers in a way they prevent their information from unauthorized users. There are individuals who do not know how to use the computer effectively. To be open and proper communication should be harnessed in order to develop awareness on how to prevent criminal activities when using computers, (Basili & Rombach, 2010).
Educate computer users
Research shows that some criminal activities as well as computer attacks result from the fact that users if computer have no idea that there such things. If an organization wants to develop its data security and prevent e-crime activities, employees should be trained on how to handle computer when completing their activities. This is one of the few human factors that have been realized to be effective alongside hardware and software computer security measures. Employees should be trained on how to handle information as well as ways they are required to secure their computer activities. In so doing, research shows that computer insecurity issues will have been addressed in about 30%. It is one of the approaches that companies should deploy alongside technical approaches to help the survival of an organization, (Gerber et al, 2009).
Risks of computer insecurity
An organization that does not employ human factor in computer security measures always incurs a lot of cost. Research shows that a lot of money has been spent in search of quality technical solutions. In the process of technical solutions, some data and information are lost that could have not given that human factor were put in place. In order to handle this, human factor involvement alongside with technical measures should be used in realizing a suitable solution, (Trim, 2008).
How Human Factor Contribute To Computer Security Breach
One of the ways under which human factor contribute to computer security breach is that most organizations focus on technical security measures. Study shows that companies rely on technical measurers more compared to human factor something that has been a great danger especially to organizations that uses computer technology in most of the organization activities. Apart from that, enforcing agencies have failed on the other hand. Instead of enforcing policies, agencies have left that aspect in maintaining a high level of security measure in the use of computer and technology materials for work, (Attaran & VanLaar, 1999).
Conclusion
Computer security has been the major issue in the world of technology. Although technical solutions have been the main focus, individuals should also focus on the human factor. Users of computers should beware of computer risks in order to respond on given issues in the right aspect. Enforcing agencies should also monitor the use of regulations and policies by organizations.
Reference:
Abouzakhar, N.S. & Manson, G.A. (2002), "An intelligence approach to prevent distributed systems attacks", Information Management & Computer Security, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 203-9
Asai, T. & Waluyan, L. (2008). Potential problems in information security management in cross-cultural environment - A study of cases in Indonesia -. Journal of Japan Society of Security Management
Attaran, M. & VanLaar, I. (1999), "Privacy and security on the internet: how to secure your personal information and company data", Information Management & Computer Security, Vol. 7 No. 5, pp. 241-6.
Basili, V. & H.D. Rombach, (2010). Support for Comprehensive Reuse," Software Engineering Journal, IEE British Computer Society
Bjork, J. & Jiang, K.W.B. (2006). Information security and national culture comparison between ERP system security implementations in Singapore and Sweden. Master of Science Thesis for the Royal Institute of Technology
Gerber, M., von Solms, R. & Overbeek, P. (2009), "Formalizing information security requirements", Information Management & Computer security
Trim, P.R.J. (2008), "A framework for establishing and implementing corporate intelligence", Strategic Change,
White, G.W. & Pearson, S.J. (2011), "Controlling corporate e-mail, PC use and computer security", Information Management & Computer security, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 88-92.
Yates, S. (2004), "Homeland defence: the telecommunications angle", paper presented at the First CAMS Security Management Conference, Birkbeck College, University of London, London,
Computer Security
In the current world of technology, computer technology has taken a different direction. Most organizations, companies, and firms encounter computer security issues during their operations. Computer security is the aspect of protecting specific computers from unauthorized users and access. A lot has been done in order to deal with the issue of computer insecurity but there still cases of threats and attacks. Prevention measures helps an individual stop unauthorized usage of computer hence prevent attacks and threats in the organization. Having control over the usage of the computer is one of the key aspects in ensuring that computer has been kept safe from hackers, crackers, and attackers. Although sophisticated computer technical has been developed to provide security measures, human factor is the most essential aspect in dealing with computer security issues.
Discussion
Individuals should be aware of computer risks
Computer security has been a day to day topic that has developed a lot of issues. The main idea of computer technology is to help the world develop hence know a lot as well as learn new things. Despite that, there are hackers, crackers, and attackers on the other hand who work hard in interfering with this aspect. There have been cases of computer insecurity where individuals hack information or data that they were not supposed to get. This is a situation that has developed the aspect of computer security. Organizations, companies, as well as firms should deploy computer security aspect in order to have a safe operating system. Human factor in developing computer security has been neglected by most of security manufactures, (Asai. & Waluyan, 2008).
Policies and procedures
Most companies focus on hardware and software security measurers forgetting that those measures they develop will be used by human. An important aspect to consider when developing any computer security measure is to determine the cause of insecurity. Attacks, virus, and hackers or computers are individuals with knowledge of computer technology. Even if hardware and software measures are put in place, those individuals will still hack and crack measures that has been put in place. The first line of developing sound computer security system is to establish all possible causes of computer insecurity. This is the start point where organizations should lay their foundation. Research shows that most organization mainly focuses on other security measures and forgets about the human factor, (Abouzakhar & Manson, 2002).
Any organization should meet regulatory and legal requirements when operating with computer technology. This helps an organization a develop measure that employees should follow in order to oversee computer insecurity issues. It is the work of enforcement authorities to ensure that companies maintain a high level of data protection policies. Although this has not been the case, organizations must implement information security policies so as to meet security requirements required for operation. This is one of the main human factors that have been neglected by companies as well as authority enforcing agencies, (White & Pearson, 2011).
Simple human errors
Some computer insecurity develops as a result of simple human errors that could have been corrected in the course of work operation. According to computer security research a third of criminal activities arise due to simple human errors. A lot of money has been spent in search of computer security measures without any success. Although focusing on technology may yield possible solutions to the current computer security problem, it should also be discovered that some of the computer insecurity issues are developed by simple errors. If proper computer use is maintained, some security problems may not develop. This is another important human factor that has been left when developing computer security measures, (Yates, 2004).In order to deal with the issue of simple error development, there should be awareness of the common usage of computer. Customers and employees should be taught on how to use computers in a way they prevent their information from unauthorized users. There are individuals who do not know how to use the computer effectively. To be open and proper communication should be harnessed in order to develop awareness on how to prevent criminal activities when using computers, (Basili & Rombach, 2010).
Educate computer users
Research shows that some criminal activities as well as computer attacks result from the fact that users if computer have no idea that there such things. If an organization wants to develop its data security and prevent e-crime activities, employees should be trained on how to handle computer when completing their activities. This is one of the few human factors that have been realized to be effective alongside hardware and software computer security measures. Employees should be trained on how to handle information as well as ways they are required to secure their computer activities. In so doing, research shows that computer insecurity issues will have been addressed in about 30%. It is one of the approaches that companies should deploy alongside technical approaches to help the survival of an organization, (Gerber et al, 2009).
Risks of computer insecurity
An organization that does not employ human factor in computer security measures always incurs a lot of cost. Research shows that a lot of money has been spent in search of quality technical solutions. In the process of technical solutions, some data and information are lost that could have not given that human factor were put in place. In order to handle this, human factor involvement alongside with technical measures should be used in realizing a suitable solution, (Trim, 2008).
How Human Factor Contribute To Computer Security Breach
One of the ways under which human factor contribute to computer security breach is that most organizations focus on technical security measures. Study shows that companies rely on technical measurers more compared to human factor something that has been a great danger especially to organizations that uses computer technology in most of the organization activities. Apart from that, enforcing agencies have failed on the other hand. Instead of enforcing policies, agencies have left that aspect in maintaining a high level of security measure in the use of computer and technology materials for work, (Attaran & VanLaar, 1999).
Conclusion
Computer security has been the major issue in the world of technology. Although technical solutions have been the main focus, individuals should also focus on the human factor. Users of computers should beware of computer risks in order to respond on given issues in the right aspect. Enforcing agencies should also monitor the use of regulations and policies by organizations.
Reference:
Abouzakhar, N.S. & Manson, G.A. (2002), "An intelligence approach to prevent distributed systems attacks", Information Management & Computer Security, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 203-9
Asai, T. & Waluyan, L. (2008). Potential problems in information security management in cross-cultural environment - A study of cases in Indonesia -. Journal of Japan Society of Security Management
Attaran, M. & VanLaar, I. (1999), "Privacy and security on the internet: how to secure your personal information and company data", Information Management & Computer Security, Vol. 7 No. 5, pp. 241-6.
Basili, V. & H.D. Rombach, (2010). Support for Comprehensive Reuse," Software Engineering Journal, IEE British Computer Society
Bjork, J. & Jiang, K.W.B. (2006). Information security and national culture comparison between ERP system security implementations in Singapore and Sweden. Master of Science Thesis for the Royal Institute of Technology
Gerber, M., von Solms, R. & Overbeek, P. (2009), "Formalizing information security requirements", Information Management & Computer security
Trim, P.R.J. (2008), "A framework for establishing and implementing corporate intelligence", Strategic Change,
White, G.W. & Pearson, S.J. (2011), "Controlling corporate e-mail, PC use and computer security", Information Management & Computer security, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 88-92.
Yates, S. (2004), "Homeland defence: the telecommunications angle", paper presented at the First CAMS Security Management Conference, Birkbeck College, University of London, London,
The Daubert Standard: Qualifying Expert Witness
WRITTEN_BY AdministratorThe Daubert Standard: Qualifying Expert Witness
Daubert standard is a legal tool used to determine admissibility of evidence based on three principles: validity, relevance, and reliability (Patzakis, 2001). It demands a preliminary assessment in determining whether the expert evidence is scientific and whether it is relevant. The judge, though Daubert standard, must qualify the expert witness. In considering reliability of the evidence or expert's reasoning and methods, the judge assesses the following factors. Was the theory tested prior to trial or can it be tested? Was the method/theory peer reviewed, was it published, was the experiment replicated and verified? What standards and controls were used? Has the theory/method been accepted in the scientific community? Was the testimony developed for the purpose of litigation? Did the expert use the same care for trial as in his professional work?The court authenticates documents and writings before they are introduced into evidence (Zedeck, 2009).
The U.S. Federal rules, regarding evidence, and laws of other jurisdictions define computer data as documents. Computer data provides a significant challenge for authentication because, without proper handling, the data can be altered. The investigator bears the burden of proving or offering to the court sufficient evidence to authenticate the writings or documents, and electronic evidence.Direct examination is given, in most instances, little time and attention by attorneys (Patzakis, 2001). The focus is on the preparation for, and conducting a fierce cross-examination of the opposition's expert. In simple terms, direct examination is the most significant part of the trial for the plaintiff's counsel. It has cardinal influence on the result. The role of the expert is to help the attorney, and the court in general appreciate the significance of the information already presented to the court.
Reference
Patzakis, J. (2001). "Guidance Software". EnCase Legal Journal, 2001(2): 1-71
Zedeck, M. (2010). "Expert Witness in the Legal System: A Scientist's Search for Justice".
Pittsburgh, PA: Lauriat Press
The Investigative Report: Trojan horse Malware
WRITTEN_BY AdministratorThe Investigative Report: Trojan horse Malware
Explaining Methods
Trojan horse is a computer malware commonly used to instigate corporate espionage (Staudt & Stranz 2009). It spreads through social networking, electronic mail, wireless electronic mail, and instant messaging, the most common modes of consumer and business communication. Approximate global use of electronic mail will rise from 2.9 billion consumer and business accounts in 2010, to a figure above 3.8 by 2014 (Radicati, 2010). In this regard, it is likely that Trojan will continue to cause havoc particularly in situations where security of information is a paramount consideration.The rapid spread and complex nature of Trojan horse inspires this study. Analysis, discussions, and conclusions in this report occurred based on findings of recent and currently on-going computer forensic studies. Consultation of multiple sources occurred in order to eliminate the possibility of bias.
Data Collection
Observation of distinct features is the basis of identification and confirmation of Trojan horse (Stich, 2007). Personal computers unprotected against computer malware are vulnerable to attacks by Trojan horse. It is a unique virus distinguishable with two distinct features. In the first place, Trojan horse does not invade secondary files through self-replication. Secondly, this virus stands alone as an executable file by hiding under a seemingly vital program and self-executes upon opening of the program by the user. For instance, it may be delivered through an electronic mail attachment and executed when the account user downloads or opens the false attachment.
Discussing Results and Conclusions
Morgan Jones received an email attachment under the name "E-Loan-Appraiser-Results.pif". The message, supposedly from the consumer department, required updating crucial information on Jones' account including credit card status, current living address, and phone number. Jones has no credit card, and, therefore, making it definite it was a virus. On downloading, the virus affected normal operations of the computer slowing down the normal navigation of the mouse, deleting essential files, and stopping security and scanning software. To guard against malware programs, individuals and corporations should have security programs installed computers. Kaspersky and Eset Nod security software programs are highly effective against Trojan horse (Ec-Council, 2009).In relation to corporate espionage, organizations must prioritize security concerns based on cost-benefit analysis so as to identify critical programs that require oversight (Staudt & Stranz 2009). Controlled access to computer systems is the other security measure. Others include regular change of password, data encryption and avoiding storage of sensitive data on networked computers (Stich, 2007).
References
Ec-Council. (2009). Computer Forensics: Investigating Network Intrusions and Cybercrime.
Mason, OH: Cengage Learning
Radicati, S. (2010). "Email Statistics Report, 2010". Palo Alto, CA: The Radicati Group, Inc.
Staudt, M. & Stranz, M. (2009). "Computer Forensics: Evidence Analysis and Presentation".
Mason, OH: Cengage
Stich, R. (2007). "Drugging America: A Trojan horse". Alamo, CA: Silverpeak Enterprises, Inc.
Web service QoS Prediction, via Location Aware Collaborative Filtering.
WRITTEN_BY AdministratorWeb service QoS Prediction, via Location Aware Collaborative Filtering.
The Abstract Summary:
Predicting missing QoS values of Web Services (WS) is an imperative recommendation in Web Services. Several processes of Web Services QoS being there, for prediction based on collaborative filtering, but essentially they have considered positions of both users and service in forecasting QoS values of Web Services. In reality, user or services have remarkable impacts on value of QoS factors, such as throughput, response time, and dependability. As we proceed, here is the process of location-aware collaborative selection to recommend WS to users by incorporating locations of both users and WS. A way from existing user-based, joint filtering finding similar user for a target user, instead of checking all set of users, the method focuses on users physically near to the aimed user.
Equally, the process also advances existing service equality gauge of joint filtering through employing service position data. There after getting equal users and services, the process uses the equality gauge to forecast missing QoS values based on an amalgam joint selecting technique. WS candidates with high QoS values get recommended to users. To authenticate the process, a chain of large-scale experiments based on a realistic WS QoS info-set get conducted. Experimental output discloses that the position- aware technique advances performance of WS QoS forecasting indispensably.Brief Biography: Mingdong Tang has more than 15 years experience in teaching computer science. His is an associate professor and chair of the division of Computer Science with the Hunan University of Science and Technology, China.
He has in printed over 20 academic documents in intercontinental journals and conferences. He embraces a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Tianjin University, a M.S degree in Control Engineering from Shanghai University, and a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Currently, he is a visiting academic at Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA. His current research interests include services computing, social computing and cloud computing, with an emphasis on service discovery and service selection. He is a senior member of China Computer Federation (CCF) and a member of IEEE and ACM.
Electronic medical records adoption in Ory Health Center
WRITTEN_BY AdministratorElectronic medical records adoption in Ory Health Center
Literature review
In this section, Ory health care needs to understand en the major issues learnt from other health care institutions in terms of implementing electronic medical records. The literature is grouped by reviewing different themes which include brief history of EMR, health information technology for economic and clinical health or HITECH, Implementing Electronic medical records or EMR, EPIC software as is currently being implemented by various hospitals.
Brief history of EMR
Although the concept of electronic medical records is not new, there are so many health care institutions yet to implement the system in the US today. In the 1960's healthcare providers realized that medical care had become complex. Complexity arose from the fact that patient information was inaccessible to the health care providers when needed (Atherton, 2012). The need for comprehensive medical information when necessary resulted to the need for innovation on patient's information storage to electronically. The overall intention of the electronic heath records was to keep track of the overall health and medical information of patients in electronic format for safer and efficient healthcare system navigation. However, the lack of a standardized record system stands in the way for faster adoption. The government has not been silent about the slow adoption and has resulted to enactment of several laws to see through the Heath IT adoption by health institutions.
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health or HITECH
HITECH Act is a part of the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HHS, n.d). It was signed into law so that to promote Health Information Technology adoption and meaningful use. Other issues of concern that have resulted to delayed health information technology adoption are implementation cost, privacy and security concerns, and lack of collaboration. Given security and privacy drawbacks, HITECH subtitle D addressees the concerns on privacy and security of HIT in terms of electronic health information transmission. Privacy and security of HIT is addressed through the provisions strengthening civil and criminal enforcement of HIPAA rules. Prior to the implementation of an EMR, Ory needs to understand HITECH act of 2009 to understand violations, corresponding penalties, and maximum penalty amount for all violations (HHS, 2011).
Through the use of HIT and the guidance of HITECH, the government is positive that healthcare providers will rejoice at the benefits. The benefits of HIT are accurate and complete health information concerning a given patient, and the ability to provide better coordinated care (Marcus, Lubrano, & Murray, 2009). HIT also offers secure patient information sharing with the patients and their care givers resulting to patients and families participation in health care decisions. Basically, the use of EMRs will enable doctors to quickly diagnose health issue, minimize errors, and ensure low cost and safe care (HHS, 2011). HITECH act also provides a limit of up to year 2015 when all health care institutions are required to have demonstrated EMR use or face penalties.
Implementing electronic medical records or EMR
Given the cost of implementing EMR, the implementation process for Ory health center can only take place in phases. For now, the electronic medical records have not been installed. This makes Ory health center among the 19.25% of US institutions that have not yet installed the EMR systems. Prior to the implementation of EMR system, Ory health center has to assess its readiness for EMR in terms of leadership, culture, strategy, and technical readiness. This will call for efforts from a technical team. In addition, Ory will need to motivate its employees to accept change.
Electronic health records implementation in is not an instant event. Organizations like Yuma Regional Medical center (Knaub, 2012) used a timeline through which different levels of HIT were adopted in these institutions. As for Ory health center, the best EMR implementation procedure can take place it the following stages. Stage one, installation of ancillaries. The ancillaries include laboratory, pharmacy, and radiology (Keane, Metz, & Ogunkeye, n.d). The second state is the feeding of data to a clinical data repository or CDR which is what provides the physician access to review or access results. Other sources of medical information can be linked to the CDR including document imaging systems. Additional information for the CDR will also depend on clinical documentation where things like vital signs are required. In the third stage, clinical notes, care plan charting and electronic medication administration record (eMAR) system are scored (Garets & Davi, 200).
All these information is integrated with CDR for at least one hospital service with high level clinical decision support implemented. Error checking will then be done. At stage four, Ory health center will be required to include computerized physician Order Entry or CPOE for use by any clinician into the CDR and nursing environment. This will be done together with second level capabilities for decision support that are related to protocols in the evidence based medicine. In the fifth stage, Ory will implement a closed loop medication administration environment fully in one of the patient areas (Garets & Davi, 200). In step six, at least one patient care service area will have full physician documentation implemented. Finally, the healthcare institution will be a paperless environment. At this point the institution will say hello to electronic medical record.Although the electronic medical records implementation process is easily explained, it is not so easily implemented on the ground.
The slow implementation pace is due to factors like selection of an appropriate project team, organization process redesign and standardization, project organization and mobilization, hardware procurement and network installation, and client design procurement among others (Keane, Metz, & Ogunkeye, n.d). In the US, different institutions are on different stages. Those found to be on the first stage are those with utmost 400 beds. The hospitals found at this stage are integrated delivery systems or IDSs, urban, general medical and non academic hospitals. The same case applies for the second stage. In the clinical documentation stage the hospitals at this stage are those with a bed capacity of between 201-400 beds (Garets & Davis, 200). Like stage one and two, majority of the hospitals at this stage are IDSs, general medical, urban and non academic. In the fourth stage, majority of the hospitals have a bed capacity 101-200. Between the five and seventh stage, the hospitals are more academic and non general. With a bed capacity of 600 and above being found in hospitals in the sixth and seventh stages.
The implementation of EPIC software will mean that secure web portal or MyCare application will be launched to allow patients to access information such a laboratory results, immunization records, and other educational material. Using this portal, patients will receive messages in case new results are released. The MyChart application will be implemented to provide patients extensive and more convenient access to provider records (UCH Insider, 2010). In order to allow for document-scanning, Epic's document scanning application, Media Manager, will be adopted instead of using third party document management system. Although this will be an ongoing process over several years, the intention is to provide the patients with high quality care (UCH Insider, 2010).
Proposal
Needs assessment process in Ory Health Center
Currently, Ory has not installed any EMR functions. Prior to Epic implementation, the organization needs to carry out an assessment of the current organizational needs in terms of strengths and weaknesses.
To begin with, a project team comprising of managers, clinicians, and administrative staff is selected. This team will be responsible for high level understanding of practice needs. The team which will comprise representation from different groups will first engage in brain storming session where different organizational requirements will be identified.
Secondly, the representatives from different departments will be allowed to individually use the brain storming session outcomes to evaluate in details what is needed for effective adoption of EMR in their department. These needs include workflow constraints, hardware, compatibility, connectivity, support or training among others.Thirdly, the project team will meet with department representatives for follow up. Follow up meeting will comprise of nurses, clinical technicians, team managers, and others. Detailed questioning is done for identification of common requirements, possible integration requirement, and unique requirement.
For the common and integrated requirements, the project team will handle. For the departmental unique requirements, appropriate division will handle. These needs will however be prioritized and current workflow and optimized workflow documented. In this step the vendors will be invited to demonstrate to the project team their ability to meet stated needs.In the forth step, organizational needs that the vendor can currently meet are confirmed. This is essential in gap analysis and identification of the needs that cannot be met.Finally, identification of the explicit measures of success both in the short and long run for successful implementation. This will provide guidance to implementation team and organization
References
Atherton, J., (2012). Development of the Electronic Health Record. Virtual mentor. Vol. 13. Iss. 3. P. 186-189. Retrieved from http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2011/03/mhst1-1103.html
Garets, D., and Davis, M., (2006). Electronic medical records vs. electronic health records: yes there is a difference. HIMSS analytics, LLC.
Health and human services, HHS, (n.d). health information privacy. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/administrative/enforcementrule/hitechenforcementifr.html
Health and human services, HHS, (2011). Health Information Technology. Retrieved from http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt/community/healthit_hhs_gov__home/1204
Keane, W., Metz, B., & Ogunkeye, J., (n.d). Electronic medical records: implementation and beyond. Jefferson University Physicians.
Knaub, M., (2012). YRMC's electronic health records go live May 1. Retrieved from http://www.yumasun.com/articles/information-78207-patient-records.html
Marcus, D., Lubrano, J., & Murray J., (2009). EMR Implementation guide. Texas medical association.
UCH Insider, (2010). Hospital announces G-Live dates for Epic Project. Through. Vol. 3 Iss. 20.
Electronic Medical Records
Table of contents
A. Introduction - History or background of the organization and definition of electronic medical records.
B. Methodology - The method of research will be action research.
I. Planning - The first phase of action research involving implementation plan.
II. Action - Second phase of action research relating to the learning process, planning, and executing the behavioral changes in the organization.
III. Outcome - The third phase of action research that involves the results of the implementation.
IV. Applications use discusses the benefits of implementing electronic medical record into the organization.
C. Reference
A. Introduction
The existence of paper based records has been there for centuries, but there has been a slow replacement of this method of record keeping by computer based records. Electronic medical records are at the center of computerized health information system. Electronic medical records are the collection of the health information electronically of an individual or even a population. Electronic medical records usually make it easy for information to be shared across different health settings (Glaser, J Lee, F & Wager, A 2009).Ory is a health centre that has had problems with trying to maintain records of the patients. Since the start of the organization, all the record keeping activities were being done through paper work. This has not been an extremely easy work for the hospital and also the patient's coming in and out of the hospital daily. Maintaining records for the patients has been a difficult task, because patients are many, which means that there are loads of records that need to be kept safely.
The staff members have been having trouble trying to retrieve the patient's records because, the records are sometimes needed by different physicians to see the progress of the patients. Therefore, it makes it had to ensure that the records is kept in one place. This is something that has been troubling the hospital management while trying to get a better way to maintain safe record keeping in the hospital. Despite trouble in keeping patients records, patients have been taking a long time in the queues while they are waiting for the nurses to get them their cards so as to visit the doctor. Another problem that the hospital has been facing is in the finance sections where it takes times before the records of the patient are recovered so as to match the payment. Improving the method of record keeping in the hospital will help in improving the quality of care being offered to patients, and it will also help to keeping the patients' information safe. Ory has been having a problem in keeping records of the patient safe.
Patients have been complaining that the hospital does not maintain confidentiality of their information and these complaints have affected the performance of the hospital. This is because patients do not trust the staff members and physicians enough to give them private information. About a month ago, Ory had a case where the nurses had accidentally given the wrong drug to a patient. This was incredibly dangerous as it threatened the life of the patient. However, we were able to solve this situation and nurses have been extremely careful when they are administering drugs to patients. The decision to introduce the use of electronic medical records in the organizations is because it will help in solving most of the hospitals nightmares.
Changing the systems of record keeping will help in improving the hospital services. With the use of electronic medical records, it helps in recognizing drug interaction, which might be life threatening. It will be easy to keep the information of the patients such as medical history, medication, immunization status, and finance records confidential where it will only be available to the right staff members. By implementing electronic medical records system in the hospital, it will help to improve the general performance of organizations and also the services that will be offered to the patients will be improved. This will make it easy for the staff members to attend to patients as fast as possible without having to waste time searching for the records of the patients. This improvement is of significant value to the entire community of the organization.
B. Methodology
The method that is going to be used for research will be action research. Action research is usually initiated so as to solve an immediate problem (Craig, D 2009). The first step of action research is planning the second is action, and the last step is outcome. When implementing electric medical records system into the organization, the first step is to plan.
Planning
The organization has to have a clear definition of what the EMR is to accomplish and then make decisions based on this goal. The goal is to become paperless and hence the first implementation task will be to analyze and re design the work flow. Every job function will be analyzed so as to understand how tasks were being performed using the old system. The team will spend considerable time when they are analyzing the work processes and designing new work flows that will be accomplished by the EMR. There will be facility modification where most of the practices will be fixed to fit in the available space so that to avoid major renovation expenses. During this period of the implementation plan, the team will have to plan on hardware installation and selection and software configuration where the choice of the hardware for servers and network will be driven by the recommendations and requirements of the vendor.
Action
Action is the second phase of action research which relates to the learning process, planning, and executing the behavioral changes in the organization (Craig, D 2009). After planning the implementation of EMR, the next step will be the action. After everything will be in order having installed all the materials, the manager, the staff members, and the physicians will have to arrive early on day of going live. These members will carry out a patient visit from start to the end where people will be allowed to ask questions, and minor identification and collection of problems will be done during this time. Signs will be posted around the hospital so as to advice the patients that the hospital has started using the new electronic medical records.
Outcome
Outcome is the third phase of action research. After the action, all the staff members will have to move to their respective positions and start using the new systems. The staffs will have received training on how to use the new technology in the hospitals. The outcome of this implementation into the organization will be observed on a daily basis. This will be how operations are being done different like in entering data into the systems and how first the staff members can take action to the needs of the patients. We do not expect paper work to end completely through the first days, but this will soon vanish after about two months. After about one year, we will be able to determine how effective the system by measuring the performance of the organization and also from feedback from the patients.
Applications use
The implementation of EMR is an overwhelming task. Strong physician leadership, good planning, and supportive staff are required. After implementation of EMR, there are many benefits that the organization will be able to achieve. Some of these benefits that the organization will be able to achieve will include legible notes and prescription, accurate medication lists, lower transcription costs, and high quality of patient care (Skolnik, N 2011). EMR provide shareable, single, accurate information that can be retrieved from any place at any time, up to date, and it requires a small space. It focuses on the health of the patient, thus the information that is collected using this system provides a broad view of the patient's care. Since the information can be shared easily by physicians and the staff members it enables secure information sharing.
EMR ensures that appropriate measures are taken when caring for patients. It has laboratory data management whereby it has the capability of recognizing if the lab results are abnormal (Lazarus, S & Amatayakul, M 2005). This will help the hospital in avoiding mistakes when examining patients and provision of the right medication to the patients. Will the implementation of the electronic medical records, patients will be able to enjoy better services from us like quick payment bills because they will not have to be asked to from the same old information again and again after every encounter in the hospital. Action research is the appropriate method for performing this research because, it provides clear steps that will be useful when implementing electronic medical records. The phases of action research are not complex and easy to follow thus providing better end results.
Reference
Craig, D (2009). Action research Essentials John Wiley & Sons
Glaser, J Lee, F & Wager, A (2009). Health cares information systems John Wiley & Sons
Hsu, J Rundall, T & Scott, T (2007). Implementing an electronic medical record system Radcliffe Publishing
Lazarus, S & Amatayakul, M (2005). Electronic health records MGMA
Skolnik, N (2011). Electronic medical records Springer Publishers
