The learning curve.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to L Fitzgerald.
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This article examines the issue of drawing medical consultants into managerial decision making. It commences by examining both historically and comparatively the influences on doctors and their reluctance to adopt managerial roles and responsibilities. It progresses to an analysis of the impact of the NHS and Community Care Act particularly in relation to the separation of purchaser and providers and the development of contracting mechanisms. The argument presented suggests that the rapid adoption of the clinical directorate model, as the favoured mode of organisation in acute units, has led to clinicians assuming 'imitation' general manager roles. The authors question whether this is the best use of the unique skills and time of clinicians. They compare with experience in the USA and propose that collaborative working between doctors and general managers is essential in health care. The article suggests a set of tasks for clinician managers and then discusses the issues of training support and development which will be required if clinicians are to perform these tasks effectively.
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The clinical directorate model has been swiftly adopted as a way of getting clinicians into management. In the second of two articles, Louise Fitzgerald looks at its limitations and at the alternatives.
Progress in drawing clinicians into management has been slow, but would a new role entail a new breed of manager or just an adaptation from general management? In the first of two articles Louise Fitzgerald looks at the challenges.
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Recent research studies and other evidence suggest that although moderate exercise is good for the immune system, the demanding training programs of many top athletes may suppress the immune system and thereby increase susceptibility to infections. A number of top athletes have suffered from unusual infections normally associated with immune deficiency, and immune abnormalities have been demonstrated in resting samples from top athletes. Studies from several exercise laboratories have shown that after a single exhausting exercise session there is temporary immune depression, with marked changes in numbers and functional capacities of lymphocytes. These changes, which last for up to several hours, are seen in athletes and untrained individuals. In several studies in the United States, students who were very active in sports have been shown to be more susceptible to infections than their less active colleagues. Exercising hard during the incubation phase of an infection can increase the severity of the illness. This article examines the evidence, discusses possible mechanisms, and considers the implications.
It is possible to care too much. Thus, there is a need to assist clients to achieve a state of caring with perspective (i.e., caring that lies in the gray area between excessive caring and not caring). Serenity is a concept that offers direction for attainment of this perspective; the concept of serenity is valued by many clients. Yet, the term is missing in nursing literature and the meaning of serenity in the literature that exists on the topic is vague. This article presents results of a concept analysis of serenity and discusses the relationship of serenity to the concept of caring.
Fatal eosinophilic meningoencephalitis due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis is reported in captive non-human primates. A howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) at the Audubon Park and Zoological Gardens, New Orleans, LA, died 21 days after initial clinical symptoms. A white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) died at the Ardastra Gardens and Zoo, Nassau, Bahamas, 17 days after onset of symptoms. Both had access to free-ranging gastropods within the zoos. These are the first reported cases of natural infection by A. cantonensis in non-human primates in the western hemisphere.
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GmCSF) is a lymphokine secreted by class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-restricted T cells after lectin or antigen stimulation. To investigate the relationship between interleukin-2 (IL-2) and GmCSF production, we utilized long-term cultures of porcine myelin basic protein (PMBP)-specific T helper cell clones that were maintained with IL-2 in the absence of antigen or irradiated antigen-presenting cells (APC). We have found that supernatants of these T cell clones contained GmCSF activity after IL-2 stimulation. Inhibition of cell proliferation by irradiation failed to stop GmCSF production. When these clones were stimulated with PMBP and irradiated APC in the presence of anti-IL-2 receptor antibody, the T cell supernatants still contained GmCSF activity. These results indicate that (1) GmCSF production by T helper clones after IL-2 stimulation is independent of cell proliferation and (2) antigen/MHC-stimulated GmCSF production by T cell clones can occur by an IL-2-independent pathway.
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The article sets out the current pressures on the health service to radically revise the processes of manpower planning in use. Issues discussed include the conventional problems of managing uncertainty over longer timescales and the use of relevant data. However, the need for raised awareness across all professions of the sources of influence on the service is also discussed. The use of scenario planning approaches is suggested. A case example is provided of a trial attempt to examine the major forces influencing the N.W. Thames RHA, in order to derive from them the manpower and training implications. Detailed data from the early stages of the project are presented, illustrating the impact of technological advances and of social trends on health care delivery. Interim conclusions are then drawn from this work.