Similar Institutions (similar + institution)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Municipal Neoliberalism and Municipal Socialism: Urban Political Economy in Latin America

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009
BENJAMIN GOLDFRANK
The following article identifies two different urban policy regimes in Latin America , neoliberal and socialist , and traces their origins to the distinct interests and capacities of local elites and activists in the region's cities in the mid-to-late twentieth century. While agricultural and commercial interests paid a high price for the growth of import-substituting industrialization, and therefore deployed free trade zones (and similar institutions) in traditional export centers in the 1960s and 1970s, their industrial rivals bore the brunt of austerity and adjustment in the free market era, and therefore adopted compensatory measures designed to increase the ,social wage' in the 1980s and 1990s. Examples are drawn from municipalities in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela, and call the conventional portrait of impotent Latin American cities , and omnipotent central governments , into question. Résumé Cet article identifie deux régimes de politique urbaine différents en Amérique latine : néolibéral et socialiste. Leurs origines tiennent aux divers intérêts et moyens des élites et militants locaux dans les grandes villes régionales au cours de la seconde moitié du vingtième siècle. Si les milieux agricoles et commerciaux ont payé le prix fort de l'essor d'une industrialisation visant à remplacer les importations, et ont donc mis en place des zones de libre échange (ou des institutions similaires) dans les pôles exportateurs traditionnels au cours des années 1960,1970, leurs rivaux industriels ont porté le poids de l'austérité et de l'ajustement à l'époque de la libéralisation des marchés, adoptant par conséquent des mesures compensatoires destinées à accroître le ,salaire social' au cours des années 1980,1990. Des exemples, issus de municipalités situées au Brésil, au Mexique, en République dominicaine, en Uruguay et au Venezuela, remettent en question le tableau conventionnel des villes latino-américaines impuissantes face aux gouvernements centraux omnipotents. [source]


Systems for accreditation in blood transfusion services

ISBT SCIENCE SERIES: THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTRACELLULAR TRANSPORT, Issue 1 2009
S. Hindawi
Accreditation is a non-governmental, voluntary process that evaluates institutions, agencies, and educational programs. It is defined as the process whereby an agency or association grants public recognition to Institutes or Blood Banks for having met certain established standards as determined through initial and periodic evaluations that usually involve submitting a self-evaluation report, site inspection by a team of experts, and evaluation by an independent board or commission. To be accredited Institution and or Blood Transfusion Services should establish and maintain quality systems involving all activities that determine the quality policy objectives & responsibilities taking into account the principles of good manufacturing practice (GMP). There are many Established systems for accreditation which can help any institution to know its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities through an informed review process. Any assessment and subsequent accreditation is made with reference to a set of standards so that the standing of an institution can be compared with that of other similar institutions. In summery the accreditation is a continuous process for improvement of quality and safety of participating institutes or facilities and we should encourage all health institutes to be involved in one or another system for accreditation. There is a need for a local or regional accreditation system for health institutes especially for blood transfusion services to help in the development and improvement of the quality of their services. [source]


The credit crunch , the right time for credit unions to strike?

LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2009
Dr Nicholas Ryder
The origins of the cooperative movement can be traced to the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in 1844, from which similar institutions emerged in Central Europe, the North American continent and the rest of the world. Modern credit unions evolved from these small cooperative societies and have developed into mainstream providers of financial services in many jurisdictions. However, credit unions in the UK have not made a similar impact. There are several factors that have limited their growth , an inadequate legislative framework, an ineffective credit union regulatory system, inappropriate development models, an over-reliance on state subsidies and a disunited movement. The aim of this paper is to re-examine these factors in light of the level of political support provided by the government since 1997. [source]


Safely treating hypokalaemia in high dependency cardiac surgical patients

NURSING IN CRITICAL CARE, Issue 6 2006
Claire Sladdin
Abstract In Australia, there were national issues on the use of potassium ampoules (resulting in patient deaths), which led to the removal of the ampoules from clinical areas. A decision was made by the Medication Safety Committee at a metropolitan Melbourne hospital to remove potassium ampoules from ward areas as part of the establishment of a hospital-wide potassium guideline. As a result, the nurses in the cardiothoracic ward Practice Review Committee identified the need to review the proposed practice of treating hypokalaemia with 30 mmol of potassium chloride (KCL) in 1000 mL over an extended period in postoperative cardiothoracic patients. The challenge was to develop a practice to safely administer intravenous KCL in fluid restricted patients in addition to the hospital guidelines to prevent hypokalaemic-induced cardiac dysrhythmias. A literature search revealed there were no clear or uniform approaches to guide our practice in addressing this clinical problem. The Practice Review Committee developed a KCL administration guideline based on a review of the available literature. The Practice Review Committee developed a ward-based guideline that addressed infusion concentration, duration of administration, responsiveness of nurses to severity of hypokalaemia and the evaluation of treatment by measuring serum potassium after replacement. This ward-based guideline was based on benchmarking from similar institutions and relevant literature. The review process provided an opportunity for the staff to critique their practice to improve patient care and allowed regular evaluation of the implemented practice guideline. The ward-based guideline required a revision as patients' renal function was not being taken into consideration prior to potassium infusions being administered. The implementation of the ward-based guideline into practice has been well received by the staff as it has allowed consistent practice and timely treatment of hypokalaemia. [source]


Guideline Implementation Research: Exploring the Gap between Evidence and Practice in the CRUSADE Quality Improvement Initiative

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 11 2007
Andra L. Blomkalns MD
Translating research results into routine clinical practice remains difficult. Guidelines, such as the 2002 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Unstable Angina and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, have been developed to provide a streamlined, evidence-based approach to patient care that is of high quality and is reproducible. The Can Rapid Risk Stratification of Unstable Angina Patients Suppress ADverse Outcomes with Early Implementation (CRUSADE) Quality Improvement Initiative was developed as a registry for non,ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes to track the use of guideline-based acute and discharge treatments for hospitalized patients, as well as outcomes associated with the use of these treatments. Care for more than 200,000 patients at more than 400 high-volume acute care hospitals in the United States was tracked in CRUSADE, with feedback provided to participating physicians and hospitals regarding their performance over time and compared with similar institutions. Such access to data has proved important in stimulating improvements in non,ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes care at participating hospitals for delivery of acute and discharge guideline-based therapy, as well as improving outcomes for patients. Providing quality improvement methods such as protocol order sets, continuing education programs, and a CRUSADE Quality Improvement Initiative toolbox serve to actively stimulate physician providers and institutions to improve care. The CRUSADE Initiative has also proven to be a fertile source of research in translation of treatment guidelines into routine care, resulting in more than 52 published articles and 86 abstracts presented at major emergency medicine and cardiology meetings. The cycle for research of guideline implementation demonstrated by CRUSADE includes four major steps,observation, intervention, investigation, and publication,that serve as the basis for evaluating the impact of any evidence-based guideline on patient care. Due to the success of CRUSADE, the American College of Cardiology combined the CRUSADE Initiative with the National Registry for Myocardial Infarction ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction program to form the National Cardiovascular Data Registry,Acute Coronary Treatment & Intervention Outcomes Network Registry beginning in January 2007. [source]