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Lessons From the Sony Pictures Cyberattack: Preparing Against a Hack Coming to a Computer Near You
Target. Home Depot. Neiman Marcus. This isn't a list of places to shop. These companies were hit with some of the biggest data breach incidents of 2014. And, as the recent hack on Sony Pictures Entertainment demonstrates, it's not just the customer information that gets compromised in cyberattacks—employees can also be the victims.
In November, hackers broke into Sony's computer systems and stole personal information of over 47,000 current and former employees, celebrities, and freelancers. The information included personal emails, budgets, salary information, human resource records, and other private (and embarrassing) documents. Some of the stolen information was leaked online, including a spreadsheet containing names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of over 3,000 employees. Buzzfeed reports that the 40 gb data dump contains email exchanges between Sony and its employees regarding very sensitive matters, such as their medical treatments, disciplinary action, and inter-office romance.
The ease with which the hackers did their dirty work is eye-opening. The attack was carried out with widely available malware. It didn't help that Sony's security measures were shockingly subpar. Sony had failed to encrypt the leaked files. One of the stolen files containing login credentials to Sony computers and servers and other online accounts was quite obviously named "Passwords."
Sony apparently made a conscious decision not to beef up its security. In 2007, Sony's then-executive director information security, Jason Spaltro, said in an interview that it was a "valid business decision to accept the risk" of a security breach, and that he would not invest $10 million to avoid a possible $1 million in loss. A team of just 11 employees was responsible for maintaining the security systems for Sony's 7,000 employees. A September 2014 security audit report showed gaps in Sony's security procedures, such as failure to monitor one firewall and more than 100 other devices.
In the aftermath of the attack, Sony is facing four lawsuits. Three of the lawsuits allege that Sony failed to take adequate precautions to guard against known weaknesses in the security of its computer systems. Another lawsuit accuses Sony of waiting too long to notify employees that their personal data had been stolen.
What should companies do to protect themselves against a data breach like Sony's? Be sure to develop administrative, physical, and technical safeguards over personal information handled by your company. At minimum, use encryption technology. If a third party handles personal information of your employees or customers, contractually require them to exercise reasonable care and to report security breaches immediately. Another precautionary measure is to conduct periodic security audits and risk analyses of information systems.
If a data breach involves a business located in Hawaii or one that does business in Hawai'i and maintains or possesses personal information of Hawaii residents, Hawaii law requires the business to notify persons affected by the breach. If notice is provided to 1,000 persons or more at once, the State Office of Consumer Protection and credit reporting agencies must also be notified. Companies should prepare data breach procedures in advance so that a clearly charted process for complying with applicable notification laws is available in the chaos ensuing after a data breach incident.
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Oh Snap! Lessons From the Snapchat Settlement With the FTC
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) just announced that Snapchat agreed to settle charges that it deceived consumers about how its popular mobile message app worked and what personal user data it collected. (Read the FTC's press release here). Part of Snapchat's appeal was a feature enabling users to control how long a message could be seen by the recipient. After the designated time limit expires, the message is destroyed, much like the mission briefings in Mission Impossible. At least that's what Snapchat told users. According to the FTC, Snapchat misled consumers because the app didn't exactly work the way it said it did. The FTC's complaint against Snapchat (read it here) included these allegations:
- Recipients of a "snap" (a Snapchat message) could save the snap using tools outside of the app. Snapchat apparently stored video snaps in a location on the recipient's mobile device outside of the app's secure "sandbox." This enabled recipients to find and save video snaps by connecting their mobile device to a computer and using simple file browsing tools. Another way to bypass the deletion feature was to use apps that connected to Snapchat's API to download and save snaps.
- Snapchat told users that if a message recipient took a snapshot of the snap, the sender would be notified. In fact, the screenshot detection mention could be bypassed.
- Snapchat collected geolocation data of users when it said it would not.
- Snapchat told users to enter their mobile number to find friends who also use the app, implying that the user's mobile phone number was the only information it collected. Without the user's knowledge, Snapchat also collected the names and phone numbers of all contacts in the address book on the user's phone.
So what's the significance of the settlement? Here are a few quick takeaways.
- Descriptions of mobile apps in an app marketplace like iTunes App Store or Google Play are product descriptions that could be the basis for false advertising claims.
- Including boilerplate language in an app description, terms of use, or privacy policy is a bad idea if you don't know what it means or can't verify its accuracy. Snapchat's privacy policy told users that it "did not ask for, track, or access any location-specific information." A lot of apps say that. The problem was that Snapchat integrated an analytics tracking service in the Android version of the app that did collect location information.
- Take into account exploits and workarounds when drafting privacy policies and product descriptions. This includes software that uses the app's API.
- The FTC is getting more active in pursuing false advertising claims against mobile app makers. In December of last year, the FTC settled charges that the developer of the "Brightest Flashlight Free" app deceived consumers about how their geolocation information would be shared with advertising networks and other third parties. The FTC's interest in suing companies that allow a data breach to occur is also a growing concern, especially after the New Jersey federal district court's decision in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., recognizing the FTC's authority to prosecute cases where a company is alleged to have failed to maintain "reasonable and appropriate data security for consumers' sensitive personal information."
- Information transmitted over the Internet is rarely, if ever, gone forever. Somehow, somewhere, electronic data can be retrieved.
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Hawaii Legislature 2014 — Summary of Proposed Computer Tech Legislation
It's time to roundup the bills related to computer technology that the Hawai'i legislature is considering in its 2014 regular session. Click here for a chart summarizing the proposed legislation. Here are the highlights:
Social Media and Internet Account Passwords: Several bills to prohibit improper requests for access to personal social media accounts of employees and students were introduced in the 2013 session. None of the them passed. This year, HB2415 renews the effort to outlaw improper social media password requests.
Internet Sales Tax: HB1651 would require online companies with arrangements with Hawaii merchants for referral of business to collect use taxes on sales made in Hawaii. This bill would affect online retailers like Amazon, who allows local merchants to sell their products through Amazon Marketplace.
Restrictive Covenants: In an effort to encourage the development of technology business in Hawai'i, a state with a relatively small geographic area, two bills (HB2617 and SB3126) would prohibit technology businesses from requiring employees to enter into noncompete agreements and restrictive covenants. "Technology business" is defined as "a trade or business that relies on software development, information technology, or both."
Cybersquatting: SB2958 would put the burden on a cybersquatter to prove that it did not register a domain name in bad faith or with intent to use it in an unlawful manner, provided that the person claiming cybersquatting can demonstrate the potential of immediate and irreparable harm through misuse of the domain name.
Cybersecurity Council: SB2474 would establish the Hawai'i cybersecurity, economic, education, anfrastructure security council.
Mobile Devices: Three bills (HB1509, HB1896, and SB2729) would make it a State offense to use a mobile electronic device while operating a motor vehicle. Certain counties already have similar laws.
3D Printing: In response to the rising availability of 3D printers, HB1802 would make it a crime to create, possess, sell, trade, or give another person a firearm made with digital manufacturing technology.
Computer crimes: A series of bills criminalizes various kinds of computer activity, including unauthorized access to a computer or network and damage to a "critical infrastructure computer" (HB1640); theft of a computer (HB1644); or personal electronic device for storing or retrieving personal information (HB2080); and revenge porn (SB2319).Read More
Cloudy With A Chance of Disaster: Avoiding the Security Risks of BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud)
You've probably heard of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). But do you know about BYOC? It stands for Bring Your Own Cloud, and it's more prevalent than you might think.
Cloud storage services like DropBox, Google Drive, and SkyDrive sport features that are attractive to an increasingly mobile workforce. They provide gigabytes of storage for free. Files in the cloud are accessible anywhere with an internet connection. Changes to a file in a cloud account are synced across all devices with access to the account. It's not difficult to see why cloud services are gaining popularity among individuals and companies alike.
Therein lies the problem. Because personal cloud accounts are so handy and easy to set up, an employee can create a security risk for a company in a matter of minutes. An employee can essentially connect the organization to the cloud without the company's knowledge via a private cloud account. This enables the transfer of confidential company data to a location outside the company's reach.
ComRent International, LLC v. Palatini, 2013 WL 5761319 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 24, 2013), involved such a scenario. ComRent hired Clayton Taylor to serve as a vice president of product development. Taylor primarily worked on matters related to Experium, a company that he co-founded and of which he was a minority owner. Taylor set up a Google Drive account to store, access, and edit all of Experium's intellectual property and confidential commercial information. Only Taylor knew the username and password necessary for the account. When ComRent hired an engineering firm to consult on options for the future of Experium, Taylor refused to grant the firm access to any of Experium's intellectual property, believing that ComRent might appropriate the intellectual property for itself. As a result, ComRent terminated Taylor and filed a lawsuit seeking access to the Google Drive account containing Experium's corporate files.
Here are some tips for avoiding problems with unauthorized use of personal cloud storage accounts by employees.
Set a Policy: Remaining silent—and therefore ambiguous—about the organization's stance on cloud storage can lead employees to believe they may use personal cloud accounts for work purposes without letting management know. To eliminate such misconceptions, set a policy on whether or not the organization will use cloud storage. If the decision is yes, then adopt measures to ensure responsible use of cloud storage. If the decision is no, then clearly communicate to employees that storing work data in a personal cloud account is against company policy.
Maintain Control: If an organization decides to use cloud storage, it should retain control over the information necessary to access the cloud storage account (e.g., login credentials). It is advisable to create an account under the organization's name for official work purposes instead of allowing employees to use their personal accounts.
Restrict Unauthorized Cloud Services: Consider restricting access to private cloud storage sites from any device that can also access company data, including mobile devices, through the use of blacklists, proxies, and other network security measures. This will prevent the transfer of work files to a private cloud account. Organizations with BYOD programs might find it challenging to eliminate all access to private cloud services, but it is worthwhile consulting with the IT department about the feasibility of implementing such restrictions.
Retain Ownership: Make it clear that company information remains property of the company regardless of where it is stored. It's also a good idea to have employees sign written non-disclosure agreements.
Stay safe in the cloud!
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Privacy of Employee Data on Dual-Use Devices
Supervisor snoops into former employee's personal Gmail account after she returns company-issued Blackberry — Lazette v. Kulmatycki, 2013 WL 2455937 (N.D. Ohio June 5, 2013)
The line between personal and business use of electronic devices is increasingly getting blurry, especially as more and more workers carry dual-use devices (devices designed for both work and personal use) like smartphones and tablets. Businesses can benefit from the increases in productivity and morale resulting from this trend, but they also face new privacy concerns. The recent case of Lazette v. Kulmatycki (N.D. Ohio June 5, 2013), highlights this risk.
Verizon issued a Blackberry smartphone to its employee, Sandi Lazette. Lazette set up a personal Gmail account on the phone with Verizon's permission. Lazette returned the Blackberry to her supervisor when she stopped working for Verizon, understanding that the phone would be "recycled" for use by another Verizon employee. Lazette thought she had deleted her personal Gmail account before returning the phone, but she had not. Over the next eighteen months, Lazette's supervisor read 48,000 emails in her Gmail account without her knowledge or authorization, and shared the contents of certain emails with others.
Lazette sued Verizon and her supervisor for claims including violation of the Stored Communications Act (SCA) and invasion of privacy. A federal court ruled that Lazette's supervisor was potentially liable under the SCA for reading personal emails that Lazette had not previously opened, and that Verizon could be vicariously liable for the supervisor's actions. The court also allowed Lazette's privacy claim to move forward.
LegalTXTS Lesson: Lazette teaches important lessons about protecting the privacy of personal employee data on work devices, including dual-use devices.
1. Don't read your employees' personal messages—even if they are readily accessible. Management should treat an employee's personal account as private, even if restrictions to accessing the count are minimal or non-existent. A person does not need to hack into an account or otherwise circumvent access restrictions to electronic communications to be liable under the SCA. Lazette's Gmail account was accessible to her supervisor for no reason other than the fact that Lazette failed to delete her account from her Blackberry. Yet, the court ruled that Lazette's negligence did not give her former employer implied consent to read her private emails. The simple act of opening an unread message in an employee's personal email account was enough to create liability under the SCA.
2. Construe grants of access narrowly. If an employee allows a supervisor access to his or her personal email account for work purposes, that is not a grant of access to everything in the account. In Cheng v. Romo (D. Mass. Nov. 28, 2012), an employee of a medical imaging company gave his supervisor the password to his Yahoo! email account. Although the employee did not attach conditions to sharing the password, his unstated objective was to share radiologic images that were emailed directly to him. Years later, the supervisor logged into the account to read emails about the status of the company. In the lawsuit that followed, the court allowed the employee's SCA and invasion of privacy claims to go to trial. Cheng teaches that management should err on the side of preserving privacy if given access to an employee's private online account for a specific work purpose or no stated reason at all.
3. Thoroughly purge personal data from company-issued electronic devices before reusing them. Companies commonly reuse electronic devices (e.g., desktop and laptop computers, cell phones, PDAs, tablets) for work purposes after it has been returned or repaired. Employees can leave behind personal data on devices such as saved passwords, emails, web history, internet cookies, and the like. Set and enforce policies requiring the purging of all such data from electronic devices before the devices are issued to another employee.
4. Clarify employee expectations of privacy upfront if implementing mobile device management (MDM) tools. One measure for mitigating the risk of security breaches relating to dual-use mobile devices is the use of MDM tools controls such as the ability to "remotely wipe" a device should it get lost or compromised. MDM measures could raise privacy concerns if they result in alteration or destruction of personal data on a dual-use device. To mitigate such concerns, a company should devise policies clarifying upfront the expectations to privacy that employees should to have if they choose to use a dual-use device at work.
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Council for Allied Health in North Carolina (Council): Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
At the Council, we are asked a lot of different questions about a lot of different things. We have put together the answers to the most frequently asked questions.
Q: What is the Council and how long has it been around?
The Council is a statewide organization working to find solutions for our state's healthcare workforce problems. For almost 20 years, the Council has been working to connect Allied Health Professionals, examine allied health workforce issues and foster collaboration in allied health.
Q: What is the purpose of the Council?
Serves as a resource for allied health workforce information and communicates allied health workforce data to stakeholders for use in addressing workforce shortages.
Convenes bi-monthly meetings for allied health professionals, educators and employers. The bimonthly meetings provide updated information, surface issues and trends and provide networking opportunities.
Collaborates with stakeholders to address health workforce issues.
Promotes Allied Health Professions as sound occupational pathways for students and persons who wish to change careers.
Q: Who can be a member of the Council?
Council members include: healthcare employers, allied health professional associations and their members, government agencies and North Carolina's higher education institutions (both 2-year and 4-year).
Q: Will I become a member once I complete the online membership application?
Completing the online application is the first step in becoming a member. Once the application is received, we will contact you confirming receipt of the application. The application is presented to the Executive Committee for review and vote. The application is then presented to Council members at the next bimonthly meeting for a vote. To download the application, please click HERE.
Q: What are the operating guidelines?
The operating guidelines are the internal written rules that govern the Council. They determine how the Council is structured and the procedures by which the Council functions.
Q: Who are the officers of the Council and who maintains oversight for the Council?
Officers of the Council consist of Chair, Vice-Chair, Past Chair and Treasurer. With the exception of the Past Chair, officers are elected for two-year terms. Officers of the Council are nominated from currently serving Council Members. The officers, along with the Executive Director are accountable for the actions of the Council.
Q: How is the Council funded?
The Council is dependent on contributions from its members and from Foundations. Currently, the Council is receiving member contributions from the North Carolina Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – Department of Allied Health Sciences, North Carolina Hospital Association, East Carolina University College of Allied Health Science, Western Carolina University and from the NC Association of Blood Bankers Inc. and the Music Therapy Association of North Carolina.
Q: Is the Council a non-profit organization?
No. There have been many discussions regarding becoming a non-profit organization. Because of the financial constraints, it was decided that the Council continue to function under its current structure.
Q: Why is the Council housed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH)?
UNC-CH has been gracious to provide in-kind office space, web-site and other support, , but the Council could be based at another location if the same support were available. Chapel Hill also provides a central location in the state making travel to meetings accessible. Without this support, the Council would not be able to maintain its existence.
Q: How can I make a contribution to the Council?
Because the Council is not a non-profit organization, the Council has established an account through the Medical Foundation at UNC; all contributions to this account are tax deductible. All contributions to this account are directed back to the Council and managed by the Council. Checks should be made payable to the Medical Foundation and in the memo section of the check, please include CAHNC (Account #9195).
Q: What is the Council's position on lobbying?
The members of the Council represent diverse constituencies. The Council maintains a neutral position on such activities; however, the Council encourages open discussion, and debate of the issues at its meeting. The Council stands ready to serve as a forum for the provision of information and discussion on issues affecting the alliance of allied health.

subset: commoncrawl


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Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press
PARIS — The United States found itself Friday with France as its only major partner in a potential strike against Syria, after a stunning rejection of military force in Parliament forced Britain, America's staunchest ally, to pull out of any operation.
The collapse of British support for a mission to punish Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons puts pressure on President Barack Obama as resistance grows at home — and comes with the irony that France was the most vocal critic of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
French President Francois Hollande pledged backing for a potential American operation to hit the Damascus regime.
"The chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not remain unpunished," Hollande said in an interview published Friday by the newspaper Le Monde, as U.N. experts in Damascus began what is expected to be the last day of their probe into the alleged attack.
Amid the turmoil of a British "no" and mounting American skepticism, Obama appeared undeterred in his desire to punish Syrian leader Bashar Assad, and advisers said he would be willing to retaliate against Syria on his own.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, speaking from Manila, Philippines, issued an impassioned defense of the principles behind the planned strike.
"I don't know of any responsible government around the world ... that has not spoken out in violent opposition to the use of chemical weapons on innocent people," Hagel said, adding that such attacks violate basic standards of decency.
He said that Washington would continue to seek partners in its Syria mission: "Our approach is to continue to find an international coalition that will act together."
On Thursday, the U.S. administration shared intelligence with lawmakers in an effort to persuade them that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people.
In Damascus, shops and supermarkets filled with people stocking up on bread, canned food and other necessities ahead of the expected strikes, although there appeared to be no signs of panic or food shortages. Prices have shot up because of the high demand, residents complained.
Kheireddine Nahleh, a 53-year-old government employee, put on a brave face.
"We got used to the sound of shelling," he said. "Death is the same, be it with a mortar or with an American missile. I'm not afraid."
On the last expected day of chemical weapons inspections, three U.N. vehicles headed out for more on-site visits, following an early morning delay.
The U.N. has said the inspectors will wrap up their investigation Friday and leave Syria for the Hague, Netherlands, on Saturday. Some of the experts will travel to laboratories in Europe to deliver the material they've collected this week during trips to the Damascus suburbs purportedly hit by toxic gas.
Russia, which as a firm backer of the Assad regime is fiercely hostile to military intervention, expressed bewilderment Friday at why the U.N. team was leaving so soon.
"We don't quite understand why the entire team had to be going back to the Hague when there are many questions about a possible use of chemical weapons in other areas in Syria," said Yuri Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy adviser.
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said the timing reflected the urgency of getting any samples to laboratories, noting that the inspectors must do that themselves to "ensure the chain of custody." He said the inspectors intend to return to Syria to investigate other alleged attacks.
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Now Showing
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Movie Details
Minyak Dagu
Azman is determined to get his revenge when his fiancee Emelda breaks off their engagement to marry another man. Azman visits a witch-doctor who teaches him to place a curse on Emelda who later goes hysterical on the day of her wedding. His action indirectly causes the death of Emelda's mother whose funeral he attends out of regret. However, this is against the advice of the witch-doctor, who warned him not to visit the dead or prepare to suffer the consequences.
: Malay
: 18
General Release Date
: 03 Jan 2013
: Horror
Running Time
: 1 Hour 22 Minutes
: Yana Samsudin, Fezrul Khan, Fizo Omar
: Azhari Mohd Zain
Peter Chai
Writer Ratings:
Watch this if you liked:
"Pontianak Menjerit"
"Minyak Dagu" is directed by Azhari Zain and the horror film follows the tragic happenings that turn Emelda's (Yana Samsudin) happy life into a nightmare after she is cursed by her ex-fiancee Azman (Fezrul Khan), who applies a special oil provided by a Malay shaman on her during a meeting. Since then, Emelda behaves wildly and soon grows increasingly unstable mentally after getting married to her childhood friend, doctor Johan (Fizo Omar). Although she returns to Azman's side, he realizes that his selfish actions have brought the ghosts into his life as well.
Throughout the film, the audience will be fed with whole lot of suspense that keeps us wondering about the relationship between the Malay shaman's practice and the experience the main characters go through. You might find it hard to see how the special oil named "minyak dagu" can be related to Azman's desperate and harmful attempts to have Emelda for himself until you reach the middle part of the story.
Before Emelda is cursed and goes mad, the storyline is too draggy and nothing is interesting except the intensity of Azman's controlling behaviour and his unforgivable abuse of Emelda.
There is a problem with the dark cinematography during the hospital scene where Emelda meets her crush Johan. It really does not make sense to see the cast communicate with each other at a health care institution in the dark.
The only thing that light us up a bit in this dark horror film is the characters' performances especially Yana Samsudin, who is taking the heroine spot more often in recent local titles produced by MIG. She does deliver a pleasant portrayal of a terrifying person who is driven to such extremes because she is haunted, which builds empathy among audiences. Meanwhile, Fizo Omar is as good as he can be as her husband who cannot understand why she is behaving the way she is.
The producer might be excited to kick start the new year with Azhari's horror feature but from the reviewer's point of view, "Minyak Dagu" could be a nightmare to the moviegoers especially for those who are keen to witness a good supernatural themed-story.
Cinema Online, 08 January 2013
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Is it windows compatiable
- Asked by Cameron C from Brisbane
- Jun 19, 2012
Apple USB SuperDrive
Product No Longer Available
3 Answers from the Community
Best Answer:
The Apple SuperDrive is only compatible with with a very select list of devices that lack an internal SuperDrive; the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro with Retina Display and the current generation Mac mini. It is usable with the Apple supplied BootCamp drivers when running Windows on those computers but not compatible with non-Apple computers.
- Answered by Wallace K from New Berlin
- Jun 29, 2012
No. Apple made it specifically for Macs without a SuperDrive.
- Answered by Timothy M from Hillsboro
- Jul 3, 2012
The SuperDrive only works for the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, MacBook Air or Mac mini.
- Answered by Matthew C from Highland Park
- Jul 13, 2012


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Igor Golovanov
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I have experience in development of large commercial(enterprise) web solutions for over seven years. Have expert knowledge/experience with frameworks: Yii, Zend, Symfony, Doctrine, SugarCRM. For each solution, choose a timber Most appropriate database, currently used in the implemented projects database: MySQL, PostgreSql, Microsoft SQL Server, MongoDB, Redis. Also developed projects using search engines: Apache Solr, Sphinx, PostGIS. I have extensive experience in developing client applications…more
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Featurettes on sound and visual effects in The Hobbit
While I had issues with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for its flabby storytelling, the film has set the box office on fire and I did at least appreciate lots of choices in production design. These two featurettes from MovieWeb and SoundWorkds provide little looks into the visual effects and sound of the film.
The above VFX featurette focuses a lot on the motion capture animation behind the trolls in the film as well as the big caverns full of goblins. As for the sound featurette after the cut, it's a broad look at creating the sound and score for the film. I'm assuming the eventual featurettes on the DVD/Blu-ray for The Hobbit movies will be meatier and go into more particulars.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: There and Back Again will be out next December and the December after that. Then in 2015, Peter Jackson will release a new Tintin film, which he shoots the motion capture for some time next year.
[MovieWeb and SoundWorks via The Playlist]
New Releases, week of 11/9/13: Grown Hobbits Edition
1:00 PM on 11.05.2013
New Releases, week of 3/23/13: Les Little People Edition
11:00 AM on 03.19.2013
The Hobbit has now made one BILLION dollars worldwide
1:00 PM on 03.05.2013
The Hobbit: There and Back Again delayed to December 2014
1:00 PM on 03.01.2013
Flix for Short: The Office: An Unexpected Journey
11:00 AM on 01.07.2013
Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
3:00 PM on 12.13.2012
Snaxist: Denny's Hobbit Menu
7:00 PM on 12.11.2012
Final TV spot for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
11:00 AM on 12.11.2012
13-minute featurette on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
10:00 AM on 12.07.2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Updates, Screenshots, & Videos
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Easy fix: Add
[*].disqus.com to your software's white list. Tada! Happy comments time again.
Did you know? You can now get daily or weekly email notifications when humans reply to your comments.
First look at Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
11:30 AM on 03.25.2015


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Page 1
Barriers to nurse/nursing aide communication: the search for
collegiality in a southeast Ohio nursing home
GERALD RUBIN DO1, RENGARAJAN V. BALAJI MS, MBA2and ROBERT BARCIKOWSKI Ph D3
1Associate Professor and2Research Grants Development Coordinator, Ohio University College of Osteopathic
Medicine and3Professor Emeritus, College of Education, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
In an era of increasing economic and time constraints,
overworked healthcare providers are struggling to
achieve more meaningful methods of communicating
with patients, families and each other. The plight of
nursing aides and how they communicate with regis-
tered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs),
who supervise these aides, is central to our study.
Typically poorly paid, less educated and highest on the
scale of physical and emotional work, this vulnerable
group of employees has the highest rate of absenteeism
and turnover among all healthcare providers (Caudill &
Patrick 1989, Grau et al. 1991, Olson & Helmer 1992,
Helmer et al. 1993, Gaddy & Bechtel 1995, Fitzpatrick
2002, Parsons et al. 2003). In a workforce largely
composed of nursing aides, with far fewer RNs and
LPNs, each group has its own unique set of priorities,
frustrations and responsibilities. Both RNs and LPNs
often have limited prior knowledge, skills, or experience
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2834.2008.00913.x
ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Gerald Rubin
331 Grosvenor Hall
Department of Family Medicine
Ohio University College of
Osteopathic Medicine
E-mail: email@example.com
RUBIN G., BALAJI R.V. & BARCIKOWSKI R. (2009) Journal of Nursing Management 17, 822–
Barriers to nurse/nursing aide communication: the search for collegiality in a
southeast Ohio nursing home
Aim The aims of this study were: (1) to identify barriers to nurse/nursing aide
communication and to discuss and provide solutions to some of these problems
through a focus group; and (2) to determine the effectiveness of this focus group on
job satisfaction-related outcomes.
Background Numerous studies have attributed problems with nurse staffing and
turnover to faulty communication between nursing supervisors and nursing aides.
Methods Registered nurses (RNs) (n = 2), licensed practical nurses (LPNs) (n = 10)
and nursing aides (n = 19) were interviewed; narrative themes from the interviews
were then used to guide focus group discussions. A job satisfaction survey in a pre-
test/post-test fashion was used to test the efficacy of the focus group.
Results Qualitative data from the interviews highlighted: (1) anger and conde-
scension in communication; and (2) lack of mentoring, empathy and respect. The
job satisfaction survey data showed that the attitudes decreased significantly among
participants in the focus group but not in the control group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion Nurse supervisors, both RN and LPN, are key to educational reform
and must be taught collegial methods when delegating authority.
Implications for nursing management Findings from this study can be used to
develop a multidisciplinary educational tool to foster communication and
collegiality, thereby reducing job turnover in nursing homes.
Keywords: communication, job dissatisfaction, nurse, nursing aide, turnover
Accepted for publication: 2 April 2008
Journal of Nursing Management, 2009
Page 2
in supervision and delegation of duties (McGilton et al.
2007). While formal nursing education may have cov-
ered these roles from theoretical perspectives, nurse
supervisors frequently use ineffective tactics to oversee
nurse aide work, using methods of communication that
constrain levels of work satisfaction and compound
feelings of resistance and anger. Such feelings in turn,
foster decreased productivity, low morale and job dis-
satisfaction. If communication patterns and resultant
staff attrition are to improve, educational reform must
centre on the training of nurse supervisors, both RNs
and LPNs, in the principles and values of collegiality
when dealing with and delegating authority to nursing
The economic impact of job turnover
Irregular attendance and high staff turnover have a
significant impact on the economics of the nursing
?industry?. It has been estimated that the cost of turnover
for each nurse aide averages 500–1000 dollars (Helmer
et al. 1993). At a major academic centre, the annual
costs associated with employee turnover were calcu-
lated to be in the range of $6.1–$8.2 million, or 5% of
the annual budget; of this cost, nursing attrition was the
largest component (Waldman et al. 2004). Fitzpatrick
(2002) defines the high rate of nursing aide turnover as
a major problem for long-term care facilities. He
estimates by the year 2030, 5.3 million elderly will
require nursing home services, with Alzheimer?s patients
estimated at $14 million. Further economic analyses
also conclude that absenteeism and attrition are major
economic issues affecting long-term care facilities
(Castle & Engberg 2006).
Conceptual models of communication, collegiality,
cultural sensitivity and mentoring
Numerous authors have called for change in the way
healthcare providers communicate and collaborate with
each other across cultural, economic, educational,
gender and social disciplines. Billings et al. (2006)
discusses the principles of culture change based on
careful observation, listening for the ?hidden curricu-
lum?, engaging leadership in the transition, respect for
entrenched habits, avoiding the hubris of ?having all the
answers?, being there when needed and the reality that
change is slowly incremental, demanding patience.
Similarly, Grover (2005) reviews the basic communi-
cation skills of listening, asking open-ended questions,
clarifying, paraphrasing, using experienced facilitators
in the educational process, assessing non-verbal cues
and anticipatory silence. Citing the Institute of Medi-
cine Report of 2001, Brehm et al. (2006) comment that
?all health professionals should be educated to coordi-
nate, collaborate, and communicate with one another in
interdisciplinary teams for clinical decision making and
solution of ethical dilemmas?. Chavez et al. (2006) call
for a culturally competent pedagogy of collegiality that
values diversity in all social settings. She comments that
this approach can potentially transform teaching cur-
ricula among all participants. She states ?collegiality
refers to a relationship that embodies mutual learning
and shifts the center of attention from the teacher to the
student and back again so that all can become a com-
munity of listeners?.
(Barriers to) Communication and job satisfaction/
Several studies, including a recent study by McGilton
et al. (2006), describe an evaluation of a communica-
tion intervention in a complex continuing care facility.
In this study, the researchers conclude that nursing staff
?can feel better about their job and about their patients
as they enhance their communication skills?. In another
study by the same research team on supervisory sup-
port, job stress, and job satisfaction in long-term care
facilities, McGilton et al. (2007) concluded that effec-
tive nursing supervisory communication skills have a
positive impact on nurse aide performance and job
Employing narratives to better understand the
nurse-nursing aide dialogue
Ha ¨gstro ¨m?s (2004) study of nurse and nursing aide
job satisfaction used a 2-year interventional model
employing education, support and clinical supervision.
She used narrative interviews at 12 and 24 months to
gauge interim change utilizing a phenomenological-
hermeneutic approach, focusing on the meaning of
her respondents? life experiences in a continuing pro-
cess of reflection, development and self-realization.
The results of her study demonstrated increased
communication and job satisfaction between man-
agement and staff. Hegeman (2005) describes a short-
term interventional nurse aide mentoring programme
utilizing a five-step peer mentoring system including
management training, mentor training and serial
newsletters. Problem solving included role-modelling,
social support, tutoring and peer resource. Short-term
retention was 25% compared with control of 10%;
however, long-term data were inconclusive. Similarly,
Nurse/nursing aide communication
ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Nursing Management
Page 3
Wessel and Garon (2005) employed written narratives
in their study of 33 nurses in a palliative care setting.
Quoting Bednash and Ferrel (2002), they comment
that the writing of narratives allows nurse/clinicians
to reflect, process and express strong personal feelings
that arise when caring for dying patients. The nurse
respondents were universal in describing a deep sense
offulfillment andachievement
thoughts into words. The authors call for a research
model utilizing reflective narratives in other health
care settings.
Based on this framework, in the current study con-
ducted in a rural southeast Ohio nursing home, we have
endeavoured to understand the barriers to nurse/nursing
aide communication and to utilize customized focus
group sessions to address and provide possible solutions
to these barriers with the ultimate goal of improving job
satisfaction and reducing turnover.
A randomized pre-test/post-test control group study
design was used for the current study, conducted in a
40-bed nursing home in southeast Ohio (see Figure 1
for a methodological flowchart). The only inclusion
criterion for subject selection was: employment in the
target nursing home as nurses or nursing aides;
employees who were willing to participate (as indicated
by their signed consent forms), were recruited into the
study. All 31 employees who were approached, agreed
to participate in this study; of these, seven participants
(attrition rate of 22.6%) dropped out during the study
period, resulting in a final sample size of 24. The seven
participants who dropped out consisted of six certified
nursing aides (CNAs) and one LPN (assigned to the
control group). Three of the five CNAs who dropped
out did so to attend nursing school. As there was no
opportunity to conduct post-exit interviews of the
attrition group, we were unable to measure whether the
increased work load affected job dissatisfaction in the
remaining participants. Attrition did not have an impact
on the analysis of results or their significance. Nursing
staff demographics collected were age, gender, career
level (CNA, RN or LPN), marital status and length of
employment (see Table 1). The mean age of the par-
ticipants was 37.1 ± 12.4 years and the average work
experience was 3.7 ± 2.6 years. The marital status of
the group was: married (67%), single parent (19%),
divorced (9.6%).
All subjects, most of whom were born or raised in
southeastern Appalachian Ohio, filled out the Job
Attitude Scale (JAS) (Helmer et al. 1993), an 18-item
Likert-type attitude scale measuring pay factors, per-
requirements, personal perception of job and auton-
omy, before and after the focus group sessions.
Ethical considerations
All methods and procedures adopted in this study were
reviewed and approved by Ohio University?s Institu-
tional Review Board and were in accordance with its
regulations. Participation by the nursing staff was vol-
untary. Subjects provided their written consent; confi-
dentiality was assured and participants could withdraw
from the study at any time without any consequences.
a. Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria
b. Informed Consent
JAS survey
Participate in
Semi-structured Interviews
7 subjects
dropped out
12 Subjects
12 Subjects
Random grouping
(Participate in 2 Focus
group sessions)
Repeat JAS survey
Figure 1
A flow chart illustrating the experimental methodology.
Table 1
Demographics of study participants (n = 24)
ControlFocus group
Mean age (SD)
Experience (SD)
Married (%)*
Career level:
Gender – Female (%)
37.8 (12.4)
4.1 (2.1)
9 (75)
36.4 (12.9)
3.3 (3.0)
8 (66.67)
12 (100)12 (100)
*Marital status was one of the following: ?Widowed? or ?Divorced? or
?Married? or ?Separated?.
G. Rubin et al.
ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Nursing Management
Page 4
Face-to-face non-edited taped interviews of approxi-
mately 1 hour in duration were conducted privately in
the nursing home conference room by the principal
investigator, with a graduate assistant transcribing the
tapes. The group interviewed consisted of 19 CNAs, 10
LPNs and two registered nurses. A semi-structured
open-ended form was developed to guide the interview.
The first portion of the interview (approximately
10–15%), covered demographic information including
age, education, birthplace, prior and present job expe-
rience and motivation for entering their work. The
remainder of the interview employed an open-ended
interviewing technique frequently used in primary care,
i.e. the BATHE Technique to expand the narrative
interview from a purely affective level to the cognitive
realm, affording the informants the opportunity to
more fully voice their feelings about the nature of their
work, relationships with co-workers and patients and
perceived barriers to communication (Stuart & Lieber-
man 2002).
Background: ?What?s going on in your life?? (job and
home) Elicits the context of the interview.
Affect: ?How do you feel about it?? It?s therapeutic for
the respondent to express feelings.
Trouble: ?What troubles you the most?? Gets at
symbolic meanings.
Handling: ?How are you handling that?? Assesses
coping skills.
Empathy: ?That must be difficult for you?. Legitimizes
and builds trust.
By asking such questions, the deeper meanings of
their work experience (communication encounters)
were allowed to be expressed and interpreted, offering
potential educational opportunities (teachable mo-
Arriving at the interviewing themes
After the completion of the 31 face-to-face taped
interviews, the six major interviewing themes were
arrived at by utilizing ethnographic methods (Corbin
& Strauss 1990) and grounded theory (Glaser &
Strauss 1967). Each tape was analysed by the prin-
cipal investigator for content, expressive (cognitive)
features, intuitive quality and search for meaning in
one?s work. As ethnography is a research process
which involves learning from a group of people about
their cultural experiences and communication patterns
both at work and home, these patient- centred ?mini-
ethnographies? serve to capture the essence of how
nurses and their aides communicate and their coping
skills in the face of adversity when communication
fails. In grounded theory, as new data arises, the
theory changes, i.e. ?becomes grounded? to incorporate
new findings.
Focus group
Using a random number generator, the 24 participants
were randomly split into two groups. The 12 subjects in
the first group including seven CNAs, four LPNs and
one RN, participated in two focus sessions of approxi-
mately 90 minutes duration that were led by the prin-
cipal investigator. These focus group sessions, held at
the nursing home cafeteria (closed for privacy), were
conducted 1 week apart. Topics introduced by the
investigator for group discussion included: (1) how to
communicate and create better ways of working with
each other; (2) feelings about work experiences both
?good, bad, and ugly?; (3) an overview of the historic
plight of the nursing aide in other research studies; and
(4) the high rate of employee turnover in long-term care
encouraged so that potential solutions could be devel-
oped without threat of personal recrimination. The
administrator was initially introduced and thanked for
allowing the research to take place, and then was
excused from the meeting, ensuring confidentiality; a
graduate assistant then passed out an outline of the
format to be followed, and took notes recording major
points of discussion. Brief inspirational stories in mini-
booklet form were then distributed including Mother
Theresa, Florence Nightingale and Sharon Hudacek
(Beneate 1997, Baly & Matthew 2004, Hudacek 2004).
The rationale for introducing the above nursing narra-
tives for educational group discussion was explained to
the participants as a way of learning about and identi-
fying with inspirational role models. After this, the
themes generated from the initial face-to-face interviews
mentioned above, were introduced in an open-ended
question/discussion format.
The control group that did not participate in the focus
groups consisted of six CNAs, five LPNs and one
RN. Fortuitously, both the control and focus session
groups were similar in their ratio of nurses/nursing
aides (Table 1).
in discussionwas
Data analysis
Descriptive statistics were used to describe demo-
graphics (Table 1). A dependent t-test was used to
Nurse/nursing aide communication
ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Nursing Management
Page 5
compare the pretest and posttest means for the JAS,
within the focus group and control group (one-tailed
prediction). SPSS software (Version 13.0) and MICROSOFT
EXCEL 2002 were used for these analyses. Data obtained
from the subjects who dropped out have been
excluded in the analysis. When appropriate, negative
items on the survey were reverse-scored for analysis and
A. Interview results
Representative nursing interviews: recurrent themes and
their implications
1. Nursing home as incubator. Comments: The vign-
ettes below represent a nursing home culture based on
maternal traditions of caring for others, and eventually
recruiting multiple family members to join. This home-
work model in a rural southeastern Ohio setting has
important implications for recruitment by an adminis-
tration and nursing staff plagued by employee turnover.
Representative Narratives:
?My mother started working in the laundry and
through the years became a licensed social work-
er. She?s been at the same nursing home for
35 years. I started in the kitchen, became an aide,
then activity- director, a certificate in home nurs-
ing; my grandma was a nurse for 35 years; my
cousin was an RN?.
?I used to work in nursing homes and hospitals as
a cook, but didn?t work with residents; I did it for
most of my life, and then quit; I started again
working with residents, and thought, oh my, what
in the world have I gotten myself into! I?ve been
here for several years, and I love it?.
I started in housekeeping and laundry, and then the
kitchen. I love the residents! When I was asked by the
supervisor if I wanted to get my STNA, I was all for it. I
liked learning how to take care of people.
2. Mother wit (wisdom) and inspiration. Comments:
Mother as a ?good person? (and father as a ?good
provider?) were repetitive themes throughout the inter-
viewing process. These nurturing relationships, fre-
quently in a setting of poverty and illness, set the stage
for a sense of purpose in caring for others, often
beginning in early childhood. It was apparent that
empathy was taught by example and practice.
Representative Narratives:
?She was a good woman. She went to elderly
peoples houses and got paid next to nothing.
Maybe $5 to go in and clean their house, or do
whatever work they needed to be done just to help
them out. I think she done it just to have some-
thing to do. But she always took us kids with her.
We got to go and entertain the elderly people?.
?Mom is a wee tiny lady. She is very friendly and
will talk to anyone, very outgoing. She was a
nurses? assistant since I was age 16. She doesn?t get
stressed out over anything, and she would rather
be on the Alzheimer?s unit than on the floor where
people know how to do things, but won?t do for
themselves. She loves what she does, and I use her
as a role model, because I want to be just like her.
I want to be able to say I went to work today and I
enjoyed my job, and she does enjoy her job?.
3. One little box metaphor. Comments: The universal
fear of being forgotten is aptly described in the
metaphor below. The tragedy of ?a life well lived? (and
then forgotten) is a sad stereotype repetitively observed
in long-term care settings.
Representative Narratives:
?Sometimes you hear these stories on how they lost
everything to come to a nursing home. They?ve
worked their whole life, and now they have fit into
one box. After awhile caring for them you feel
depressed for them. They?ve worked their whole
lives and then one day…you?ll be in a room just
like them with everything in one box…and
everything given away?.
?Well now I?ll tell you, the last few patients we?ve
had pass away been right by their side. Because
here, if we have someone dying, we don?t like to
leave them by themselves. You know, we always
want to be there with them so they?re not alone.
Any time they need someone I?ll be the first one to
volunteer. Just hold their hand or whatever, so
they are not by themselves, because so many
people just get thrown in nursing homes and their
families never visit. We are all they have. It?s very
4. Communication: nurses and nursing aides: anger
turned inward. Comments: Many narrative interviews
voiced pervasive themes of profound anger, mistrust
and ambivalence, especially perceived by many nursing
G. Rubin et al.
ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Nursing Management
Page 6
aides in their interactions with nurse supervisors, both
RN and LPN. In a workforce largely composed of
nursing aides with far fewer RN?s and LPN?s, each
group has its own agenda. It is apparent that educa-
tional reform must centre around a programme empha-
sizing collegiality.
Representative Narratives:
?We have nurses who ride you for everything and
theendofthedayafter8 hoursofputtingupwitha
nurse along with everything else, you?re ready to
walk out. The aides always say the good nurses
were once nursingaides. You can tell the difference
if you were an aide once before as compared to
someone who went straight from high school to
aide work was like and knew you couldn?t do
everything on your time schedule?.
?All the aides I work with get along really well.
Some of the LPN?s think the aides are there to do
their work, stupid things like take out their trash.
They will just bag their trash up and throw it over
the counter and expect us to pick it up; not all of
them; some of them; LPN?s with nursing aide
experience are better because they understand
from past experiences?.
?The best part of being a nursing aide is being able
to work with the residents. I listen to their feelings
and tell them my feelings. I like to hear the old
people talk. The worst part would be working
with higher up people. They think they?re better
than you, even though, they didn?t do your job,
they still think they can do it better than you.
Their attitude aggravates the snot out of me. It
makes me more mad than sad. They tell us to
leave their problems at home, but they come in
with a bad mood and take it out of you. I?m no
better or worse than anybody, and I don?t think
anybody should either?.
5. Empathy
Coping with violence, illness and death in one?s own
family affords the potential for empathic care at the
patient?s bedside. Remembering and reminiscing over
these past experiences provide reminders of one?s own
vulnerabilities and serve as potential teaching moments
for nursing staff as they round with their residents. A
work ethic based on mutual respect for patient, self and
colleagues alike may have its own rewards. Nurturing
relationships frequently noted in family settings of
poverty and illness, may set the stage for a sense of
purpose in caring for others, often beginning in early
childhood. Many narratives appear to confirm that
empathy can be taught by example and practice.
Representative Narratives:
?I?m not a sympathetic person, but I think I?m
pretty empathetic towards people. My view is that
I?ve seen in my own experience that the smallest
things can sometimes make the biggest difference.
Things that you don?t do necessarily mean any-
thing to you, but they could make a world of
difference to someone else, especially when they
have no one else. I know upstairs there is a resi-
dent whose family seldom visits, and as soon as
she sees me she gets all excited and happy to see
me and says 'oh my favorite girl is here. She is just
overwhelmed, and it?s because I speak to her every
time I see her. I think that in itself, it can make
your day worthwhile to know you have something
good for one person. But I do find if I?m in a
crappy mood, I go upstairs and let her hug me and
tell me how great I am, because that always helps
my attitude?.
?When I was a nursing aide, I took care of a lady
that had cancer. My first husband passed away
when I was 26, and it was really, really hard. I
could talk to this woman for hours, and when she
passed away, it was almost as hard as when I lost
my husband. I enjoy getting to know the patients
and their families. When my first husband died,
somebody told me to write a letter to him as
though I was talking to him, and I did, and any
time I missed him, I would sit down and write him
a letter and it made me feel better?.
?There is that one little resident that does my heart
right in. They say don?t get attached. I have several
of them here, but some have gone. But there is one
resident right here now, her face lights up. She
might not be able to say my name, but she makes a
racket, and you know what? It?s worth it all. That
little smile; someplace down the line you?ve done
?The best experience I?ve ever had at a nursing
home is when I worked at another home. There
was this one resident, she would love to go outside
but nobody would go outside with her, so I would
Nurse/nursing aide communication
ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Nursing Management
Page 7
take her out with me on my breaks. It made her so
happy to go outside?.
6. Overcoming adversity. The ?silent world? of alco-
holic families in many of our respondents? tales are
often replete with feelings of isolation, anger, fear and
pervasive shame often lasting a lifetime. As ?we are our
stories? we share the potential for healing and collegi-
Representative Narratives:
?Nurses aides have hard physical work. It?s the
hardest work you?ll ever do. If you don?t get a day
off you?re totally exhausted, and you can?t go any
further. If you do have a day off, you?re called at
least twice to come in and cover the call-offs. The
only way you can cope is not answer the phone on
your day off. It?s sad to say but true. When
put up with it. If he goes on drinking and beating
that life. In one nursing home we had to lock the
doors so the nursing aides wouldn?t get beaten up?.
?My mom wasn?t a close up person. Well, I did
love my mom, but she was a drunk. She wasn?t a
caring person. My ex-husband was an alcoholic,
and it?s a very bad disease. It will destroy your life.
It will destroy your life mentally and physically. It
tears families apart. I?ve learned not to do it, and
drinking is not going to get you anywhere in life.
A lot of people use it as a copout. It?s not?.
Summary of Emergent Themes: Thus, based on
information obtained from the interviews, six predom-
remarkable themes of courage, ingenuity and flexibility
in dealing with difficult and frequently overwhelming
home and work experiences. As most of our respon-
dents were either born or raised in rural southeastern
Ohio, an additional Appalachian theme emerged with
significant implications for social interactions in the
nursing home workplace. A strong sense of family amid
poverty and illness and parental traditions of caring and
providing were formative elements in developing a
work ethic based on the necessity to earn a living, as
well as a benevolent approach to others. Traditions of
empathy learned in early childhood were evident in the
care of their patients; great pride was evident in the
recurrent phrase of ?being there?, ?we?re at their sides?,
?we are their families?. Lack of self-esteem, frequently
based on poverty and education, created barriers to
stories toldportray
communication in a work setting perceived by many
aides as condescending.
B. Focus group results
Introductory Warm Up Session: The discussion of
Mother Theresa, Florence Nightingale and Sharon
Hudacek nursing stories as a brief educational warm up
were well received. After an open-ended discussion/
question and answer format, several group participants
readily identified with the altruistic characteristics and
heroism of these inspirational literary role models.
Discussion of Major Themes: After this brief warm
up period, the six themes and their representative
vignettes derived from the initial 31 face-to-face inter-
views were opened for discussion, i.e. Nursing Home as
Incubator, Mother Wit (Wisdom) and Inspiration, One
Little Box Metaphor, Communication: Nurses and
Nursing Aides: Anger Turned Inward, Empathy, and
Overcoming Adversity. Not unexpectedly, the major
point of controversy centred on how nursing supervi-
sors, both RNs and LPNs, delegate duties to their aides,
echoing the ambivalence expressed in the earlier inter-
views. There was considerable discussion on those fa-
voured supervisors, both RN and LPN, who were
willing to assist and consult at the bedside with further
accolades to those who were once aides themselves, and
did not forget their roots. Although there were no
?shouting matches?, defensive posturing was readily
observed in both sessions among a few supervisors (RN,
LPN) when aides? stories of perceived condescension
and inappropriate delegation of duties were discussed.
Contrary to our expectations, but readily explained,
two interventional sessions were insufficient to resolve
long festering job discontent as measured in the Job
Satisfaction Survey. Originally we hypothesized that job
satisfaction would improve with our short-term inter-
ventional model. However, numerous studies confirm
the necessity of longer-term educational measures to
tease apart the complex factors contributing to dis-
content based on poor communication patterns and
lack of mentoring support (see Discussion section).
Survey Results: Tables 2 and 3 show the results of the
job satisfaction survey filled out by all participants.
Table 2 shows the overall percentage of participants
(n = 24) who ranked the questions in the Job satisfac-
tion survey a score of ?4? or greater (?agree? or ?strongly
agree?), along with the mean score and standard devi-
ation. Data for the participants who dropped out of the
study have been excluded from these results; the aver-
age score of the attrition group in pre-test survey did not
statistically differ from the rest of the group (data not
G. Rubin et al.
ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Nursing Management
Page 8
shown). Topics related to job-related pride, importance
of the job and job dissatisfaction ranked consistently
high (shaded in yellow in Table 2) and topics related to
relationship with supervisors and management, com-
munication with co-workers, job supervision and
working conditions ranked consistently low [i.e. very
few respondents gave a score of 4 or above (shaded in
blue in Table 2)]. These results further support the
inputobtainedfrom the
Data from Table 3 indicate that subjects who par-
ticipated in the focus group had more positive attitudes
on the pre-test (58.75) compared with the post-test
(54.41). This difference was statistically significant
(P < 0.017). The same data for the control group were
not significant (see the next section for our interpreta-
Staff absenteeism and turnover are two of the major
problems plaguing nursing homes. A multi-state study
involving 854 facilities reported 1-year turnover rates of
56.4%, 39.7% and 35.8% in CNAs, LPNs, and RNs,
respectively (Castle & Engberg 2006). Ironically, even
within the current study?s duration of 4 months, 22.6%
of the recruited subjects dropped out as a result of
turnover. Such attrition, further underscores the prob-
lem of frequent turnover among nurse aides. Hence, it is
not surprising that the development of newer models for
promoting job satisfaction and institutional collegiality
are deemed of the highest priority for all healthcare
Our results, using a three-pronged approach consist-
ing of (1) job satisfaction surveys, (2) personal inter-
views and (3) focus sessions, appear to validate the
complexand ambivalent
voiced in our study group. Each investigational com-
ponent (survey, interview, focus session) contributed to
the collective richness of the data. The open-ended
interviewing technique elevated the information gath-
ering to a more cognitive and personally meaningful
level and opened the door for redressing long-standing
barriers to communication between nurse and nursing
aide. The focus group sessions that followed, provided
an opportunity to problem-solve and brainstorm more
communication patterns
Table 2
Survey response summary for all participants (post-survey only)
Per cent of respondents who
ranked four or above (%)
Mean score
(on a scale of 1–5)SD
Most people do not appreciate the importance of my work in nursing homes.
I feel I am supervised more closely than necessary.
I receive sufficient recognition and appreciation for the work done here.
There is not enough opportunity for advancement or growth in my job.
I am satisfied with the types of activities I do on my job.
It makes me proud to talk to other people about my job.
Excluding myself, nurse aides at this facility are dissatisfied with pay.
I wish administrators and charge nurses would show more respect for nurse aides.
Management includes my feelings in their plans.
I am sometimes frustrated because all of my activities seem programmed for me.
There is too much paperwork required for nursing personnel.
I feel I have sufficient input into the programme of care for each of my residents.
New employees are quickly made to feel at home on my unit.
My benefits and working conditions are reasonable.
I have sufficient time for resident care.
What I do on my job is really important.
I am happy to be at work every morning.
My motivation level at work is high.
Table 3
Job Attitude Survey scores for the participants in the focus group significantly decreased when compared with the control
MeanN SDSEMP-value
Focus group JAS_PRE (High score indicates a more positive attitude)
JAS_POST (High score indicates a more positive attitude)
JAS_PRE (High score indicates a more positive attitude)
JAS_POST (High score indicates a more positive attitude)
Control group<0.315
Nurse/nursing aide communication
ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Nursing Management
Page 9
effective ways to communicate. Our initial hypothesis
was that this process would result in a significant
change in the positive attitudes and perceptions as
measured by the job attitude survey. Contrary to our
expectations, the positive attitudes of the focus group
participants were significantly lower during the post-
test measurement. Several discordant factors may have
contributed to the unexpected findings: (1) the latent
feelings of anger and discontent among respondents,
carried over from the interviews to the focus group
sessions; (2) although attrition did not impact the re-
sults, we conjecture that it may have impacted job sat-
isfaction in reference to the increased workload on the
remaining staff; (3) the timing of the post-survey did not
provide sufficient time for the solutions that were dis-
cussed in the focus group session to be implemented.
The paradigm of ?narrative competence? as an edu-
cational tool, such as that attempted in the current
study, is assuming increasing relevance in the training of
nurses, physicians, social workers, administrators and
allied disciplines. Scientifically oriented professional
journals and curricula are increasingly using clinical
narratives to inspire, educate and increase moral, cul-
tural and ethical imagination and competency. Klein-
man (1988) praises the talents of the mini-ethnographer
who ?struggles to see the things the way the natives do,
to enter their experiential world?. However, there are
few randomized-controlled studies in long-term care
settings, employing clinical narratives to gauge the
efficacy of intervention in long-term care facilities. The
role of narrative competence is aptly described by
Charon (2001) as the ?ability to acknowledge, absorb,
interpret, and act on stories and the plight of others?.
She further states that ?healthcare providers can join
their patients in illness, recognize their own personal
journeys, acknowledge kinship with and duties to other
health care professionals and inaugurate consequential
discourse with the public about health care? (p. 1175).
Conclusion/implications for nursing
Our study supports the efficacy of a new interventional
model dealing with the historic dilemma of why nurses
and nursing aides ?can?t get along with one another?.
Employing a combined protocol of surveys, interview-
ing narratives and focus sessions, many of our aides
provides convincing stories of their anger and sadness at
being misunderstood by certain nurse supervisors who
they perceive as condescending and judgmental. If this
communication paradigm is to change, the ?stories need
to change?, i.e. nursing supervision, both RN and LPN,
must adapt methods of communication which foster
interpersonal collegiality and a ?culture of listening,
empathy, legitimation and support? (see Figure 2). How
is this new ?generosity of spirit? to be infused into a
prevailing health-delivery system characterized by long
hours, low pay, frequently back-breaking work and
disillusioned providers? If in fact the ?buck stops? at the
nursing supervisor?s desk, we believe newer models of
communication need to be addressed early on in formal
nursing curricula and continued through in-service
education at the bedside, emphasizing the benefits of
inspirational role modelling. But nursing supervisory
excellence does not occur in a vacuum. An enlightened
administration, plagued by remuneration issues, must
also ensure (and understand) that teamwork must per-
meate all levels of the nursing home hierarchy, and
condescension must be replaced by a mission empha-
sizing mutual dialogue and empowerment. Skilled nurse
(and physician) clinician-mentors intuitively apply this
humanistic model in their dealing with patients and
peers alike, and their skills need to be emulated and
applied. Many of the participants in our study, are
already advancing their education (over 42% of the
participants who dropped out, did so for reasons of
higher education). Surely this ?upward mobility? (from
aide to RN and beyond) needs to be encouraged.
The current study offers some clear advantages over
prior studies on this topic: (1) using an interviewing
technique that is both investigative, therapeutic and
problem solving; (2) the use of a combined qualitative-
quantitative approach; (3) employing narratives as a
major component of teaching; (4) adapting the BATHE
technique for its expanded information-gathering po-
tential and therapeutic value; and (5) the uniqueness of
Appalachian cultural traditions in fostering change.
?Knowing our respondents? stories? (in the home and
workplace) is an ideal first step in the remedial process
of fostering job satisfaction. ?Entering our respondents?
Respect & Trust
Empathic Curiosity
Need to be
Figure 2
A new communication-based model in a nursing home setting.
G. Rubin et al.
ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Nursing Management
Page 10
worlds? affords a way to understand their communica-
tion styles and coping skills, and offers educational
clues to change entrenched patterns of unproductive
communication. The limitations inherent in a pilot
study of this scope include its: (1) small sample size and
a rural setting limiting its generalizability to other long-
term care settings; (2) short duration limiting the edu-
cational effectiveness of the two focus group sessions;
(3) significant attrition rate during the study; and (4)
potential interviewing bias of the clinician investigator-
interviewer. Despite these limitations, our participants
have clearly defined the major components contributing
to unproductive communication.
Directions for future research
In view of the historically faulty and entrenched com-
munication patterns between nurses and nursing aides,
weanticipate thatan
researcher/facilitators will be needed to sort out the
complex socio-cultural relationships associated with job
satisfaction and turnover. Our pilot study has clearly
confirmed the importance of the nurse supervisor as the
key figure to promote change. To affect this change, a
longer multi-institutional study incorporating both
qualitative and quantitative methods will be needed.
We expect a time span of 2 years will allow the devel-
opment of an educational model to be utilized and
tested in diverse long-term care populations over a
widergeographical distribution.
developing an educational tool that will improve com-
munication and collegiality in the nursing workplace
will not only improve the quality of care and build
efficiencies, but also will favourably reduce the crip-
pling economic and administrative burden to these
interdisciplinaryteam of
Webelieve that
The authors would like to thank the Department of Family
Medicine at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic
Medicine, for providing funds for this project. The authors
would also like to thank Drs Sharon Denham, Richard
Greenlee andLynnHarter
technical comments on the manuscript. To the authors?
best knowledge, no financial or other conflicts of interest
fortheeditorial and
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ª 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Nursing Management
Page 12


text:
Just How Lawless Are the Alabama State Court Judges Who Have Been Refusing to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses?
U.C. Davis law professor Vikram David Amar discusses the current controversy in Alabama over whether state court judges must issue same-sex marriage licenses pursuant to an order to a federal district judge sitting in that state. Continue reading →
Posted In: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Courts and Procedure


text:
Eastern Accents Botham Ottoman
Special Offer:
24 Issues of Better Homes and Gardens
Included with your purchase - a $10 value (Subscription and Rebate Info)
Eastern Accents Botham Ottoman
Weights & Dimensions
|Design: Standard
|Style: Traditional
|Upholstery Color: Green / Red
|Finish: Espresso
|Upholstery Material: Polyester/Polyester blend; Cotton; Other
|Frame Material: Wood
|Number of Items Included: 1
|Non-Toxic: Yes
|Shape: Rectangle
|Cushion or Upholstery Fill Material: Foam
|Seating Comfort: Firm
|Tufted Cushion: Yes
|Slipcovered: No
|Legs Included: Yes
|Glider: No
|Nailhead Trim: No
|Tray Top: No
|Storage Available: Yes
|Suitable As Seating: Yes
|Product Care: Spot clean with mild water-free solvents.
|Country of Manufacture: United States
|Assembly Required: No
|Additional Parts Required: No
About the ManufacturerEastern Accents is a manufacturer of luxury bedding and soft home furnishings. Their collections feature premium fabrics and trimmings with an emphasis on design and craftsmanship. Once run out of a Chicago loft, today they are a full service bedding and accessory company offering products that reflect the style and diversity of the ever-changing arena of home décor. As they look to the future, they plan to stay focused on the principle with which they were founded using only the finest materials to create timeless home design.
Eastern Accents Botham Ottoman
Still have questions about this product? We're here to help
|5 star
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Customer Reviews
Roomy enouth for two pillows
Olya from San Mateo, CA – Verified Buyer
Looks great in my bedroom. I bought it for keeping my large decorative pillows at night and they fit. One minus - can't keep it too close to the bed - the ottoman needs to be about 3 onches from the bed to allow for the top to open . The legs are easy to assemble.
OUR SKU # EAN4341Botham Ottoman is also sometimes listed under the following manufacturer numbers: OTD-164


text:
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