Details:

You will pick one of the following topics only to do your paper on:

• According to Socrates, must one heed popular opinion about moral matters?  Does Socrates accept the fairness of the laws under which he was tried and convicted?  Would Socrates have been wrong to escape?
• Consider the following philosophical puzzle: “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?” (1) How is this philosophical puzzle an epistemological problem? And (2) how would John Locke answer it?
• Evaluate the movie, The Matrix, in terms of the philosophical issues raised with (1) skepticism and (2) the mind-body problem. Explain how the movie raises questions similar to those found in Plato’s and Descartes’ philosophy. Do not give a plot summary of the movie – focus on the philosophical issues raised in the movie as they relate to Plato and Descartes.
• Socrates asks Euthyphro, “Are morally good acts willed by God because they are morally good, or are they morally good because they are willed by God?” (1) How does this question relate to the Divine Command Theory of morality? (2) What are the philosophical implications associated with each option here?
• Explain (1) the process by which Descartes uses skepticism to refute skepticism, and (2) what first principle does this lead him to? (3) Explain why this project was important for Descartes to accomplish.    

What you are submitting now is your outline (not the full assignment) for your week 7 Philosophical Essay (not the actual paper – that is due in week 7). There is a Word file marked Outline Template for your use.  Please download it and use it for this assignment.

In two to three full pages you need to include the following:

I. Your rough draft introduction with a clear thesis. How to Write a Thesis Statement 

The following is an example (do not copy/paste and use) of a thesis statement/beginning introduction:

Thesis Statement:

In this essay I evaluate the philosophical puzzle: “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?”  In my evaluation I explain that this question raises the epistemological problem of how a subjective experience, such as sound, relates to what can be known of reality. I demonstrate that this question is a puzzle because it exposes the limits of what we can claim to know based on sensory experience. Lastly, I will explain how the empiricist, John Locke, would evaluate and answer the puzzle.

II-IV. A list of three or more body paragraphs with transitioning sentences. This is just an outline of three or more body paragraphs.  You are not writing the entire paragraph here.  Just the outline.

For example:

I.  Discuss morality:

1. Explain morality.
2. Then a sentence that transitions to your next paragraph such as:  The next area for discussion is skepticism.

Your next paragraph outline like above and so forth.

V. Your rough draft of a conclusion

VI. Your Works Cited of at least three reliable/scholarly resources

Remember:

• Purpose: Clearly articulated thesis statement of appropriate scope that (1) tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the question, and (2) tells the reader what you intend to accomplish in your essay.   Body paragraphs with transitioning sentences. Conclusion. Works Cited in MLA formatting.
• Support: List of three or more reliable/scholarly resources.    
• Syntax, Style, Grammar, and Formatting: The writing contains sentences that are always complete and grammatically correct, and free of confusion and ambiguity. The essay follows MLA formatting and adheres to the additional guidelines detailed in the syllabus.    
• Looking Ahead: The 4 – 5 full page (not to exceed 6 pages) Philosophical Essay you will be writing due Week 7 is designed to be a thoughtful, reflective work.  It will be your premier writing assignment focused on the integration and assessment relating to the course concepts.  It is 4 – 5 full pages of text. This does not include a cover page or a Works Cited page.

Resources:

• APUS Library 
• APUS Philosophy Program Guide
• Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting – The Basics
• MLA Formatting and Style Guide
• MLA Overview and Workshop
• Purdue OWL MLA Sample Paper
• Students will follow MLA format as the sole citation and formatting style used in written assignments submitted as part of coursework to the Humanities Department. 
• Remember – any resource that is listed on the Works Cited page must have an in-text citation in the paper to match or this is considered plagiarism.

Supporting Materials

• Outline Template.docx (16 KB)

If the United States government came to you today and solicited your consulting firm to select the next president, what competencies would you use to make your judgment, and why? Keeping in mind this is a “fit” challenge more than an ability challenge, how would you go about ensuring the next president is a good fit for the job? Now, take those same competencies and apply them (as they fit) to your own leadership. Which items apply, and why do they fit you?

Please include the name of the person or question to which you are replying in the subject line. For example, “Tom’s response to Susan’s comment.”

ALSO PLEASE REPLY TO ANOTHER STUDENTS COMMENT BELOW 

Lucie:

Filling the position for the President of the United States of America would be interesting, because it is a job that no one has prior experience in doing before being elected. You would have to ensure that the candidate had a strong understanding of the United States Constitution and the ethical fortitude to uphold it. Professional communication skills are very important, as the President is the voice of our nation. The candidate would also have to be a master at diplomacy and tact with foreign leaders and our own congressional leaders. Our President would also need to be incorruptible by foreign powers and domestic lobbies, with the ability to do what is right for our country to move forward. There should be tests in place for anyone who wants to become a member of the government. These should be cognitive function tests (to rule out Alzheimer’s and dementia), empathy tests (to rule out sociopaths and psychopaths), and civics tests (to ensure the person knows how the government and constitution work). Also, interviews need to be conducted with past employers, teachers, and associates. A history of educated and ethical decisions and conduct is a must. The candidate would also need to have a history of being willing to work with the other political parties, and have a good working relationship with leaders across the aisle. I would look for all of these qualities in the leaders of my own company. Leaders in my company would also need very industry specific knowledge, along with these traits.The President/CEO of any company needs to be incorruptible, of sound mind, and have a strong understanding of ethics and law. They also have to be able to work well with people who disagree with them. Whether leading a company or the entire nation, these values and abilities should be at the forefront of requirements.

Nursing. Discussion: Using Competency Sets to Critique Lesson Plans

Graduate nursing education advances innovation and strengthens the leadership needed to improve healthcare delivery. Education at this level incorporates the foundational knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to thrive in increasingly complex clinical environments. Nursing education is undergoing major change as the profession conceptualizes master’s education and transitions advanced practice education to the doctoral level via Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. Calls to reduce healthcare costs, persistent concerns about patient safety and the quality of care, and dramatic increases in diagnostic, therapeutic, and educational technologies all demand new thinking around the nature of graduate nursing education.

—American Association of Colleges in Nursing

Though the above quote focuses specifically on graduate nursing education, Schools of Nursing around the United States are adapting both undergraduate and graduate programs to emphasize a stronger focus on evidence-based nursing competencies. At the departmental level, this process takes much time and collaboration. Curriculum teams comprised of nurse educators, field experts, and instructional design professionals meet with schools of nursing to revamp existing curriculum plans to the competencies needed of today’s and tomorrow’s nursing students.

On a smaller scale, nurse educators are also implementing quick and effective strategies to align their current courses to evolving nursing competencies. By critiquing lessons before, during, and after instruction, nurse educators are able to assess their alignment to competency sets.

In this Discussion, you critique one of your own Lesson Plans to a competency set of your choosing.

To prepare

• Review the article, “Integrating the Institute of Medicine Competencies in a Baccalaureate Curricular Revision: Process and Strategies.” Consider how and why the nursing program adapted its curriculum to emphasize Institute of Medicine competencies.
• Review the competencies presented in this week’s Learning Resources. In addition, reflect on the competencies that you might be familiar with through your own studies and professional background. How do competencies help to guide academic and professional practice?
• Review the Lesson Plans that you have developed in this course. Select one to further investigate for this Discussion.
• Critique your lesson using a competency set. For example, if your Lesson Plan addresses interprofessional collaboration and your intended audience of learners is Master’s students, you might critique your Lesson Plan using QSEN indicators. As you conduct your critique, identify specific competencies addressed in your lesson. Then, consider ways that you might modify your lesson to prompt a deeper understanding of nursing competencies.

Questions to be addressed in my paper:        

 1. A brief description of your lesson (Pulmonary Edema) and the competency set (patient-centered care, evidence-based practice and quality improvement) that you selected.                    

2. Explain how your lesson engaged learners in one or more competencies.                                 

3. Explain whether your lesson should be modified to include a deeper understanding of these competencies and why.                             

4. Support your response by including references to your lesson, your own experiences, and this week’s Learning Resources.                                                              

Reminders:

1.      At least 2 pages

2.      Put citation and references 2011-2016.   

3.      Check my uploaded pulmonary edema lesson plan.

Required Readings

Hickey, M. T., Forbes, M., & Greenfield, S. (2010). Integrating the Institute of Medicine competencies in a baccalaureate curricular revision: Process and strategies. Journal of Professional Nursing, 26(4), 214–222. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article describes how a School of Nursing retailored its curriculum to include the Institute of Medicine competencies.

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (n.d.). Essential series. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/essential-series

At this resource, you can review the curriculum content and expected competencies of students pursuing nursing degrees. In addition, you can examine the critical changes that the AACN is taking to ensure that nursing curriculum mirrors the evolving needs of today’s and tomorrow’s patients.

National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2013). 2013 NCLEX-RN test plan. Retrieved from https://www.ncsbn.org/2013_NCLEX_RN_Test_Plan.pdf

Aligning learning experiences with NCLEX competencies can provide nursing students with the background that they will need to successfully pass the NCLEX. Browse this document to view the overarching competencies tested on the NLCEX examination.

National League for Nursing. (2011). Faculty programs & resources: Nurse educator core competencies. Retrieved from http://www.nln.org/facultyprograms/competencies/educator_core_competencies.htm

Use this website to view NLN core competencies and nurse educator certification documents.

Quality and Safety Education for Nurses. (2012). Graduate KSAS. Retrieved from http://qsen.org/competencies/graduate-ksas/

Use the links provided at this website to review QSEN competencies.

Reflect: Health Care Reform has, for a long time, been a hot topic. Costs of Medicare, loss of jobs, increased costs of doing business, are all part of the problem/need. Consider the two citations below:

We have invented more health care than we can afford to deliver….We already ration. The United States denies more health care to more people than any other developed country in the world. We did that by leaving 50 million people out of the system (before the Affordable Care Act).

[For example] I don’t believe you should give any extensive operations to anybody over 85. You should make sure that they’re clean, they’re loved, they’re comfortable, they’re pain-free, but we shouldn’t be doing high-technology medicine on people over 85. (Lamm, 2015)

A rising proportion of medical expenditure is now devoted to prolonging the lives of the very old and the terminally ill. The costs of this are potentially unlimited. 

We should pause to ask ourselves the questions raised by the surgeon Atul Gawande in his book, Being Mortal. Perhaps the greatest challenges in modern healthcare are not those of meeting the spiraling cost of advanced medical technologies. They lie in accepting that we are all going to die, and learning to do so with dignity.

Efforts at cost containment and the rationing of medical services are impinging deeply on the elderly and placing physicians in roles that may interfere with the covenant of faithfulness that exists between physician and patient. Physicians must examine negative societal images that may influence the care of the elderly and hold firm to the commitment to respond to the needs, values, and best interests of the elderly in the face of changing health care policies and constraints of one kind or another. Further, a major ethical imperative for physicians relates to making themselves available for the treatment of the elderly in the context of an appreciation of these patients’ tasks in the final stage of development.

Write: As an assistant in arranging discharge planning with a social worker and a multi-disciplinary team,  you are asked for your professional input as an elderly woman living alone is being discharged to a long term facility. A high risk procedure and expensive procedure is being suggested for this 87 year old woman. The issue of cost for such procedures for the elderly has surfaced among the team. The team is discussing the decision of the procedure and social services is consulted for a full consideration of the patient in her context.

Utilizing what you have learned in the program and including extra resources, address the following:

• Evaluate the value assumptions that influence your recommendation.
• Describe how you would respond to these values as you self-reflect.
• Describe how much cost of the procedure would influence your recommendation.
• Should you consider what your client wants? How does this weight against professional values and opinions?
• Explain your recommendations to the team.

Review

Review this week’s assigned readings and resources to prepare for this discussion, as well as

• Factoring Trinomials Guide template [DOWNLOAD]

Many polynomial equations can be solved quite simply when the first step consists of factoring. Factoring is an essential skill to be mastered in an algebra course. While there are a number of different techniques that can be used to factor polynomial functions of all types, for our purposes we are going to focus on factoring quadratic polynomials of the form ax² + bx + c. A number of different methods have been introduced to help students find the factors of quadratic polynomials. Some such methods of factoring ax² + bx + c are Factoring by Grouping, Box Method, Star Method/Diamond Method/X-method, and Tic-Tac-Toe Method.

Respond

1. Research one of the methods listed above or another method of your choice for factoring trinomials of the form ax² + bx + c.
2. Download and open the Factoring Trinomials Guide template [DOWNLOAD] provided.
3. State the method you are using and explain the process of factoring a trinomial in words, modeling the process by using examples that contain all the steps to factor the trinomial.
   • Note: A student who has little knowledge of factoring should be able to follow your steps in order to factor any trinomial using the explanation you provide.
   • Your guide must include a minimum of two examples of factoring trinomials using your chosen method.
   • At least one of your examples must include a trinomial of the form ax² + bx + c, with a > 1 (e.g. 4x² – 15x – 25, or 2x² + 11x + 5).
4. Verify that your factors are correct by expanding the expression, combining like terms, and comparing to the initial trinomial.
5. Make sure to cite the sources you used for researching your preferred method.
6. Submit your completed template to the discussion forum.