Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Public accountants duty to provide due professional care in all their c

The situation that Willis and Company, CPAs have found themselves in regarding Geiger Company’s claim that Willis was negligent, underscores the need for public accountants to provide due professional care in all their contractual obligations. The level of fault that Willis is liable for can vary depending on the circumstances and approaches taken in examining this situation. This fact will be evident when examining this case from the Known User Approach, the Securities Act of 1933, as well as the Securities Act of 1934. These differing options result in varying degrees of liability that Willis and Company or any CPA firm can be held accountable for. Known User Approach When considering Willis’s actions under this Known User Approach, the New York Court of Appeals set the precedent in handling future cases. The New York Court determined that CPAs are held liable for ordinary negligence solely to the CPA’s client and specifically identified third parties (Whittington & Pany, 2012). In order for this to be true though, it must be evident that the company, in this instance Geiger and the specifically identified third parties are listed as specific users of the audit reports (Whittington & Pany). In relation to the loss incurred by the bank loaning funds based on misstated financial statements, the same precedent holds true. The bank, as a third-party beneficiary, must have been specifically named as a known party to the use of the auditor’s report in order to have a claim to recover the loss sustained (Whittington & Pany). The New York Court of Appeals further states that the third-party must not only be known or listed in the auditor’s report as a user but the said third-party must have take some sort of action to prove the ... ...934 also provides a greater protection to auditors as well, because it requires of proof of both misstatement and intent to cause harm as well as reduces liability proportionally. Under the Known User Approach, auditors can be liable for ordinary negligence, but the plaintiffs bringing suit must be specifically named in the statements for their allegations to be considered. These three approaches highlight the seriousness with which auditors and CPA firms should approach all established contracts in order to lessen the liability they face in carrying out their public duties. Works Cited Conahan, J., Nolette, P., & Young, A. (2003). Securities Fraud. The American Criminal Law Review. 40(2). Ps. 1041-1107. ProQuest doi: 230355736. Whittington, R., & Pany, K. (2012). Principles of auditing and other assurances (18th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Reflection practice Essay

Reflection practice is an approach that allows practitioners to understand how they use their knowledge in realistic situations and how they mix action and learning in a more successful manner (Henderson, 2002). Kondrat (2004) claims that the aim of critical reflection is to be conscious of the influence of the subject self in relations to prejudices so that such prejudices may be reduced or removed. However, Smith (2002: 138) argues that â€Å"for reflection to be critical it need to also embrace the capacity to consider social structures and power relationships analytically and apply this analysis in practice†. This assignment aim at researching the benefits and challenges of reflection in work practice by reflecting on an incident at work and examine what went wrong and what went well (see appendix 1). It will evaluate my progress about how I used reflection to develop professional practice after an incident. It will also assess how feedback from manager and colleagues may help me to maintain my continuing professional development. see more:the different ways that people may react to receiving constructive feedback According to Taylor and Beverly (2000) reflection is a significant human activity in which people recall their experiences, think about it, ponder over, evaluate it; and it is this working with experience that is important in learning. Du Gay (2005) claims that we learn through critical reflection by putting ourselves into the experiences and exploring personal and theoretical knowledge to understand it and view it in different ways. However, Swan (2008) argues that it may be hard to reflect in work practice due to time constraint and lack of understanding about how to reflect. Swan (2008) further argues that others practitioners may not be motivated enough in finding time to reflect. However, Taylor (2000) proposes that improved self-awareness, though not the principle reason for reflection, may create important changes in normal reactions to challenging clinical circumstances that may affect a beneficial change in the outcome observed. As a health and social care practitioner I appreciate that reflection offers a number of benefits such as improvement in practice and in patient service. Improved self-knowledge may offer this additional benefit, as contending with the behaviour of persons in strange circumstances outlines an important part of health care practitioners Taylor (2000). Wilkin (2002), Paget (2001)  and Taylor (2000) cited in Hayden, (2005) agree with the notion that reflection allows practitioners to broaden themselves intellectually and improves their professional role especially when pressure is wielded to behave more technically. However, Smith and Jack (2005) argue that practitioners need to be aware of personal advantages, improved self-awareness and improved confidence in progressing professional development as it may affect how they relate with patient. In relation to my individual learning plan (ILP) as identified in appendix one I have encountered problem such as involving colleagues and my manager in giving me feedback. This may be because of work demands placed on my manager and change in staff structure due to an incident which occurred in work. Therefore I had to reconsider using a diary to record activities identified in ILP and record of incident; this meant that I can only rely on my own feedback and the understanding of my work practise in order to achieve the best possible outcome. According to Boud (2000) health and social care professionals often work one on one with service users who may be experiencing various levels of emotional distress. Young and Henquinet (2000) claim that more than half of challenging behaviour occurs in social services and health care settings, therefore safety is paramount. Boud (2000) claims that it is vital that professionals and service users do not exist in blankness, as both parties are influenced by societal, community and organizational behaviour this is supported by Bronfebrenner’s theory (Adams, 2007). Smith (2002) states that these factors may impact on service users’ relationship and interactions therefore a key skill is needed to work in partnership with service users. When the service user went absent without authorised leave I had to respond immediately as it was apparent that I was the only person with sufficient knowledge. Having experience this before and knowing my work practice procedures on missing person prompted me to react as I did as identified in Schon (1991) reflection in action. Smith (2002) further argues that to attain this, it is essential for  professionals to be able to make logic of their practice, and to understand their involvement in therapeutic functioning. This was evident in my practice as I had to support other service users who were in distress and also I had to write an incident report whilst offering re- assurance. This was challenging as I am working as part of a small team which meant that I had to carry some of the task individually. However, being part of a small team meant that I was able to interact and communicate more easily with peers and gained their sense of commitment level as pointed out by (Young and Henquinet 2000). Northouse (2004) states that ethics in a small teams are important because as team progress through the decision-making or problem-solving process, several questions may arise that may need to be dealt with and the people’s behaviour or actions surrounds the communication process. Engleberg and Wynn (2003) suggest that staff member or team members need to consider how their verbal and nonverbal communication and listening skills may affect how they construct and construe these messages. Fujishin, (2007) argues that communicating in an unethical way may include misrepresenting a position or stance on a topic, and pretending to be informed about a topic. Fujishin, (2007) suggests that to avoid this staff member should not keep back information from other members and should be truthful when sharing information. As a practitioner I am morally required to contemplate the likely benefit or harm that may result if I chose to do nothing in a given situation. My actions matched my belief in the human rights to be safe and contribute to decision making and information sharing (Beidler and Dickey 2001). Controlled reflection may thus be an instrument to help professionals’ gain better understanding not only into professional practice but into their working relationship with service users Bould (2000). Gaining better knowledge and understanding into reflection is not new, Schon (1999) in Adams et al (2009) defines reflection in action as an approach taken by practitioners in work setting to instantly restructure and adjust their practice. However, Crisp and Green (2002) argue that uncontrolled reflection may not generate theory or understanding. Nevertheless, the practitioner who  is able to reflect on a situation, make sense of what happened and coherent the process and variables involved may create a better understanding of the situation and of theory. Another way of making sense of circumstances that affect us together individually and professionally is through organised reflective writing. The method of reflection does not have to be written, however Seymour (2003) and Ullrich et al (2002) suggest that more understanding may be gained if writing is involved as it may allow the professionals to structure opinions and reminiscences more subjectively. Ullrich and Lutgendorf (2002) also claim that it may also provide a lasting record for other professionals to access in future. In work setting I had to keep record and times of incident this is refer to as incident report. Lindeman (2000) claims that writing an incident report allows practitioners to learn about individuals, organisation and others. For instance, I have learnt a lot about different agencies that gets involved when a service user is reported missing. I have also learnt about the importance of keeping accurate conversation records. Duffy (2000) proposes that the process of reflective writing may offer time to reflect properly and make sense of happenings that may have affected work practice. Nonetheless, without a clear outline it may be problematic to know in what way or what to reflect upon. Burton (2000) argues that this is particularly applicable to trainee reflective professionals. Furthermore, Brennan and Hutt (2001) argue that another additional likely risk is that professionals only reflect upon circumstances that they perceive as gone wrong. Taylor (2000) states that in this case reflective writing then becomes possibly negative and not useful if left unstructured or un- facilitated. This was apparent common in my work practice as staff focused more on the negative of the incident instead of encouraging the use of positive. McCabe (2004) suggest that it is the duty of the experienced practitioner to question the practice of another if they believe inappropriate treatment may harm or be negative to service user. It was extremely difficult to challenge my colleagues about their negative comments this may be because they have  been in my work practice longer than me. McCabe (2004) argues that health practitioners may feel uncomfortable due to uncertainty in their work practice. Conversely, Paget (2001) argues that service user’s best interest must be conserved all the time even if conflict should arise. According to Joyce (2005) common difficulties with using reflective journals involve procrastination, fading, eagerness, and also reluctance or lack of ability to reflect. Reflective diaries or periodicals may be an effectual tool for self – assessment and development of reflective skill, specifically reflection on practice (Joyce, 2005). The skill of reflective writing may be advanced either through working separate or within peer groups. Teekman (2000) believes that record keeping is part of showing consistency and caring about service user’s outcome. Caring is also paramount in health and social care, I feel strongly about this belief and try to practise continuously. Ritz (2009) cited in Ritz and Weissleder, (2009) proposes that writing and thinking goes together when developing critical skills. According to Wilkie and Burn (2003) Health and social care have a spoken culture in which practitioners have restricted chances to develop critical, analytical skills through writing. I found it easy to use diary this may be due to the time I spent writing incident report. However, getting feedback from my colleagues proofed difficult as they had different views about giving me feedback. This may be due to what they perceive as of importance as pointed out by Bowers and Jinks (2004). In conclusion reflecting about incident at work has been self- empowering and has provided me with a perception into personal understanding and control (McCabe 2004). This reflection has recognised the opinions, hindrances associated with working in Health and social care (HSC) practice. Additionally, it has also shown that the present-day premise of HSC is multifaceted. However using Schon’s context does aim to reveal the insufficiencies of a positivist attitude to knowledge and practice and this may result to new understandings (Teekman, 2000). Consequently, it is essential that the professional is allowed to reflect critically on practice  so as to improve and extend knowledge and eventually the quality of service and care provided to service users. Reflective writing has helped me to cope with critical incident at work and I feel like I can pass this tool to my work colleagues. References Adam R, Dominelli L, and Payne, M (2009) social work themes, issues and critical debates(3rd ed). Basingstoke: Palgrave. Boud, D. (2000) Sustainable Assessment Rethinking assessment for the learning society. Studies in Continuing Education. 22: 151-167. Bowers S. J. and Jinks A. M.( 2004) Issues surrounding professional portfolio development for nurses. British Journal of Nursing, 13 (3): 155-159 Brennam A.M. and Hutt R. (2001) the challenges and conflicts of facilitating learning in practice the experience of the clinical nurse educators nurse in practice 1(4) :181-188. Bulman C, and Schutz S. (2004) Reflective Practice in Nursing (3rd ed) Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. Burton A. J,.(2000) reflection nursing ‘s practice and education panacea . Journal of Advanced Nursing 31: 10009-1017. Crisp, B.R. and Green L. P. (2002). Assessments methods in social work education A review of the literature social work education 21: 259-269. Demmke, C, Hammerschmid, G, Meyer, RE (2006) Decent ralisation and Accountability as a Focus of Public Administration Modernisation: Challenges and Consequences for Human Resource Management. Maastricht/Brussels: EIPA Duff, L,.(2000) from rote to reflection an incredible Learning Journey Canadian Nurse 96(7) 30-33. Du Gay, P (2005) The Values of Bureaucracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Engleberg, I. N., & Wynn, D. R. (2003). Working in groups: Communication principles and strategies (3rd ed.). Boston, Houghton Mifflin Fisher, K (2003) Demystifying critical reflection: Defining criteria for assessment. Higher Education Research & Development 22(3): 313–325. Fujishin, R. (2007).Creating effective groups: The art of small group communication (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Hayden, K S. (2005) Critical incident A nurses personal reflection. Pro quest nursing & Allied health source (15):329. Henderson, GM (2002) Transformative learning as a condition for transformational change in organizations. Human Resource Development Review 1(2): 186–214. Joyce P.(2005) A framework for portfolio development in postgraduate nursing practice. Journal for Clinical Nursing,14(4) :456-463. Kondrat, M. E, . (2004) ‘Who is the â€Å"Self † in Self-Aware: Professional Self-Awareness from a Critical Theory Perspective’, Social Service Review 3(4): 451–77. Lindeman C. A. (2000) the future of nursing education. Journal of Nursing Education 39:5-12. McCabe, C (2004) Nurse patient communication an exploration of patients experience. Journal of clinical Nursing 13 (1): 45-54 McCutcheon, H. and Pincombe J. (2001) Intuition an important tool in the practice of nursing. Journal of advanced Nursing. 35(3) :342-348. Paget T(2001) reflective practice and clinical outcomes pracitioners views on how reflective practice has influenced their clinical practice. Journal of clinical Nursing. 10(2): 204-214. Parton, N and O’Byrne, Pk (2000) Constructive Social Work. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Ritz A, Weissleder, M (2009) Management development in public administration. In Thom N, Zaugg RJ (eds) Modern personnel development. Wiesbaden: Gabler, pp. 371–394. Ritz, A (2009) Public service motivation and organizational performance in Swiss federal government. International Review of Administrative Sciences 75(1): 53–78. Rogers, R (2001) Reflection in higher education: A concept analysis. Innovative Higher Education. 26(1): 37–57. Seymour, B,. Kinn, S,. and Sutherland N,. (2003) Valuing both critical and creative thinking in clinical practice narrowing the research practice gap. Journal of advanced Nursing 42: 288- 296. Smith, A,. and Jack K,. (2005) Reflective practice a meaning task for students nursing standard 19 (26): 33-37. Smith, S. (2002) ‘What Works for Whom: The Link between Process and Outcome in Effectiveness Research’, Australian Social Work 55(2). Swan, E,. (2008) Let’s not get too personal: Critical reflection, reflexivity and the confessional turn. Journal of European Industrial Training 32(5): 385–399. Taylor, Beverly J. (2000) Reflective Practice: A Guide for Nurses and Midwives. St Leonards,Australia: Allen and Unwin. Taylor B.J. (2000) Reflective practice A guide for nurses and midwives. Open University Press, Maidenhead. Teekman, B. (2000) Exploring reflective thinking in nursing practice. Journal of advanced nursing 31(5): 1122-1135. Thorpe, K (2004) Reflective learning journals: From concept to practice. Reflective Practice 5(3): 327–343. Ullrich P. M. and Lutgendorf S. K,. (2002) Journaling about stressful events effects of cognitive processing and emotional expression. Annals of Behavioural Medicine. 24 : 244-250. van der Meer, F, Marks, P (2013) Teaching and learning reflection in MPA programmes: Towards a strategy. Teaching Public Administration 31(1): this issue. Wilkie K. and Burn I. (2003) Problem based Learning A handbook for Nurses. Palgrave MacMillan Basingstoke. Wilkin K (2002) Exploring expert practice through reflection nursing in critical care. 7(2) :88-93 Young, C. B., & Henquinet, J. A. (2000). A conceptual framework for designing group projects.Journal of Education for Business, 76, 56–60.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Definition and Examples of Narratives in Writing

The definition of narrative is a piece of writing that tells a story, and it is one of four classical rhetorical modes or ways that writers use to present information. The others include an exposition, which explains and analyzes an idea or set of ideas; an argument, which attempts to persuade the reader to a particular point of view; and a description, a written form of a visual experience. Key Takeaways: Narrative Definition A narrative is a form of writing that tells a story.  Narratives can be essays, fairy tales, movies, and jokes.  Narratives have five elements: plot, setting, character, conflict, and theme.  Writers use narrator style, chronological order, a point of view, and other strategies to tell a story. Telling stories is an ancient art that started long before humans invented writing. People tell stories when they gossip, tell jokes, or reminisce about the past. Written forms of narration include most forms of writing: personal essays, fairy tales, short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, autobiographies, histories, even news stories have a narrative. Narratives may be a sequence of events in chronological order or an imagined tale with flashbacks or multiple timelines. Narrative Elements Every narrative has five elements that define and shape the narrative: plot, setting, character, conflict, and theme. These elements are rarely stated in a story; they are revealed to the readers in the story in subtle or not-so-subtle ways, but the writer needs to understand the elements to assemble her story. Heres an example from The Martian, a novel by Andy Weir that was made into a film: The plot is the thread of events that occur in a story. Weirs plot is about a man who gets accidentally abandoned on the surface of Mars.The setting is the location of the events in time and place. The Martian is set on Mars in the not-too-distant future.The characters are the people in the story who drive the plot, are impacted by the plot, or may even be bystanders to the plot. The characters in The Martian include Mark Watney, his shipmates, the people at NASA resolving the issue, and even his parents who are only mentioned in the story but still are impacted by the situation and in turn impact Marks decisions.The conflict is the problem that is being resolved. Plots need a moment of tension, which involves some difficulty that requires resolution. The conflict in The Martian is that Watney needs to figure out how to survive and eventually leave the planets surface.Most important and least explicit is the theme. What is the moral of the story? What does the writer intend the reade r to understand? There are arguably several themes in The Martian: the ability of humans to overcome problems, the stodginess of bureaucrats, the willingness of scientists to overcome political differences, the dangers of space travel, and the power of flexibility as a scientific method. Setting Tone and Mood In addition to structural elements, narratives have several styles that help move the plot along or serve to involve the reader. Writers define space and time in a descriptive narrative, and how they choose to define those characteristics can convey a specific mood or tone. For example, chronological choices can affect the readers impressions. Past events always occur in strict chronological order, but writers can choose to mix that up, show events out of sequence, or the same event several times experienced by different characters or described by different narrators. In Gabriel Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquezs novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the same few hours are experienced in sequence from the viewpoint of several different characters. Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez uses that to illustrate the peculiar almost magical inability of the townspeople to stop a murder they know is going to happen. The choice of a narrator is another way that writers set the tone of a piece. Is the narrator someone who experienced the events as a participant, or one who witnessed the events but wasnt an active participant? Is that narrator an omniscient undefined person who knows everything about the plot including its ending, or is he confused and uncertain about the events underway? Is the narrator a reliable witness or lying to themselves or the reader? In the novel Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, the reader is forced to constantly revise her opinion as to the honesty and guilt of the husband Nick and his missing wife. In Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, the narrator is Humbert Humbert, a pedophile who constantly justifies his actions despite the damage that Nabokov illustrates hes doing. Point of View Establishing a point of view for a narrator allows the writer to filter the events through a particular character. The most common point of view in fiction is the omniscient (all-knowing) narrator who has access to all the thoughts and experiences of each of her characters. Omniscient narrators are almost always written in the third person and do not usually have a role in the storyline. The Harry Potter novels, for example, are all written in third person; that narrator knows everything about everybody but is unknown to us. The other extreme is a story with a first-person point of view in which the narrator is a character within that story, relating events as they see them and with no visibility into other character motivations. Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre is an example of this: Jane relates her experiences of the mysterious Mr. Rochester to us directly, not revealing the full explanation until Reader, I married him. Points of view can also be effectively shifted throughout a piece—in her novel Keys to the Street, Ruth Rendell used limited third-person narratives from the point of view of five different characters, enabling the reader to assemble a coherent whole out of what first appears to be unrelated stories.   Other Strategies Writers also use the grammatical strategies of tense (past, present, future), person (first person, second person, third person), number (singular, plural) and voice (active, passive). Writing in the present tense is unsettling—the narrators have no idea what will happen next—while past tense can build in some foreshadowing. Many recent novels use the present tense, including The Martian. A writer sometimes personalizes the narrator of a story as a specific person for a specific purpose: The narrator can only see and report on what happens to him or her. In Moby Dick, the entire story is told by the narrator Ishmael, who relates the tragedy of the mad Captain Ahab, and is situated as the moral center. E.B. White, writing columns in 1935s New Yorker magazine, often used the plural or editorial we to add a humorous universality and a slow pace to his writing. The barber was cutting our hair, and our eyes were closed—as they are so likely to be... Deep in a world of our own, we heard, from far away, a voice saying goodbye. It was a customer of the shop, leaving. Goodbye, he said to the barbers. Goodbye, echoed the barbers. And without ever returning to consciousness, or opening our eyes, or thinking, we joined in. Goodbye, we said, before we could catch ourselves.—E.B. White Sadness of Parting. In contrast, sportswriter Roger Angell (Whites stepson) epitomizes sports writing, with a quick, active voice, and straight chronological snap: In September 1986, during an unmomentous Giants-Braves game out at Candlestick Park, Bob Brenly, playing third base for San Francisco, made an error on a routine ground ball in the top of the fourth inning. Four batters later, he kicked away another chance and then, scrambling after the ball, threw wildly past home in an attempt to nail a runner there: two errors on the same play. A few moments after that, he managed another boot, thus becoming only the fourth player since the turn of the century to rack up four errors in one inning.—Roger Angell. La Vida.