Practically there? Exploring public relations educators' perceptions of creativity in the curriculum and classroom

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the position of creativity within Australian public relations courses and explore how academics embed what is often identified by industry as a core skill for future and current practitioners.Design/methodology/approachThe study consists of semi-structured interviews with 15 public relations academics to examine their views on the value and delivery of creativity in the public relations curriculum.FindingsThe findings of this exploratory study indicate creativity is addressed implicitly by educators who rely on personal and internalised knowledge rather than the application of a specific theory or body of knowledge pertaining to creativity. In addition, it identifies a series of challenges educators face including students' lack of confidence when required to be creative and a lack of clarity on how to successfully evaluate creativity in assessment tasks.Originality/valueCreativity has been identified as a vital future workplace skill and highlighted as an important capability in global best practice frameworks for public relations professionals. However, the successes and barriers experienced by educators who are responsible for building and evaluating students’ creative abilities have yet to be specifically explored. In response, this study considers educators' perceptions of their practice with regard to this prominent professional attribute and applies this knowledge to argue for theory-led pedagogies, particularly the use of models that emphasise the social nature of creativity, to demystify creativity and enhance students' work readiness as future practitioners.

How to interpret the paediatric 12-lead ECG

ECG interpretation is a core skill for any healthcare practitioner that looks after children. The article aims to educate the reader in basic interpretation of paediatric ECG in a succinct, interactive, organised manner in a way that it can be easily referenced and applied in everyday clinical practice. We include clinical examples as well as age and sex-related reference ranges for QT intervals, P-wave duration, Q-wave amplitude, QRS complex duration, R-wave and S-wave amplitude, R/S ratio and PR intervals.

Critical thinking and non-formal Islamic education: Perspectives from young Muslims in the Netherlands

Critical thinking is a highly valued skill in the twenty-first century, and its incorporation into formal school curricula as a core skill is nearly ubiquitous globally. It is considered imperative for educational quality, employability, competitiveness, and for promoting democratisation and social integration. While schools are tasked to promote critical thinking, non-formal Islamic education (NFIE) provided by mosques or by private organisations or tutors is often criticized for its emphasis on rote learning and memorisation, and for fostering an uncritical acceptance of authority. Based on interviews with 27 young adult alumni from four different Muslim communities in the Netherlands, this study seeks to explore the pedagogy of NFIE, with a focus on critical thinking. The accounts of young adults revealed that an emphasis on stimulating critical thinking was largely absent, and there were limited opportunities for interactions, questions, debating or challenging the authority of religious educators or Islamic texts. The traditional pedagogical approach, discouraging attitudes of educators and peers, lack of language proficiency, the young age of learners, and a perceived lack of need for critical deliberations were identified as key challenges. Young adults called for reforming the pedagogy of NFIE to allow for more reflexive, inquisitive and dialogical learning. Some argued that lack of critical deliberation would lead to weakness in the belief structures and faith of new generation Muslims in Europe, resulting in a sense of confusion and disorientation, and limited embodiment of Islamic principles.

Opioids and the World Health Organization pain ladder

Opioids constitute the most important group of drugs in the management of pain in palliative care. Morphine is still the drug of choice and considered the ‘gold standard’ in opioid prescribing in children. Other opioids have some pharmacological differences that may confer some advantages (and disadvantages) in specific types of pain or particular clinical scenarios. Opioid prescription must follow World Health Organization (WHO) approach to pain management principles. Understanding the rationale behind these principles improves the achievement of an individualized prescription to ease the pain of a particular patient. Opioid initiation, titration, breakthrough pain handling, and opioid substitution are essential aspects of opioid management. Their knowledge constitutes a core skill in paediatric palliative pain medicine.

Human capital depreciation and job tasks

This research aims to investigate the link between human capital depreciation and job tasks, with an emphasis on potential differences between education levels. We estimate an extended Mincer equation based on Neumann and Weiss’s (1995) model using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. The results show that human capital gained from higher education levels depreciates at a faster rate than other human capital. Moreover, the productivity-enhancing value of education diminishes faster in jobs with a high share of non-routine analytical, non-routine manual, and routine cognitive tasks. These jobs are characterized by more frequent changes in core-skill or technology-skill requirements. The key implication of this research is that education should focus on equipping workers with more general skills in all education levels. With ongoing technological advances, work environments, and with it, skill demands will change, increasing the importance to provide educational and lifelong learning policies to counteract the depreciation of skills. The study contributes by incorporating a task perspective based on the classification used in works on job polarization. This allows a comparison with studies on job obsolescence due to labor-replacing technologies and enables combined education and labor market policies to address the challenges imposed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

A current guide to airway management in prehospital patient care

A patent airway linking the nose and mouth with the lungs is essential to life. In emergency care, individuals may experience airway difficulties for many reasons including major trauma, airway inflammation and altered consciousness. Airway management is therefore a core skill for paramedics and other practitioners working in prehospital care. This article reviews the anatomy and physiology of the airway before moving on to consider causes of airway obstruction. A look-listen-feel approach to airway assessment is described, followed by a discussion of techniques used to clear, open and maintain the airway. Commonly used airway devices including oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and supraglottic airways are evaluated, and their indications and insertion techniques discussed. The use of endotracheal intubation by paramedics is also evaluated.

A guide to airway management

A patent airway linking the nose and mouth with the lungs is essential to life. Critically ill people often experience airway difficulties for reasons including alterations in consciousness, the use of sedating medications, and inflammatory changes within the airway. Airway management is therefore a core skill for any clinician caring for critically ill people. This article briefly reviews the anatomy and physiology of the airway before moving on to consider causes of airway obstruction. A look-listen-feel approach to airway assessment is described, followed by a discussion of techniques used to clear, open and maintain the airway. Commonly used airway devices including oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal and supraglottic airways are evaluated, and their indications and insertion techniques discussed. The role of the endotracheal tube in the critically ill person is also considered.

Allergy

Paediatric allergy and atopic diseases generate significant anxiety and considerable morbidity in the child population. Both conditions are common and increasing in prevalence, while the rare deaths in this field often attract high publicity. In a rapidly changing field where terminology is often misused, a good knowledge of basic paediatric allergy can be considered a core skill for any health care professional working regularly with children.