Myra Levine Nursing Theory Essay Example

Myra Levine Nursing Theory Paper How a nurse is defined can be very influential to their performance on a daily basis. The exact definition of the work a nurse does can shed a new light into a profession that many find noble and humbling. Myra Levine has a unique outlook on the world of nursing care that many would find confusing. The application of her theory has been attempted by nurses in several differ types of work such as wound management described by Leach (1999). This paper will show the nursing theorist along with her work of the conservation model to depict healthcare. Myra Levine completed her conservation model in 1973 in an attempt to teach associate degree students a new approach for daily nursing activities. The 1970’s was an era in which the nursing profession was fighting many battles on the socio-economic front. The dominant race and gender of nursing was white females, which meant the salaries were far under in male profession. The American Nurses Association, ANA, was fighting for equal pay for the services nurses were providing as compared to other professions. Nurses were also expanding roles such as advanced practice nurses, including certified registered nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialist. These advanced roles provided the profession with more autonomy and expanded responsibilities (American Nurses Association, 1996). Another fight in the nursing world at this time was related to the shortage of registered nurses. The healthcare systems of the time were implementing â€Å"team nursing,† which the registered nurse was overseeing licensed practical nurses and nursing assistants in the team. We will write a custom essay sample on Myra Levine Nursing Theory specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Myra Levine Nursing Theory specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Myra Levine Nursing Theory specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This team cared for more patients than one registered nurse could take care of by their self. Myra Levine attempted to bring the registered nurse back to the bedside of patients. In her theory she was very clear that the patient needed nursing care because they were no longer able to adapt on their own. Levine saw health and well-being as the goal of nursing. These goals could only be obtained with the registered nurse performing their tasks at the bedside of the patient (Parker, 1990). The theorist developed the view that the nurse was there to protect the patient from external challenges while teaching the patient the proper methods for facing these challenges in their outside world. The conservation model consists of three major concepts; conservation; adaptation; and wholeness. Simply stated, conservation is the keeping together of the life systems. Nurses at this point of time understood the fact that each individual was a sum of life systems, including examples such as the gastrointestinal, circulatory, and respiratory systems. The individual patient was charged with keeping the internal life systems in an energy balance with the external challenges that they must face on a daily basis. Failure to adapt to external threats placed the energy of the internal systems at a disadvantage compared to the external energy fields of the environment, the results is the patient seeking nursing care to help adapt to the challenges (Marriner-Tomey Alligood, 1998). The second major concept of the conservation model is adaptation, the ongoing process of change whereby individuals retain their integrity within the realities of their environment. Adaptation is firmly grounded in three concepts of its own; history; specificity; and redundancy (Parker, 1990). Patients learn quickly in life to adapt to external challenges. These early challenges provide a framework for the patient’s adaptation process which they continue to use when facing new challenges. If an individual has always used the fight or flight process of adaptation to face challenges in the past they will continue to use this adaptation process to face future challenges until it fails. Each patient has their own unique response to facing new challenges, this is termed specificity. This unique response is in part due to the patient’s genetics, social upbringing, cultural beliefs, and other unique influences from the individuals rearing. Levine developed the concept of redundancy to explain what happens when a patient fails to adapt to the external threats. Levine explains that redundancy is the fail-safe measure which ensures adaptation to the external threat thereby preserving the internal energy level (1999). When a patient’s initial unique response to the external threat fails to keep energy levels inside competitive with external energy levels, the patient’s internal life systems must provide the proper adaptation. Levine attributes this response to the anatomical, physiological, and psychological systems within the individual. The final concept found in Levine’s conservation model is wholeness. Wholeness of the patient exists when the patient interacts appropriately with the environment to insure proper levels of energy inside and outside their body. Wholeness permits the assurance of integrity, which in turn can be termed the goal of nursing (Parker, 1990). Nurses pursue patient wholeness on a daily basis by educating the patient of specific methods to deal with external threats. Levine taught her associate degree students to view each patient case as having four separate entities. The first part of each case was the center piece of the puzzle, the individual patient. Each patient must be viewed as an individual within their home group; this group could be a number of different societal or cultural groups. The individual’s title or position held within these groups is a vital part of the individual, therefore the nurse must respect the patient’s autonomy, ego, and self-determining decision making abilities. The second entity to each case study involves the nurse. Nurses are to provide patients with the needed information, nurturing, and protection to pull the patient through the current struggle. Education was a major focus of the nurse’s duty to the patient. Before exiting the healthcare setting, the patient must be equipped with the proper information to face new challenges from the external environment; otherwise they will continue to use adaptive process that will fail to meet the challenges. Courcey (n. d. explained that positive energy from the nurse provides each patient the opportunity to absorb extra energy into their internal environment and thereby overcome the challenge quicker. Levine’s model fails to mention the effects that this has on the nurse as an individual. The third entity in every case study is the goal of nursing, the health of the patient. Levine defines health as the unity and integrity of the individual. When applying this model of nursing theory to ostomy patients, Levine asks each patient the question â€Å"Do you continue to function in a easonably normal fashion? † (Leach, 1999) A positive answer to this question affirms the patient as healthy in the eyes of the theorist. Levine adopted Bates’ three levels of environment to her conservation model (Marriner-Tomey Alligood, 1998). The first level of environment is the perceptual environment. This environment consists of external challenges that the patient faces which they are able to intercept through their senses. The second level of environment consists of challenges to which the patient cannot sense. Bates termed the second level of environment as the operational environment; Levine strongly stated that these threats could damage the internal environment just as much as perceptual threats. The final level of environment is the conceptual environment. A patient’s values and belief systems make up the conceptual environment. The theorist has defined health as unity and integrity of the individual. The integrity that she is referring to is the structural, personal, and social integrity of the patient. Unity in this definition is the unity between the energy fields of the outside environment and then internal life systems that make up the individual (Marriner-Tomey Alligood, 1998). Levine depicted external threats as challenges which drained an individual’s stored internal energy. When a challenge arises the patient must adapt to the challenge to preserve this internal energy. Along with preserving internal energy, the patient must protect their integrities. The first integrity they must protect is the structural integrity of the internal life systems. The defense systems of the internal environment must be intact to respond appropriately to the new challenge. Internal structural defense systems include the life systems that support healing and repair of the individual’s internal energy force. The immune system provides the patient with the needed repairs when facing new challenges and therefore is the prime example of structural integrity. Personal integrity is the term used to denote the patient’s ego. Levine stated that persons strive for recognition, respect, self-awareness, holiness, independence, freedom, selfhood, and self-determination. External challenges, such as disease processes or catastrophes, pose a threat to the patient’s ego, or personal integrity. Adaptation processes must preserve the personal integrity of the individual to prevent low self-esteem. Therefore, nurses must be aware of the patient’s egotistic behaviors and help build self-esteem by educating patients on proper adaptation behaviors that can be practiced by the individual. Social integrity is used to denote the individual’s social status as it relates to the culture and society which they normally function on a daily basis. Failure to adapt and preserve internal energy is detrimental to a patient’s health from an anatomical and physiological stand point. This loss of energy ends in the patient becoming ill and needing nursing care. Society does not always view its members as capable of functioning through illness. Levine’s conservation model lead to the development of three separate but integrated theories of practice, the theory of conservation, the theory of therapeutic intention, and the theory of redundancy (Parker,1990). The theory of conservation, as discussed earlier in this paper, is the balance of energy in the patient’s internal and external environments. Nursing care attempts to rebalance this energy after the individual fails to adapt to the external challenge. The theory of therapeutic intention discusses the nurse’s role in the healing process. â€Å"Nurses do no harm to patients† (Potter Perry, 2003). This statement is accepted worldwide and integrated into Levine’s conservation model through the theory of therapeutic intention. Nursing care provides the patient with positive influences to restore the individual to an optimal level of health. Nursing care should not be detrimental to the patient in any aspect (Courcey, n. d. ). The theory of redundancy is the patient’s fail-safe mode in which their internal anatomical, physiological, and psychological systems take over after a failed adaptation process. Levine’s conservation model can be applied in several fields of healthcare. When looking at the plan of care for almost any individual patient we can see the separate parts of Levine’s theories in action. The first step of he nursing process is assessment. Nurses assess and identify the threats posed at the patient’s internal energy source from the outside environment. Nursing care also identifies the damage done to the patient’s structural, personal, and social integrities. After properly assessing and identifying the needs of the patient we can use nursing diagnoses to set the plan of care for each individual patient. The plan of care should contain measurable, realistic, and obtainable goals for the patient as it relates to their well-being and energy levels(Parker, 1990). Nursing interventions are then formulated to carry out the plan of care. Levine’s theory of therapeutic intention is carried out by these interventions as well as the nurse’s duty to preserve the patient’s integrities (Ours, Bositis, Hall, Mock, 2005). Energy conservation is the goal of nursing interventions and will conclude in the patient functioning at an optimal level within their society. Education is also a key point found in Levine’s model (Marriner-Tomey Alligood, 1998). Levine stresses the importance of educating the patient on appropriate adaptation processes to help reduce the number of repeat customers in the healthcare system. Organismic response is Levine’s term for the evaluation step of the nursing process. In every patient case the nurse must evaluate the interventions, goals, and outcomes to determine if proper adaptation skills have been taught, energy levels have been restored to functioning capabilities, and patient integrities are indeed preserved. The nursing process is repeated if the organismic response is inappropriate or has failed to restore the patient’s unity and integrities. The researcher chose this theorist to broaden his knowledge base of nursing theorists. Levine’s conservation model has been applied in several differ healthcare fields and therefore posed as a great learning experience. The researcher has found very little similarities in Levine’s model and his own nursing work. The model of conservation deals with energy fields, which no scientific research can find, but the theorist views as cause for illness. Research into the application of Levine’s theory confirms that it is simply a spin-off of the nursing process. While its theories are interesting to the science fiction reader, its scientific basis is far from reality. Levine poses several new vocabulary words to terms used in the everyday work of nursing care. These terms would seem to disinterest and discourage new nursing students from embracing the ideas of the theorist. Nurses already in the field would likely also find the theorist’s model on the outskirts of reality after enduring stern education regarding the human body’s anatomy and physiology. The theory of social, structural, and personal integrities is a concept that the researcher could identify in his own personal practice and therefore could relate to in a practical setting. Overall Levine’s conservation model is tainted by the conservation of energy theory she poses as the overall key to a patient’s health status. References: American Nurse Association (1996). Nurses: Patient advocates in a developing health care industry. Retrieved October 1, 2006, from http://www. ana. org/centenn/ cent1970. htm Courcey, K. (n. d. ). Further notes on therapeutic touch. Retrieved October 10, 2006, from http://www. quackwatch. org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/tt2. html Leach, M. (1999). Wound management: Using Levine’s conservation model. University of South Australia. Levine, M. (1999). On the humanities in nursing. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 30(4), 213-217. Marriner-Tomey, A. Alligood, M. R. (1998). Nursing theorists and their work (4th ed. ). St Louis, MO: Mosby. Ours, C. S. , Bositis, A. , Hall, S. , Mock, V. (2005). Using the Levine conservation model to guide an intervention trial of exercise to mitigate cancer treatment-related fatigue. Baltimore, MD: Oncology Nursing Society. Parker, M. (1990). Nursing theories in practice. New York. NY: National League for Nursing. Potter, P. Perry, A. G. (2003). Basic nursing: Essentials for practice (5th ed. ). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

Free Essays on Tupac Shakur

Is Tupac Truly dead? Or is it an escape from the media and life as a gangster? Tupac Shakur is the most known rapier in the world. His rhymes did play a big part in him becoming famous, but the controversy of his death is what has made him so well known across the world. He is to hip-hop as Elvis is to rock & roll. Both of there fans still believe there alive and try to prove it all the time. Are there really secret messages in Tupac’s lyrics, was his death planed out or was it all a tragic incident taking one of the music industries top performers. Tupac Shakur signed to death row records in the late 80’s. He had released 7 albums and was releasing his 8th on September 16 1996. He was found sleeping with fellow rapier Biggies wife in early 1996 which caused a massive feud between the east coast and west cost hip hop industries. Mid 1996 Tupac during an interview said he wanted to get out of the spot light and gangster life for good. Tupac Shakur had front row seats to the Mike Tyson fight Saturday September 6 1996 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight lasted for roughly 123sec.Tupac was one of the last people to leave the fight. When he got to the parking garage he was shot 5 times, and unfortunately this was the 1 night he didn’t have on his bulletproof vest. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where the press wasn’t allowed. He lived the 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th and died the 13th. During those 7 days there was never a picture taken of him in the hospital. His official time of death was 4:03 pm, causing many people to unite and mourn the loss of him. Tupac had raped about being buried but was scheduled to be cremated Sept 14th only a day after his death. The press was told it would be a private funeral for immediate family only, but later that day the funeral was canceled leaving Afeni Shakur the only person to see him dead. The 16th his new album was released called the 7 day theory. The cover featured Tupac crucifi... Free Essays on Tupac Shakur Free Essays on Tupac Shakur Is Tupac Truly dead? Or is it an escape from the media and life as a gangster? Tupac Shakur is the most known rapier in the world. His rhymes did play a big part in him becoming famous, but the controversy of his death is what has made him so well known across the world. He is to hip-hop as Elvis is to rock & roll. Both of there fans still believe there alive and try to prove it all the time. Are there really secret messages in Tupac’s lyrics, was his death planed out or was it all a tragic incident taking one of the music industries top performers. Tupac Shakur signed to death row records in the late 80’s. He had released 7 albums and was releasing his 8th on September 16 1996. He was found sleeping with fellow rapier Biggies wife in early 1996 which caused a massive feud between the east coast and west cost hip hop industries. Mid 1996 Tupac during an interview said he wanted to get out of the spot light and gangster life for good. Tupac Shakur had front row seats to the Mike Tyson fight Saturday September 6 1996 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight lasted for roughly 123sec.Tupac was one of the last people to leave the fight. When he got to the parking garage he was shot 5 times, and unfortunately this was the 1 night he didn’t have on his bulletproof vest. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where the press wasn’t allowed. He lived the 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th and died the 13th. During those 7 days there was never a picture taken of him in the hospital. His official time of death was 4:03 pm, causing many people to unite and mourn the loss of him. Tupac had raped about being buried but was scheduled to be cremated Sept 14th only a day after his death. The press was told it would be a private funeral for immediate family only, but later that day the funeral was canceled leaving Afeni Shakur the only person to see him dead. The 16th his new album was released called the 7 day theory. The cover featured Tupac crucifi... Free Essays on Tupac Shakur Tupac Shakur (2Pac) Tupac Shakur was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1971. Early in his life, he moved to Baltimore, ND, where he attended The Baltimore School, Tupac led a lasting impression on his teachers and was showing tremendous potential. Unfortunately, Tupac was unable to continue his training. He moved to Oakland, California with the rest of his family. That’s when Tupac began hanging with the wrong crowd. Tupac later got into the rap and acting business, he was dedicated to both rap/hiphop and acting. Tupac was very real, whatever was on his mind he said it in his lyrics. Not held back by his lack of formal education, Tupac joined the Rap group Digital Underground as a dancer. Not long before the group achieved award-winning success, Tupac released his own album â€Å"2pacalypse now†, which was also a success. The hit single â€Å"Brenda’s Got A Baby† launched Tupac’s career like a rocket. His stunning talent also hot him a role in the motion picture â€Å"Juiceâ₠¬ . Tupac eventually released a second album â€Å"Strictly for my Niggaz,† which was an even bigger success. The highlight of Tupac’s acting career came when he appeared in â€Å"Poetic Juice† besides Janet Jackson. The role Jackson 2 made Tupac a household name and showed the world that music may not be Tupac’s number one thing. In the midst of a role in the movie â€Å"Above the Rim† and a Platinum album â€Å"Me against the world,† Tupac’s rising career was snagged. A woman he met at a nightclub brought him up on sexual assault charges. Hours before Tupac would be found guilty, men whose intent and purpose is still uncertain robbed Tupac at gunpoint. Tupac was eventually released at over $1 Million in bail. After his release, Tupac answered his critics by releasing his best album, â€Å"All eyes on me.† â€Å"All eyes on me† has currently sold around 6 Million copies, which is revolutionary for a double cd. Especially in Hip Hop music. As the album climbed the charts, ...

Political Economy of Race, Class and Gender Research Paper

Political Economy of Race, Class and Gender - Research Paper Example An increase in population still kept African-Americans and the whites in separate neighborhoods. These separate neighborhoods deprived African-Americans of receiving quality education and competing with the whites in the labor market. Segregation also created a feeling of hostility between the two communities who still fail to interact and comprehend the behavior of each other. This research paper will investigate the ways in which segregation among different communities, namely African American and the whites, creates inequality in the labor market. For this reason, this paper will examine three very important elements to understand why the problem of income disparity exists in one of the largest metropolitan cities of the USA. The three important elements identified by research are demographics, education and unemployment. Demographics play a critical role in understanding the labor market of Chicago. Chicago is one of the densely populated cities of the US with  a population of over 2.5 million people out of which about 32% are African Americans while 45% are white (Reich 17). However, Chicago is highly segregated. The major ethnic groups like to live among themselves in what they call their neighborhood. Jobs are highly dependent upon the neighborhood where people live. In order to understand the labor market of Chicago, it is critical to look at some of the details in history. The Second World War gave opportunity for the masses to work in factories as the US prepared for war. The Chicago Defender broke the news to African-Americans living in the South that there were plenty of jobs in the city of Chicago and ensured African-Americans would live a much happier life there (Ellen 261-277). It worked for most private firms, who were looking for cheap labor and also for Africans American, who found it difficult to find jobs at that time. There were nearly 3,000 African Americans

Supply and demand, why demand is better Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Supply and demand, why demand is better - Article Example One of the two factors in economics is dependent on the other and therefore the independent factor is the most important in economics. According Blaug, supply depends on demand in the market. The article is titled, Economic Theory in Retrospect and was published by the Cambridge University Press. The article is authored in English as the original language of the author and the target group. The major subjects covered in the article are economics and history within the concepts and discipline of economics. The economic history contained in the book is linked to the fathers of economic and the concepts they applied to explain economic. This book covers the historical situation and concepts economics and the current thoughts including the relationship between demand and supply. The author outlines the equations of demand and supply curves and it is from this point that the reliance of supply on demand in the economical perspectives reveals the significance of demand over supply. The impact of demand on the central factor of both demand and supply that is the price implies a course of effect on supply. The author argues that the increase in the demand of a given product at a given price increases the motive to supply the customers with the commodities demanded. When demand increases the prices in the market increases too prompting the need to meet the demand that is desired in the market and the producers are forced to increase the supply. Supply in market is linked to the possibility and surety that the market will be able to buy the products. Higher prices caused by increase in the demand in the market inspire the producers to increase the supply into the market. Higher prices indicate the times when the producers are targeting the market and this is the time they increase the supply into the market. This therefore reveals that demand is independent of supply while supply

The global shift against the death penalty Essay

The global shift against the death penalty - Essay Example by saying that the death penalties are not the trade mark of the civilized nations and should be eliminated from the laws as it is an abuse to the human rights. And no crimes will come to end by putting any person’s life to end even after committing any dreadful crime. United States is the one that break human rights itself. Though the government speaks a lot in the favor of saving human kind and ensures their protection in their course of communication with the foreign world yet it reveals concerns regarding violations of human rights in many country e.g Cuba, Iran, Afghanistan China. So its biasness towards this law is not likely to do so in near future. Q3. A number of U.S. states have suspended or abolished in practice the use of the death penalty in recent years due to cases of errors in its application. Should this situation be a factor in determining whether the death penalty should be continued? No, it does not guarantee that U.S will end the death penalty because American states will never be the follower of this abolishing of capital punishment. The suspension of states in following of this rule has a reason behind it as according to them penalty of life taking is now remained with the act of murder (in which the criminal had taken the life of the other one). Because in other crimes e.g rape the victim does not die and so criminal is not hanged till death. Q4. How do you explain the fact that the U.S. is one of the few nations in the world that actively employs the death penalty, and that the other nations are largely those with which the U.S. shares very little in common (i.e., few are U.S. allies or developed countries)? As discussed earlier, the U.S does speak of human rights and constitutional rights, but its acts are the evidence of insult of human rights themselves. The government considers the death penalty as not that much unpleasant and cruel act. Though they have reduce death penalties against the crimes of robbery rape etc to just one

The Ipswich Womens Centre Against Domestic Violence Social Work Essay

The Ipswich Womens Centre Against Domestic Violence Social Work Essay The Ipswich Womens Centre Against Domestic Violence (IWCADV) is a feminist community based organisation committed to working towards the elimination of domestic and family violence throughout the community. The primary focus of IWCADV is to provide support to women and children survivors of domestic and family violence. This includes telephone information, referral and support services, court support for women, counselling services, group work and childrens work. During my placement experience as a womens counsellor at IWCADV I first spent a few weeks developing my understanding of the issues involved in domestic violence and the systems that are in place to support women and children who are survivors of domestic and family violence. My knowledge of the issues affecting women and children experiencing domestic and family violence includes an understanding of the emotional impacts of abuse (such as feelings of grief and loss, anger, guilt, depression, trauma), the loss of personal and physical security, safety concerns, the financial costs, family law and other legal issues, and power and control imbalances in relationships. I have developed my knowledge of the issues affecting women and children experiencing domestic and family violence in my university studies and my work experience. The understanding that I gained from my University studies was enhanced during my student placement at the Ipswich Womens Centre Against Domestic Violence. It was here that I developed my understanding of feminist perspectives on domestic and family violence, including the individual, familial, legal and social issues. In this role I was able to develop my understanding of feminist informed practises and techniques. I support this framework for practice as it can empower women and help them find their voice, encouraging women who have experienced the loss of control to make choices about their own life and to take responsibility for their life choices and to take back control. I worked from within a feminist framework to empower the client to find her voice and to discover her worth and make her own choices. In my role as a student counsellor at IWCADV I provided crisis support and advocacy work to women who have experienced domestic and family violence. During the beginning counselling sessions, I found it was quite difficult to always follow the story and set direction for the counselling. I took a strengths based narrative approach and usually after 2 -3 sessions a clearer picture had developed of the clients experience with domestic violence, and this continued to unfold throughout the counselling sessions. One of the most personally rewarding aspects of my counselling experience was the opportunity to explore and experience symbol and sand tray therapy. I spent some time reading Sandplay and Symbol Work Emotional healing and personal development with children, adolescents and adults by Mark Pearson and Helen Wilson to prepare for my personal experience with symbols and sand tray therapy during my professional supervision sessions. I then had the opportunity to introduce one of my counselling clients to the sand tray. Whilst I did have feelings of uncertainty about my ability to facilitate the process, I did feel comfortable enough with the setting and with my client to create a safe place for self-discovery and self-awareness. She was very open to the process and we both found this to be an enjoyable and meaningful experience. My client reported that this was a very positive experience for her and allowed her to process some of her experiences with domestic violence and that it was a breakthrough for her in terms of learning to accept and value herself. I felt that it was an honour to share this part of my clients journey. With another client who was directed by the Department of Child Safety to attend counselling, setting the direction for each session was more difficult. I did not believe that this woman was ready to explore some of the emotional issues related to the trauma that she had experienced as a result of long term domestic violence. I was encouraged by her regular attendance and I believe that this was a result of my increasing ability to develop rapport. I was able to develop good rapport with my clients by being non-judgemental, using open ended questions and appropriate body language. I believe that my skill in developing rapport is reflected by the feedback and regular attendance to counselling sessions by my clients. I did struggle with ending the sessions on time and frequently found that sessions with some clients were running over 1.5 hours long. I spoke with some of the other workers at the service about this and they agreed that it could be difficult especially when women are exploring very painful issues and that it was important to be sensitive but direct when closing a counselling session. The group supervision times that I was included in at IWCADV were also very rewarding and inspiring times for me. The other workers at the service were all very passionate women with a strong commitment to empowering women and changing community attitudes about violence towards women. During group supervision there was opportunity and support for workers to reflect on their own feelings of despair and helplessness, and there was encouragement to extend and share your knowledge and understanding of the issues relating to domestic and family violence. The group times were also very rewarding team building occasions and there is a strong commitment at the service to supporting one another. For example, I found that after long phone calls or after a counselling session, another worker would check-in with me to provide any support and to answer any questions that I had.

Why Software Systems Fail Essay -- Software Systems Computers Technolo

Why Software Systems Fail 1.0 IntroductionIn this report I will be concentrating on the failure of software systems. To understand why software systems fail we need to understand what are software systems. Software systems are a type of information system. This is because a software system is basically a means for hardware to process information. Flynn’s definition of an information system is:"An information system provides procedures to record and make available information, concerning part of an organization, to assist organization-related activities."Humans have been processing information manually for thousands of years, but with the vast increase of demand for knowledge this century has meant that a new method of information processing has been needed. Software systems have provided a new means that is much faster and efficient. As a result a huge number of organisations have become software dependent. Some of these systems are used to safeguard the lives of many people. This means that if these systems were to fail they could lead to devastating consequences. Here are some examples of where software systems are used heavily and could be very dangerous if they were to fail - aviation, hospitals, space exploration, nuclear power stations and communications. I will be looking at some examples of actual software failure in these fields to explain the reasons why systems fail.2.0 Reasons for Systems FailureIf software systems failure can be so dangerous why can they not be completely eliminated? According to Parnas, "The main reason is that software can never be guaranteed to be 100% reliable. Software systems are discrete-state systems that do not have repetitive structures. The mathematical functions that describe the behaviour of software systems are not continuous, and traditional engineering mathematics do not help in their verification." In other words some software can be so large that thorough testing can be almost impossible and so bugs in the software can go unnoticed. An example of this was when an Atlas-Agena rocket veered off-course when it was ninety miles up. Ground control had to destroy the $18.5 rocket. The reasons for this - a missing hyphen. However there are many more reasons for software systems failure, and most of them are due to human negligence that leads to software failure. There are two types of software systems... ...e held responsible for the actions of the organisation. 4.0 Bibliography Flynn, Donal J.; "Information Systems Requirements: Determination and Analysis"; McGraw-Hill Book Company; 1992Parnas; 1985; taken from: Sherer, Susan A.; "Software Failure Risk – Measurement and Management"; Plenum Press; 1992Jones, Carpers; "Patterns of Software Systems Failure and Success"; Thomson computer press; 1996Neumann, Peter G.; "Computer Related Risks"; Addison-Wesley publishing company; 1995Petroski, Henry; "To Engineer is Human"; MacMillan Publishing; 1985Flowers, Stephen; "Software failure: management failure"; Chichester: John Wiley and Sons; 1996.Report of the Inquiry into the London Ambulance Service; February 1993. Simpson, Moira (1994); "999!: My computers stopped breathing !"; The Computer Law and Security Report, 10; March – April; pp 76-81Dr. Dobbs Journal; January 1997 edition<a href="http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks">http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks<a href="http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk ">http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk <a href="http://www.bbc. co.uk/news">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/sections/travel">http://abcnews.go.com/sections/travel