Why so few nurses are men

      Ask health professionals in any country what the biggest problem in their health-care system is and one of the most common answers is the shortage of nurses. In ageing rich countries, demand for nursing care is becoming increasingly insatiable. Britain’s National Health Service, for example, has 40,000-odd nurse vacancies. Poor countries struggle with the emigration of nurses for greener pastures. One obvious solution seems neglected: recruit more men. Typically, just 5-10% of nurses registered in a given country are men. Why so few?

      Views of nursing as a “woman’s job” have deep roots. Florence Nightingale, who established the principles of modern nursing in the 1860s, insisted that men’s “hard and horny” hands were “not fitted to touch, bathe and dress wounded limbs”. In Britain the Royal College of Nursing, the profession’s union, did not even admit men as members until 1960. Some nursing schools in America started admitting men only in 1982, after a Supreme Court ruling forced them to. Senior nurse titles such as “sister” (a ward manager) and “matron” (which in some countries is used for men as well) do not help matters. Unsurprisingly, some older people do not even know that men can be nurses too. Male nurses often encounter patients who assume they are doctors.

      Another problem is that beliefs about what a nursing job entails are often outdated – in ways that may be particularly off-putting for men. In films, nurses are commonly portrayed as the helpers of heroic male doctors. In fact, nurses do most of their work independently and are the first responders to patients in crisis. To dispel myths, nurse-recruitment campaigns display nursing as a professional job with career progression, specialisms like anaesthetics, cardiology or emergency care, and use for skills related to technology, innovation and leadership. However, attracting men without playing to gender stereotypes can be tricky. “Are you man enough to be a nurse?”, the slogan of an American campaign, was involved in controversy.

      Nursing is not a career many boys aspire to, or are encouraged to consider. Only two-fifths of British parents say they would be proud if their son became a nurse. Because of all this, men who go into nursing are usually already closely familiar with the job. Some are following in the career footsteps of their mothers. Others decide that the job would suit them after they see a male nurse care for a relative or they themselves get care from a male nurse when hospitalised. Although many gender stereotypes about jobs and caring have crumbled, nursing has, so far, remained unaffected.

                                              (www.economist.com, 22.08.2018. Adaptado.)

TEXTO 01

         CAN TECH DELIVER A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR PLANET EARTH?

Sustainability means many things to many people, but it boils down to this: saving Planet Earth.

      Mankind1 , as a species, has been too successful for its own good – the global population is estimate to top nine billion by 2050, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

      As a result, there is already a strain2 on the planet’s essential natural resources, particularly food and water, which population growth can only aggravate.

      Meanwhile, our demand for energy has directed to the plundering3 of the earth’s hydrocarbons oil, gas and coal, producing a catastrophic climate change. In a month-long series of features on the theme of sustainability, Technology of Business will be examining the main challenges facing businesses and asking whether technology – which got us into this mess in the first place – can help get us out.

      Global megatrends are affecting the business environment

      Most companies are already being affected by climate change today, directly or indirectly, says *CDP, a global not-for-profit organization specializing in measuring business environmental impact.

       Extreme weather, drought and flooding can disrupt production capacity and affect supply chains for a whole range of businesses. For example, in a CDP survey of 70 European companies, 83% said they had operations in “water-stressed” regions, while 73% said water shortages posed risks to their own operations or those of their suppliers.

      Considering an increasingly globalised economy, few businesses can isolate themselves from the impacts of climate change, population growth and resource reduction, says Emma Price-Thomas, head of sustainability strategy at charity Business in the Community.

      “The world is changing very fast. Global megatrends are markedly affecting the business environment. If companies don’t address these and think longer-term, they may end up putting themselves out of business,” she argues.

      A lot of technology and research is being directed towards reducing water usage an industrial processes and designing products that need less water to work, she says.

*CDP - Carbon Disclosure Project é uma organização que opera o sistema global de divulgação para que investidores, gerenciem seus impactos ambientais

Fonte: WALL, Matthew, BBC NEWS, 2 May 2014. Disponível em: http://www.bbc.com/news/business27208569. Adaptado. Acesso em: 6 abr. 2018.

1 ManKind: Humanidade

2 Strain:Tensão

3 Plundering: Pilhagem

Read the text below.

Opportunity Cost

This phenomenon goes by the name of ‘opportunity cost,’ since by not investing in more equipment and a more rigid production flow, the company is forgoing the opportunity to earn increased profits. These costs are every bite as real as the payment of dollars out-of-pocket.

This notion _______ opportunity cost can be reinforced _________ a famous saying ______ Benjamin Franklin, no slouch himself _________ operations management. To make the point, however, we must make a brief excursion into logic. One truth of logic is the validity of the so-called contrapositive, which says simply that if the statement “If A, then B” is true, then it is also true that “If not B, then not A.” That is, of every time A occurs B follows, then we can be sure that if B does not occur, then A did not occur as well. Enough logic then, and back to Ben Franklin.

One of his Poor Richard sayings is that “A penny saved is a penny earned.” We have all recognized the truth of that since childhood, but I assert that by this saying Ben showed us he knows everything about opportunity cost. After all, what is the contrapositive of “A penny not earned is a penny not saved (i.e., a penny sent). All we are saying by this notion of opportunity cost is that “a penny not earned (an opportunity forgone) is a penny spent.” We shall often have occasion to consider opportunity costs, in analyzing and deciding various operations issues.

SCHMENNER, Roger W. Production/Operations Management. 5th Edition. Prentice-Hall, 1993.

TEXT 1

Fruit Juice, in Moderation, Not Tied to Obesity in Children

…………………….experts believe that drinking fruit juice may lead to obesity in children, but a new review has found that juice in moderation does not cause excess weight gain in children under 18.

Researchers pooled data……………… eight prospective observational studies of the association between regular 100 percent fruit juice consumption and weight gain. The analysis, published in Pediatrics, includes 34,470 boys and girls under 18.

The studies used something called the B.M.I. z score, …………………….statistically adjusts body mass index according to age. Changes in these scores of 0.25 to 0.50 are generally considered to put the child at risk for obesity.

After controlling for total energy intake, birth weight, ethnicity and other factors, a 6- to 8-ounce daily serving of 100 percent fruit juice was associated with a 0.087 unit average increase in B.M.I. z score in children 1 to 6 — equivalent to about 0.3 pounds. In those 7 to 18, there was no link ……………….. all between drinking fruit juice and weight gain.

The lead author, Dr. Brandon J. Auerbach, an acting instructor in medicine at the University of Washington, said that based ……………………. the current evidence, “consuming one daily serving of fruit juice is not associated with weight gain in children. So fruit juice in moderation, not more than a serving a day, is safe.”

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR. Avaiable at: www.nytimes.com/section/health. (accessed on March 27th, 2017)

Answer the question, according to Text 1

      It is essential to promote social inclusion by providing spaces for people of all socio-economic backgrounds to use and enjoy. Quality public spaces such as libraries and parks can supplement housing as study and recreational spaces for the urban poor.

      There is a need to ensure that there is an equitable distribution of public spaces within cities. Through the provision of quality public spaces in cities can reduce the economic and social segregation that is prevalent in many developed and developing cities. By ensuring the distribution, coverage and quality of public spaces, it is possible to directly influence the dynamics of urban density, to combine uses and to promote the social mixture of cities’ inhabitants.

      Rights and duties of all the public space stakeholders should be clearly defined. Public spaces are public assets as a public space is by definition a place where all citizens are legitimate to be and discrimination should be tackled there. Public space has the capacity to gather people and break down social barriers. Protecting the inclusiveness of public space is a key prerequisite for the right to the city and an important asset to foster tolerance, conviviality and dialogue.

      Public spaces in slums are only used to enable people to move. There is a lack of public space both in quantity and quality, leading to high residential density, high crime rates, lack of public facilities such as toilets or water, difficulties to practice outdoor sports and other recreational activities among others.

                                                                                                    (www.learning.uclg.org)

Disponível em: < http://www.sumauma.net/amazonian/legends/ legends-pirarucu.html> CELEMENT, Rosa. Acesso em: 31 jul. 16 (Adaptado).

Text 2

Rio Olympics 2016: Opening Ceremony celebrates Brazil to open games.

The 2016 Olympics have been formally opened ………………… a colourful and pulsating ceremony at Rio's Maracana stadium.

Broadcast to an estimated audience of three billion, it celebrated Brazil's history, culture and natural beauty, before former marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima lit the Olympic cauldron.

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray led the Great Britain team into the arena.

The build-up to Rio 2016 has been played ……………. against a deep recession and political protests in Brazil.

The Games, the first to be held in South America, have also been disrupted by concerns ……….. the Russian doping scandal, the Zika virus and problems with the city's security, infrastructure and venues.

But organisers will hope the focus can now shift to the action ……….. 28 sports, with 207 teams, after the Games of the 31st Olympiad were officially opened.

The cauldron was lit …………… De Lima, who won bronze for Brazil in the marathon at the 2004 Games after he was grappled by a spectator while leading the race.

Football legend Pele had ruled himself out of performing the role saying he was not in the right "physical condition".

Avaiable at: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics. Accessed on 22/08/16

Answer the questions below, according to the Text 2.

INSTRUCTION: Answer question according to text 2.

INSTRUÇÃO: A questão refere-se ao texto abaixo.

                      Victoria and Albert: how a royal love changed culture

                                                                                                           By Lucinda Hawksley 

Disponível em: <http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150623-victoria-albert-cultural-impact>.

Acesso em: 3 ago. 15. (Parcial e adaptado.)