Essence Of Informed Consent Nursing Essay

Essence Of Informed Consent Nursing Essay The relationship between a doctor and a patient today is based on the principle of freedom of choice (of doctor, treatment type) which is characteristic of informational relationship model. A new concept has replaced the previously prevailing in medical practice paternalism, when doctor individually, not considering patients opinion, made the decision on the examination and treatment. In the modern system of doctor-patient relationship, a patients right to voluntary informed consent plays an important role. Informed consent, which is a prerequisite for any medical intervention, is a patients voluntary acceptance of treatment after being sufficiently informed by the doctor. The process of obtaining informed consent can be divided into two stages: 1) providing patient with information on the basis of voluntariness and competence and 2) the getting and proper registration of the patients consent (Cohn Larson, 2007). Under the current law a patient has the right to be fully informed (Hoeyer, 2009): about his or her health status (including medical indicators of that state); about the doctors assumed actions, potential risks and benefits of each procedure; about alternatives to the proposed treatment; about the diagnosis, prognosis and course of treatment. When informing a patient, particular attention should be given to the possible risks associated with the course of the recommended treatment. In addition, to make conscious decisions about medical intervention the patient has the right to consult with a disinterested person and get an additional independent opinion on the state of his or her health. The patient also has the right to obtain information about the professional qualities of the person providing medical aid or special care, about the rules that the patient must follow when undergoing treatment and immediately after. The data provided to the patient by the doctor should contain all the necessary information (Schenker, 2011; Sugarman, 2005). Taking into account the principle of voluntariness of obtaining information, the patient has the right to refuse from receiving information about his or her health status or indicate a person who should be informed instead (Felt, 2009). When informing, an important issue is the patients competence and ability to understand the received special medical information. Obviously, information should be communicated to patient in a way consistent with his or her ability to comprehend. It should be differentiated depending on patients individualities and specific circumstances (general health state, educational level, etc.). Explaining the nature of the forthcoming treatment to the patient, it is desirable to use a minimum of medical or technical terms. If necessary, an interpreter should be provided for adequate communication and perception of information about treatment by the patient (Cohn Larson, 2007). At the time of receiving the information the patient should be able to perceive it in order to make conscious decisions about voluntary consent to medical intervention. Informed consent means that the decision should be made on patients own free will without such external factors as coercion; deception; threat; career, financial or other dependency (Cohn Larson, 2007; Sugarman, 2005). The obtained patients consent to medical intervention should be properly recorded. The current law on health care does not provide as a norm a written form of consent, but since getting informed consent is regarded as the right of the patient and therefore implies corresponding obligations of the doctor, the written form of consent is advisable as evidence of doctors execution of his duties. In case of a court issue or a conflict between patient and doctor, the written informed consent of the patient will guarantee objective consideration of the dispute. Literature review In medical literature, an opinion is expressed that informed consent is a doctors means of legal protection, greatly weakening patients legal position and not representing his or her interests fully. Any treatment carried out without patients informed consent is considered illegal, and if it causes harm, the question of obtaining a refund is solved uniquely. The situation changes when a damage occurs after fulfilling the obligation of providing the necessary information to the patient and obtaining the consent. In this situation the plaintiff-patient has to prove the relationship between treatment and harm beyond the limits of informed consent, or disclose the poor quality, insufficiency, or incompleteness of information, only in this case his or her verbal or written consent loses its meaning (Cockcroft, 2009; Felt, 2009; Sugarman, 2005). The current court practice of the dispute between patients and hospitals fully confirms this thesis. The problem can be solved by developing a certain standard of informing a patient about each type of medical intervention taking into account the existing medical standards for the provision of various forms of aid (Cockcroft, 2009). Standard of informing and the unified form of the document for this type of medical intervention can help to prevent or significantly reduce the number of legal disputes over the insufficiency and incompleteness of information provided to the patient. The lack of standard of informing the patient and the unified mechanism of regulation of issues related to its obtaining and registration prevents both the full implementation of the respective rights of a citizen and the protection of medical employees in case of conflict situations (Hoeyer, 2009). Moreover, in recent years a lot of information has appeared that team paternalistic attitude to the patient reduces the effect of therapeutic measures, that openness and collaboration between doctor and patient in making treatment decisions increase patients chances to survive even with the direst diagnoses, including cancer (Cohn Larson, 2007; Schenker, 2011). There is an article (Cunningham Watson, 2004) about the married couple of Simontons, the administrators of Dallas Cancer Center, who have achieved obvious success in treating malignant tumors by developing in patients the attitudes and belief in the possibility of nonspecific treatment of physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Practicing since 1971, the authors of the method managed in 63 out of 159 people condemned by the official medicine to maximum of one year of dying to completely remove the cancer stress (still alive), and help others to at least double their life span making it 24.4 months against 12 in the control g roup of patients treated by standard methods. That is a polar case of a high efficiency of cooperation of doctors and patients (Cunningham Watson, 2004). Due to the increasing number of lawsuits related to poor-quality medical care, unfavorable outcome of medical intervention, many hospitals are developing their own form of the document that displays the patients consent to medical intervention. Practice shows that the most commonly proof of voluntary consent of the patient to medical intervention is registered in case of delivery paid medical services or performing complex interventions, as well as in outpatient clinics that provide dental care. Lately, the principle of informed consent has been actively used in carrying out such interventions as preventive vaccinations. Further, well analyze the concept of informed consent, figuring out its main elements and effects, as well as discuss the implication of the concept in nursing practice. Antecedents, attributes, and consequences of the concept of informed consent The concept of informed consent was born in the fight against paternalism in the relationship between doctor and patient when it was believed that the doctor was all-knowing, wise, stern father, and the patient was an innocent child, who should unquestioningly obey the opinion of elders. Its appearance is associated with two global processes: the development of universal human rights, when with increasing educational and cultural level of the population each individual as a personality has become aware of his uniqueness and value, and the dissemination of market relations in the sphere of medical care, when a doctor gets into the position of the person who sells medical service, and the patient the person buying it (Sugarman, 2005). The bargaining parties are legally equal. In these circumstances, the seller (doctor) should prove himself that the choice made for the patient is the best available and be able to convince the buyer (patient), conveying his own logic of decision in a way that the latter would understand and believe that doctors actions are intended to cure, rather than just pulling the money. Thus, the risk is shared between the parties: the doctor puts his reputation and professional responsibility at risk, and patients put their health and sometimes their life. In general, the concept of informed consent derives from the general concept of individual rights, formulated at the beginning of the century. In particular, it refers to the right of a free citizen (the first and superior to other rights) to the inviolability of his personality, the right to himself implicitly recognized by all the rest (Steinberg, 2009). This law prohibits a doctor to break out his patients bodily integrity without having the permission. By this we mean that the patient is a person who will continue to live after medical penetration with all the consequences produced by it. And there is no legal obligation to the patient to accept the proposed treatment; in addition, laws do not mention that the patient can be subjected to any curative effects without his informed consent. The rights of doctors also do not include mandate to treat someone who is in need of treatment just in the opinion of doctor. The work of a doctor is certainly complicated by the conditions of the legal protection of personality, but the lack of such protection is not good too. For example, a Muslim fundamentalist will die of the idea that he was poured another persons blood when he was in a severe coma, and his relatives will regard it as lethal sacrilege. Thus, the doctrine of informed consent lies in the fact that before the doctor asks the patient to give consent on implementing an individual course of treatment or procedures that are risky, but have alternative options, especially where the chances of success are low, the patient must be provided with the following information (Cohn Larson, 2007; Hoeyer, 2009): what the proposed procedures are, and what they involve; what the risks and benefits of recommended measures are, specifically emphasizing the danger level of the most adverse outcomes (death or severe disability); what alternative ways of treatment and their risks are; what will happen if a patient do not start or delay treatment; which the probability of success is and what kind of success is expected by the doctor; what possible difficulties and duration of rehabilitation are; what other related information can be provided (answers to patients questions, posing similar cases from doctors experience, etc.) The patients are to be informed about the serious risks that increase their liability in the choice of consent to treatment or alternative treatment or in the direction of the full withdrawal from it. For example, the probability of death 1:10 000 should be mentioned, and the probability of postoperative non-threatening complications may not be mentioned. From a legal point of view, the doctrine increases patients self-involvement and self-determination in decision making and thus, increases its validity. The market buyer-seller relations are supplemented by the specific component of personal trust of the patient towards the doctor. The patient believes that the doctor gives him the full amount of information needed for the success of treatment. Thus, the relationship may assume the character of paternalism: the patient entrusts his fate to doctor at a level children entrust themselves to the care of parents. But this is no longer the same command paternalism that was specific for the past soulless administrative management systems. Still, a lot of discussions are focused around the question on how often patients need to be asked for permission. Courts consider that patients are to be asked in all cases fraught with any serious complications, infection, changes in appearance, etc. For example, a pregnant woman was treated by a dermatologist on a case of spots on her face. The doctor applied the traditional methods, without considering pregnancy, and the spots became more vivid on therapy. The court found the doctor guilty, as he did not see a serious reason for treatment and exposed a pregnant woman to unnecessary risk. First of all, courts ask their experts how necessary the treatment was and whether it did not involve additional risks which could be more significant than the expected success (Walker, 2008). Lawyers also in all cases try to find out whether the patients consent was competent, voluntary, and based on clear information. The problem the competence of concerns both parties. The doctor should not go beyond his competence in explanations. For example, the risk for complex anesthesia should be explained by an anesthesiologist. At the same time, every adult patient should a priori be considered legally competent listener, if he has no restrictions on capacity and is not under the acute influence of alcohol, drugs, etc. The question of the competence of the decision often arises in cases of deliberate incompetence of patients (children, persons found legally incapable because of mental disorders, moronity, senile dementia, etc.). Here, a decision is made by the same schemes with the participation of parents or guardians. For example, regarding homelessness people, the decisions are made by specially authorized social workers. If the family or of the guardianship have no consensus, the question of a single custodian is decided by court (Steinberg, 2009). Voluntariness lies in the fact that when making decisions, especially when signing a written consent or refusal, the patient was not subject to any external pressure (threats, bribery, onerous financial terms). Understanding of the provided information can be difficult to prove, which in judicial practice is known as an example of denial of earlier given evidence. Often the patient finally remembers that the choice was made by him voluntarily (Felt, 2009). But if the doctor initially failed to reconcile the expectations of the patient from treatment with the possibilities of modern therapy, it becomes difficult to resolve such conflicts. There are 4 main cases when the doctrine of informed consent may not be applied: 1. In case of emergency care, where any delay threatens the life or preservation of the health of the patient; 2. If the risks are negligibly low and are well known to all the citizens (e.g., risks of blood test); 3. If the patient knowingly refuses to listen to information about the likelihood of death or severe disability (such a refusal is preferably set down). 4. If the doctor believes that the patient cannot psychologically bear the informational trauma from the message on the discovered disease or health state. In this case, the doctor should ask the patient to whom he entrusts the discussion of health problems and future treatment. In modern terms, this occasion is resorted rarely. It would also be wrong to introduce the patient to treatment, allowing him to read professional literature (Schenker, 2011). Such reading could cause the effect of Mark Twain, who, reading the Encyclopaedia Britannica, discovered he had all the diseases, except for puerperal fever. Besides, the language of medical literature is complicated for an average patient. It can only complexity the understanding of what the patient has to move through and what results he has to wait for and when. However, hospitals and clinics have an internal profilization, and for each doctor, there is a small collection of some standardized technologies and procedures, the description of which is easy in the framework of adopted treatment schemes and within the language understandable to an average literate competent patient. In these booklets of internal use, a patient can find the information on risks, alternatives, and consequences of refusing from treatment. Literate patients are provided with booklets and others come through interviews with nurses (Cohn Larson, 2007; Schenker, 2011). Conclusion. Implications for nursing Nursing personnel makes up the largest category of health workers, and the effectiveness of health care institutions largely depends on their professional knowledge and skills. Important functions of the nursing staff are informing patients about their rights and responsibilities when receiving medical aid, about medical interventions conducted by nursing staff including information about the associated risks, options for medical intervention, their consequences and outcomes of treatment (Higgins Daly, 2002). Discussing situation with the patient and possible ways of its improvement, the nurse should consider the significant point that the patient has the right to accept or reject the suggested treatment and care after receiving the necessary information. Therefore, he should be informed about everything that happened to him, everything that will be done, that he himself or his relatives will have to do, and give the consent. Further, the plan can only include the problems, goals and interventions agreed by the patient. It is desirable that the informed consent of the patient was recorded in nursing documentation. In our case the patient cannot speak, but he understands everything and can by any gesture confirm his consent. The nurse must not only respect the rights of the patient but also tell him about his rights (Higgins Daly, 2002; Informed consent for research in critical care: implications for nursing, 2006). The nurse should write down all nursing interventions, actions on addressing the problem, into a report (usually on the reverse side of the page with the plan). This helps to monitor the activities of nurses and to provide continuity, so that the next shift nurse knew what has been done and what needs to be done. The plan of nursing interventions is made by the nurse, who was on the shift when the patient arrived, but during a shift of some other nurse some additional problems may occur. Then the nurse formulates goals and nursing interventions, and inserts an extra sheet into the folder kept for each patient. If the problem is solved, the corresponding sheet is replaced to the bottom of the folder (Ulrich, 2010). It is recognized around the world that the quality of health care depends not only on doctors, but also on the professional nursing care. Therefore after discharging a patient, all the documentation on the nursing process is stored in the archive together with patient record. It is desirable that a patient had a copy of the plan of nursing interventions, so that he could estimate progress on the way to recovery. In any case, the nurse should discuss the situation with the patient and his relatives, show positive changes, etc. (Higgins Daly, 2002; Ulrich, 2010) In any case, nursing interventions can be very diverse, but one of the major responsibilities of nurses is to clarify the patients understanding of purpose and progress of the upcoming treatment and his consent to the procedure. In general, the doctrine of informed consent is the most modern form of the union of medicine with the people, the reflection of the most humane inclusion of medicine for the benefit of living, constantly renewing humanity. Only the further development of the principle of voluntary informed consent to medical intervention, its wide application in medical institutions can help to protect the legal rights and interests of both patients and medical professionals.

“If I Am The Chief Of Sinners, Then I Am The Chief Of Sufferers Also Essay

In terms of this book, I think that it’s difficult for me to place Jekyll as a complete sinner or a complete sufferer due to the varying influences of the other characters, the society of the time and the drug that Jekyll uses. My opinion of him tends to fluctuate throughout the book. Certainly, some of the language used by Stevenson can be rather grotesque at times and at others, heart wrenching. As the storyline progresses, the reader becomes more aware of what has happened to the reputable Dr Henry Jekyll and how his life gets turned upside down. However, our suspicions are only totally confirmed in â€Å"Dr Lanyon’s Narrative† and â€Å"Henry Jekyll’s statement of the case†. Through the story, Jekyll displays acts of recklessness but also kindness and surprising self-control at times. It’s these episodes, mainly in his statement of the case that I will analyze in order to draw a conclusion about his character and to what extent the title quote is true. I believe that the quote â€Å"If I am the chief of sinners than I am the chief of sufferers also† essentially refers to Jekyll transforming into Hyde. By all the pleasures in the lifestyle that this change brings, Jekyll has completely gone against G-d’s will and the laws of nature (being the chief of sinners). This leads to Jekyll also being the â€Å"chief of sufferers† i.e., he’d never forgive himself for the massive sin that he commits. In his eyes and also those of society, he can never be redeemed. It also relates to the physical suffering that he has to endure, such as the â€Å"pangs of transformation†, mentioned five times throughout â€Å"Jekyll’s Statement of the Case†. For me personally, during the time I have been studying this book, one sentence has stuck out in my mind, the very last sentence of the book: â€Å"Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end.† (Pg76, Last 3 Lines) This, moments before Jekyll’s suicide, is his last plea for forgiveness, his last expression of suffering. I think that this crystallises any sense of suffering that has taken place and been felt by Jekyll. However, not always has Jekyll been so remorseful. Many a time he would transform to go and do all the things society wouldn’t have let him do. However, both Jekyll and our sympathy for him come crashing down to earth when we learn that as Hyde, he crushed an innocent little girl under foot and even committed murder on the kind, peaceful Danvers Carew. These two events were the first indication that Hyde’s actions were getting out of Jekyll’s moral control and, particularly in the case of the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, display Jekyll’s recognition that whatever crimes Hyde commits, will have repercussions for him: â€Å"At this moment, however, the rooms bore every mark of having been recently and hurriedly ransacked† (Pg28, Line 22) This describes the scene that greets Utterson and Inspector Newcomen of Scotland Yard as they visit the Home of Mr Hyde. Clear evidence of a rush to overturn the place and destroy Hyde’s chequebook containing evidence of some monetary transfer. In â€Å"The Story Of The Door†, during the incident of the little girl being crushed, a chequebook was also used by Dr Jekyll to provide compensation, this may be a subtle clue that Stevenson gives us in order to provide a link between the two incidents and the use of the chequebook may stand for Hyde’s return to Jekyll who then tries to undo what Hyde has done with money. The use of language here gives the reader a clear impression that the last occupier of this room wanted to leave very quickly; â€Å"ransacked† is a word synonymous with quick careless destruction of a room and this is supported by it having been both â€Å"hurriedly† and â€Å"recently†. I believe therefore, at this point, Jekyll has regained his body and consciousness once again and knowing what he’s done, wants to escape Hyde’s residence as quickly possible, he realises that he’s now â€Å"the chief of sinners† having commited murder. Hyde will have a warrant for his arrest, the result of which would most certainly be the death penalty, something that would clearly affect Jekyll also. I believe that Jekyll didn’t wish to be burdened by the majority of the problems that came with his dual personality. However he didn’t have the willpower to control them, due to his addiction to the potion that he took, and the pressures of society that gave him some sort of pleasure from being able to break free from the bonds of every day life. Certainly, I don’t think he was right to commit some of the atrocities that he did however, had he been in a different time or a different part of society, then some of the attractions that enticed him to Hyde’s life – such as prostitution and violence – may have been more acceptable and this sort of unpredictable transformation may not have been necessary. We, as the reader must constantly ask ourselves whether Jekyll actually has any control over his actions at any given point before we blame him directly for what he does. Our first impression of Jekyll as Hyde appears during the first chapter as Enfield describes the trampling of the little girl to Utterson. The description certainly sets us off on the wrong foot, although at the time, we aren’t well informed as to Hyde’s real identity, it gives us a certain dislike even before the story has begun to properly develop or we have the chance to discover the characters more intimately: â€Å"It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut† (Pg9, Lline 27) The first striking thing here is the use of the word â€Å"damned† to emphasise Enfield’s point. â€Å"Damn†, undoubtedly perceived at the time the book was written, an age without socially acceptable swearing and profanation, as a relatively strong word. Therefore, Stevenson’s use of this word, in Mr Enfield’s description of Hyde, brings across a particular strength of his feelings of dislike towards him. So already, we have a strong sense of shock at this character, simply from the strong language used to describe him. The use of the â€Å"Juggernaut† description is an effective example of personification. One thinks of a large Romanesque ship, famous for using a large pole at the bow to ram the enemy ship and sink it. The context in which this quote is used certainly is appropriate to that. It describes how, who we now know to be Hyde, trampled over a young girl, as if in a trance or â€Å"rammed into her† as a Juggernaut does. The above quote, relating to the trampling event certainly lowers the amount of sympathy the informed reader would feel for Jekyll, this is relatively early on in the book, before, as far as we are aware, that Hyde has started to take control over Jekyll’s actions. Therefore, we can assume that what has taken place has been mainly caused by Jekyll’s consciousness as opposed to Hydes. Jekyll’s lack of remorse, until he has been threatened with losing his reputation certainly loses him sympathy from the reader and the event in general doesn’t make Hyde seem any more angelic at any rate. For the uninformed reader, it’s difficult to state whether we feel sympathy due to our apparent lack of knowledge of the story. However, whoever or whatever this monster is, again, we certainly don’t feel sympathy for him. The fact that Hyde is described as â€Å"not like a man† also dehumanises him. We see, throughout the book, many instances of Hyde being dehumanised, compared to monkeys and other animals: â€Å"Hence the ape-like tricks that he would play me, scrawling in my own hand blasphemies on the pages of my books, burning the letters and destroying the portrait of my father†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Pg75, Lline 11) This has a great effect on the reader’s perception of him as we begin to think that he isn’t civilised at all, the laws of society do not apply to him and therefore he is subhuman, no better than the dirt on our shoe and certainly, we should be glad for him to have any misfortune. It would be unthinkable at the time to write blasphemies in the pages of a bible and from Jekyll’s sentimental point of view, to destroy his letters and his fathers portrait would be a massive sin, certainly one that hurts him all the more because he knows that the only reason Hyde does these things is to cause even more misery and fear for Jekyll; acts which gain sympathy from the reader for Jekyll and increase our hatred towards Edward Hyde. Early on in the book again, during the chapter â€Å"Search For Mr Hyde† the reader is introduced to Hyde, the language Stevenson uses to describe him shapes our response: â€Å"Mr Hyde was pale and dwarfish †¦ the man seems hardly human† (Pg19, 2nd Paragraph) The description of somebody as â€Å"pale and dwarfish† could easily be interpreted as one of somebody who is weak however; we know Hyde possesses superhuman strength. In this instance, the description is more sinister than deprecating, it brings to mind an evil hunched being which as a first impression makes the reader feel fear or hatred towards him, no sympathy. We also hear Hyde speak to the first time and react to this. An informed reader would become frustrated with Utterson’s inability to see the link between Hyde and Jekyll, which intrigues us further. Whatever we know, this description of Hyde certainly isn’t that of a man you would particularly like to meet in a dark alleyway. A somewhat deformed and gruesome specimen, again, as I have said, Stevenson dehumanises him as he does throughout the book. In this particular instance, he uses Utterson’s impression of Hyde to get the message across; â€Å"the man seems hardly human.† Stevenson often uses the narrative of other characters in order to describe Jekyll or Hyde. At this stage in the book, it is still difficult for us to tell whether we feel sympathy for Dr Jekyll due to us knowing very little information. However, a connection between Jekyll and Hyde is now forming in our head, the mind runs rampage. By the third chapter, â€Å"Dr Jekyll Was Quite at Ease†, we are getting our suspicions of Dr Jekyll having a connection with Mr Hyde confirmed. Still the other characters in the book can’t see this though. We are now getting the impression of Hyde as Jekyll’s apprentice, a man who is well thought of by the doctor. However, Jekyll is not particularly willing to talk about Hyde: â€Å"‘I do not care to hear more,’ said he. ‘This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop.'† (Pg22, 3rd Paragraph) This rather short chapter describes a party, hosted by Dr Jekyll in which Mr Utterson brings up the topic of Jekyll’s will. Jekyll is extremely quick to dismiss the topic as taboo almost. This does a lot to heighten the suspicions of the reader as to the secret dealings between Jekyll and Hyde, still we don’t have enough information to understand the entire story however, slowly it is leading us to the correct conclusion, it is merely a matter of time (i.e. the rest of the book) until the would-be detectives discover this conclusion as well. We are certainly suspicious at this point however, not well informed enough to draw a conclusion in terms of sympathy for Jekyll. The chapter â€Å"The Carew Murder Case† describes the savage murder of Sir Danvers Carew, a man held in high regard by those who knew him. What makes this event even more shocking is that it is witnessed by a rather innocent young maid and it’s discovered that the perpetrator is Mr Edward Hyde, a piece of evidence is found linking Hyde directly to Jekyll: â€Å"Mr Utterson had already quailed at the name of Hyde; but when the stick was laid before him†¦ presented many years before to Henry Jekyll† (Pg26, 6th Paragraph) Using the information known from the previous chapters, the reader is beginning to build up a picture of what is going on here. A connection with Jekyll, a murder, we’re feeling a serious lack of sympathy for Jekyll here, one of his associates has committed murder. The more informed reader realises that this is in fact Jekyll in his Hyde guise, in which case even less sympathy is felt, Jekyll has reached a new low in his alter-ego form. As we learn later on, the original objectives of Dr Jekyll were to separate good from evil, it could bring fame and fortune and do a lot of good for humanity, very innocent aims made with a good heart, every person across the planet could show simply their good side to others and the world may at last be at peace. It was due to his selfishness – and I use the term â€Å"selfishness† loosely – however, that led to his demise. Some may argue that Jekyll was simply an addict and that he was hooked onto whatever this potion was and yes, this is easy to see, as with any drug that gets you high, he experienced feelings of pleasure, happiness and freedom. Personally I think we can sympathise with Dr Jekyll in a lot of respects, however, things did go out of hand for him. Once murders were being committed, it did sink in that perhaps the transformations should stop, he managed this for a while, returning to his old self, he noticed it and his friends noticed it. However, despite deep and utter resentment, it wasn’t long though until his hunger for what he had once experienced returned, and he gave in to his desires. Jekyll was addicted and in an act of extreme selfishness carried on taking his doses of potion. He recognised as soon as he took the potion, that he had given in to his addiction and that there was now no going back for him: â€Å"The pangs of transformation had not done tearing him, before Henry Jekyll, with streaming tears of gratitude and remorse, had fallen upon his knees and lifted his clasped hands to G-d† (Pg 70, 13th Line) Jekyll doesn’t strike me as a particularly religious person, by the very nature of the experiments he was conducting and the results he was hoping to achieve, he was going against every moral value of the church, however, he even tried praying for forgiveness to try and make up for what he had done on a spiritual level, what he had done obviously bothered him so much. This act of prayer casts Jekyll in a completely different light to that of the crazed scientist looking for an impossible cure to an equally impossible problem. This is quite a milestone in the book because it is because of this act that the reader realises the desperation of Henry Jekyll and the fact that he is now trying to, through any means possible, prepare himself for anything he might come up against. He isn’t by any means justifying what he’s done but he now knows that he will never again be able to stop himself from taking the potion. It is the catalyst to his eventual demise. Certainly â€Å"pangs† and â€Å"tearing† make this seem like an extremely painful and distressing event, the use of onomatopoeia (â€Å"tearing†) sends a shiver down the spine of the reader and makes us feel sympathy for what Jekyll is going through, it is worse than any injury we could ever have. Eventually, as the potion begins to consume Jekyll, taking over his consciousness, it is realised that he is truly on a slippery slope as predicted from the last quotation. However, there is a point where the potion becomes too weak for his use and the analogy with common modern day drugs continues: â€Å"Once, very early in my career, it [the potion] had totally failed me; since then I had been obliged on more than one occasion to double; and once, with infinite risk of death, to treble the amount;† (Pg 68, 4th Line) He increased his dose, even with risk to his own life, so that the concoction would still be effective. At this point the reader pities Jekyll for the situation that he’s got himself in. The hardest thing for any addict is to give up their drug and although it’s a different situation here, with enough willpower, Henry Jekyll could have summoned up the courage to try and banish Hyde forever however he refused to, taking larger doses of potion and sealing his fate instead. This loses him a lot of sympathy with the reader because of his lack of courage and strength, instead resigning to the fact that he will never escape Hyde and so he better learn to enjoy his alter ego. The last chapter, â€Å"Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case† gives us the greatest insight into the how the mind of Dr Jekyll works and finally gives the reader the full story so that we can finally find out for ourselves what events took place and we can piece together the chain reaction that resulted in the deaths of Dr Jekyll, Dr Lanyon and Sir Danvers Carew. We can also see the changing moods of Dr Jekyll as events unfold from the narrative that he gives us, after all, this chapter is meant to be a letter written by the man himself, one of the rare times we can get an insight into what he did and the fully detailed results of his actions. The fluctuating consciousness of Dr Jekyll while he is Hyde, i.e. the change in control that he has over his actions can easily be seen to change as time goes on from the comments that he makes about his experiences. At the beginning, when he starts taking the potion for the first few, experimental times, he is unsure what to expect. â€Å"There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet.† (Pg 62, 3rd Paragraph) These were the first experiences of Jekyll in the form of Mr Hyde. It was as if it was something completely surreal and, he likes it! At this point he’s completely oblivious of what is about to happen in the future and as far as he knows, he’s made a scientific breakthrough, he’s changed his persona into something completely different. At this point the reader can celebrate with Jekyll; we can wonder in amazement at his achievement, we can join him in his happiness and elation. This all gives us a sense of support, that we are following Jekyll’s progress with a keen eye and certainly wish him well. Certainly we, as the reader, don’t want anything bad to come out of this, no side effects, no evil being taking over his body†¦ Therefore, when we eventually realise the true identity of Hyde, and the problems he has caused Jekyll, it is worse than our greatest nightmares, no one could wish this kind of pain upon anybody, even our greatest enemy. But as I have said, the reader wants Jekyll to succeed in what he’s doing, his intentions are great so, a setback of this scale – to put it mildly – makes us feel very sympathetic for Jekyll, he will never be able to achieve his dreams. Dr Jekyll eventually began to realise that perhaps this new found freedom comes with a side effect: â€Å"I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness† (Pg 62, 3rd Paragraph) He feels youth again however, feels along with the physical ease of youth, a sort of care-free existence in which anything is ok. Gradually this freedom gives Jekyll a desire to exploit it, he doesn’t understand it however and he finds it particularly welcoming. When the informed reader takes this quote into account, we start to lose some of our sympathy for Jekyll because he is describing that despite the fact that he feels a lot better than before he took the potion, he knows that he is also feeling somewhat mischievous. Despite knowing that problems may occur for him or others, he decides that this potion is something he is going to want a lot more of in the future. It can be argued however, that he couldn’t possibly know the extent of the mischief that he would get up to yet, in his particular society, any misbehaviour would be frowned upon, if only he had the common sense to realise the potential of his freedom and stopped himself at this early stage. â€Å"I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine† (Pg 62, 3rd Paragraph – Pg 63) At this point, a lot of the elation and respect we might have had for Jekyll practically disappear, what is this, he enjoys feeling evil inside him, he welcomes it? The key phrase here is that he is â€Å"sold a slave to his original evil† it is like selling his soul to the devil, as if he almost recognises the path that he is taking from there on. I think we lose a lot of sympathy that we may have in the future because of this, he can see that things may go sour but is willing to take the risk and go ahead with his experiments purely because he is enjoying it, it is as if nothing else matters to him. If the reader was at all confused before the final chapter as to the fact that Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde could possibly have been the same person, the murder of Danvers Carew gave more than enough clues to confirm this theory: â€Å"when the stick was laid before him, he could doubt no longer; broken and battered as it was, he recognised it for one that he had himself presented many years before to Henry Jekyll† (Pg 26, 5th Paragraph) This is referring to the weapon used to murder Sir Danvers, a stick that had been brought upon Carew’s body with such force, it had split in two. It was one that Mr Utterson had presented to Dr Jekyll many years before and was evidence, if we hadn’t already guessed that Henry Jekyll had an obvious affiliation with Mr Hyde. Once again, sympathy levels for Jekyll drop however, we have to bear in mind, that by this point, Hyde may have been in control of Jekyll’s actions more than he knew, it might not have been possible for Jekyll to stop this murder taking place but the reader is still shocked and disgusted by what has taken place. However, as we can see from Jekyll’s statement of the case, he was disgusted by what had taken place and he realised now that this had to stop once and for all. It was either that or to face the scaffold for the crime that had been committed, there was a witness to it who could identify Hyde as the murderer. Jekyll realises that murder is the final straw, finally his common sense kicks in: â€Å"The problem of my conduct was solved. Hyde was thenceforth impossible; whether I would or not, I was now confined to the better part of my existence; and O, how I rejoiced to think it! With what willing humility, I embraced anew the restrictions of natural life! With what sincere renunciation, I locked the door by which I had so often gone and come, and ground the key under my heel!† (Pg 70, 27th Line) Once and for all, Jekyll had given up becoming Hyde, although he hated having to return to his mundane old self, he simply couldn’t risk ever becoming Hyde again, it was too dangerous. As Jekyll says, becoming Hyde would never again be possible, he hated it but he would have to remain as Jekyll for ever more. With extreme displeasure, he locked the door to his laboratory and ground the key under his feet. This surely would stop him ever wanting to transform again. Now the reader feels proud of his good will, his commitment to giving up his addiction and once again feels sympathy for his situation, at least he’s making a conscious effort to redeem himself. However, this momentary peaceful existence does not continue, Jekyll misses the freedom he experienced too much and gives in to his pang of desire. As himself, I don’t think Dr Jekyll meant to cause the harm that he did, but under the influence of Hyde, he caused great evil, his apparent lack of self control makes him accountable for all the actions that he carried out, it requires a large degree of naivety to carry on with what he was doing, knowing full well that his actions were likely to be more and more serious, even, as the book says, beginning to long for more disruption, more evil to be caused. â€Å"To cast in my lot with Jekyll, was to die to those appetites which I had long secretly indulged and had of late begun to pamper. To cast it in with Hyde, was to die to a thousand interests and aspirations, and to become, at a blow and forever, despised and friendless† (Pg 68, 2nd Paragraph) I think a certain amount of sympathy can be felt for Jekyll and his impossible situation, he was faced with a huge decision, he enjoyed being Hyde so much, he was addicted to it however, if he was to carry on transforming, eventually, there would be no way to reverse the effect, slowly, by this point, Hyde was taking over his mind and body. Either he stopped being Hyde forever and lives a somewhat disturbed life with a constant longing to turn into his alter-ego or, stop being Jekyll and run a life of evil, with no friends and hatred all around him. He chose to continue giving in to his desires until the last traces of the once prominent gentleman Henry Jekyll had disappeared and in an extremely sad final paragraph, in a tone of extreme despair finally recognises that his life is slipping beyond his grasp.

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 78-80

CHAPTER 78 Sophie felt a wild excitement as she cradled the cryptex and began dialing in the letters. An ancient word of wisdom frees this scroll.Langdon and Teabing seemed to have stopped breathing as they looked on. S†¦ O†¦ F†¦ â€Å"Carefully,† Teabing urged. â€Å"Ever so carefully.† †¦ I†¦ A. Sophie aligned the final dial. â€Å"Okay,† she whispered, glancing up at the others. â€Å"I'm going to pull it apart.† â€Å"Remember the vinegar,† Langdon whispered with fearful exhilaration. â€Å"Be careful.† Sophie knew that if this cryptex were like those she had opened in her youth, all she would need to do is grip the cylinder at both ends, just beyond the dials, and pull, applying slow, steady pressure in opposite directions. If the dials were properly aligned with the password, then one of the ends would slide off, much like a lens cap, and she could reach inside and remove the rolled papyrus document, which would be wrapped around the vial of vinegar. However, if the password they had entered were incorrect, Sophie's outward force on the ends would be transferred to a hinged lever inside, which would pivot downward into the cavity and apply pressure to the glass vial, eventually shattering it if she pulled too hard. Pull gently, she told herself. Teabing and Langdon both leaned in as Sophie wrapped her palms around the ends of the cylinder. In the excitement of deciphering the code word, Sophie had almost forgotten what they expected to find inside. This is the Priory keystone.According to Teabing, it contained a map to the Holy Grail, unveiling the tomb of Mary Magdalene and the Sangreal treasure†¦ the ultimate treasure trove of secret truth. Now gripping the stone tube, Sophie double-checked that all of the letters were properly aligned with the indicator. Then, slowly, she pulled. Nothing happened. She applied a little more force. Suddenly, the stone slid apart like a well-crafted telescope. The heavy end piece detached in her hand. Langdon and Teabing almost jumped to their feet. Sophie's heart rate climbed as she set the end cap on the table and tipped the cylinder to peer inside. A scroll! Peering down the hollow of the rolled paper, Sophie could see it had been wrapped around a cylindrical object – the vial of vinegar, she assumed. Strangely, though, the paper around the vinegar was not the customary delicate papyrus but rather, vellum. That's odd, she thought, vinegar can't dissolve a lambskin vellum.She looked again down the hollow of the scroll and realized the object in the center was not a vial of vinegar after all. It was something else entirely. â€Å"What's wrong?† Teabing asked. â€Å"Pull out the scroll.† Frowning, Sophie grabbed the rolled vellum and the object around which it was wrapped, pulling them both out of the container. â€Å"That's not papyrus,† Teabing said. â€Å"It's too heavy.† â€Å"I know. It's padding.† â€Å"For what? The vial of vinegar?† â€Å"No.† Sophie unrolled the scroll and revealed what was wrapped inside. â€Å"For this.† When Langdon saw the object inside the sheet of vellum, his heart sank. â€Å"God help us,† Teabing said, slumping. â€Å"Your grandfather was a pitiless architect.† Langdon stared in amazement. I see Sauniere has no intention of making this easy. On the table sat a second cryptex. Smaller. Made of black onyx. It had been nested within the first. Sauniere's passion for dualism. Two cryptexes.Everything in pairs. Double entendres.Male female.Black nested within white.Langdon felt the web of symbolism stretching onward. White gives birthto black. Every man sprang from woman. White – female. Black – male. Reaching over, Langdon lifted the smaller cryptex. It looked identical to the first, except half the size and black. He heard the familiar gurgle. Apparently, the vial of vinegar they had heard earlier was inside this smaller cryptex. â€Å"Well, Robert,† Teabing said, sliding the page of vellum over to him. â€Å"You'll be pleased to hear that at least we're flying in the right direction.† Langdon examined the thick vellum sheet. Written in ornate penmanship was another four-line verse. Again, in iambic pentameter. The verse was cryptic, but Langdon needed to read only as far as the first line to realize that Teabing's plan to come to Britain was going to pay off. IN LONDON LIES A KNIGHT A POPE INTERRED. The remainder of the poem clearly implied that the password for opening the second cryptex could be found by visiting this knight's tomb, somewhere in the city. Langdon turned excitedly to Teabing. â€Å"Do you have any idea what knight this poem is referring to?† Teabing grinned. â€Å"Not the foggiest. But I know in precisely which crypt we should look.† At that moment, fifteen miles ahead of them, six Kent police cars streaked down rain-soaked streets toward Biggin Hill Executive Airport. CHAPTER 79 Lieutenant Collet helped himself to a Perrier from Teabing's refrigerator and strode back out through the drawing room. Rather than accompanying Fache to London where the action was, he was now baby-sitting the PTS team that had spread out through Chateau Villette. So far, the evidence they had uncovered was unhelpful: a single bullet buried in the floor; a paper with several symbols scrawled on it along with the words blade and chalice; and a bloody spiked belt that PTS had told Collet was associated with the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei, which had caused a stir recently when a news program exposed their aggressive recruiting practices in Paris. Collet sighed. Good luck making sense of this unlikely melange. Moving down a lavish hallway, Collet entered the vast ballroom study, where the chief PTS examiner was busy dusting for fingerprints. He was a corpulent man in suspenders. â€Å"Anything?† Collet asked, entering. The examiner shook his head. â€Å"Nothing new. Multiple sets matching those in the rest of the house.† â€Å"How about the prints on the cilice belt?† â€Å"Interpol is still working. I uploaded everything we found.† Collet motioned to two sealed evidence bags on the desk. â€Å"And this?† The man shrugged. â€Å"Force of habit. I bag anything peculiar.† Collet walked over. Peculiar? â€Å"This Brit's a strange one,† the examiner said. â€Å"Have a look at this.† He sifted through the evidence bags and selected one, handing it to Collet. The photo showed the main entrance of a Gothic cathedral – the traditional, recessed archway, narrowing through multiple, ribbed layers to a small doorway. Collet studied the photo and turned. â€Å"This is peculiar?† â€Å"Turn it over.† On the back, Collet found notations scrawled in English, describing a cathedral's long hollow nave as a secret pagan tribute to a woman's womb. This was strange. The notation describing the cathedral's doorway, however, was what startled him. â€Å"Hold on! He thinks a cathedral's entrance represents a woman's†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The examiner nodded. â€Å"Complete with receding labial ridges and a nice little cinquefoil clitoris above the doorway.† He sighed. â€Å"Kind of makes you want to go back to church.† Collet picked up the second evidence bag. Through the plastic, he could see a large glossy photograph of what appeared to be an old document. The heading at the top read: Les Dossiers Secrets – Number 4o lm1 249 â€Å"What's this?† Collet asked. â€Å"No idea. He's got copies of it all over the place, so I bagged it.† Collet studied the document. PRIEURE DE SIGN – LES NAUTONIERS/GRAND MASTERS JEAN DE GISORS 1188-1220 MARIE DE SAINT-CLAIR 1220-1266 GUILLAUME DE GlSORS 1266-1307 EDOUARD DE BAR 1307-1336 JEANNE DE BAR 1336-1351 JEAN DE SAINT-CLAIR 1351-1366 BLANCE D'EVREUX 1366-1398 NICOLAS FLAMEL 1398-1418 RENE D'ANJOU 1418-1480 IOLANDE DE BAR 1480-1483 SANDRO BOTTICELLI 1483-1510 LEONARDO DA VINCI 1510-1519 CONNETABLE DE BOURBON 1519-1527 FERDINAND DE GONZAQUE 1527-1575 LOUIS DE NEVERS 1575-1595 ROBERT FLUDD 1595-1637 J. VALENTIN ANDREA 1637-1654 ROBERT BOYLE 1654-1691 ISAAC NEWTON 1691-1727 CHARLES RADCLYFFE 1727-1746 CHARLES DE LORRAINE 1746-1780 MAXIMILIAN DE LORRAINE 1780-1801 CHARLES NODIER 1801-1844 VICTOR HUGO 1844-1885 CLAUDE DEBUSSY 1885-1918 JEAN COCTEAU 1918-1963 Prieure de Sion? Collet wondered. â€Å"Lieutenant?† Another agent stuck his head in. â€Å"The switchboard has an urgent call for Captain Fache, but they can't reach him. Will you take it?† Collet returned to the kitchen and took the call. It was Andre Vernet. The banker's refined accent did little to mask the tension in his voice. â€Å"I thought Captain Fache said he would call me, but I have not yet heard from him.† â€Å"The captain is quite busy,† Collet replied. â€Å"May I help you?† â€Å"I was assured I would be kept abreast of your progress tonight.† For a moment, Collet thought he recognized the timbre of the man's voice, but he couldn't quite place it. â€Å"Monsieur Vernet, I am currently in charge of the Paris investigation. My name is Lieutenant Collet.† There was a long pause on the line. â€Å"Lieutenant, I have another call coming in. Please excuse me. I will call you later.† He hung up. For several seconds, Collet held the receiver. Then it dawned on him. I knew I recognized that voice! The revelation made him gasp. The armored car driver.With the fake Rolex. Collet now understood why the banker had hung up so quickly. Vernet had remembered the name Lieutenant Collet – the officer he blatantly lied to earlier tonight. Collet pondered the implications of this bizarre development. Vernet is involved.Instinctively, he knew he should call Fache. Emotionally, he knew this lucky break was going to be his moment to shine. He immediately called Interpol and requested every shred of information they could find on the Depository Bank of Zurich and its president, Andre Vernet. CHAPTER 80 â€Å"Seat belts, please,† Teabing's pilot announced as the Hawker 731 descended into a gloomy morning drizzle. â€Å"We'll be landing in five minutes.† Teabing felt a joyous sense of homecoming when he saw the misty hills of Kent spreading wide beneath the descending plane. England was less than an hour from Paris, and yet a world away. This morning, the damp, spring green of his homeland looked particularly welcoming. My time in France is over.I am returning to England victorious.The keystone has been found.The question remained, of course, as to where the keystone would ultimately lead. Somewhere in the United Kingdom.Where exactly, Teabing had no idea, but he was already tasting the glory. As Langdon and Sophie looked on, Teabing got up and went to the far side of the cabin, then slid aside a wall panel to reveal a discreetly hidden wall safe. He dialed in the combination, opened the safe, and extracted two passports. â€Å"Documentation for Remy and myself.† He then removed a thick stack of fifty-pound notes. â€Å"And documentation for you two.† Sophie looked leery. â€Å"A bribe?† â€Å"Creative diplomacy. Executive airfields make certain allowances. A British customs official will greet us at my hangar and ask to board the plane. Rather than permitting him to come on, I'll tell him I'm traveling with a French celebrity who prefers that nobody knows she is in England – press considerations, you know – and I'll offer the official this generous tip as gratitude for his discretion.† Langdon looked amazed. â€Å"And the official will accept?† â€Å"Not from anyone, they won't, but these people all know me. I'm not an arms dealer, for heaven's sake. I was knighted.† Teabing smiled. â€Å"Membership has its privileges.† Remy approached up the aisle now, the Heckler Koch pistol cradled in his hand. â€Å"Sir, my agenda?† Teabing glanced at his servant. â€Å"I'm going to have you stay onboard with our guest until we return. We can't very well drag him all over London with us.† Sophie looked wary. â€Å"Leigh, I was serious about the French police finding your plane before we return.† Teabing laughed. â€Å"Yes, imagine their surprise if they board and find Remy.† Sophie looked surprised by his cavalier attitude. â€Å"Leigh, you transported a bound hostage across international borders. This is serious.† â€Å"So are my lawyers.† He scowled toward the monk in the rear of the plane. â€Å"That animal broke into my home and almost killed me. That is a fact, and Remy will corroborate.† â€Å"But you tied him up and flew him to London!† Langdon said. Teabing held up his right hand and feigned a courtroom oath. â€Å"Your honor, forgive an eccentric old knight his foolish prejudice for the British court system. I realize I should have called the French authorities, but I'm a snob and do not trust those laissez-faire French to prosecute properly. This man almost murdered me. Yes, I made a rash decision forcing my manservant to help me bring him to England, but I was under great stress. Mea culpa. Mea culpa.† Langdon looked incredulous. â€Å"Coming from you, Leigh, that just might fly.† â€Å"Sir?† the pilot called back. â€Å"The tower just radioed. They've got some kind of maintenance problem out near your hangar, and they're asking me to bring the plane directly to the terminal instead.† Teabing had been flying to Biggin Hill for over a decade, and this was a first. â€Å"Did they mention what the problem is?† â€Å"The controller was vague. Something about a gas leak at the pumping station? They asked me to park in front of the terminal and keep everyone onboard until further notice. Safety precaution. We're not supposed to deplane until we get the all clear from airport authorities.† Teabing was skeptical. Must be one hell of a gas leak.The pumping station was a good half mile from his hangar. Remy also looked concerned. â€Å"Sir, this sounds highly irregular.† Teabing turned to Sophie and Langdon. â€Å"My friends, I have an unpleasant suspicion that we are about to be met by a welcoming committee.† Langdon gave a bleak sigh. â€Å"I guess Fache still thinks I'm his man.† â€Å"Either that,† Sophie said,† or he is too deep into this to admit his error. Teabing was not listening. Regardless of Fache's mind-set, action needed to be taken fast. Don'tlose sight of the ultimate goal.The Grail.We're so dose.Below them, the landing gear descended with a clunk. â€Å"Leigh,† Langdon said, sounding deeply remorseful,† I should turn myself in and sort this out legally. Leave you all out of it.† â€Å"Oh, heavens, Robert!† Teabing waved it off. â€Å"Do you really think they're going to let the rest of us go? I just transported you illegally. Miss Neveu assisted in your escape from the Louvre, and we have a man tied up in the back of the plane. Really now! We're all in this together.† â€Å"Maybe a different airport?† Sophie said. Teabing shook his head. â€Å"If we pull up now, by the time we get clearance anywhere else, our welcoming party will include army tanks.† Sophie slumped. Teabing sensed that if they were to have any chance of postponing confrontation with the British authorities long enough to find the Grail, bold action had to be taken. â€Å"Give me a minute,† he said, hobbling toward the cockpit. â€Å"What are you doing?† Langdon asked. â€Å"Sales meeting,† Teabing said, wondering how much it would cost him to persuade his pilot to perform one highly irregular maneuver.

How to Resolve and Solve Problems

A great skill to have is the ability to solve problems specifically interpersonal and behavioral problems,   effectively. At the same time, it is also a great skill to teach students. There are a few key requirements for resolving problems collaboratively.   Both inside and outside the classroom teachers deal with problems and knowing how to resolve problems, either conflict between students, with students or with parents, require following some steps.   Here are the steps to becoming a more effective problem solver.​ L Heres How: Understand why the problem exists. What is the actual root cause of the problem? If you know something about why the problem exists, youll have a better time of resolving the problem. Lets take the example of a child who doesnt want to come to school. Before you can help identify a solution, it is important to find out why the child doesnt want to come to school. Perhaps bullying is occurring on the bus or in the halls. One of the first steps to effectively solve problems is delving into the root cause of the problem.Be able to clearly identify the problem and the obstacles that the problem presents. All too often when attempting to address a problem, those problems surrounding the principal cause are considered rather than identifying and resolving the root problem.   Clearly, state the problem and what obstacles the problem presents to you. Again, the child who doesnt want to come to school has the problem of it having a negative impact on his/her academic success.Once you have c learly stated the problem, you need to understand what you have control over and what you dont. Your efforts to resolve the problem must be within the areas where you have control. You may not have control whether a child comes to school, but you do have control over dealing with the bully who is creating the barrier to the child not wanting to attend school. Solving problems must focus on the things which you can control.Do you have all the information you need? Solving problems is often like becoming involved in investigations. Have you thoroughly researched why the problem exists? Do you have all the information you need? If not, be persistent and seek out all information before tackling the problem.Dont jump to conclusions. Once you have all of your information, analyze it carefully and look at it from various viewpoints. Be as objective as possible and dont be quick to judge. Remain judgment-free as much as possible. This is a time for you to use your critical thinking skills.N ow determine your options for solutions. How many options do you have? Are you sure? Which options seem reasonable? Have you weighed the pros and cons of your options? Are there any limitations to your options? Are some options better than others and why? Are there advantages and disadvantages you need to take into consideration?You should now be ready to act. A well thought out strategy/solution is now in place. However, what is your plan to monitor its outcome? How will you know that your solution is working? Once your solution is in place, it is important to monitor and evaluate the outcome regularly.In SummaryYou can use this approach to many of the challenges that arise in your classroom. A child who wont comply, a parent who is unhappy with their childs IEP, an educational assistant with whom you are having some conflict with. The strategies used in this problem-solving plan are merely good lifelong skills to have. Tips: Clearly state the problem.Know what the obstacles are related to the problem.Determine what you have control over and what you dont.Make sure you have ALL the information you need.Identify all of your options and implement the best option for a solution.