BACKGROUND Identify variables associated with intrapartum epidural use. METHODS Odds ratios were calculated to quantify associations between selected variables and epidural use using a population-based case-control study of Washington State birth certificate data from 2009. RESULTS Non-Whites had 10 - 45% lower odds of epidural use relative to Whites. Foreign-born women had 25 - 45% lower o...

successful organizations take action to ensure that they have the human resources to meet their current and future business needs. organizations require much greater flexibility to account for individual needs than in the past and have to find new ways to manage resulting challenges. talent management (tm) will play a critical role in this context to help businesses succeed. talent management i...

INTRODUCTION The global shortage of rural healthcare professionals threatens the access these communities have to adequate healthcare resources. Barriers to recruitment and retention of nurses in rural facilities include limited resources, professional development opportunities, and interpersonal ties to the area. Mentorship programs have been used to successfully recruit and retain rural nurse...

Some 50% of the people in the world live in rural areas, often under harsh conditions and in poverty. The need for knowledge of how to improve living conditions is well documented. In response to this need, new knowledge of how to improve living conditions in rural areas and elsewhere is continuously being developed by researchers and practitioners around the world. People in rural areas, in pa...

Abstract: The United States Agency for Development in Bolivia (USAID/Bolivia) created in 2002 PROSALUD- Partners for Development Project (PfD) with the aim of improving the population's well-being. The project used three components: small grant scheme, technical assistance and database system management. Through the small grants scheme, the PfD supported a Community Participation Strategy (CPS)...

UNLABELLED Health care quality is being addressed from a variety of policy perspectives. The 2001 Institute of Medicine report, Crossing the Quality Chasm, calls for sweeping action involving a five-part strategy for change in the U.S. health care system. This agenda for change includes use of evidence-based approaches to address common conditions, the majority of which are chronic. A Chronic D...

Promoting rural wealth creation in the United States is a high priority of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and of a growing number of rural development organizations. Secretary Vilsack argued in 2009 that USDA “must help rural communities create wealth so they are self-sustaining, repopulating and thriving economically”, and this is one of the four goals of USDA’s current strategic pl...

This paper provides an overview of the state of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) by local authorities in Kenya as a case study of a low-income developing country. Approaches of possible solutions that can be undertaken to improve municipal solid waste (MSW) services are discussed. Poor economic growth (1.1% in 1993) has resulted in an increase in the poverty level which presently stands ...