Primary and Community Care Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Primary and Community Care Policy - Essay Example These families need to be supported on the huge responsibilities (Department of Health 2008). Primary care is diverse and wide in terms of its healthcare with different skilled people who work for the care of patients. Patients can be taken care of by different community service in the comfort of their homes (Walshe and Smith 2011). This paper will review the health care policy relevant to the primary or community care setting, and identify the key factors of the policy and analyze how effective the policy has been in the primary and community environment. This document will analyze some of the major policies that are often discussed. Health care policy Health care policy is the strategic plan, and decision performed to achieve specific health care goal within a society. An explicit health care can make up for a couple of important things (Nolan and Badger 2002). It sets up a vision for the future that assists in establishing targets of reference for the short and medium term goals. It lays down the priorities, and the role expected of different groups, and it creates consensus and informs people on the better way of life. Various policies have been placed to ensure that children are in a position to have the best start of life, and support their families need to give them in the form of a chance to fulfill their potentials. In essence, children and young adults with a grievous life condition are in positions that best equate them to access of high-quality, family centered, sustainable care support, with services provided in a selected setting, as stated by the children, and their families’ desires (Nolan and Badger 2002). The services shall be commissioned and delivered in line with identified local need and national policy and driven by best practice. These practices are associated with the myriad of services that are generally provided in the proposed settings, those that have been chosen by the children, and their families’ (Sines et al 2009). Moreover, disabled children will be considered both at local and national priority in all the settings that the government shall be undertaking. The healthcare communities must be in positions where they can deliver excellent health care services to all their clients without discrimination of the payment of services. According to Smith and Goodwin 2005, better care in all the settings ensures help in improving the outcome for children, young people together with families who might be living with limiting and threatening health conditions (Ashworth et al 2002). Effect created by policy in primary and community environment. Partnership working The government is determined on working together with other partners in the voluntary and private sector in sharing the agenda towards the realization of better changes in the improvement of lives for children who experience life-limiting and life-threatening conditions like the disabled persons. Patient care teams are professionals who are div erse in their line of duty. In fact, the professionals continually communicate on the best ways of taking care and attending to different patient groups, and participate in the care through out. Good working teams are depicted by strong working leadership that is effective, shared obligations, common visions, and cooperation, and obedience, members must also invest in their talents, defined roles, and responsibilities (Cox and Hill 2010). This

Micro economics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Micro economics - Term Paper Example Aside from stocks and bonds, other investment instruments are mutual funds, stock options, and other financial derivative securities, which are briefly defined and described here. A stock is ownership of a corporation represented by shares that are a claim on the corporation’s earnings and assets (Downes, John & Goodman, Jordon Elliot, p. 556, Barron’s Educational Series). The price of a stock is the equivalent of the present value of all future dividends; it is also the present value of a dividend stream for the number of years it would have been held, plus the present value of the anticipated price of the stock after that time period (Block, Stanley B. & Hirt, Geoffrey A., p. 284, McGraw-Hill Irwin). Common stocks entitle the shareholder to received dividends in stocks and bonds, and to vote in the election of directors and other matters taken up at shareholder meetings or by proxy (Downes, John & Goodman, Jordon Elliot, p. 556, Barron’s Educational Series). The stock market is the general term referring to the organized trading of securities through the various exchanges and the over-the-counter market (Downes, John & Goodman, Jordon Elliot, p. 563, Barron’s Educational Series). It is likely that the role played by the market in gathering and disclosing information may be more important for large firms because their stocks are traded more often and are followed by many analysts (Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, p. 49, Finance & Development). Small firms may not benefit as much from stock market development, at least initially, because their access may be limited by high fixed issuance costs (Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, p. 49, Finance & Development). Even the stock of small firms that are listed on an exchange may not be traded as often as the stock of larger firms, since it

Household Behavior and Consumer Choice Essay Example for Free

Household Behavior and Consumer Choice Essay Issues of household behavior and consumer choices, lie in the field of microeconomics. Microeconomics, sometimes called the price theory is a branch of economics that concerns itself with the study of how households, individuals, and firms make their own private decisions on how to allocate scarce resources. In this research paper, I will seek to apply economic theories and mostly the consumer theory to analyze these decisions and their effects on consumption, interests and wages. ANALYSIS: DEFINITIONS: HOUSEHOLD BEHAVIOR: Household behavior is principally viewed and analyzed as the theory of consumer demand of various commodities or generally household consumption. In addition to this household behavior also concerns itself with production of commodities or services and the supply of labor by households. Consumer demand on the other hand concerns itself with how demand functions for various commodities are derived. This derivation is done considering the rational choice model based on utility maximization. In this analysis, economic constraints like budgets, income and commodity prices are considered for specific households. The consumer theory studies the issue of household likes and preferences applying indifference curves as well as budget constraints and relates these preferences to consumes demand curves. There are many economic variables that are used in the analysis of these preferences. Among the major variables, include the price per unit of a certain good and the money incomes of the specific consumers. A change in the price of a good usually has two major effects. Firstly, there is the substitution effect and secondly there is the income effect. The substitution effect usually arises from the relative change in prices of consumer goods. On the other hand, the income effect arises from changes in the purchasing power of the available money wage or income. The diagram below depicts the relationship between consumer demand and prices through indifference curves given budget constraints. When the price of good Y increases, the budget line will shift from BC2 to BC1. This is because when the price of good y increases households will buy less of the good but they will still buy the same quantity of good X as long as they wish. In order to maximize his or her utility the consumer will have to move from indifference curve I2 to I1. By doing this the consumer will be able to enjoy his/her preferences as normal. Incase the price of commodity Y decreases the budget line or the budget constraint will move from BC1 to BC2. This is because the consumer will now be able to purchase more of commodity y while at the same time enjoying the same amount of good X. in the same case, the consumer in order to maximize his/her utility will move from indifference curve I1 to I2. The same scenario will be applicable for price changes of good X. The income effect: The income effect is depicted in the diagram below. An increase or decrease of the consumer’s disposable income will cause a parallel shift of the consumer’s budget constraint. An increase in the disposable income will cause the budget constraint to shift to the right while a decrease in the income will cause the budget constraint to shift to the left. This applies for normal goods since the indifference curves will react differently for inferior goods and Giffen goods (goods with a snob appeal). For inferior goods as the income increases, less of the commodity will be consumed. This is because the increased income will cause the consumers to seek higher or better goods. For Giffen goods as the income, increases the amount of goods purchased may either increase or remain the same. Generally, the effects can be summed up to the substitution effect and the income effect. The substitution effect usually is a price change that affects the slope of the budget line (constraint), but leaves the consumer on the same equilibrium indifference curve. In cases where the good in question is a normal good then the price effect will outweigh the substitution effect, but in cases where the good is an inferior good then the substitution effect will outweigh the price effect. Leisure-labor tradeoff: The time that any consumer has to allocate for different purposes is called time endowment. The price of leisure is analyzed using the consumer theory, with some slight adjustments. In this case, leisure is assumed to be a good and consumption is considered to be another good. Since consumers have scarce and finite time then they will have to choose between leisure, which earns no money, and consumption of labor that earns an income. Regardless of this trade off the change in the unit price of leisure will have a huge effect on the working time since a reduction or an increase in the price of labor will lead to less work and more work respectively. Wage and interest rates: Wages can be analyzed both as a cause and as effect of consumer behavior. They are a cause in the sense that as wages increase so does the consumption of households increase. On the other hand, wages can be viewed as an effect of consumption behavior since they are indirectly determined by the consumer price index. Both real and nominal interest rates are affected by consumer behaviors. Depending on the liquidity within the economy, the consumption behavior of households can cause an increase or decrease in the level of interest rates. Conclusion: Many variables that are dealt with in microeconomics usually have an indirect effect in the field of macroeconomics. The determination of the national income do consider the value that households contribute either in the form of consumption or services that they render. In addition to this, the level of inflation is also slightly affected by the consumption and expenditure behaviors of the households. Consumer theory plays a very important role in explaining household behaviors. However, the field of macroeconomics also needs to be keenly looked at since it deals with economic aggregates. References: Mankiw, N. G. (2004), Principles of economics (3rd Ed. ), Chicago, ILLIOIS: Thomson South-Western McWilliams Gary. Analyzing Customers the wall street journal,Monday, November 8, 2004. Available at:http://online. wsj. com/article/SB109986994931767086. html Philip Hardwick (1982), an Introduction to Modern Economics, Longman, U. K

Reflection on Clinical Placement

Reflection on Clinical Placement Clinical Placement Reflection 1 Communication with others within the clinical setting – this may include staff members, patients and relatives. From working within in a team I have learnt that communication in health and social care underpins everything that professionals do and can determine the quality of service that patients receive. Poor communication between members of inter-professional teams affects the quality of care patients receive and can result in any number of bad experiences for the patients. I’ve noticed that some of the factors that contribute to poor communication include the use of professional jargon, abbreviations and poor handwriting. Thus I made it a personal objective try and avoid these behaviours and if I did for example, use jargon I made sure its universal so that there is no miscommunication. Your ability to work within a team. During this time on placement I have been able to witness and participate in multidisciplinary team meetings and have also had the opportunity to work with different healthcare professionals such as physiotherapist and also have been involved in ward rounds with doctors and nurses. The ward I was placed had a great team. I always felt a part of the team, and that I was making a valuable contribution thanks to both my eagerness to take on anything they threw at me, and, their inclusiveness and supportiveness. I learnt that holding back and waiting for people to notice you is not a good strategy. Let everyone know that you’re interested every day, and opportunities will come your way. Your role and relationship with others within the clinical practice My role and relationship with others within the clinical setting was very important to me. It was important for me to build the team member relationship with others as it helps to establish a mutual understanding and trust with other team members. When reflecting upon my own strengths and weaknesses, in relation to my role and relationship with others, I feel that whilst I am beginning to acquire an in depth understanding of the role of the nurse in the care of the patient, I feel that I lack substantial knowledge of the roles of the other healthcare professionals that I work alongside in the care of these same patients. I have listed the priority of this as being medium to high as I feel that it is not possible to become an effective collaborative healthcare member without having an understanding of the roles of others with whom I am are working with. If there is a lack of understanding of the roles of others, I fee l that it would be difficult to see why they are involved in the care of my patient, or even when it is appropriate to involve other healthcare professionals, inevitably leading to the quality of the care for the patient to suffer. Thus I made it in my best interest to interact more with others during the placement so that I could work alongside them confidently and work towards the same goals. Your problem solving skills. Where possible give examples of how you have used these. Being in acute care setting, the kind of problem-solving that I did tend to be solving were immediate problems rather long-term problems. For example, patients who cant get up who needs to have a sponge and clean linens on their bed. However each patient is different and often I couldn’t just perform the task without thought. The process of problem solving has guided me in finding solutions to a problem. I have learnt that this process is effective and helps me make the right decisions. I have also learnt to reflect on my decision so that I can see if the decision was the best or not for the situation. To assist me in problem solving more complex situations, I asked my mentor to provide some problem solving stimulations to further develop my problem-solving skills which was very beneficial for my learning process. Your time management skills I learnt the importance of time management a lot during this placement. On one of the days, I did not wash my patient before 8:00 am in order to prepare her for her family visit later on that day. My patient’s 10:00 am Parkinson’s’ medication administration was delayed by 45 minutes because she was being washed at that time. This event occurred because I did not prioritize the tasks I had to complete during the day properly, and therefore I learned the importance of time management. If I had obtained nursing knowledge and familiarize myself with the daily routine care of the patient I could have handle my time more efficiently. After this event, I learned effective time management strategies to handle my time on clinical and I will definitely utilize the time managing strategies step by step from knowing , planning , prioritizing tasks, gaining support from other nurses, and being flexible with my tasks. Your ability to understand your competence and scope of practice It was important for me to have an understanding my own competence and scope of practice as it guides me to good clinical practice and the delivery of my care to my patients. As a student enrolled nurse, there were strict practice standards and regulations, especially when medication is involved and supervision from our mentor was required at all times. Reflecting back, there were situations where although the practice was within my scope of practice, the policy and procedures of the facility did not allow it thus it is important to understand and familiarize yourself with the policy and procedures of the hospital as well as working within your scope. How you adapt and use new technology and reflect on historical changes in nursing As I was quite young and I didn’t have any problems adapting and using new technology. It was very exciting seeing new technology as I believe it will greatly improve nursing practice and make it more efficient. Some of the new technologies I had the opportunities to use include new vital signs machine, lifting machines and computer programs that included online hospital policy and procedures and mims. All documentation was still hand-written and stored in folders. Historically, nursing documentation has been a hand- written. However, today facilities are now introducing new technology aimed to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Your competency in relation to your nursing skills Competency in relation to my nursing skills had a lot to do with my confidence. For me, confidence is an important aspect of the practice of nursing and plays a major role in development. After an incident, I recognised that despite my lack of confidence the skill set that required to be completed for a particular patient was within my scope of practice, within my ability and within my knowledge base. On reflection it is clear that my lack of confidence in my ability, when put ‘on the spot’ contributed to my feelings of inadequacy which affected my competency in relation to my nursing skills. Through reflection and use of a mentor I was able to clarify that my weakness was not my nursing skills or knowledge level but my inability to effectively perform when under close scrutiny, which in turn led to a lack of confidence in my skill level and clinical knowledge. To develop my confidence and communication skill I became pr oactive and requested the assistance of a senior clinical educator to critically assess my skills and knowledge base. By doing this I reinforced my knowledge and skills but more importantly developed self-confidence. My efforts in seeking assistance and assessment of my skills could be seen as a step in ‘becoming more independent’. By gaining input and validation from my clinical educator, I ensured that I was able to successfully utilize my nursing skills competently and independently. An overall reflection of the day and how you can use your reflection to improve your practice Upon starting this placement I didn’t really know what to anticipate as it was my first time in a hospital setting, so when I was asked about my expectations all I could say was â€Å"That I wanted to learn all I can† Thinking back on that not so confident response, now at the end of this placement, gives me good insight into how valuable this placement has been to my professional development. This placement gave me the opportunity to begin to see myself as a professional, as I gradually learnt how to think critically about the patient’s health and managing their care and needs. This led to my becoming increasingly confident in the role I was determined to fill. Although I feel that I have a long way to go in this endeavour and will always continue learning, I know that I have learnt a lot during my time at this placement. To further improve my practice, I will use refle ction as it enables me to solve problems or learn from actions through thinking consciously about an activity which would then enable me learn and develop. Clinical Placement Reflection 2 Communication with others within the clinical setting – this may include staff members, patients and relatives. During my placement I was in a stroke unit. Being on this unit, I worked with many clients who suffered from post-stoke symptoms and many had difficulty with speech. The experience helped me learn the importance of both verbal and non-verbal communication. As an aspiring nurse, I have to continuously sharpen my communication skills because I will be interacting with more diverse range of patients in the future. I have to be able to establish rapport with each new patient and I can do this by communicating with them. I must maximise my communication with my patients because I can do a lot of things by communicating such as motivate, empower, educate and understand my patients. Your ability to work within a team. Working in a team provides me with a great satisfaction. From this teamwork experience, I strongly feel the importance of teamwork in providing consistent care for patients. It taught me to interact with others and as an individual in order to work towards the same goal. I had witnessed examples of both good and poor inter-professional collaboration and communication whilst in practice and have reflected on those incidents. Also, being self-aware I found was not only essential to nursing as a basis for reflection but it also contributed to how I communicate with others and assisted me in developing inter-personal skills with our colleagues so that I could work better in a team. Your role and relationship with others within the clinical practice In order to work efficiently together, it was important to understand my role and the roles of others within the clinic setting. My professional relationships with others was good except with occupational therapist (OT) mainly because I never had a fully understand of their role. I felt more clarity was needed surrounding the role of the OT so I made the efforts to research and speak to some of the OT to find out about their roles. As a result I was able to witness some of their work and worked closely with them. Being professional relationships and understand the roles of others has also lead me to understanding about the unique qualities and skills that different professionals bring to the team. In learning about other team members roles, I was also able to enhance my own professional identity which made me comfortable in the clinical setting. Your problem solving skills. Where possible give examples of how you have used these. I was quite a confident problem-solving however there are times where I’m faced with a situation where I can identify the problem but I’m not able to come up with a solution due to lack of experience. For example performing venepuncture; the patient had very poor vein and my first attempt failed and was very demotivated. We were never taught in school on how to deal with bad veins except to have two attempts and have someone else do it if you fail. Determined to do the venepuncture successful, I suggested to my mentor, if I was able to pull the vein downwards to minimise the movement of the vein. With the approval of my mentor, I went in and was successful on my second attempt. Your time management skills Prioritizing is a necessary tool for effective time management thus I made sure I prioritize tasks from high to low priority order. However during this placement, a staff had questioned my time management skill because I choose to assist patient who was lying in a soiled bed over researching my medications that was due in half an hour. This experience made me question how I was prioritising my time management skills. I decided to reflect on experience, and I believe that the staff was wrong to question my time management skills. I had thought about which was the greater priority in this situation and I still believe that the patient was. If the same situation arose again I feel that I would not do anything different other than to speak up and justify my decisions. I recognize and knowledge Time management as an important skill in nursing and hope that my skills will further improve with practice. Your ability to understand your competence and scope of practice My ability to understand my competence and scope of practice is demonstrated through my clinical practice to safely provide care that is in accordance to the competency standards and actively informing others of my scope of practice. I always clarified what the specific activity or task details were from my mentor and obtained any additional information that I may need, such as facility policies or procedures. I also I made sure I expressed the concern to my mentor or educator. An example of this was my knowledge of medication. Although it was in my scope to administer medication, it was important that I do it competently with full understanding of the drug use and why the patient is receiving it. While it was in my scope, I lacked knowledge of the drug therefore I felt incompetent to administer it safely. For this reason, I made it my goal to research the medications prior to administration. How you adapt and use new technology and reflect on historical changes in nursing During my placement, I adapted well to the new technology. The ward I was on had new software integrated in their computers which allowed me to access patient results and continue my learning through web-based training programs and access to online medical dictionaries and mims. My experience using these was very positive and very efficient. Historically, nursing documentation has been a hand- written. This was still the case in the ward that I was working in. This form of documenting has provided good communication between health care professionals and plan of patient care for the patient for a long period however the increase of medical errors and miscommunication has driven facilities to introduce new technology aimed to improve this and the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical practice. Your competency in relation to your nursing skills Nursing competency requires accumulation of evidence based knowledge and skills, understanding of cultural diversity and the care provided. During clinical practice I used the ANMC competency standards to reflect on my own practice. Areas that I felt competent in was my providing care in a safely manner and my ability to address the physiological, psychological, physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the patients and significant others. In addition, I continued professional education in order to build up knowledge and skills that will be necessary in coping with the dynamic changes in healthcare. Continuing education ensures that my knowledge is current and level of competency is maintained at a satisfactory level. An overall reflection of the day and how you can use your reflection to improve your practice My last placement has proved to be a huge progress. Through observations and clinical practice, I managed to develop my nursing skills both as an independent learner, but also as a member of the health team. Having been assigned patient loads, research medications and or reflecting on how I went, I was able to employ a range of skills that could not have found a better environment to develop in; critical thinking and problem solving, working with others and time management are just few examples. I will continue to do reflective practice to evaluate any clinical incident, positive or negative to attempt to better understand and contemplate the events which have taken place, and the behaviour, emotions and actions of not only myself, but the patient and others involved at that time In doing so, It will increase knowledge surrounding that situation and my professional development.

Flat Tax Essay -- Economics

Flat Tax An Analysis of the Flat Tax Rate System Should the flat tax rate system be implemented? No, the flat tax rate system should not be implemented. In this paper, the pro arguments will be presented, which will affirm the thesis. Then the con arguments will be presented. A rebuttal will then follow, and finally, the author’s conclusion will be offered. The loudest clamor against the flat tax would come from homeowners, Realtors, and builders, who would be hammered as the flat tax does away with deductions for mortgage interest payments and local property taxes. If not negotiated with skill, this issue could be the flat tax movement’s Achilles’ heel. An analysis by the economic consulting firm DRI/McGraw-Hill estimates that the market value of all homes could drop by 15 percent if the tax were introduced without a phase-in period. The brunt of the blow would be borne by those in middle and upper income groups. The flat tax could cause mortgage interest rates to drop by a full percentage point, which would chore up prices. But even so, the DRI economists calculate that were the flat tax enacted with no phase-in period, the price of a $150,000 home could fall to $113,571, a decline of 24 percent. (Dishman 39) Middle class votes who have most of their money tied up in home and hearth will scream blue murder. Nor will they be soothed by economists’ armchair arguments that the government’s roughly $80-billion-a-year tax subsidy to owner-occupied housing has led to a vast overbuilding of the nation’s housing stock. Roger E. Brinner, DRI’s chief economist, figures the plunge in housing value would wipe out more than $1.5 trillion of householder’s net worth. The collapse of the housing market and new home construction, Brinner predicts, would slice 1.2 percent off GDP the year after the flat tax passed, and 1.6 percent in the second year. (Dishman 39) A potentially troublesome law lurks in the flat tax plan of House Majority Leader Richard Armey. The Armey flat tax plans to eliminate business exemption for most fringe benefits, especially employer paid health care. Flat tax enthusiasts like Harvard University economist Dale Jorgenson argue that employers, who look at the total cost of compensation, would simply increase their employees’ cash compensation, leaving them free to purchase their own health insurance. In theory, the workers then bec... ...rth noting that, for the politician who withdraws money from a campaign fund for personal use, even if it is unlawful to do so, this is taxable under the present law. But it appears to be tax-free under the flat tax. The typical wage earner certainly has the right to be skeptical about this â€Å"fair and honest† tax. (Robertson 26) In conclusion, it is clear that the flat tax rate is not a good concept which would be beneficial to the people. The current tax system, for now, is by far the better choice. Bibliography: Works Cited Astrikson, John, â€Å"Flattening Taxes†, Consumer Reports December 1995, 34-37 Darell, Bobby, Modern Economy, New York: Harper, 1994 Dishman, Kris, The Science of Taxation, New Haven: Yale, 1996 Flanegan, Jim, The Treasury, Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1995 Henderson, Margaret. A Look at the Economy, New York: Dell, 1994 McAfee, Charles, The National Debt, New York: Appleton, 1993 McNamara, Ellen, Your Tax Dollars at Work, New York: Bowker, 1995 Miller, Shawn, Commerce and You, New York: Norton, 1996 Robertson, Oliver, Learning the System: New York: Grove, 1994 Tarik, Alfred, The Economy and the System: Boston: Houghton, 1993

Future Perfect :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Many futurologists - professional (Toffler) and less so (Naisbitt) - tried their hand at predicting the future. They proved quite successful at predicting major trends but not as lucky in delineating their details. This is because, inevitably, every futurologist has to resort to crude tools such as extrapolation. The modern day versions of biblical prophets are much better informed - and this, precisely, seems to be the problem. The cluttered information obstructs the outlines of the philosophically and conceptually most important elements. The futurologist has to divine which - of a host - of changes which occur in his times and place ushers in a new era. Since the speed at which human societies change has radically accelerated - the futurologist's work has become more compounded and less certain. It is better to stick to truisms, however banal. True and tried is the key to successful (and, therefore, useful) predictions. What can we rely upon which is immutable and invariant, not dependent on cultural context, technological level, or geopolitical developments? Human nature, naturally. The introduction of human nature into the equation which should yield the prediction may further complicate it. Human nature is, arguably, the most complex thing in the universe. It is characteristically unpredictable and behaviourally stochastic. It is not the kind of paradigm conducive to clear-cut, unequivocal, unambiguous forecasts. This is why it is advisable to isolate two or three axes around which human nature - or its more explicit manifestations - revolves. These organizational principles must possess comprehensive explanatory powers, on the one hand - and exhibit some kind of synergy, on the other hand. I propose such a trio : Individuality, Collectivism and Time. Individuation is the Separation principle, the human yearning for uniqueness and idiosyncrasy, for distinction and self sufficiency, for independence and self expression. Collectivism is the human propensity to agglomerate, to stick together, to assemble, the herd instincts and the group behaviours. Time is the principle which connects both. It is the bridge linking individual and society. It is an epiphenomenon of society. In other words, it arises only when people assemble and can compare themselves to others. This is not Time in the physical sense, which is discernible through the relative positions and physical states of physical systems. Every human - alone as he may be - is bound to notice it.

Explore Joe Gargery’s role in Great Expectations Essay

In Great Expectations, Joe acts as a father figure to Pip, when he is in fact his brother-in-law, as Joe married Pip’s sister, Mrs Joe Gargery. We are introduced to Joe as a â€Å"mild, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easy-going, foolish, dear fellow†. Pip describes him as a kind and gentle man, making the reader immediately like him. â€Å"Good-natured† and â€Å"sweet-tempered† give Joe an endearing quality, so the reader is drawn to him. However, â€Å"foolish† introduces a potentially negative side to his character, like he is stupid, although this too could be considered endearing. Perhaps Dickens does this so that we can understand Joe’s actions better, or at least don’t view him too negatively when he can’t protect Pip from Mrs Joe. In contrast to his gentle personality, he is a blacksmith, and therefore a strong man. Pip thinks of him â€Å"like the steam-hammer, that can crush a man or pat an egg shell†. He is likening Joe to a machine in the forge, giving Joe a sense of power. Although, â€Å"crush† is quite a violent word, suggesting Joe to be violent, which he definitely is not. Perhaps Dickens included this detail to make us respect Joe, which is important for later on in the novel, so we don’t just view him as a â€Å"sweet-tempered† man. But there is a sense of this good natured man in the word â€Å"pat†, it could potentially have paternal connotations. Perhaps this links to the image of the egg shell as well, as it is a fragile protector of life. Furthermore Joe could almost be seen as the protector of Pip’s life, as he saves him several times. Also egg shells can be strong, but have weak sides if they are put under stress, just like Joe has a weak side – he can’t protect Joe from Mrs Joe Gargery. As well as this, there is the idea that Joe is in control, in the words â€Å"can† and â€Å"or†, he can choose which side of himself to be, strong or gentle. This is a very adult concept, but Joe can sometimes be very childlike. Joe can’t deal with the idea of death, despite being a strong blacksmith. When Pip asks Joe if Miss Havisham died, he eventually replies â€Å"she ain’t living†. This is a very backward way of saying it, a way we don’t normally use, showing Joe’s childish innocence. He avoids the subject of death again, when Pip asks him if he had heard of Magwitch’s death. Even though Joe never knew him personally, he avoids saying the words, instead he says he heard â€Å"something or another in a general way in that direction†. The vagueness of this statement is almost humorous, he can’t even just say â€Å"yes†. Joe is unable to confirm a person’s death, he just brushes over the subject, not fully acknowledging or possibly understanding it, like a child would. Another way Dickens portrays this childishness is through making Joe illiterate. Pip writes him a letter, and all he can read is his name: â€Å"Why, here’s three Js, and three Os, and three J-O, Joes, in it, Pip! † The exclamation mark at the end implies he is excited and proud that he has managed to read, and that he is wanting Pip to recognise his achievement, like a child would want their father too. This childishness makes Joe a lovable character, the reader wants to see him do well. Perhaps it also makes Pip’s behaviour towards him seem worse, from the reader’s perspective, as Joe is such an innocent character. Whilst Joe may not have great knowledge or academic skills, he possesses something most of the other characters don’t have, self-knowledge, he recognises he is illiterate and ‘stupid’. He tells Pip on two separate occasions that he is â€Å"most awful dull†. He is accepting of himself, he knows he is not the cleverest, in fact â€Å"awful† suggests that he thinks he is very stupid. Moreover, â€Å"dull† could imply many things, not only that he is stupid, but also that he isn’t sharp. Perhaps this is a reference to him being a black smith, that he is like one of his hammers, only good for physically things, he’s not sharp witted or clever. â€Å"Dull† could also intimate that he thinks he is boring, perhaps why he struggles to talk to, or be in the presence of people in a higher class to himself, because he considers himself boring and unworthy. But this ‘dullness’ does not stop him from being wise. Throughout the novel, Joe gives Pip many pieces of advice, for example â€Å"if you can’t get to be oncommon through going straight, you’ll never get to do it through going crooked†. Joe, even though he is perhaps the most uneducated character (shown in the wording of the sentence) he can sometimes be the most wise and honourable. Because of this he acts as a hidden role model for Pip. Not only is he honourable and wise, he understands his place: â€Å"I am wrong out of the forge† he tells Pip at their awkward reunion. Dickens suggests (through Joe) that people should stay in their class, and not aspire or try to move up; he argues for social immobility. Joe tells Pip that if he ever came back to the forge he’d â€Å"see Joe the blacksmith, there, at the old anvil, in the old burnt apron, sticking to the old work. † Joe labels himself â€Å"the blacksmith† implying that he believes it is all he is good at. The repetition of â€Å"old† makes him seem experienced, as he has been doing it a long time. There is also the idea that he clings or latches onto his work, in the word â€Å"sticking†, he fixes himself onto it so much that it has become how he defines himself. The fact that he feels himself â€Å"wrong† when not in the forge could be the reason why he can’t talk to Miss Havisham: â€Å"Joe†¦ persisted in addressing me. † It is like he cannot deal with the formality of he occasion, as he feels he doesn’t belong there. Dickens humiliates Joe here, presenting him as a shy and awkward character, making the reader sympathise with him. This is another negative quality, helping to balance out the character of Joe.