Reflecting On Prioritising Personal Development And Patient Care Nursing Essay

Reflecting On Prioritising Personal Development And Patient Care Nursing Essay For the purpose of this essay, I will use Gibbs (1988) Reflective Learning Cycle to reflect on an aspect of individual professional practice, which requires development in preparation for my role as a Registered Nurse. Gibbs (1988) Reflective Learning Cycle encourages a clear description of a situation, analysis of feelings, evaluation of the experience and analysis to make sense of the experience to examine what you would do if the situation arose again. To keep within the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code of Professional Conduct guidelines (2008a) and to maintain confidentiality the use of names or places will not be used throughout this essay. Description Whilst on placement working on a general ward during my third year I was asked to research a drug I was unsure about by my mentor. On my way to research the drug I was approached by a health care assistant who asked me if I could assist her with a patient who was lying in a soiled bed. I chose to help the health care assistant as I thought this was priority as I could look up the drug at any point in the day as it was for my own learning and development and wasnt urgent. After I had helped the health care assistant, my mentor asked if I had researched the drug. I explained that I had gone to help the health care assistant and would now look up the drug, which I then did. My mentor then told me that I needed to improve on my time management, as I had not looked up the drug when she asked me to. She carried on explaining that when I become a Registered Nurse I would need to know drugs and what they are used for. This situation left me questioning which was the priority, the patients ne eds or my own professional learning and development. Feelings I automatically assisted the health care assistant in making the patient comfortable as I felt that this was the priority over researching the drug. I remember thinking that I could do this at home if the ward became busy. I felt annoyed with myself for not speaking up to my mentor about the issue as I had thought I had made the right decision to help the patient. I was concerned about the patients comfort and felt I could not justify leaving the patient lying in a soiled bed because I had to research a drug. Nurses need to be able to justify the decisions they make (NMC 2008a). After the incident, being told by my mentor that I needed to improve on my time management skills because I chose to assist the health care assistant confused me a little. This practice experience made me feel as though I needed to learn and develop more regarding my time management skills. I decided I would have to research into the meaning of time management as I thought that my time management skills were fine. I was always on time for my shift and I would make a list of the jobs I needed to do and prioritise them. This experience made me question how I was prioritising my workload at present. Evaluation I chose to assist the health care assistant in ensuring the patient was clean and comfortable and felt that this was the priority in this situation. As an accountable practitioner the NMC (2008a) states you must make the care of people your first concern, treating them as individuals and respecting their dignity which I did. I could understand what my mentor was explaining to me, that as a Registered Nurse I must be able to know what different drugs are and what they are used for. As an accountable practitioner, I must have the knowledge and skills for safe and effective practice when working without direct supervision, recognize, and work within the limits of my competence. I must also keep my knowledge and skills up to date throughout my working life and I must take part in appropriate learning and practice activities that maintain and develop my competence and performance (NMC 2008a). Post-registration education and practice (Prep) is a set of Nursing Midwifery Council standards and guidance, which is designed to help you provide a high standard of practice and care. Prep helps you to keep up to date with new developments in practice and encourages you to think and reflect for yourself. It also enables you to demonstrate to the people in your care, your colleagues and yourself that you are keeping up to date and developing your practice. Prep provides an excellent framework for your continuing professional development (CPD), which, although not a guarantee of competence, but is a key component of clinical governance (NMC 2008b). Following this experience my concern was which is the priority and which was not and that if I had have researched the drug I would have been leaving the patient in a soiled bed until I had done it. Analysis As Individuals, we do not invent the concept of time, but we learn about it, both as a concept and a social institution, from childhood onwards. In the Western world, time has been constructed around devices of measurement, such as clocks, calendars and schedules (Elias 1992). A study by Waterworth (1995) explored the value of nursing practice from the viewpoint of practitioners, she identified that time with patients is important, but raises the question of how nurses manage their time. The importance of time management will strike me at some point in my career as a Registered Nurse. I will be inundated with work and I will need to evaluate how to manage my time effectively. Time management is a dynamic process. It is constant actions and communications between you and your goals and dealing with changing situations (Brumm 2000). Time management tends to go hand in hand with good prioritisation skills, which mean managing your time, deciding upon priorities and planning accordingly, this can be one of the most difficult skills to acquire (Hole 2009). Managing time appropriately will reduce stress and increase productivity. There are three basic steps to time management. The first step requires time to be set aside for planning and establishing priorities. The second step requires completing the highest priority task whenever possible and finishing one task before you start another. In the final step the nurse must reprioritise what tasks will be accomplished based on new information received (Marquis and Huston 2009). We use planning in all aspects of our lives. In nursing, we often call it a care plan, and nurses use this process to guide their practice. The nursing process, or Assess, Plan, Implement and evaluate (APIE), can be used successfully as a time management tool. APIE is a systematic, rational method of planning and providing care but if you change, the meaning to read it is a systematic, rational method of planning and accomplishing a workable time management plan this can be a great tool for nurses to use to manage their time effectively (Brumm 2000). Assess/Analyze Collect and organise data and form a statement of actual or potential time management needs. Plan/Prioritize Formulate your plan. This involves devising goals and expected outcomes, setting priorities, and identifying interventions to help reach the goals. Implement/Intervene Put your plan into action. Evaluate Assess your outcomes and see how you measure up against your goals. There will be constant demands on my time and attention and it may be difficult to identify exactly what my priorities should be. In patient care, priorities can change rapidly and I will need to be able to constantly re-assess situations and respond appropriately. Priority setting is the process of establishing a preferential sequence for addressing nursing interventions. The nurse begins planning by deciding which intervention requires attention first, which second and so on. Instead of rank-ordering interventions, nurses can group them as having high, medium, and low priority. Life threatening problems such as loss of respiratory or cardiac function are designated as high priority. Health-threatening problems, such as acute illness and decreased coping ability, are assigned medium priority because they may result in delayed development or cause destructive physical or emotional changes. A low-priority problem is one that arises from normal developmental needs or that requires only minimal nursing support (Kozier et al 2008). The assumption is that priorities can be determined, and decisions made as to what is most important, and that this can be followed by appropriate nursing actions. To establish priorities is to question what will be the consequence if this is not done immediately. During this experience questioning what will be the consequence of not helping the health care assistant? The patient would have had to wait whilst I researched the drug and would have been left lying in urine and faeces. This could cause skin excoriation to the patient and they would have been left uncomfortable and undignified. I would not have been providing a high standard of practice and care as stated in the NMC (2008a) and I could be held accountable for this as a Registered Nurse. Urinary incontinence and faecal incontinence should be managed in a manner that is unobtrusive, reliable, and comfortable. The patient will need to be attended to quickly, in order to prevent skin damage, relieve discomfort and restore dignity. Nurses need to be aware of the potential skin problems that may result from incontinence (Baillie 2005). The presence of moisture from urine and sweat increases friction and shear, skin permeability and microbial load (Jeter and Lutz 1996). If a patient has been incontinent of urine and faeces, their interaction can result in the formation of ammonia, leading to a rise in pH and an increase in the activity of faecal enzymes that damage the skin (Baillie 2005). The importance of changing a soiled product promptly in cases of faecal incontinence to prevent skin excoriation has also been emphasised by Gibbons (1996). I must act at all times to identify and minimise risk to patients and clients (NMC 2008a). A research article and news story about student nurses and bedside care produced a phenomenal response on nursingtimes.net. The study authors Helen Allan and Pam Smith (2010) speak out  saying that given the current pressures, qualified nurses are unable to deliver bedside care. The perception is that technical care is valued over and above bedside care as a source of learning for students future roles, leaving them feeling unprepared to be registered nurses. Their research showed that students conceptualize nursing differently to qualified staff because of an intensified division of labour between registered and non-registered nursing staff. As students, we often observe health care assistants performing bedside care and registered nurses undertaking technical tasks. The absence of clear role models leads students to question bedside care as part of their learning and to put greater value on learning technical skills. In relation to my reflective experience my mentor suggested the technical task in researching the drug was the priority in relation to the bedside care of the patient therefore it is not surprising to find that student nurses are unclear as to what is a source of learning in preparation for our roles as Registered Nurses. Helping patients with personal hygiene is one of the most fundamental and crucial relationship-building skills available to nurses, regardless of their seniority and clinical experience, student nurses should embrace these opportunities while we do not have the other time pressures and we can then reflect on our experiences. These skills will prove invaluable in delivering, overseeing and evaluating meaningful, holistic care (Bowers 2009). Registered Nurses hold a position of responsibility and other people rely on them. They are professionally accountable to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), as well as having a contractual accountability to their employer and are accountable to the law for their actions. The NMC (2008a) code states that As a professional, you are personally accountable for actions and omissions in your practice and must always be able to justify your decisions. The NMC (2008a) code outlines the standards that I must work according to, what is expected of me as a registered professional by colleagues, employers, and members of the public. It also outlines what my professional responsibilities and accountabilities are. I may sometimes be faced with situations, which will require me to challenge, and question things that they are asking me to do if I feel that these things are unsafe or are not in the best interests of the patient or organisation. It is well recognised that it can be difficult to address these issues due to factors such as fear of the consequences, embarrassment, and lack of support like in my experience as mentioned above. Semple and Kenkre (2002) point out that the UKCC (2001) [now the NMC] reported the research of Moira Attree, which highlighted that fact that nurses are often reluctant to raise concerns about standards of care because they feared either inaction or retribution from employers. Nurses may also be inhibited b y fears of being ostracised by the team if deciding to speak out against poor practice. This is another aspect of my individual professional practice, which requires development, and I will try to question situations in the future if I feel they are not in the best interests of the patient. Being overwhelmed by work and time constraints will lead to increased errors, the omission of important tasks and general feelings of stress and ineffectiveness. Time management is a skill, which is learned and improves with practice (Marquis and Huston 2009). Literature on time management in nursing is mainly unreliable, providing a number of tips on how to manage time, along with descriptions of processes or strategies. The order for thinking about the process varies, ranging from setting objectives as the first step to working out how time is being used with the aid of time logs (Waterworth 2003). Determining the importance of tasks or priorities is part of the process, although the stage at which this should occur varies between authors. The main theme in literature is that nurses need to think about their own time management, with the main message being that individual nurses can manage their time. The reality of time management in nursing practice has been subject to experimental investigations, although studies on nurses work organization have found time management problematic, with nurses compensating for lack of time by developing strategies in an attempt to complete their work (Bowers et al. 2001). Conclusion Time management is a dynamic process and tends to go hand in hand with good prioritising skills. If you cannot prioritise you, will waste time and be inefficient. This can cause stress to yourself and your fellow team members, as well as causing potential harm to your patients. An efficient way to organising your time can be to use the nursing process as explained in the essay to Analyze, Prioritize, Intervene and evaluate. After my research into time management and prioritising, I believe that my mentor 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. The patient would have been at risk from skin excoriation and would have been left uncomfortable and undignified. As a Registered Nurse, I will be accountable for my actions and in the future, 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 identified and minimised risk to that patient and as a Registered Nurse, I will hold a position of responsibility and other people will rely on me. Although saying this, my priorities as a Registered Nurse may be different to those as a student nurse and my continuing professional development will be extremely important. I must make the care of my patients my first concern at all times, treating them as individuals and respectin g their dignity (NMC 2008a). Action Plan With the increasing emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness in health care, how I manage my time will be an important consideration. Time management is recognized as an important component of work performance and nursing practice. As a newly qualified Registered Nurse, I will have to have excellent time management skills and be able to prioritise care appropriately. To achieve this I will: Break down my day to find out how long it takes me to do certain tasks. Using the nursing process as a tool, I will write a list in priority order and cross of tasks as they are completed and I will keep evaluating my list during the shift. I will delegate tasks to other members of the team where necessary. Through the reflection of this experience, I am now aware that I also need more development to challenge and question things that I feel are not in the best interests of the patients. To achieve this I will: I will speak up and justify my actions at all times. I will research more into assertiveness and confidence skills.

Compare and contrast the dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin Essay

Totalitarianism is when all three powers of the state (judicial, executive, and legislative) are controlled by one person. This is what happened in the twentieth century when Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin became the dictators of Germany and Russia. They were similar in many ways but had completely different fundamental ideas. Hitler was born in 1889 in Austria . He left school with no qualifications and fought in the First World War. Stalin was born in 1879 in Georgia. His original name was Iosif Dzugashvili but he changed it to Stalin (which means â€Å"man of steel†). Both Hitler and Stalin had relatively low backgrounds. Both Hitler and Stalin came to power in difficult times. After loosing the First World War, Germany was in dept. There had been a hyper-inflation and the Germans were eager for change. Russia on the other hand was in the middle of a revolution and communism was being installed. Both Hitler and Stalin were capable of using the current economical situation to help them to power; promising everything the Germans and Russians wanted. Unlike Stalin, Hitler was very good at making speeches but they were both devious and ruthless leaders. Neither Hitler or Stalin believed in democracy but they still had very different beliefs. Stalin was a member of the Russian Communist Party. He thought that a country could only progress under this regime where everything belongs to everyone and there are supposedly no rich and no poor; everyone is equal. Hitler was fascist: he believed that all Jews, homosexuals, mentally ill and gypsies should be killed and only the Aryan race should live (white Europeans who had blond hair and blue eyes). Hitler also wanted to destroy the communist party and rebuild his army to expand Germany. Both leaders wanted to rebuild their country and make it more powerful. Hitler and Stalin both used terror to keep people in line. They had a large  secret police that they would use to crush any opposition. In both countries people and children were encouraged to report on one another. People who criticized or opposed Hitler or Stalin were arrested tortured and killed or sent to gulags (in Russia) or concentration camps (in Germany) where they did forced labor. Gulags were often situated in Siberia and the prisoners were badly fed and dressed and not payed. Hitler and Stalin would not hesitate to kill or exile any political opponents or people seen as threats within or without of their party. Both dictators banned all other political parties. Hitler and Stalin were both able to control what the population though and what information it received. They controlled the cinema, education, arts, the media (newspapers and radio)†¦ They also controlled religion; in Russia belief in God was replaced by belief in communism and Stalin. Propaganda played a big roll in both their dictatorships. In Russia, paintings, films, plays and posters gave a positive image of Stalin, promoting him as the best leader. In Germany, propaganda was used to show that the Nazis were doing the best things for the Germans. Propaganda always exaggerated and promoted Nazi achievements and ideas. In both cases failures were hidden from the public. Both Hitler and Stalin changed life a lot for the people of their countries. They created a lot of jobs but the workers were very badly paid and worked for long hours. Stalin created jobs in the industry and farming and Hitler in the military and infrastructure. Stalin believed that women should work too and in 1937, forty percent of workers were women. Hitler on the other hand believed that women were to stay at home and take care of the children. When Hitler came to power he sacked most women that were already working. In both cases their were very few women in politics. Children were taught that Hitler/Stalin were heroes. Schools were used to promote communism and fascism. Girls were taught baking and childcare. Outside of school children were encouraged to join the Hitler Youth (in Germany) and the Pioneers (in Russia). Boys were shaped to become industrial workers or soldiers and girls to raise and take care of a family. Under both Hitler and Stalin’s dictatorships the lives of the Germans and Russians were changed a lot. They both controlled what information got to the people and used terror to maintain order. They were also both able to use to their advantage many things like the economical crises. Though both rulers had different goals they had similar means to achieve them.

Assignment Checklist Questions Essay

1. Did you adhere to the length requirement of the assignment? If not, reduce your words.Essay will not be accepted if it is more than 50 words beyond the max. The essay contains 1095 words. 2. Did you use MLA first-page format and do it properly? Did you check your first-page against the textbook example? Proper MLA first page format has been used. 3. Did you include a lead in at the start of your introduction? If you don’t know what this is, you are not ready to submit your assignment. The essay contains a captivating introduction. 4. Did you briefly and neutrally summarize both sides of the debate in your introduction and/or did you provide necessary background and then add a transitional sentence before your thesis? The other side of the debate has been briefly addressed. 5. Is your thesis the last sentence of the first paragraph, or do you have a good reason it is not? The thesis is the last statement of the intro para. 6. Did you include a parallel-structured essay map with your thesis sentence? The essay contains a parallel-structured essay map. 7. Have you used third person point of view throughout? Check and make sure you have not shifted into first person (I) or second person (you) without having a good reason. You can use a global search to double check. Third person is used. 8. Does each paragraph have a topic sentence (stated or implied) with at least two supporting points, details, and a conclusion? Each paragraph contains all necessary elements. 9. Did you use a transitional word, phrase or sentence at the beginning of each body paragraph? Did you use transitional words or phrases between sentences within paragraphs, as necessary? Transitions are used. 10. Did you follow all 18 instructions on page two and three of this assignment handout? All 18 instructions have been used. 11. Did you correctly follow the four-step research inclusion method we discussed for both paraphrases and quotations? The four steps are as follows: introduce, present according to MLA, credit your source parenthetically and discuss. Research inclusion methods are followed. 12. Did you check each use of research to determine whether you integrated it? Which integration methods did you use? Check each instance and report it here. Do not skip this step.I am asking if you integrated paraphrases and quotations into your own writing by using either (1) a snippet; (2) a colon; (3) the author, title, or both. Author, Colon and Snippet methods were used. Avoided the use of titled integration due to lengthy titles which made it choppy. 13. Did you make sure that no paragraph ends with a quotation? No paragraph ends with a quotation. 14. Did you check any titles you named in your essay against the handout I put on BB called Titles: Italics vs. Quotation Marks No titles are used. 15. Does your in-text citation properly match the corresponding Works Cited entry? Check this very carefully – remember the first word/first word formula. Proper match of citations. 16. Did you make sure to do your in-text and Works Cited entries correctly? Did you check each citation word for word and punctuation for punctuation against an example from our textbook or the MRU library handout or another reputable source? Make sure you checking against MLA, not APA. In text and works cited entries are correct. 17. Did you create a suggestive, emphatic conclusion rather than one in which you unnecessarily repeat the main supporting points? The conclusion is suggestive and emphatic. Jeremy Roberts Sharren Patterson GNED 1401 26 October 2014 The Importance of Teaching the Holocaust Inhumanity reached a point in the early 1940s that will be spoken about for years beyond our existence. The largest genocide of the 20th century, the Holocaust, was described by Samuel Totten as the â€Å"systematic, bureaucratic  annihilation of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and their collaborators as a central act of state during World War II† (â€Å"A Note†). This significant event in history presents an ongoing discussion regarding its role within high school curriculums. The Holocaust’s profound nature is why numerous individuals avoid teaching the subject in school, despite its historical significance. Farnham states that even though there is â€Å"potential for direct pain and guilt from [teaching the Holocaust], the significance of the subject in human as well as in historical terms is such that the burden [of teaching the subject] must be endured† (â€Å"Teaching the Holocaust† 274). Even though the subject needs to be taught with great care due to its sensitive nature, high school history classes should include the Holocaust because it is a major event that helped shape the world we live in today. Including this act of genocide in curriculums will provide an accurate representation of history, an ethical framework for students, and a foundation for our future history. To better understand history, it is paramount that the most accurate and detailed information about the Holocaust is taught to students. By detailing how and why the event occurred, students will be given an opportunity to fully understand the pain and suffering individuals endured in Germany during this time period. â€Å"One of the values of Holocaust education, one hopes, is that it increases sensitivity to the suffering of others† (Farnham, â€Å"What is† 22). In addition to helping students empathize with the suffering, Holocaust education should also address the role politics and media played in organizing the massacre of millions of individuals. The views that led to this massacre were deeply embedded within the German culture and surrounding countries prior to the Holocaust. However, it was the radical leader, Adolf Hitler, who utilized politics, media, and technology to impose his â€Å"final solution.† The following statement from Totten emphasizes the importance of teaching how the genocide took place: [T]he education that students receive about the Holocaust has to be unique, powerful and bereft of perfunctory nature. . . . [The teachers] also need to appreciate and teach the fact that the persecution and extermination of the Jews . . . was bureaucratic in nature, and that modern technology was used to maximize the killing process. Most importantly, though, teachers and  students need to realize that the Jews were killed not for what they were or for what they practised or believed, but for the fact that they were; that, all Jews were to be exterminated simply because they existed. (â€Å"A Note†) Keeping such a significant event out of high school curriculums might increase the likelihood of misconceptions and stereotypes. Kitson states, there are many students who have misconceptions and stereotypes related to the Holocaust: all Germans are Nazis, the Jews were helpless victims and didn’t fight back, Jews living in Germany were not German, and all victims died in gas chambers (42). Providing accurate information to today’s youth about the Holocaust allows students the opportunity to eliminate misconceptions and understand the suffering that millions of individuals endured because of the tremendous influence and power that Adolph Hitler had. Broadening a student’s view of how and why the Holocaust occurred is just as important as outlining and understanding its unethical nature. Inclusion of this event in high school curriculum will help young students broaden their perspectives, and shape their moral foundation. Farnham asserts this point by stating, â€Å"[t]his is a moral function, for being able to imagine the effect of one’s contemplated deed on another person is necessary to any moral or ethical judgment one might make of a proposed act† (â€Å"What is† 22). Teaching the Holocaust, in combination with using our imagination, allows us to think of the conditions of the victims, and, in turn, increases our empathy towards them (Farnham, â€Å"What is† 22). The subject’s controversial nature will provide the type of engaging context that students require to think critically about the effects of their decisions. In addition, this subject provides context for individuals to examine the â€Å"use and abuse of power, and the role and responsibilities of individuals, organizations, and nations when confronted with civil rights violations and/or policies of genocide† (Totten, â€Å"A Note†). In-depth analysis of the Holocaust’s unethical nature will allow students to form and further strengthen their moral and ethical principles to which they hold themselves accountable in decision making. The development of students’ moral and ethical framework is not only vital to their future actions and decisions, but also the future of humanity.  Through the teaching of the Holocaust, today’s youth are given an example of one of the very worst acts of inhumanity. Students will learn that it was not only Germany who was responsible. Numerous countries refused to accept Jewish refugees, and, in doing so, were partly responsible for the events that took place. Totten provides graphic insight towards the inactivity of surrounding nations when he explains, â€Å"Germany alone is not to blame. If Hitler turned Europe into a pressure cooker for the Jews, then much of the free world helped to seal it by refusing to accept Jewish refugees† (â€Å"A Note†). By detailing this fact, students are made aware of the â€Å"danger of staying silent, apathetic and indifferent in the face of others’ oppression† (Totten, â€Å"A Note†). Students will understand how important it is to maintain their values and have the confidence to actually stand up against what they believe is right or wrong. Teaching the Holocaust will allow us to help guide our future generations to make morally sound decisions. There are very few events throughout the course of history which contain such a breadth of material. Learning about the Holocaust can be a transformative experience for students because it engages them to consider numerous elements, including, human rights, morals and ethics, and political injustice. It is for this reason that the Holocaust should not only be taught in high school, but should also be considered as one of the main topics for history classes. Although teaching the topic would not guarantee a world free of injustices or inhumane acts, the implementation of Holocaust into high school curriculums would be a way for the current educated population to help guide future generations towards a better society and a future history that everyone can be proud of. Works Cited Farnham, James F. â€Å"Teaching the Holocaust: A Rationale for Dealing with the Absurd.† The Journal of General Education 33.4 (1982): 273-283. Penn State University Press. Web. 11 Oct. 2014. Farnham, James F. â€Å"What is the Value of Teaching the Holocaust?† The Journal of General Education 41 (1992): 18-22. Penn State University Press. Web. 11 Oct. 2014. Kitson, Alison. â€Å"Challenging Stereotypes and Avoiding the Superficial: A Suggested Approach to Teaching the Holocaust.† Teaching History. 104 (2001): 41-8. ProQuest. Web. 11 Oct. 2014. Totten, Samuel. â€Å"Teaching the Holocaust: The Imperative to Move Beyond Cliches.† Canadian Social Studies 33.3 (1999): 84-7. ProQuest. Web. 11 Oct. 2014. Totten, Samuel. â€Å"A Note: Why Teach about the Holocaust?† Canadian Social Studies 31.4 (1997): 176-178. ProQuest. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.

Attila the Hun Timeline and History

This timeline shows the significant events in the history of the Huns, with emphasis on the reign of Attila the Hun, in a simple one-page format. For a more-detailed recounting, please see the in-depth timeline of Attila and the Huns. The Huns Before Attila †¢ 220-200 B.C. - Hunnic tribes raid China, inspire the building of the Great Wall of China †¢ 209 B.C. - Modun Shanyu unites the Huns (called Xiongnu by Chinese-speakers) in Central Asia †¢ 176 B.C. - Xiongnu attack the Tocharians in western China †¢ 140 B.C. - Han Dynasty Emperor Wu-ti attacks the Xiongnu †¢ 121 B.C. - Xiongnu defeated by Chinese; split into Eastern and Western groups †¢ 50 B.C. - Western Huns move west to the Volga River †¢ 350 A.D. - Huns appear in Eastern Europe The Huns under Attilas Uncle Rua †¢ c. 406 A.D. - Attila born to father Mundzuk and unknown mother †¢ 425 - Roman general Aetius hires Huns as mercenaries †¢ late 420s - Rua, Attilas uncle, seizes power and eliminates other kings †¢ 430 - Rua signs the peace treaty with Eastern Roman Empire, gets a tribute of 350 pounds of gold †¢ 433 - Western Roman Empire gives Pannonia (western Hungary) to the Huns as payment for military aid †¢ 433 - Aetius takes de facto power over Western Roman Empire †¢ 434 - Rua dies; Attila and older brother Bleda take Hunnic throne The Huns under Bleda and Attila †¢ 435 - Aetius hires the Huns to fight against the Vandals and Franks †¢ 435 - Treaty of Margus; Eastern Roman tribute increased from 350 to 700 pounds of gold †¢ c. 435-438 - Huns attack Sassanid Persia, but are defeated in Armenia †¢ 436 - Aetius and the Huns destroy the Burgundians †¢ 438 - First Eastern Roman embassy to Attila and Bleda †¢ 439 - Huns join the Western Roman army in a siege of the Goths at Toulouse †¢ Winter 440/441 - Huns sack a fortified Eastern Roman market town †¢ 441 - Constantinople sends its military forces to Sicily, en route to Carthage †¢ 441 - Huns besiege and capture the Eastern Roman cities of Viminacium and Naissus †¢ 442 - Eastern Roman tribute increased from 700 to 1400 pounds of gold †¢ September 12, 443 - Constantinople orders military readiness and vigilance against Huns †¢ 444 - Eastern Roman Empire stops paying tribute to Huns †¢ 445 - Death of Bleda; Attila becomes sole king Attila, King of the Huns †¢ 446 - Huns demand for tribute and fugitives denied by Constantinople †¢ 446 - Huns capture Roman forts at Ratiaria and Marcianople †¢ January 27, 447 - Major earthquake hits Constantinople; frantic repairs as Huns approach †¢ Spring 447 - Eastern Roman army defeated at Chersonesus, Greece †¢ 447 - Attila controls all of the Balkans, from the Black Sea to the Dardanelles †¢ 447 - Eastern Romans give 6,000 pounds of gold in back-tribute, yearly cost increased to 2,100 pounds of gold, and fugitive Huns handed over for impaling †¢ 449 - Maximinus and Priscus embassy to the Huns; attempted assassination of Attila †¢ 450 - Marcian becomes Emperor of Eastern Romans, ends payments to Huns †¢ 450 - Roman princess Honoria sends ring to Attila †¢ 451 - Huns overrun Germany and France; defeated at Battle of Catalaunian Fields †¢ 451-452 - Famine in Italy †¢ 452 - Attila leads an army of 100,000 into Italy, sacks Padua, Milan, etc. †¢ 453 - Attila suddenly dies on wedding night The Huns After Attila †¢ 453 - Three of Attilas sons divide the empire †¢ 454 - The Huns are driven from Pannonia by the Goths †¢ 469 - Hunnic king Dengizik (Attilas second son) dies; Huns disappear from history