Importance of Documentation Care in Nursing

Importance of Documentation Care in Nursing This scenario presents a number of problems to the staff nurse. In relation to the sphere of practice, as a D Grade Staff Nurse I have a senior nurse present on the ward, who will be in charge during the shift. This provides me with a source of support and experiential knowledge, and also someone with whom to liaise over any issues which arise. However, as a Registered Nurse I am responsible for my own practice, accountable for all aspects of nursing practice and therefore must act on everything pertaining to practice that should arise. In an ideal situation, the E Grade will act on any information or concerns I bring to her. If she does not, then it is my responsibility to act on these concerns myself. The NMC Code of Conduct (NMC, 2004) requires that all qualified nurses act in the best interests of their patients at all times. The NMC code of conduct also states that all nurses are accountable for their own practice, and must account for their own acts or omissions (NMC, 2004). The focus of this analysis of the scenario is on documentation and the nurse. The nursing literature suggests that the completion of nursing documentation has been one of the most important functions of nurses, even from the beginning of the profesion in the time in the time of Florence Nightingale (Cheevakasemsook et al, 2006). Documentation of nursing care is an important source of reference and communication between nurses and other health care providers (Martin et al, 1999). Documentation is a fundamental component of nursing activities such as assessment and care planning, according to the various models which have been designed for these functions (Nazarko, 2007). The importance of proper documentation may also be because it serves multiple and diverse purposes for nurses, for patients, and for the health profession, because current health-care systems require that documentation ensures continuity of care, furnishes legal evidence of the process of care and promotes and facilit ates the evaluation of the quality of patient care delivery (Cheevakasemsook et al, 2006). In this instance, following handover, the first source of information to be checked will be the nursing records and care plans of each patient, as part of an individualised approach to care. The nursing records for Mrs Smith, for example, should provide the medical history and social history which will allow me to provide holistic nursing care. However, one of the problems with nursing documentation, as found in some empirical nursing studies, is that the complexity of nursing documentation does not always allow it to serve its many functions (Cheevakasemsook et al, 2006). However, the medical record is a legal document that tells the story of the patient’s encounter with the nurse and other professional caregivers, and as such should provide a complete and accurate account of his condition and the care he received (Austin, 2006). Whatever the difficulties of the documentation processes concerned here, the documentation should have been complete and correct. Documentation issues here include the improper recording of the administration of intravenious antibiotics. Given the strong nature of this medication, their specific nature and mode of action which can be tailored to the individual disease following culture and sensitivity tests, and the need to ensure they are given at the correct intervals, particularly as some such drugs can become toxic in larger doses, the proper recording of their administration is a vital part of the administration process. Bjorvell et al (2003) in a study of 377 nurses in Sweden found that nurses believed documentation to be fundamental to nursing practice, in particular, in promoting and ensuring patient safety. Protocols for the administration of intravenous medications exist, which, if followed, should promote safety. For all medications that nurses give to patients, they must know indications, contraindications, dosage parameters and adverse reactions (Austin, 2006). Nurses must always ensure that the ordered medication is appropriate for the patient, and that the prescription is clear and legible (Austin, 2006). And once a nurse has administered a drug, they must monitor the patient for signs and symptoms of drug toxicity or other adverse reactions, and these monitoring activities must be fully documented, including any actions taken on notable findings and the patient’s response to these interventions (Austin, 2006). This creates a record which demonstrates that the nurse met the prescribed standards of patient care when administering medication (Austin, 2006). Two qualified staff should have checked the drug dosage, route and timing, and the prescription against the patient identfication band, and then recorded the adminstration of the antibiotics on the chart and in the patient records . Incomplete records in this instance could be suggestive of improper procedures in the adminstration of this medication, a serious issue which could lead to legal action and professional sanction, even dismissal and loss of registration (Austin, 2006). Similarly, the issue of the blood transfusion error should be highlighted, because again patient safety is the fundamental point of nursing care. If proper procedures had been followed, this error could not have occurred. Administration of blood and blood products is subject to strict surveillance, and each Trust will have clear guidelines and protocols which govern and support this kind of activity. Checks should have been carried out on collection of the blood – the documentation should have been checked against the blood bag – patient name, number, blood group and type. The blood form, with the number of the blood bag, should have been checked properly. This should have been carried out by two qualified staff. The same checks should have been carried out at the bedside, checked against the patient notes and his identification band. Had the documentation been checked in this way, by two qualified staff, the wrong rhesus factor blood could not have been administered. T his demonstrates how correct documentation supports safe nursing practice and facilitates patient safety as well as recording nursing actions. Not only should the mistake be rectified, the doctor in charge of the patient informed and sumoned to examine the patient, and ongoing observations be carried out to ascertain if there are any side effects from the administration of the blood, but all of this should be clearly documented. Further, it should also be documented how this mistake occurred, through an examination of the documentation pertaining to the error and the actions of those who administered the blood. All medically releveant facts realted toan incident should be recorded in the medical records, according to the Trust and ward policies and protocols (Austin, 2006). A critical incident reporting from should also be completed, according to Trust policy, in order to ensure that risk management are informed and actions can be taken to prevent such occurrences in the future. Thus, such a form should also be completed for the percieved drug error. The NMC code of conduct states that nurses should act to identify and mini mise risk to the patient or client (NMC, 2004), and this applies to the action taken in the current situation and the potential protection of all clients in the future, in the avoidance of future errors of a similar nature. Another error which relates to documentation is the issue of the patient who was discharged inappropriately. It is understandable that the relative should be distressed and should be dealt with sensitively and apologetically. Liaison with management, risk management and any hospital or Trust agencies which deal with patient complaints should commence immediately. The most important issue here is to address the error, and not to question whether or not the error took place. It obviously did, because the patient arrived home in that state, and the usual discharge protocols cannot have been adhered to. If they had been, the discharge documentation should have been complete, and would have been communicated with the receiving district nursing team. The nurse plays a unique and pivotal role in discharge planning, as a key member of a multidisciplinary team (Fielo, 1998) role. If, as Bull and Roberts (2001) suggest, a proper discharge occurs in stages, and can be characterised by involveme nt of all team members within interacting circles of communication, then this discharge error should not have taken place at all. Therefore, any work done to address this error must examine where communication processes failed, and the documentation here should provide the evidence of where this failure occurred. Communication is fundamental to discharge planning, both between nurse and patient and between professionals across the divide between hospital and community services (Fielo, 1998), and so the documentation here should have been both individualised and comprehensive, functioning both as a record and as a communication tool. Effective discharge planning is also a vital link for continuity of care (Bull and Roberts, 2001), and so the failure of this process will lead to negative impact for the patient and their carers. Similarly, patient and carer participation is important in discharge planning (McLeod, 2006; Bull and Roberts, 2001). Research by Cleary et al (2003) demonstrates that consumers want information on medication, treatment, awareness of their rights and opportunities to participate in decision making. The nurse engaging in discharge planning also needs to take into account the needs and capabilities of carers (Qualey, 1997). The failure of the discharge planning process in this case therefore has a number of complex effects and may be shown to have failed in a number of key areas. It is also imperative that nurses value the social aspects of patient care and that this is seen as an integral part of the discharge process (Atwal, 2001). There are some ways in which this could be improved, and a close examination of what went wrong might highlight ways in which this could be avoided in future cases. The discharge documentation may need to be adapted to better reflect the processes and knowledge involved (Reed, 2005). This might ameliorate relationships between the acute and community sectors (McKenna and Keeney, 2000), and may prevent these errors occurring in the future. It might also be necessary, from the evidence of the available documents relating to the case, and from the ward rota, to identify who failed to properly discharge the patient so they can be engaged in education and development activities to develop their competence in this area. The documentation used should have served to enhance the ability to deal with this difficult situation (Sollins, 2007) by providing the family with the answers to their questions about what went wrong. Cheevakasemsook et al, (2006) in their study found that complexities in nursing documentation include three aspects: disruption, incompleteness and inappropriate charting. Of these, this scenario shows occurrences of incomplete documentation, whereby the documentation related to discharge planning has not been completed. Related factors that influenced documentation comprised: limited nurses competence, motivation and confidence; ineffective nursing procedures; and inadequate nursing audit, supervision and staff development functions (Cheevakasemsook et al, 2006). These findings suggest that complexities in nursing documentation require extensive resolution and implicitly dictate strategies for nurse managers and nurses to take part in solving these complicated problems (Cheevakasemsook et al, 2006). These are learning points to take forward into future professional development and practice. However, the more immediate needs would be to address the problems associated with these fail ures. The nurse must act to redress the balance and to minimise, for example, the potential litigation which may arise from this unfortunuate situation. The family are likely to make a formal complaint, and, depending on how this has affected the discharged patient, may even take legal action for compensation. In this instance, the incomplete discharge documentation demonstrates that the required nursing care did not take place (as there is no evidence of it in the records). Therefore, legally, the nurse taking care of this patient will be liable for the errors that have occurred. There are other issues to be considered, taking the wider view, in perhaps understanding why such errors occurred and how they can be avoided in subsequent cases. Hyde et al (2005) highlight the limitations of the forms of documentation (and the forms of communciation which characterise that documentation) within nursing practice. They suggest that this nursing documentation depicts the domination of reductionist medical models, utilising scientific rationality in linguistic and communication forms, rather than reflecting the holistic nature of nursing practice (Hyde et al, 2005). Therefore the documentation may be at odds with the autonomy of the patient, bringing up issues of control and power, where the documentation may serve to exert and maintain the power of the nurse or the medical profession rather than support the wellbeing of the patient (Hyde et al, 2005). Professional autonomy on the part of nurses demands a degree of mature clinical and ethical judgement in emergent and complex situations, and it is the documentation, if correctly completed, which should also signpost this process of judgement and decision making. But if the documentation is difficult to complete, onerous or time consuming, it may be that it detracts from the quality of patient care and the easy recording of this, rather than supporting it. Documentation provides the legal protection nurses require in modern healthcare practice (Frank-Strombourg et al, 2001). Educating nurses about the principles of documentation and the importance of implementing risk-reduction practices may help guard against liability and ultimately improve patient care (Frank-Strombourg et al, 2001). Perhaps developing better charts and records, in liaison with all staff, might also ameliorate the situation. The literature demonstrates unequivocally that nurses are the professionals that patients have the most interactions with in the hospital environment (Williams, 1997). The work and competence of the nursing staff is therefore perhaps the most significant factor in determining quality of patient care (Williams, 1997), and so it is vital to ensure that nurses record their practice accurately so that their competence can be audited, and the effectiveness of their practice evaluated. If, as suggested, evidence-based practice is now at the heart of nursing care (DOH, 2001), then documentation will also allow the implementation of evidence based practice, through care protocols and pathways, and through auditing processes and reflective practice which reviews care against the available evidence. Martin et al (1999), in their research of nursing documentation activities, found that good nursing documentation supported the implementation of evidence-based practice. This takes us back to the quality of the documentation processes, and it may be that they are under development – towards evidence-based care pathways or the like, or this kind of thing may need implementing. Utilising alternative modes of documentation may also enhance practice and recording behaviours. Lee (2006) in a study of one computerised documentation system in practice, found that nurses generally viewed the content of the computerized nursing care planning system as a reference to aid memory, a learning tool for patient care, and a vehicle for applying judgement to modify care plan content. This suggests that such tools may do more than simply streamline nurses work (Lee, 2006). It may be that using a computerized care plan system can also enhance nurses’ knowledge, experience and judgement of descriptions of patient problems and care strategies (Lee, 2006). It is my opinion that it may also serve to minimise the kinds of errors that have occurred in the assignment scenario. The nature of the documentation (ie the content and structure) may therefore need to be changed. O’Connor et al (2007) show how new, streamlined nursing charts improved planning and evaluation of care and served promote patient involvement in the care and documentation processes. In reference to the discharge planning incident in particular, this might be an area to develop within the clinical area. One innovation which supports this is that described by the NHS (2007) in The Essence of Care, which was launched in February 2001, as providing a toolkit to help practitioners to implement a structured approach to sharing and comparing practice, through principles of clinical governance, enabling them to identify the best and to develop action plans to remedy poor practice. This would appear to be a key activity in the longer term to develop from the learning points contained within this problematic scenario. These kinds of benchmarks and guidelines can provide useful guidance, in association with other activities such as evidence-based care pathways and protocols, to develop more streamlined and effective practices. Another point of action is the need to carry out specific empirical research into this area. In a systematic review of research literature to test the hypothesis that care planning and record keeping in nursing practice has no measurable effect on patient outcomes, the authors were unable to identify any robust studies for review (Moloney and Maggs, 1999). This suggests that the potential effects of documentation failures cannot be fully evaluated, anticipated or described without future research. This also underlines the need to ensure the highest possible standards of care are both implemented and fully documented throughout every stage and componenet of nursing practice. This analysis shows that documentation serves a number of purposes within nursing practice. It records care, demonstrating and communicating what procedures were carried out, when, and why. It rationalises clinical decisions and evaluates clinical and nursing actions. It also allows the direction and planning of care. It provides legal proof that nurses have followed proper protocolsand procedures for the administration of medicines and blood products, for the implementation of medical and nursing orders, and in particular supports complex activities such as discharge planning. Lack of proper documentation can indicate that proper procedures were not carried out. Poor documentation can lead to confusion and to patient compromise, whereby a patient may not receive the medication required, or may erroneously receive an overdose. Similarly, the blood error could have had significant consequences, and should not have occurred, given the nature of the procedures involved, and the clear li nks between safety and existing documentation. These errors point to either a lack of competence in basic nursing procedures, or a lack of care on the part of the staff who made them. Documentation would also have supported the D grade nurse here when dealing with the problems. The discharge planning errors could have been dealt with more effectively if the documentation had been complete. This would be their primary source of information when dealing with a patient complaint and a complaint from a district nursing colleague. The expectation on all parts that such records will be complete and will answer the questions raised by all parties places the responsibility firmly on the nurse to ensure they properly fulfill this vital part of their role. Nurses can engage in proper documentation of the errors and incidents noted so that they are appropriately and comprehensively dealt with now that the errors have been identified, and so can meet all the professional requirements of their role within this siutation (NMC, 2004). And all staff can learn from these incidents, and be included in processes of research, improvement and development to implement better documentat ion and care practices in the future. References Atwal, A.. (2002) Nurses’ perceptions of discharge planning in acute health care: a case study in one British teaching hospital. Journal of Advanced Nursing 39 (5) 450-458. Austin, S. (2006) Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, I present: the nursing documentation. Nursing 2006 36 (1) 56-65. Bjorvell, C., Wredling, R. and Thorell-Ekstrand, I. (2003) Prerequisites and consequences of nursing documentation in patient records as perceived by a group of Registered Nurses. Journal of Clinical Nursing 12 (2) 206–214. Bull, M.J. and Roberts, J. (2001) Components of a proper hospital discharge for elders. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 35 (4) 571-581. Cheevakasemsook, A., Chapman, Y., Francis, K., Davies, C. (2006) The study of nursing documentation complexities. International Journal of Nursing Practice 12 (6) 366–374. Cleary, M., Horsfall, J. and Hunt, G.E. (2003) Consumer feedback on nursing care and discharge planning. Journal of Advanced Nursing 42 (3) 269-277. Department of Health (2001) ‘National Service Framework for Older People’, England: HMSO. Fielo, S. B. (1998) Discharge Planning for the Elderly: A Guide for Nurses. Nursing and Health Care Perspectives Volume 19(2) 94-95. Frank-Stromborg, M., Christensen, A.and Elmhurst, D. (2001) Nurse documentation: not done or worse, done the wrong wayPart I. Oncology Nurses Forum 28 (4) 697-702. Hyde, A., Treacy, M., Scott, P.A. et al (2005) Modes of rationality in nursing documentation: biology, biography and the voice of nursing. Nursing Inquiry 12 (2) 66–77. Ting-Ting Lee, T-T. (2006) Nurses perceptions of their documentation experiences in a computerized nursing care planning system. Journal of Clinical Nursing 15 (11) 1376–1382. Macleod, A. (2006) The nursing role in preventing delay in patient discharge. Nursing Standard. 21 (1) 43-48. Martin, A. Hinds, C. and Felix, M. (1999) Documentation practices of nurses in long-term care. Journal of Clinical Nursing 8 (4) 345–352. Moloney, R. and Maggs, C. (1999) A systematic review of the relationships between written manual nursing care planning, record keeping and patient outcomes. Journal of Advanced Nursing 30 (1), 51–57. Nazarko, L. (2007) Care planning and documentation. Nursing Residential Care. 9(7). 333-6. NHS (2007) Essence of Care Available from: http://www.tin.nhs.uk/local-networks/essence-of-care/background. Accessed 10-5-07. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2004) Code of Professional Conduct Available from www. nmc-uk.org. Accessed 30-4-07. OConnor, K., Earl, T. and Hancock, P. (2007) Introducing improved nursing documentation across a trust. Nursing Times. 103(6) 32-33. Qualey TL. (1997) Assessing the patients caregiver. Nursing Management. 28(6): 43-4. Reed, J. (2005) Using action research in nursing practice with older people: democratizing knowledge. Journal of Clinical Nursing14 594-600. Sollins, H. (2007) Handling difficult family situations: practical approaches. Geriatric Nursing. 28(2) 80-2. Williams, S.A. (1997) The relationship of patients’ perceptions of holistic nurse caring to satisfaction with nursing care. Journal of Nursing Care Quality 11 (5) 15-29.

Symbol and Allegory :: essays research papers fc

The use of symbol in poetry and in literature as a whole is commonplace because it is an outlet for the author’s creative psyche. A symbol is a creative use of metaphor, using a comparison but not just a direct comparison. The author attempts to achieve the effect that there is much more than just the reader’s initial reaction creating a want to delve deeper into the true meaning, leaving a vast space of interpretation. Allegory on the other hand is a specific comparison, a symbol that is set in its meaning. This would point towards the absolute meaning of the comparison the poet or author was trying to convey (in other words, a parallel). I have chosen the E.E. Cummings poem â€Å"l(a† because it not only encompasses the idea of symbolism through its need for interpretation, but also due to its simple beauty, creating a visual image of a leaf falling. Edward Estlin Cummings was born on October 14, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in his family’s home, within an extremely short distance of Harvard (Dreams 9). His word usage and literary abilities were garnered at a young age from his parents. His father Edward was a professor (in fact, the first professor of sociology at Harvard) and a Unitarian minister and his mother Rebecca utilized reading poetry and stories to her children. His father’s strong voice and use of wordplay from his sermons and his mother’s encouragement for E.E. to keep a diary starting at age five started to shape his craft at an early age (Revisited 11). Rebecca aspired for her son to be the next Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (the Cummings family lived across the street from the Longfellow home before E.E. was born) (Dreams 19). Edward Estlin was also a cubist painter in addition to being a poet. During World War I, E.E. Cummings was an ambulance driver in France and was imprisoned under the p retense of treason (Poets.Org). The experience led to one his more important works, The Enormous Room. Around the time of writing â€Å"l(a† E.E. Cummings health was in a very poor state. The poetry reading tours he took part in were furthering his terrible stomach problems in which he had been suffering from around 1955-56 (Dreams 459). In late 1957, his stomach ailments came to a head when a bleeding polyp was discovered in his colon. He spent his sixty-third birthday in a hospital bed and then spent six months in recovery while his â€Å"wife† Marion (of whom he was never actually married to) was in New York (Dreams 461).

Political Science Course Outline

| | |INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA | |COURSE OUTLINE | Kulliyyah |Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences | |Department |Political Science | |Programme |Bachelor of Human Sciences (Political Science) | |Course Title |Introduction to Political Science | |Course Code |PSCI 1010 | |Status |Core Course | |Level |1 | |Credit Hours |3 | |Contact Hours |3 | |Pre-requisites |- | |(if any) | | |Co-requisites |- | |(if any) | | |Course |Izni Bazilah binti Abdul Razak | Instructor(s) | | |Semester Offered |Every Semester | |Course Synopsis |This course introduces students to the basic concepts and notions of political science in the areas of political | | |theory, comparative politics, public administration and international relations. The topics will be surveyed from | | |the Western perspectives; their shortcomings evaluated and an Islamic alternative conceptualization will be provided. | | |Combining the two perspectives, it provides students a base for advanc ed studies in the discipline. |Course Objectives |The objectives of this course are to: | | | | | |serve as a preparatory study for students majoring in political science and as a general overview for students of | | |other concentration; | | |make students understand the nature and scope of political science and how it affects people’s life directly and | | |indirectly; | | |make students understand the reasons why political science should be studied by Muslims; | | |identify the themes and issues discussed in the areas of Political Theory, | | |Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Public Administration; and | | |build the foundation of students in political science for future courses in the subject. | |Learning Outcomes |By the end of the course, students will be able to: | | | | | define politics and Political Science from both Islamic and Western perspectives; | | |describe various sub-disciplines of Political Science, along with its most basic concepts and the methods used; | | |explain the different types of governmental and political structures, institutions, processes, and perspectives—and | | |their respective historical evolution and functions—at the local, state, national and international level; | | |distinguish the Liberal-democratic, Islamic, Authoritarian, and Totalitarian political systems and their variants; | | |outline the key elements of various ideologies along with their critiques; and | | |Evaluate the roles of elites, masses and institutions in the governmental process. |Instructional |Content-based teaching | |Strategies |Task-based teaching | |Course Assessment |LO | |State weightage of each type |Method | |of assessment |% | | | | | |1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | | |Quizzes | | |5 | | | | | |1, 2, 3, 4 | | |Mid-Semester Exam | | |25 | | | | | |3, 4, 5, 6 | | |Group Presentation | | 10 | | | | | |3, 4, 5, 6 | | |Term Paper | | |20 | | | | | |1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | | |Final Examination | | |40 | | | | | | | | |Total | | |100 | | | | |Content Outlines | |Weeks |Topics |Task/Reading | |1 |Introduction: An overview of the course.What is Politics, Manifestation |Moten & Islam (2009): 3-22, 40-53. | | |and Transmission of Politics, Political, Power, Influence and Authority, | | | |Authority and legitimacy in Islam. Moral basis in politics. | | |2 |Political Science: Nature, Scope and Development of the subject. |Moten & Islam (2009): 23-39 | | |The Evolution of Political Science: Ancient, Medieval Modern and |Shively (2003): 2-15. | | |Post-Modernism. | |3 |State and Government; features of an Islamic Political System. |Moten & Islam (2009): 78-98, | | | |131-157. | | | |Rauf (2002): 8-28. | | | |Shively (2003): 40-64. | |4 |Western Classification of Government: Democracy vs. Dictatorship, Unitary |Moten & Islam (2009): 99-131. | |vs. Federal, and Parliamentary vs. Presidential Systems of Government; |Shively (2003): 169-197. | | |Islamic evaluation. | | |5 |Constitution, Consti tutionalism. |Moten & Islam (2009): 159-172. | | | |Shively (2003): 204-220. | |6 |Organs of government: Executive: (Khalifah), Legislature, (Majlis |Moten & Islam (2009): | | |al-Shura), Judiciary, (Qada). |173-212; 232-255. |7 |Bureaucracy, Major Features, Role, Control and Accountability; Transparency|Moten & Islam (2009): | | |and Accountability; E–government; Military. |213-230. | | | |Shively (2003): 338-352. | | | | | |8 |Political Parties and Party Systems; Interest Group; An Islamic |Moten & Islam (2009): 314-345. | | |Alternative. |Shively (2003): 244-291. | |9 |Elections and Electoral Systems. Moten & Islam (2009): | | | |346-362. | | | |Shively (2003): 223-241. | |10 | Civil Society, Human Rights and |Moten & Islam (2009): 395-406. | | |Islam. | | |11 | Political Ideologies: |Moten & Islam (2009): 268-373. | | |Conservatism, Liberalism, |Shively (2003): 18-37. | |Socialism, Nationalism and | | | |Feminism. | | |12 | International Relations. | Moten & Islam (20 09): 407-435. | | | |Shively (2003): 372-399. | |13 | International Organizations. |Moten & Islam (2009): 436- 470. | |14 | Challenges: Globalization, Environment, AIDS, and Terrorism. |Moten & Islam (2009): | | | |471-476. |References |Required | | | | | |Moten, A. R. & Islam, S. S. (2009). Introduction to political science (3rd ed. ). Singapore: Thomson. | | | | | |Recommended | | | | | |Baradat, L. P. (2003). Political ideologies: Their origin and impact. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. | | | | | |Crouch, H. 1996). Government and society in Malaysia. Singapore: Talisman. | | | | | |Danziger, J. N. (2001). Understanding the political world: A comparative introduction to political science. New York: Longman. | | | | | |DeLue, S. M. (2001). Political thinking, political theory, and civil society. New York: Longman. | | | | | |Esposito, J. L. (1996). Islam and democracy. New York: Oxford University Press. | | | | |Grigsby, E. (2002). Analyzing politics: An introduction to political sci ence. Belmont: Wadsworth. | | | | | |Hofmann, M. (1997). Islam the alternative. Maryland: Amana Publications. | | | | | |Mawdudi, A. A. (1998). Human rights in Islam. New Delhi: Markazi Maktab Islami. | | | | | |Rauf, M. A. (2002). Concept of Islamic state.Kuala Lumpur: YADIM. | | | | | |Shively, W. P. (2003). Power and choice: An introduction to political science (8th ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill. | |Proposed Start Date| | |(Semester) | | |Batch of Students |Semester 3, 2005/2006 onwards |to be Affected | | | | | | | | |Prepared by: |Checked by: |Approved by: | | | | | |Dr. Mohd. Fuzi Omar |Dr. Tunku Mohar Tunku Mokhtar |Dr. Badri Najib Zubir | |(Course coordinator) |(Head, Political Science Dept) |(Dean, KIRKHS) | Learning Outcomes Matrix: PSCI 1010 | | |Course Learning Outcomes | | |Outcome 1 |Outcome 2 |Outcome 3 |Outcome 4 |Outcome 5 |Outcome 6 |Outcome 7 |Outcome 8 |Outcome 9 |Outcome 10 | |Define politics and Political Science from both Islamic and Western perspectives. |3 | |2 | |3 | |2 |1 |3 | | |Describe various sub-disciplines of Political Science, along with its most basic concepts and the methods used. |3 | |2 |2 | | |1 | | | | |Explain the different types of governmental and political structures, institutions, processes, and perspectives—and their respective historical evolution and functions—at the local, state, national and international level in the western and Islamic settings. 3 |1 |1 |2 |1 | | |1 |2 | | |Distinguish the Liberal-democratic, Islamic, Authoritarian, and Totalitarian political systems and their variants. |3 |1 |1 |2 |1 | | |1 |2 | | |Outline the key elements of various ideologies along with their critiques. |3 | |3 |2 |3 |1 |1 |1 |2 | | |Evaluate the roles of elites, masses and institutions in the governmental process. |3 | |3 |2 |2 |1 |1 |1 |2 | | | *1=addresses outcome slightly, 2=moderately, 3=substantively The programme outcomes are: 1. Knowledge = The ability to demonstrate familiarity with major concept s, theoretical perspective, empirical findings and historical trends in political science. 2.Practical Skills = The ability to understand and apply basic research methods in political science, including research design, data analysis and interpretation. 3. Critical Thinking: The ability to acquire and use the scientific methods with their critical and creative approaches of problem-solving and decision-making skills. 4. Communication = The ability to work and communicate effectively and sensitively with people from a diverse range of backgrounds and varying demographic characteristics. 5. Lifelong learning= The ability to develop insight into their own and other’s behavioral, cognitive and spiritual processes and apply effective strategies for lifelong self-management and self-improvement. 6.Social Responsibility: The ability to understand and apply political principles to socio-economic and organizational issues. 7. Ethics, autonomy, professionalism: The ability to apply IIU M ethical guidelines in the design, data collection, analysis, interpretation and reporting of political research. . 8. Islamicisation: The ability to use principles in the Qur’an and Sunnah to evaluate and apply modern political theories and approaches. 9. Integration: The ability to integrate Islamic teaching in the theoretical, research and application of political principles in explaining and improving human behaviour. 10. Entrepreneurial Skills: The ability to successfully enter the job market.

Arthur Miller portrays Eddie Carbone Essays

Arthur Miller portrays Eddie Carbone Essays Arthur Miller portrays Eddie Carbone Essay Arthur Miller portrays Eddie Carbone Essay Discussing how effectively Arthur Miller manages to portray Eddie Carbone as a tragic character in his play, a View from the Bridge  Arthur Miller, the author of the play, is a very modern writer and likes to base his plays around ordinary people. Eddie Carbone is a forty, husky and a slightly overweight longshoreman. When we hear those customary words, we get the feeling the character Eddie Carbone is a normal middle aged man. Nevertheless even though Eddie Carbone is pictured as a usual, typical man in our minds, he isnt. We know this because Alfieri, a character from the play who acts like Arthur Millers mouthpiece and is the narrator, tells us the audience that the play will run its bloody course. Alfieri had said these words in the past tense so therefore we can interpret that everything has already happened and we are getting told the story by Alfieri. We are been given his view. As soon as Alfieri has said these four words we automatically know that this story will be a tragic, catastrophic one. Since Eddie is the Protagonist, we know that something tragic will happen to Eddie so that doesnt make him normal anymore. Most narratives give us a cheerful outline of the story but this one is entirely diverse. We can imagine it will be tragic just because of the four words Alfieri has said. By reading the first page or two of the play we can get some hints. First of all we can try to understand what Eddies fate will be like; heart-rending. Secondly if his fate is tragic we expect death as we associate tragedy with death or something which is extremely sad. According to the rules of the Greek writer Aristotle, the character Eddie Carbone is not promising material for a tragic hero. This is because Eddie Carbone is simply ordinary. According to Aristotle, real tragic heroes must have certain qualities. Most of which Eddie Carbone does not possess because of his ordinariness. Tragic heroes must have qualities, such as being a noble leader and having a potential for greatness. He should be great and have people looking up to him so then the audience will begin to like him and therefore understand him. Usually it will be a man because in Greek drama and Shakespearian times, the protagonist was usually a man. The tragic hero also is given poetic verses to show his good upbringing and a rich family could afford to give him an education. When such characters experience a downfall the effects are suffered by many due to the high status of the character. The audience of the play must feel pity, sympathy and empathy for the tragic hero so we understand him and we could also share his pain with him in a way. It will make the audience feel as if they are actually in the play and they feel for the character. The tragic story must end with death because thats the whole point of the play and will give it that sense of waste. So therefore there must be a downfall. The causes are that there maybe a flaw or maybe fate gets in the way. An example of fate getting in the way was William Shakespeares play Romeo and Juliet. The downfall may happen because of a coincidence or sometimes the scheming of others. When the tragic hero dies, we feel a sense of waste as we loose a piece of the jigsaw and that piece was greatness. Before the end of the play that protagonist must have a self realisation and must realise how foolish he has been. This is because they realise all their mistakes just before they die and this makes the story sadder and tragic by the protagonist realising he was wrong in whatever he did and then he must die as well. With the qualities and setting listed above, a play will be tragic if followed. In this case though a view from the bridge; Arthur Miller did not give the protagonist any tragic hero qualities. He is very normal and he is still a tragic hero in his own ways. Eddie Carbone is very limited character as he is only powerful in his own house. Unlike most tragic heroes, he does not talk in poetic verses; he actually talks in an inarticulate manner of speech. For example; you got too big a heart, whatre you so touchy heh and dont trust nobody. Because of his bad grammar he doesnt make sense at times and this shows what kind of upbringing he had yet he does try to make clear points. His character also has a lack of nobility and high status because his only a normal middle aged man. His character is too clumsy to be noble because he goes to the law just because his niece is in love. If he was noble and high status he would get a sword or something and slash the throat of his enemy but he goes to a lawyer which shows how ordinary and weak he is. It may emphasise how weak he is. Nevertheless he is at the same a time a much respected member of the neighbourhood because of his street smartness and he is against snitching which is good to the neighbourhood. His diction does have liveliness and a force. We can tell this because Beatrice and Catherine do what he says most of the time. Also Alfieri reminds us of his essential goodness; he was a good man as he had to be in a life that was hard and even. He worked on the piers when there was work, he brought home his pay, and he lived. And toward ten oclock of that night, after they had eaten, the cousins came. Alfieri basically tells us all how good Eddie was no matter what and how kind he was and how he cared for his family.  There are other aspects of the plays main character and its structure that make it possible to view the drama as tragic.  Arthur Miller admired Greek drama and has used some elements in A view from the bridge.

Le Petit Chef Case Study Essays

Le Petit Chef Case Study Essays Le Petit Chef Case Study Paper Le Petit Chef Case Study Paper Le Petit Chef Case 1) What should Gagne do? Specifically, which projects should she fund and why? How should she handle the executive meeting? A fair assessment of the situation at Le Petit Chef is that there are far too many projects on the table. This overflow has led to missed deadlines and therefore missed profit. The gap between LPC and other microwave manufacturers is closing fast and action is required. Essentially, Le Petit Chef needs a cornerstone development. There are five proposed projects: A new intelligent (fuzzy logic) line of microwaves, a low-cost version of an existing microwave line, an entirely new low-cost line, a quick heating model, and a larger cavity Liberte. When choosing which projects to fund, Gagne must evaluate them on three basic criteria: will this project differentiate one product from the next? Will this project spread the rd team too thin? , and will this project provide a competitive advantage? For the short term, LPC should not attempt to enter the low-cost microwave market. Le Petit Chef is correlated with high end, high performance appliances and trying to tackle a low cost market that is dominated by large companies such as Samsung and GE would not be appropriate. Because of this, both projects associated with a low end line should be crossed off Gagne’s list. However, perhaps in the future when the company is on more solid footing a low-end line can be attempted. Adding a larger cavity to the Liberte should also be cut because this just adds another component into the mix. Too many components that don’t overlap from one product to the next increases total cost and adaptability. Another reason to cut the larger cavity is because it really does nothing major to differentiate the product. Next, LPC should fund the implementation of a Fuzzy Logic microwave line. This would differentiate the product among high-end competitors, not put too much strain on rd according to a senior design engineer, and promote the high-class label associated with Le Petit Chef. This project is absolutely necessary to undertake. Another project that should be funded is the development of a â€Å"Liberte-express† with a more powerful magnetron. This adds another vital differentiating feature, will be easy to develop, and be finished relatively quickly (6 months). At the meeting, Gagne simply needs to list the facts to the executives since there shouldn’t be too much convincing to do. She needs to present her product choices listed above rationally and stress the need for the company to stay true to its reputation by focusing on high-end appliances. She needs to alert the execs about how thin rd is spread and she should probably prepare a list of projects that could be easily axed. She needs to stress the importance of allowing rd to focus on less projects. The primary theme of her presentation should be realigning Le Petit Chef as the frontrunner in the microwave business. She also needs to outline the current financial issues and how the proposed projects will affect them. 2) What factors explain Le Petit Chef’s poor performance? What actions would you recommend to remedy the situation? Le Petit Chef’s poor performance can be largely attributed to the recent influx of competition from abroad. Essentially, the Asian manufacturers such as Samsung and Sharp infiltrated the low-end market which in turn forced European microwave companies to move into the previously Le Petit Chef dominated high end market. One statistic that basically tells the entire story is that the price of the microwave oven had dropped by 10% each year from 1996 to 2000. In an attempt to ward off competition, LPC spent hefty sums in advertising. This was overkill and caused financial issues. Another key factor was the rd team being spread so thinly across so many products. Exhibit 9 highlights this by showing the products branching out in an almost ridiculous manner. Quite frankly, LPC needs to reduce its projects. In order to remedy the situation, LPC needs to do a handful of things. First, they need to realize that they cannot compete with the large foreign companies. Therefore, any thoughts of entering the low-cost market should be heavily discouraged. LPC has a niche in the high end market and they need to stick to their guns. By focusing on the high end marked, RD is also not as overextended. Next, LPC needs to differentiate their products from the competition. They need to give the buyer some incentive to fork over more cash for their expensive microwaves. Another thing that LPC should try to do is to make more components that are interchangeable between models in order to lower costs. LPC should also focus on the appearance of their microwaves, because to sell a high-end product it has to appear that way. Essentially, the appearance is the ultimate differentiating factor.

Comparing a Past Decade with Todays Economy Research Paper

Comparing a Past Decade with Todays Economy - Research Paper Example At the same time, they face various types of barriers when they try to compete against other firms in the US marketplaces. 2000 is one of the decades that has created loss for employees and financial system of US. â€Å"The decade that just ended has been the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times by a wide range of data, with zero net job growth and the slowest rise in economic output since the 1930s. Many who stayed employed were hurt too, with middle-income families making less in 2008, when adjusted for inflation, than they did in 1999 — the first decade since the 1960s that median incomes have fallen† (Seitz-Wald para. 1). Recent financial data demonstrates that the poverty rate in US has grown the highest in the past 20 years. It is well recognized that the present financial climate in the US is not favorable. This pushes one to think on the subject of the level of economic growth over the last 10 years in the country. One thing to observe is the wide GDP alte rations that have occurred over the period. Considering the information from 2000 to 2011, the CPI representing the price of living has increased to 25.74% (January 2000 to September 2011). Individual income, deriving from interest, dividends, labor, and transfers made by government minus social security through the corresponding period rose up to 57.19%. 2) Relate that state to today’s economy based on those indicators. The US’ real GDP rate has increased annually by 2.5 % in the third quarter of 2011 (that is, from the second part to the third part) according to the "advance" estimation released by the agency of Economic study. In the second part, real GDP advanced to 1.3%. â€Å" †. (GDP United States 1). The increase in real GDP in the third part mainly reflected positive contributions from Individual Consumption Expenditures (ICE), exports, nonresidential fixed assets and federal administration spending that were partially counterbalanced by negative contri butions from private inventory investment as well as local and state government expenditure. Imports, which are a subtraction in the computation of GDP, have also been increased. â€Å"U.S. Inflation Rate Past Trend Present Value & Future Projection YoY Change in CPI. Percent. † (U.S. Inflation Rate Forecast para. 2). Recent financial Indicators published in November 08, 2011. Indicator Value of the indicator. Worldwide Stocks development, % 0.37 United State GDP development, % 2.45 United State Inflation, % 3.90 United State Unemployment rate % 9.00 Gold, $/oz 1,795.00 WTI Oil, $/bbl rate 96.89 US 10 Yr Treasuries, rate % 2.09 (US Inflation Rate Forecast) 3) Describe the state of the economy at the end of the decade: The US financial system is the world's biggest national economy. Its nominal GDP was anticipated to be almost $14.7 trillion in 2010, around a quarter of nominal worldwide GDP at buying power parity. The US economy also keeps a very high rate of production every year. In 2010, it was anticipated to have a per capita GDP of $46,844, the 7th maximum in the globe. The United State is the main trading country in the globe. Its three major trading partners at the end of the

Financial Assignment (Breeze House) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Financial Assignment (Breeze House) - Essay Example As a business, the accounts receivables are one the company’s sources of cash. Accounts receivable is like cash in the bank. It shows up as an asset on the balance sheet because it means value in the business. (Muckain, 1998) When looking at the budgeted profit and loss statement of the company (see Table 1), the net income of the company is not stable. This means that revenues and expenses that are incurred for the month are actually revenues and expenses that should have been incurred on a different month. As mentioned, this situation happens because of the long turnover of accounts receivable while the accounts payable are settled within the month. However, the practice of the company of maintaining inventory stocks with a lead time of half of the next month’s demand is commendable, since it is enough to satisfy the demand of the market while preventing over-stocking or under-stocking of inventory. Effective credit control is one way of improving the cash flow of the company. A good credit control system increases sales, reduces bad debts and increases profits. The credit control can also increase the creditworthiness of the company and build confidence in the banks. An effective control system focuses on the accounts receivable of the company. (Brealey, Myers, & Marcus, 2001) It is a practice of companies to allow a delay in payment if it cannot demand cash on delivery. However, the customer’s promise to pay for their purchases constitutes a valuable asset (Tracy, 2002). As a valuable asset, credit must be managed properly and promptly. At Breeze House, the company has overlooked the importance of managing its accounts receivable such that they incurred losses in the long run and acquired problems with the cash flow. This paper recommends implementing a credit control system for Breeze House. The implementation program starts by using control points