The United Nations Fuction and Impact in International Politics Essay

The United Nations Fuction and Impact in International Politics - Essay Example This international organization was formed to replace the previously existing organization called League of Nations. The term United Nations was instigated by British politician Winston Churchill and the 32nd President of United States Franklin Roosevelt. United Nation is by nature a liberal organization. As far as world politics is concerned the UN has many roles to play such as peace building, development aid, facility and availability of fresh water, labor issue, and help to the refugees. United Nations is involved in fighting for the elimination of the different stigmas such as poverty and diseases and the fight against the threat to the environment. It basically works for addressing the economic and social problems in the world, particularly in underdeveloped as well as developing countries because these problems are the major source of conflict which later leads to war. The major function of United Nations as mentioned above is to establish and maintain peace and security and to shun the situation of war. If any conflict arises, it is also the major function of the United Nation to settle the conflict without violence. It is the purpose of the UN to encourage peace among all the nations [1] The UN’s first experience of peacemaking activity came in 1949 in the Middle East and in 1950 in Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan, The second function of UN was the promotion of welfare of mankind and of course the international cooperation. In turn it helps the nations to improve their life style and attain prosperity and thus enhance the standard of the living of their citizens. United Nations gives an opportunity for the countries promote their opinions. The major intimidation for peace is the nuclear proliferation. United Nations has maintained the world peace by preventing Nuclear Non-proliferation. The International Atomic Energy Agency has succeeded in

RTI Act Case Study Essay Example for Free

RTI Act Case Study Essay In spite of the fact that India has won its battle of independence in the year 1947 making democracy its weapon, unfortunately, the truth was something else. The power was handed over to the politicians and democrats, not to the common man then. There were multiple instances to question the right to information as it was in practice with the backdrop of the society we lived in. Some Information about Right to Information Act in India: On 12th October, 2005 the scenario had changed as through the right to information RTI act, common people got their right to raise question. It gives the power to throw question to the government directly and the concerned authority has to reply back within 30 days with proper explanation. RTI Act not only covers the executives rather the judiciary and legislature are also under its strict regulations. There is no gap in the process of formatting a corruption free and transparent government. It defines the term â€Å"public authority† as the government is answerable to the supreme authority of common people. Let’s know Right to Information Act: What is RTI act? Democracy makes a country answerable to the common people. People elect the power to lead not to rule over. Without any province to answer any power can be misused and common people can be victimised easily. Right to information Act makes the elected power answerable to common people. To answer what is rti act, one simple phrase can be used- â€Å"law of transparency†. It is the weapon of a citizen to question so that the answer can throw light into the matter. Government is bound to answer if any question arises on the functioning. The accountability of any government can be questioned. The act not only has empowered citizens to answer government authorities but also reduces corruption a lot. Citizens have the power to inspect and take notes on several tasks on the part of authorities so that they can analyze the performance. Even they can have copies of documents if they need to prove some unethical provisions. What Makes RTI Act Beneficial? Indian constitution permits its citizen to speak and express without any fear. How can a person speak against the government if he or she does not have enough information? A victimized citizen can feel but without information he or she is helpless to do anything. Right to information act in india is a recognition of democracy that requires informed citizenry and transparency of information just for a better functioning. How to use RTI ? This revolutionary act gives immense power to the hands of common people but still it’s been completely utilized. They stay away from utilizing this powerful tool just because of some wrong information regarding the process of implementation. But this is not so tough to know how to get information under right to information act. Just a single handwritten query is enough from your end to get your concerned. Information from the government authority. Even this act makes a common man so powerful that the person doe not need to show any reason why he or she needs such information.

Plants and Superstitions Essay -- Botany

Plants and Superstitions For many years plants have played a large part in superstitions. Although, they are not so much believed now, as they used to be. They were used to help one's fortune, wealth and fertility. It is amazing that bread was ever eaten; there were so many superstitions about it. It was used to aid in all of these things and many more, It is ironic, however, that the one thing they worshipped and used to keep harm and disease away made them ill and killed some of them. When all of this happened they blamed another superstition, which was witchcraft. "Almost all of the witchcraft misunderstandings were caused by Christianity's persecution of those who refused to abandon pagan beliefs" (Zolar, 1995), but not in the case of the Salem Witch trials. In 1692 superstitions somehow became the way of thinking. The misuse of it led to the executions of many innocent people in this country. Witchcraft was the crime, for which they were wrongly accused. Fact Net Inc. (see Internet Source) defines superstitions as "Beliefs held despite evidence. They are based on the belief that some people, Plants, animals, stars, words, numbers or special things have magical powers, which contradicts what we know about the world." A mysterious illness overcame Salem, Massachusetts. Thrashing around, moaning, babbling, and crying made up what were called "convulsive fits," which suddenly occurred in eight girls daily. Hallucinations were also a part of their fits. (see Internet Source). Everyone was terrified. Doctors came to visit, but they did not know much about disease and medicines at that time. One doctor questioned the idea of witchcraft and soon rumors spread that there was a witch in town, or maybe even a group of them we... ...tific thinking has almost swept away the ignorance of superstitions that once kept people from learning about out world. Like in the case of the Salem Witch trials "When minds are poisoned by the ignorance of superstitions, terrible things happen" (see Internet Source). Bibliography Bennett, J.W. 1999. Pride and Prejudice: The story of ergot. Perspective in Biology and Medicine 42 (3): 333-355. Spanos, Nicholas P. 1983. Ergotism and the Salem witch panic: a critical analysis and an alternative conceptualization. Journal of the History of Behavioral Sciences 19 (4): 358-369. Starkey, Marion L. 1949. The Devil in Massachusetts, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 39- 48, 138-158. Zolar.1995. Encyclopedia of signs, omens and superstitions. Carol Publishing Group, New York. 50-52,380. Internet Source: http://www.xenu.org/factnet/GEN/FILES/BOOKS/TRUE.TXT

Daydreams Essay: Exam Question

Daydreams A day dream is defined as ‘a series of pleasant thoughts that distract one’s attention from the present’. In my opinion, a daydream is not a frivolous activity practiced only by a doe eyed schoolgirl during an unendurable French lesson. A daydream acts as a subconscious portal which allows one to escape from ones everyday life of stress and negative circumstances. One could almost say it is chewing gum for the mind. Of course, some differ in that view.A critically acclaimed author Ian McEwan said â€Å"The cost of oblivious daydreaming was always this moment of return, the realignment with what had been before and now seemed a little worse. †   his opinion is that daydreaming is a self depressant and that it would only make the persons view of their own life disappointing. He believes that it is a pointless to waste ones time on imaginings of alternative lives that will never become reality. But I wonder if it was these ‘oblivious’ daydreams which lead to him writing many of his books like ‘sweet tooth’ and ‘atonement’.Where is the fine line between daydreaming and simply thinking of possibilities? I myself am a keen daydreamer, sometimes I just lie on my bed and I quietly slip into a dreamtime of my own imaginings. I don’t directly imagine some event or situation I drift between scattered thoughts in search of that perfect possibility. That perfect possibility which fills me with an unconscious serenity and extracts me from my reality to show me a fictional circumstance.When I carefully draw that perfect possibility from the shadows of my mind, like picking an eyelash from my cheek, I examine it cautiously so as not to miss a moment of the fabricated thought. My daydreams can vary from the most extravagant and outlandish events to very trivial thoughts formed by my imagination. I often daydream about my future and what it could be like. My mind becomes completely consumed by t his image and the steps I would need to take to make it a reality. I very much enjoy watching movies where you see projections of the characters daydreams.These daydreams normally vividly depict what that character would love to do in that moment; it is usually an action that would not be acceptable in society. For example, an employee humorously insults their boss or a mother-in-law imagines shoving her daughter-in-laws face into a cake. These amusing daydreams provide a comedic outlet. But when I am watching these movies I can’t help but wish my daydream was that vivid. I never get a completely clear image; all I get is a serious of quick flashes of images.My daydreams are not fluid they are choppy they don’t possess a natural flow like my sleeping dreams have. I often wonder if the fluidity of day dreams and dreams changes for each person. Some psychiatrists believe that the imaginings of one’s mind is associated with mental health and stability, so my questi on is ‘if people’s mental health varies does their way of dreaming vary? ’ Many famous people have become famous because of their daydreams. Einstein is believed to have begun his theory of relativity while he daydreamed about riding or running beside a sunbeam to the edge of the universe.This tiny moment where Einstein’s mind accidentally wandered resulted in a huge scientific breakthrough. Einstein’s theory of relativity which contributed to the development of the atomic bomb. Many famously inspired people praise daydreaming, a well known American poet named Rita Dove celebrates daydreaming. She once said â€Å"I want to discuss an activity which is barely tolerated in adolescence, never encouraged in school – but without which no bridges would soar, no light bulbs burn. † She found that daydreaming was like a creative outlet where one can discover something beautiful without attention.Mozart also believed that daydreaming was a proc ess of greatness â€Å"All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a lively dream† I find it amazing that one daydream, just one, can create a ripple effect and change the world. This tiny thought which is considered insignificant, at first look, can cause an action which is very much significant, in the long term. The positive effects of daydreaming are limitless but of course, daydreaming also has its negative aspects. There is a time when daydreaming can be useful and productive, but other times it can cause you to lose focus and you can miss out.There is a time for fantasy but there is also a time for reality. But overall, my opinion is that daydreaming is positive when one is not daydreaming constantly and about bad things, which can result in depression. Daydreams can be very influential on a person’s mental health. If one is only thinking about negative possibilities, their outlook on life becomes cloudy and hopeless. I once heard someone say ‘How m any of our daydreams would darken into nightmares, were there danger if their coming true. ’ Just because one imagines something it does not mean they want it to come true.The fact that daydreams are just daydreams makes them free to anyone with an imagination. Daydreaming is an activity for all ages; one does not have to be of a certain height to daydream. One does not have to be a particular age to daydream and one does not require three forms of identification to daydream. When one is daydreaming they are free of judgment and worry. Some say, one man’s daydream is another man’s day, but neither will ever know, I think it is the fact that our daydreams are private that makes them our own personal unwritten diary of hope.Just like one’s diaries our daydreams change, our handwriting improves and our thoughts become slightly more grounded. When we are young our daydreams consist of imaginary friends from exotic places and tea parties on the moon with the E aster bunny and Santa Clause. Daydreams as a child are not recognised by the daydreamer. Children can often confuse their fantasies with reality and think their daydreams actually happened. We can openly express our daydreams with others and it is accepted in society and cast off as the sweet imaginings of children with active imaginations.When we are older our daydreams become more refined and closer to reality. The more mature daydreamer imagines what their life would be like if they had taken a different path , some also imagine situations that they are presently in and how they would change if they said or did something. Of course every now and then the inner child in everybody takes charge and we succumb to our childlike fantasies. But these fantasies are not confessed to others often. We never become too old to dream but I wonder at what age one becomes too old for the publication of one’s daydreams.

Fahrenheit 451 Allusion to Machiavelli Essay

Quote from Fahrenheit 451: â€Å"We are all bits and pieces of history and literature and international law. Byron, Tom Paine, Machiavelli, or Christ, it’s here† (Bradbury 152). Bradbury, Ray. â€Å"Part 3.† Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. 152. Print. Original Source or Context: Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian historian, politician, diplomat, and philosopher during the late 1400s early 1500s. Machiavelli is considered the father of modern political theory; and his theories are most prominent in his short book, â€Å"The Prince†. Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince† is main purpose is to tell rulers how to remain in power once they have gained it. The best way to go about ruling according to Machiavelli is to simply rule well. However if this does not work Machiavelli recommends several different strategies such as the use of violence. During Machiavelli’s time his theories were not widely accepted and because of this he died in shame. Machiavelli acted on his thoughts and beliefs despite what society taught and believed. However once time passed Machiavelli’s philosophies were better understood and accepted. Other philosophers began take portions of his philosophy to add to their own. This brought upon a new respected look to Machiavelli rather than the shameful look he died with. Citation’s from Original Source: Nederman, Cary. â€Å"Niccolà ² Machiavelli.† Stanford University. Stanford University, 13 Sept. 2005. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. . â€Å"Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527.† Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. . Mansfield, Harvey. â€Å"Niccolo Machiavelli (Italian Statesman and Writer).† Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. . Effect/Insight: The effect of the allusion to Niccolo Machiavelli in â€Å"Fahrenheit 451† is it connects Guy Montag to Machiavelli. Montag acted on his thoughts and what he believed in rather than what society believed in. Montag believed books were necessary to society and that the information in books had to be memorized  by someone in order to create a better future. The act of reading books was not accepted by society but in the future Montag would be remembered as a hero for doing so. In the same sense Machiavelli’s philosophies were not accepted by society but were created in order to make life better in the Italian city states. Machiavelli’s died in shame from his peers but was later on remembered for doing great things for society. Bradbury’s purpose of alluding to Machiavelli in â€Å"Fahrenheit 451† was to give a real life example of what his main character Guy Montag was doing. This allusion is effective if the reader has an understanding of who Machi avelli is and what he contributed to society. Without knowing what Machiavelli did for society the allusion would not be effective.

How to Manage a High-Volume Blog With Your Small Team [PODCAST]

How to Manage a High-Volume Blog With Your Small Team [PODCAST] Have you ever wondered how far ahead you should plan your content schedule and how you should manage your workflow? What do you do to keep everything running smoothly when unexpected projects pop up?   It’s a common challenge and one that many business-owners have struggled with. Today we’re going to be talking to our in-house expert, ’s own Ben Sailer. He’s our blog manager and the one who sends out the emails that you probably receive. We’re going to talk to Ben about planning ahead, keeping on top of your workflow, and honing your publishing process. What Ben’s position as the blog manager of entails. How far ahead Ben plans and how much content he has ready to go at any given time, as well as his thoughts on why planning ahead is important. How communicates with the marketing team so everyone is in the loop at all times. How often the marketing team is publishing content and how they correlate what they’re posting to the day of the week. How Ben gets guest authors and why they are an important addition to the in-house team when it comes to producing content. How the team stays organized with so much going on and what a typical workflow looks like. Ben’s best advice for getting more organized and establishing a marketing calendar. Links: The Blog If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Ben: â€Å"We make a lot of effort to ensure that we don’t ever encounter the fire drill situation where we don’t have content clearly laid out.† â€Å"We do a good job making sure that everybody knows what’s coming up. Nothing should ever be a surprise to anyone.† â€Å"My single best piece of advice I would have is don’t get too overwhelmed.†

Financial Challenges in Companies

Financial Challenges in Companies Introduction Though managing an organisation involves long-term thinking and careful consideration of the organisational dynamics, many corporations cannot handle untimely alterations of the business environment. This is because the global monetary crisis comes at an unprecedented time, making it difficult for some organisations to put their operations in a manner that helps them cope with such financial challenges.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Financial Challenges in Companies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Despite the reality that financial challenges have hit global business operations in one way or the other, and at different times, the horizon at which the companies operate has not been so proactive (Gustavo, Michaely Swaminathan 2002, p. 379). For instance, the corporate finance and agency problems have created monetary conflicts that exist between the management of the company and their stockholders, an issue that has really affected the decisions at the corporations (Gustavo, Michaely Swaminathan 2002, p. 389). The conflicts are relevant to corporate finance since the managers of the company, who are meant to act for the best interest of the shareholders, often fail to do so as expected of them. These managers, who act as agents of the shareholders, are meant to make decisions that are geared towards maximising the stockholders’ wealth. However, they fail to do so due to their desire to maximise their own wealth. In essence, these agency problems are related to the corporate finance in the sense that they help in understanding and analysing the stockholder’s equity, corporate governance, and agency costs. Contemporary studies demonstrate that the non-responsive nature of the management to information related to the eventual financial crisis lead to compromised decisions about the specific monetary problems. Literature review Corporate stakeholders are often faced wi th the conflict of interest to pursue personal goals other than the intended objectives of the company. This makes it difficult for them to formulate guidelines, which might help the company avoid the impacts of financial crisis through pre-empting the market situation and other financial environment of the company (Gustavo, Michaely Swaminathan 2002, p. 389). Therefore, there is a need to put in place appropriate mechanisms so as to effectively deal with the potential conflicting issues in the organisation. Research attributes the ignorance of the management to offer advisory opinion about looming financial crisis as it depicts the pursuit for personal interests, rather than that of the company.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The conflict of interest among the stakeholders of the company might make the shareholders pass a vote-of-no-confidence on some of the boa rd members during the members’ board meetings (Gustavo, Michaely Swaminathan 2002, p. 397). The presidents of the company are awarded bonuses due to their hard work in order to motivate them. However, when the performance is dwindling, as witnessed in the Coca-Cola Company, the stakeholders might be forced to terminate the contracts of the top management team of the corporation, if it is assumed that their roles would compromise the productivity in the company. Indeed, the dividend policy of any firm can be regarded as irrelevant owing to the fact that the corporations that often pay many dividends to the shareholders give little price appreciation (Gustavo, Michaely Swaminathan 2002, p. 389). However, this must offer the same sum of revenue returns to the investors, depending on their risk characteristics as well as the cash flows generated from the investment ventures (Jackall 1988, p. 55). In fact, since there are lack of taxes, but if there is any, both the capital gain s as well as the dividends are often taxed under a similar rate. Therefore, the investors ought to be indifferent to get their expected returns in both the price appreciation as well as in dividends by adopting an effective property management strategy. Property management is critical in the success of any given company. The relationship between the two has been explored through the SWOT analysis, which helps business to assess whether a particular strategy is viable for business operations, as well as to establish ways of moving forward. Carrying a SWOT analysis for property management helps the management adopt ways of getting cash out of price appreciation. It also provides a strategy that facilitates provision of dividends to the stakeholders without involving the transaction cost and floatation, thus resulting to fair prices for the stakeholders (Jackall 1988, p. 61). Gustavo, Michaely, and Swaminathan (2002, p. 389) have found out that analysing property management helps the c ompany increase effectiveness and efficiency in the management system. Through an analysis of threat, it is clear that the management is able to refrain from taking chances on the company’s financial status since it gets into a position of assessing the dividends payable to the stakeholders as well as the amount of capital resources required to run the business.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Financial Challenges in Companies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thus, it is imperative to note that management of property in a company is highly influenced by the decision making process adopted. For case in point, when a company adopts satisficing decision making without a careful analysis, then it is bound to fail. This stems from the fact that satisficing decision making entails adopting the readily available decision to address a particular problem facing the company. For case in point, a company is bound to fai l when it takes the readily available decision and makes a decision that results in conflict of interest among the stakeholders, information asymmetries, and taxes levied (Sunder Myers 1999, p. 219). Despite the fact that the stakeholders prefer large sums of dividends, satisficer decision-making model can play a critical role in wasting the resources of the company, leading to higher taxes for the company (Sunder Myers 1999, p. 219). It is for this reason that an organisation should find ways of adapting effectively to the dynamic organisational changes, as this would facilitate a suitable avenue for establishing a positive feedback on the future of the company’s prospects, as well as future declaration of dividends (Lyandres Zhdanov, p. 54). Achieving a financial target for a firm has been highlighted as one of the major divers to organisational changes, as it helps to avert financial crisis with respect to internal and external stakeholders of the firm. In this regard, Sunder and Myers (1999, p. 219) have found out that if a company takes a positive approach towards organisational changes and announces dividends, it gets into a position of increasing its stock prices. However, Sunder and Myers (1999, p. 220) have also considered a number of barriers that may hinder a given company to adopt the dynamic organisational changes, which would facilitate management of capital resources. Key amongst these barriers is capital for compensating the shareholders. This barrier creates a challenge for the company, making it seek for funds elsewhere. And in a bid to curb the change management crisis, the company might decide to include new investor’s board, and this, in turn, may adversely affect the company’s culture. This stems from the fact that organisational changes are not only characterised by financial improvements but also a change in people attitudes as well as their behaviors. Moreover, Sunder and Myers (1999, p. 221) have emphasised on the relationship between time and effective change management process, stating that it is not a worthy venture for a company to issue new stocks in order to pay dividends in the same financial year. More so, the authors have added that a company should not pay dividends to shareholders immediately after a financial crisis in an effort of creating a positive attitude for the firm.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Property management is not only affected by barriers to organisational changes but goal setting with regard to defining short, middle, and long term strategies to be adopted by the firm. This has elicited a study on establishing the management approach that should be adopted by diverse firm following an analysis liquidity and credit worthiness, among other factors (Sunder Myers 1999, p. 222). As such, it has been established that payment of dividends should not be classified as a short-term strategy since dividends have a high possibility of causing additional problems during the period of financial crisis (Lyandres Zhdanov 2007, p. 61). Additionally, managerial functions, such as planning and evaluation, have influenced the manner in which property management of a given firm is handled. Proper planning is crucial in property management since it facilitates a good cash flow for the firm after subtracting the capital expenditure (Thompson McHugh 2002, p. 48). Additionally, proper planning plays a critical role in projecting whether the company could be faced with a financial crisis in future; hence, it analyses how the company is able to counter such financial risks by assessing the possibility of mergers and acquisitions (Thompson McHugh 2002, p. 52). As such, the managers involved in the planning process should ascertain whether the planning process is in line with the organisation mission and vision. In doing so, the company gets into a position of coping with the upcoming business challenges without involving many outsiders, who have the capacity of changing organisational culture. In addition to this, Thompson McHugh (2002, p. 52) have found out that implementing proper planning with regard to cash flow projection is critical since it helps in understanding the motives behind adopting a merger and acquisition by availing sufficient amount of cash to carry out such transactions. The theory of planning recommends that it is paramount to come up with a c ash hypothesis that helps in understanding the periods that the company is likely to be sold out to other investors’ companies (Timmer 2011, p. 102). The leverage buy-outs is imperative in the planning process since it helps firms that are in big debts to obtain sufficient funds for settling their outstanding debt through collateral from the company in order to secure loan. Though this often comes with interest, it is beneficial in the sense that the company is able to set cash from the secured loans in order to carry out some of is intended activities during and after the financial crisis ( Timmer 2011, p. 103). Evaluation is also a managerial function that helps to establish that financial crisis has the probability of halting the operations of a given company. Timmer (2011, p. 104) has found out that countering financial challenges through mergers and acquisition can create a disadvantage to the company that has succumbed to failure as it involves transferring most of its assets to the acquiring firm. The acquiring firm partially settles the debts of the failing firm, creating room for goodwill for the acquiring firm. In his study of performance evaluation, Watson (2001, p. 224) points out that debt is a cheaper option of handling financial crisis than equity simply because equity involves holding partnership with the shareholders, who share in the company’s productivity. And even though the shareholders are instrumental in facilitating the success of the company, they do not offer some technical expertise and knowledge in running the business since their work is to contribute capital to the business, not decision making on management of capital (Watson 2001, p. 225). Therefore, this can be regarded as an added cost in the management of property because in case of losses, the business bears it alone since the investors are only involved in sharing the returns, which are given in the form of dividends. On the other hand, Watson ( 2001, p. 225) has found out that inasmuch as the company would want to adopt a long term goal for debt repayment, it is sometimes unable to do so as debts are always periodic and have time limits for completion. This leaves the company with only one option that does not require time limit: dividends paid on the equity. Assessing the financial status of a company is critical in the planning process as it helps to ensure successful Implementation of business strategy. Watson (2001, p. 226) has pointed out the rationale of evaluating bankruptcy cost in regards to the firm’s capital structure and its response to financial crisis. This demonstrates that the management should note the role played by Bankruptcy costs since they form the foundations of financing policies of the firm. Thompson McHugh (2002, p. 53) have also demonstrated the role of bankruptcy costs, stating that these costs act as the counterweight to those taxes that have been deducted on the interest payments. Moreover, Thompson McHugh (2002, p. 53) ascertain that the costs associated with the bankruptcy, such as the reorganisation costs and tax credit losses, directly impact on the capital structure of the firm, since they demonstrate poor managerial practice with regard to planning and evaluation. By using the SWOT analysis, the organisation should be in a position to identify the threats in property management. More so, this analysis facilitates an understanding of the management strategy that should be adopted since the manager gets information on the unknown information through a cost-benefit analysis. In this regard, the management should note that when leverage of the company is on an upward trend, the firm is bound to suffer losses due to negative present value (NPV), as this makes the managers under invest in such projects (Watson 2001, p. 227). Additionally, the management should note the opportunities within the strategy, and key amongst them is the fact that the equity holders are attracted by the net benefits of the project; this creates an avenue for passing the rest of the costs to the bondholders. Capital structure is the strategy in which a corporation finances its own assets through combining equity, debt, or through hybrid securities (Baker Jeffrey 2002, p. 4). Management of capital structure will not only facilitate the management of financial resources but also the human resources, the company’ s assets, as well as the structure of the business. A vast majority of managers adopt external financing by issuing shares to the public, thus creating room for external ownership of the company (Baker Jeffrey 2002, p. 5). However, Myers Majluf (1984) argue that equity is not a preferred method of raising capital that could help the company during financial crisis and in the post crisis period. This stems from the fact that the practice threatens the values and norms of the company, creating a conflict between the managers and the new investors. While the new in vestors may tend to think that the company has value, the management takes this advantage to raise capital for the firm, and this may result in low company’s shares after sometime (Baker Jeffrey 2002, p. 7). Thus, the management should be in a position to choose a control system that has less risk in long-term basis. However, sometimes, the management faces challenges emanating from lack of knowledge on previously made decisions and the actual occurrence when the financial problem arises (Baker Jeffrey 2002, p. 15). In this case, the management should adopt traditional approaches, as they help to choose a capital management that has the lowest probable cost of capital for the company. Myers Majluf 1984 ( p.188) have described how management should use organisational controls that facilitate a reduction of debt ratio, while making sure that leverage-increasing actions like stock repurchases and debt-for-equity interactions are employed. This creates a differentiation betwee n the management approach that should be adopted before and after the financial crisis faced by the management (Myers Majluf 1984, p. 194). As such, Knights Willmott (2006, p. 22) recommend focused management in controlling future financial crisis. Conclusion In sum, the practical monetary managers will try to retain financial flexibility while making sure they attain long-term survival of their companies even after financial crisis. This will also help the company in planning for the possible financial problems. The research indicates that through improved and effective administrations of the organisation, the managers have to dedicate their time to work, which involves long-term thinking and vigilant consideration of the company changes. In this regard, many corporations are perceived to be unable to make alterations of the business setting so that the organisation could implement most of the fiscal strategies prior to, or after, a monetary crisis. This shows that such financial problems could effectively be realised only through the practice of objective and focused management. The justification was that since the global monetary crisis reaches at an untimely situation, thus, not quite practical for a number of companies to realign their manufacturing and administrative processes to match the predicted financial positions and the global trends that might be in order with their operations. Such attempts might help the companies cope with such financial challenges. Regardless of the realism that the fiscal challenges have had gross affects on global business operations in a number of ways and at different instances, the magnitude at which the entities operate has not been so hands-on to deal with increasing affects of financial crises. For instance, large business finance and organisation tribulations have resulted in monetary shortfall that exist and affect the link between the management of the company, customer base, and the suppliers. This situation has really compromised the choices, which the corporation could arrive at. Finally, the standoff could be relevant to corporate changes since the management of the entity that should make the decision in the best interest of the entire parties involved in its management often fail to execute their duties. Literally, these managers, who should act on behalf of the board as a watchdog of the financial alterations in the company, end up disappointing the shareholders. In fact, they are meant to make choices, which should be in favor of the shareholders. Essentially, Managers fail to act appropriately owing to their mixed interest and desire to maximise their own gain. References Baker, M Jeffrey, W 2002, Market Timing and Capital Structure, Journal of Finance vol. 57 no.1, pp. 1–32. Gustavo, G Michaely, R Swaminathan, B 2002, â€Å"Are Dividend Changes a Sign of Firm Maturity?†, The Journal of Business, vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 387-424. Jackall, R 1988, ‘Looking up and lo oking around excerpt from Moral mazes: the world of corporate managers’, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Knights, D Willmott, H 2006, ‘Management and Leadership: Introducing Organizational Behaviour and Management’, Thompson, London. Lyandres, E Zhdanov, A 2007, ‘Investment Opportunities and Bankruptcy Prediction’, Harcourt College Publishers, Fort Worth. Myers, S Majluf, S 1984, Corporate Financing And Investment Decisions When Firms Have Information That Investors Do Not Have, Journal of Financial Economics, vol.13, no. 2, pp. 187–221. Sunder, L Myers, S 1999, â€Å"Testing Static Tradeoff Against Pecking Order Models of Capital Structure†, Journal of Financial Economics, pp. 219-244. Thompson, P McHugh, P 2002, ‘Work Organizations: A Critical Introduction’, (3rd Ed.), Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke and London. Timmer, J 2011, Understanding the Fed Model, Capital Structure, and then Some, Fort Worth, Harcourt Colle ge Publishers. Watson, T 2001, â€Å"The Emergent Manager and Processes of Management Pre-Learning†, Management Learning, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 221-235.

How to Derive the Formula for Combinations

How to Derive the Formula for Combinations After seeing formulas printed in a textbook or written on the board by a teacher, it is sometimes surprising to find out that many of these formulas can be derived from some fundamental definitions and careful thought. This is particularly true in probability when examining the formula for combinations. The derivation of this formula really just relies upon the multiplication principle. The Multiplication Principle Suppose there is a task to do and this task is broken into a total of two steps. The first step can be done in k ways and the second step can be done in n ways. This means that after multiplying these numbers together, the number of ways to perform the task is nk. For example, if you have ten kinds of ice cream to choose from and three different toppings, how many one scoop, one topping sundaes can you make? Multiply three by 10 to get 30 sundaes. Forming Permutations Now, use the multiplication principle to derive the formula for the number of combination of r elements taken from a set of n elements. Let P(n,r) denote the number of permutations of r elements from a set of n and C(n,r) denote the number of combinations of r elements from a set of n elements. Think about what happens when forming a permutation of r elements from a total of n. Look at this as a two-step process. First, choose a set of r elements from a set of n. This is a combination and there are C(n, r) ways to do this. The second step in the process is to order r elements with r choices for the first, r - 1 choices for the second, r - 2 for the third, 2 choices for the penultimate and 1 for the last. By the multiplication principle, there are r x (r -1 ) x . . . x 2 x 1 r! ways to do this. This formula is written with factorial notation. The Derivation of the Formula To recap, P(n,r ), the number of ways to form a permutation of r elements from a total of n is determined by: Forming a combination of r elements out of a total of n in any one of C(n,r ) waysOrdering these r elements any one of r! ways. By the multiplication principle, the number of ways to form a permutation is P(n,r ) C(n,r ) x r!. Using the formula for permutations P(n,r ) n!/(n - r)!, that can be substituted into the above formula: n!/(n - r)! C(n,r ) r!. Now solve this, the number of combinations, C(n,r ), and see that C(n,r ) n!/[r!(n - r)!]. As demonstrated, a little bit of thought and algebra can go a long way. Other formulas in probability and statistics can also be derived with some careful applications of definitions.

Why read The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin (1894) Essay

Why read The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin (1894) - Essay Example Mallard, who having a weak heart, mourns the death of her husband, Kate Chopin introduces a passage, which abruptly pictures window’s feelings of relief and freedom and thus this tragic event becomes confusing. Finally, in the exact moment when Mrs. Mallard finds out her allegedly dead husband is alive, she dies of a heart attack. From the critical perspective, the first impression from the story is undoubtedly confusing, however, a more careful analysis reveals that there are many reasons why this literary piece would be important and even necessary to read. Unlike many literary works that are essential descriptive, Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour† teaches a modern reader to understand historical and social context of the story. This most popular piece of Chopin’s short fiction was written and published in 1984, and the influence of this historical epoch on the story is evident. Chopin’s women are framed and determined by the historical traditions, morals and principles. Women’s lives are limited by kitchens, children, families and occasional genteel routs. â€Å"Story of an Hour† witnesses a woman dawning on the notion of freedom after she learns of her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard is awe-struck at her own feelings, as she has too lived her life according to the rules of middle-class white womanhood, but she lets the feelings flow nevertheless, and she makes plans for her new life: â€Å"Free! Body and soul free!† (Chopin, par.14). Chopin leaves audience with perhaps her most telling dramatic irony: the gathered community, viewing Mrs. Mallard as the pinnacle of respectable true-womanhood, decides her cause-of-death: â€Å"joy that kills† (Chopin, par.20). As in most of Chopin’s literature, her women who rebel from marriage are not rebelling from their husbands personally; rather, and perhaps worse, according to true-woman ideology, they rebel from the depletion of personal power and selfhood that

Understanding Hospitality Resource--- Write up one tutorial exercise Essay

Understanding Hospitality Resource--- Write up one tutorial exercise from the list below - Essay Example It is, therefore, extremely crucial for hotels to keep their employees up to date and well trained on the current housekeeping issues, since housekeepers are always in contact with the hotels’ guests. Housekeeping also plays a key role in the client-hotel relationship since the clients will come to the hotel not only from the hotels’ food but also through the house keeping quality of the hotel. Housekeeping also plays a crucial role in the record keeping of the hotels’ guests and the preparation of the inventory of the house keeping supplies. Hotels have got people who supervise the rest of the housekeeper. These people are known as housekeeper supervisors. The job description of the housekeeper supervisor is mainly to inspect the quality of the housekeeping job that has been done in the hotel rooms. The supervisors are also required to take part in the procurement process of the hotels’ laundry and other housekeeping equipment. The supervisor should be able to lead his housekeeping team well and unit the team in order to perform a quality job. The housekeeper supervisor should be able to have excellent communication skills. They should be able to have the ability to teach other housekeepers on their roles. They should be able to fully understand what the needs of the hotels clients are. The housekeeping supervisors should be able to encourage and motivate other housekeepers to keep on doing a better job in carrying out their duties. Housekeeping supervisors should be able to delegate assignments to the housekeepi ng workers well in a manner that does not discriminate anybody. This will in turn motivate the workers to do a terrific job. Housekeepers should always have an enterprising mind. They should be able to initiate new and creative projects that will be profitable both to the hotel and to the clients. They should be ready to pass on the rules and conventions of the hotel, this will in turn show the housekeeping workers

Past Experiences and Present Situation Personal Statement

Past Experiences and Present Situation - Personal Statement Example In almost all the cases the rivals belong to one and the same group and community. Somehow, the individuals having experience of living and interacting with different people and cultural environment are in a position to adjust in every atmosphere; the same is applied to me. Since the nature of my father’s job demanded to settle down at different places, I also had to move along with him in various cities of my country. Hence, I sought education from three different cities, during which I came across the people having divergent family and cultural backgrounds. Somehow, my active participation in the curricular activities and unflinching co-operation with the fellow-students during classroom discussions, library consulting, group-participation, giving vent to ideas during examination preparations and others made me a popular student of all the educational institutions I attended during the course of time. Additionally, my keen interest in extra-curricular activities including debates and speeches, sports and games and long-tours and trips also proved me as a flexible and amiable person in the eyes of others. I had been the football player for the last many years at school and college levels and played at different positions in the playground. The sports made me learn patience, endurance, tolerance and respect for others even after winning or losing the game. During the sports, I experienced fluctuation of moods and several other pleasant and unpleasant situations; however, my patience and efficiency always supported me.

An Economic Analysis of With Honors Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

An Economic Analysis of With Honors - Assignment Example Such is the knowledge that is evident in Simon; he has certainly gathered as a function of his substantially long stay on the streets. In a way, it must be understood that, if properly harnessed, such kind of knowledge can be quite beneficial and can serve as a great source of information to researchers and other learners in the study of society and human nature. Our world requires more than common requisites in life. A mere Harvard education is not a guarantee a better life at all. Important as it is, it is still not a panacea to all the limitations that characterize life. We require more knowledge about the world and ourselves. Unfortunately, much of that information is never found in the libraries at Harvard or anywhere else in the world. It is found through experience in life shared through mutual relationships. It is found through the experiences in the streets, just as Simon seems to have gathered. It is found through relationships with idiots and intellectuals. In the movie, M onty learns a great deal from his predicament and relationship with Simon. He gets to underscore the importance of tolerance in life, which becomes integral economically to him. He changes the topic of his thesis because of his association with Simon and the subsequent transformation of his general world perception. It is imperative to realize that, as it appears in the movie that it is not only socially correct, but economically beneficial as well, to prepare efficiently for adulthood life by learning the basics. Graduating with honors alone by submitting a thesis in time is not a sufficient milestone in the course of life. It demands the knowledge that Simon is unknowingly propagating. The essence of life from a moral perspective is to live with honor and not to merely graduate with honors. Economically, a life with honor creates a sense of respect and enables one to climb very high social ladders in the society. For instance, people who live with honor access leadership positions , which come with money and fame. Therefore, as a recurrent theme in the movie, such an orientation in life can effectively make one realize the very essence of their lives, which can bring economic success and prosperity (Strasburger 54). In the movie, the four students learn new ideas in life and gather integral lessons in life. They learn not to ignore the street people like Simon. Assuming everybody in the world was to learn about these realities, it would translate to a very economically prosperous world that cares for the less fortunate in the society and recognizes that everybody in the world is important in their own right. Indeed, nothing is better than such a realization. It is rather funny in the manner Simon exchanges a page of the thesis with Monty for his daily necessities. That is of very great economic importance. It shows that there is nothing in the world that is given for free at least not even for a Harvard senior like Monty. The moral of the episode lies in inun dating the students with the idea that they should expect circumstances in life where despite their holding Harvard degrees, they have to strive and work hard for the necessities in life. In a way, it seems that the world can be a much better place if the likes of Simon were given the opportunity to display the wide experience they have gathered in their experiences in the world. The Harvard students in the movie appear as students of Simon despite his apparent lack of academic knowledge. Economically, this can

Kantian Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Kantian Philosophy - Essay Example In my attempt to delineate what is universal and empirical in Kant’s philosophical though and inquiry, I shall explore the connection between happiness and goodness and provide a logical analysis on my part to clearly show how a certain thing can be empirical or universal. At the same time, I shall work on the idea of reason in influencing how happiness and goodness work in relation to the universal and the empirical. Principle of a good will is important because it determines the extent and the scope of what might be the effect and the accomplishments of it. Having such condition, it can be considered that goodness may be considered universal depending on the purpose behind it. Having that said, one can observe that a good intention may or may not result into something beneficial even if helping can be considered morally good in its own right. People will always work out the presumptions that surround goodwill. This is where things can be considered to be jumping out the univ ersal condition that Kant tries to achieve. However, one cannot disregard the fact that inclinations are subjective which can devalue the universal condition. I would like to draw a connection between Kant’s notions towards happiness which can be connected to how the universality of a certain will can be considered absurd. Desire is one of the key concepts that Kant has put into place as he provides reasoning on how happiness works. 4 Possibly, it is a natural phenomenon experienced by people since it is natural and universal to show desire. However, the very subjectivity of it limits it be observable in the case of an individual and cannot be considered to be highly applicable in most cases. Variations then emerge. How does reason gives a condition to attain both of the phenomena? Goodness and Happiness are both subjective but reason has a certain conditioning it imposes on it to allow to materialize universally and empirically. However, Kant points out that duty has a certa in influence on how happiness and goodness can be achieved. Reasoning provides the condition where duty cannot be considered universal or far from universal due to the inherent personal will that a person imposes on duty. 5 The subjectivity that has emerged from it became the influential condition as to how one may argue that goodness and happiness are done. Goodness is seen based on how a person does not want to abuse another person; however, there is still a personal bias that there is a way to look for happiness in the manner of achieving goodness. Analytically, it can be seen that happiness and goodness cannot be separated. The universality of it, presumably, can be seen on how people feel it and act on it. Its practical use is already universal in its own right. It just becomes empirical as the experiences of it vary accordingly to contexts. Extensively, it can be seen that goodness is inherent in humans because of reasoning that there is a need to keep things on order and by d oing so, happiness is achieved. This becomes a highly synthetic and a dual paradigm of action. One may act for both goodness and happiness with separating it. The very manner of acting the happiness and goodness is already universal in its own right since it people have a moral inclination to do such. Experiences are the ones that make the universality empirical since it is even safe to say that Kant’s philosophy is relatively individualistic in nature. In this case, will become one of the most important conditions since its imperativeness make it part of practical and universal thought. Will is

An Economic Analysis of With Honors Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

An Economic Analysis of With Honors - Assignment Example Such is the knowledge that is evident in Simon; he has certainly gathered as a function of his substantially long stay on the streets. In a way, it must be understood that, if properly harnessed, such kind of knowledge can be quite beneficial and can serve as a great source of information to researchers and other learners in the study of society and human nature. Our world requires more than common requisites in life. A mere Harvard education is not a guarantee a better life at all. Important as it is, it is still not a panacea to all the limitations that characterize life. We require more knowledge about the world and ourselves. Unfortunately, much of that information is never found in the libraries at Harvard or anywhere else in the world. It is found through experience in life shared through mutual relationships. It is found through the experiences in the streets, just as Simon seems to have gathered. It is found through relationships with idiots and intellectuals. In the movie, M onty learns a great deal from his predicament and relationship with Simon. He gets to underscore the importance of tolerance in life, which becomes integral economically to him. He changes the topic of his thesis because of his association with Simon and the subsequent transformation of his general world perception. It is imperative to realize that, as it appears in the movie that it is not only socially correct, but economically beneficial as well, to prepare efficiently for adulthood life by learning the basics. Graduating with honors alone by submitting a thesis in time is not a sufficient milestone in the course of life. It demands the knowledge that Simon is unknowingly propagating. The essence of life from a moral perspective is to live with honor and not to merely graduate with honors. Economically, a life with honor creates a sense of respect and enables one to climb very high social ladders in the society. For instance, people who live with honor access leadership positions , which come with money and fame. Therefore, as a recurrent theme in the movie, such an orientation in life can effectively make one realize the very essence of their lives, which can bring economic success and prosperity (Strasburger 54). In the movie, the four students learn new ideas in life and gather integral lessons in life. They learn not to ignore the street people like Simon. Assuming everybody in the world was to learn about these realities, it would translate to a very economically prosperous world that cares for the less fortunate in the society and recognizes that everybody in the world is important in their own right. Indeed, nothing is better than such a realization. It is rather funny in the manner Simon exchanges a page of the thesis with Monty for his daily necessities. That is of very great economic importance. It shows that there is nothing in the world that is given for free at least not even for a Harvard senior like Monty. The moral of the episode lies in inun dating the students with the idea that they should expect circumstances in life where despite their holding Harvard degrees, they have to strive and work hard for the necessities in life. In a way, it seems that the world can be a much better place if the likes of Simon were given the opportunity to display the wide experience they have gathered in their experiences in the world. The Harvard students in the movie appear as students of Simon despite his apparent lack of academic knowledge. Economically, this can

Vodafone Group PLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Vodafone Group PLC - Essay Example We will use the same conduct fundamental analysis of the company to assess whether the stock is likely to increase or decrease in value in the short- and long-term and whether the stocks current price is an accurate reflection of its value (Street.com, Inc.,2007) Revenues exhibited growths within the range of 10% to 33% for the last five year period except for the decline from 2004 to2005 by 21%. Despite the decline in 2005 from 2004, gross margins were noticeably high from 29% for the years 2003 and 2004 respectively and still high at 22% and 21% respectively for the years 2005 and 2006 respectively. This means that decline in company revenues for a given year which could have been an indication of lower output did not cause the company to suffer the decline in terms of productivity or efficiency since the gross margins were still high, although the decline was still felt since the gross margin from2004 to 2005 also declined from 29% to 22%. The apparent decline in mark up due to decline in revenues from 2004 to 2005 was remarkably offset by the increase in bet profit margin relative to the years where changes were noted. The lower gross margin for the year 2006 and 2006 as against 2004 and 2003 did not necessarily resulted to lower net profit margin for the corresponding years under study, since net profit margin for the years 2006 and 2005 stood at both similar rates of 22% which were surprisingly higher than for 2004 and 2003 respectively. This difference in the results could only mean better efficiency for the years 2006 and 2005 over the year 2004 and 2003. Viewed from perspective of improving management performance in terms of efficiency, the management has indeed shown resiliency and disciple for the latter years as compared against the earlier years. This is however not to lose the remarkable achievement net profit margin 1n 2002 which got reflected at 69%. What clearly showed an increasing trend without sign of going down are the

To Grade or Not to Grade Essay Example for Free

To Grade or Not to Grade Essay Sweaty hands, racing heartbeat, trouble breathing. These are a few of the things some students may experience right before, or even during a test. Jerry Farber brings some very interesting alternatives to testing and to the whole grading process in an article he wrote called, â€Å"A young person’s guide to the grading system†. (Farber 1969) In A young persons guide to the grading system (Farber 1969) Farber has some radical ideas for change that unfortunately, may not be taken seriously enough to invoke change. Although in my opinion his ideas are certainly something that could benefit many students in many ways. In brief, what Farber says is, instead of grading with A’s and F’s, schools could use something he calls the â€Å"credit system†. He goes on to say â€Å"If you meet the minimum requirements of a course, you get credit for it. No A’s or C’s or silver stars, just credit†. (Farber 1969) The best part of this is if you do not meet the minimum requirements nothing happens. As a student that certainly struggles when it comes times for a test, I would like to see some of his ideas implemented in schools. The way school works now, if you try your best but still don’t meet the minimum requirements of the course, it can greatly affect your grade point average. It can even affect your financial aid or get it taken away completely. Also, students will have to pay again to re-take the class, thus adding more money on to your student loans. What a turn off to learning this becomes. Instead of really wanting to learn, school becomes more of learning only what you have to learn to pass a class. Is this what school is supposed to be about? Only learning what we must? I believe Farbers ideas would certainly make school a lot more stress free, thus opening up the doors to free learning. Looking at this from the point of view of the student who struggles with test anxiety or grades in general, but is very smart and puts forth great effort, Farbers ideas make all the sense in the world. A great number of the jobs in the world today require a college degree when on the job training and apprenticeships would be so much more practical. Is it really a good idea to pay for four years of college, graduate and then get training? I think not. To me it makes perfect sense to skip to the on-the-job training. After all, that’s where we learn the most about the job we are doing. And what about all the money spent on college? Is this necessary? According to the Project on student Loan Debt, â€Å"The average amount of student loan debt was $24,000 in 2010. And the unemployment rate is up for college grads too. Given that the average job for a person fresh out of college was approximately 27,000 a year in 2011, according to an article in the New York Times. (NY Times) Does it make sense to burden our young people with a debt that will take years to pay off? Apprenticeships would be so much more beneficial to people and to the government as well. No more student loans or finical aid! Well, at least not as much money going towards them. High schools may see a decrease in the drop-out rate and could turn out smarter, more confident students with a genuine eagerness to learn. I believe Farbers eagerness to teach his students out-of-the-box may have been the reason for him writing this article. Farber is a professor at San Diego University to me that says a lot. He may have gotten tired of seeing his own bright students not meet the requirements of the school and offered a new solution to the problems of the current grading system. Farber has developed a unique new alternative to the current rigid grading system. Wouldn’t it be a great thing to see a study done in a large university that implemented these ideas? It may work. No one will know until it’s tried and tested. Unfortunately this article was written in 1969 and through my research online I was not able to find a single school that was ever willing to take a chance and give more students the chance to â€Å"learn without restriction†. (Farber 1969) References Farber, J. (1969). A young person’s guide to the grading system. In Baker College composition: A custom approach (Revised Edition) (pp. 184-188). Boston, MA: Pearson. [Grads today]. (2011, January 10). Retrieved January 31, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/business/ economy/19grads.html [Student loan debt]. (2011, April 7). Retrieved January 31, 2013, from http://projectonstudentloandebt.org/

Impacts of Stress on the Well Being of Undergraduate Nurses

Impacts of Stress on the Well Being of Undergraduate Nurses Sanober Fazal Introduction Every person in this world is surrounded by different kinds of stresses. (Kohler et al., 2006) as cited in (Martos et al., 2012) â€Å"stress refers to a dynamic interaction between the individual and the environment. In this interaction, demands, limitations, and opportunities related to work may be perceived as threatening to surpass the individual’s resources and skill†. Stress in my point of view is a pressure which effects our mind and unable us to do our daily activities properly. It affects our mental, psychological, physical and emotional health. According to (Manney, Mk, Paul, Shashidhar, 2011) students are more porne to stress and it negatively effects on their mental health, educational success, self-grooming and effect on future. The same authors stated medical education as stressful. There are many factors which causes stress and that compromise the well-being of student nurses which will be discuss later in this paper.(O’Donnell ,2009) stated that many nursing student left the program due to unbearable stress. The rational for choosing this topic is that it’s my own observation and experience that stress is higher in undergraduate nurses. They are always over burden with assignments, regular papers as well as classes, clinical and, group works. All the time they have to sit in front of laptops or books. They have less time for themselves as well as for their families and friends. Other than this many undergraduate nurses end up with mental distress, many tried to do suicidal attempts and many withdraw the nursing career. Stress is the hurdle in the well-being of students, it affects negatively on their academics and social life. Many theories have been proposed for the better understanding of stress. According to (Cannon, 1929) as cites in (Davidyan, 2008), he talked about response theory. According to him our body works on basic principle of equilibrium (homeostasis). If the external stimulus is strong and body cannot cope with it than it really disturb the normal mechanism of body and causes stress. If the person handle the situation properly than it will be called a balance condition. Another theory given by (Hans selye, 1956) as cited in same article which describe a theory of general reaction of individual to different stressors. He discussed about three stages: Alarm reaction, resistance and exhaustion. In alarm reaction there is a condition of fight and flight and organism try to control the situation by physiological responses. After which resistance stage occurs. Here body builds resistance against stressor. Last stage is exhaustion where all the energy is lost, no further resistance exists and indi vidual ends in chronic stress. It indicates that a person should response appropriately in every stage to prevent complications of stress. Unfortunately, the prevalence of stress in Pakistani students is very high especially in nursing students. In Pakistan the image of nursing profession is very bad. There is no respect for this noble profession therefore, very little researches and studies has been done on it. According to Khowaja (2009) Pakistan is a discriminating society and there is no value of nursing that’s why there are always issues. A study was done on the prevalence of stress by Kumar and Nancy (2011) in Punjab, Pakistan. According to the study, out of 180 undergraduate nurses, 34.4 % had moderate stress, 32.8 % had mild and maximum stress respectively. Another study was carried in CMH College Lahore on 200 students. The result showed that the mean stress was 30.87, nearly same with result of Punjab college students. It indicates high level of stress in Pakistani nursing students. What Are the Factors of Stress in Undergraduate Nurses? There are many factors of stress among undergraduate nurses. For example they have to do lots of assignment, hard work, GPA, frequent exams, clinical both supervised and unsupervised. Moreover, the other factors which lead to stress are fear of faculty, staff, patient and their different disease status, lack of proper guidance and self-awareness. As an undergraduate nurse it’s my own experience and observation that both the supervised and unsupervised clinical are more stressful because students are expected to do many assignment and skills at the same time. Undergraduate nurses have to do assignment given by their faculty, by staff nurse and they have to give holistic care to patients. They are supposed to take care of severe patients with infectious disease and with aggressive behavior which cause stress in student nurses. Many of these factors were also mentioned in literature. Reevea et al., (2013) also highlighted clinical assignment as one of the factor of stress. It is more time consuming and students become socially isolated. The other cause of stress mentioned in the same articles is neglection from patients and from their attaindance, from staff nurse and other health care professionals. According to Abbey et al., (2011) issues from surrounding society, educational, and financial can also lead to stress. In an article written by somani khowaja (2012) it was mentioned that in Pakistani society work place violence and lower status of nursing profession is also a cause of stress in nurses. Patients and their relatives think this profession is not good and always try to abuse them. Magnavita and heponiemi (2011) mentioned physical and verbal violence as source of stress in nursing students during their clinical placement. Furthermore, international nursing review (2012) three main types of stressors are mentioned: (1) clinical stressors which include anxiety of not achieving expectations and communication gap between patients and hospital members. (2) Academic stressors. For example ongoing assessment and quizzes, not passing the programme and hectic timetable. (3) Personal/ social stressors which means financial issues and issues in home and school works. A cross sectional study was done in Pakistan’s shifa nursing college by Shomail and Faisal (2012). In this study total 78 nursing students participated. The findings of study on score of stress level in different factors were as follow, theory = 2.37, clinical experience =3.5, college environment= 2.39, social environment=251. In my opinion these factors of stress bring tremendous alteration in an individual’s health. What Are Implications of Stress in Undergraduate Nurses? According to labrague (2013), stress has adverse outcomes not only on physical, psychological and social health but as whole well-being. (Shirom, 2003) as cited in (Martos et al., 2012), stress lead to physical, psychological and behavioral impairment in an individual. I have seen many people with stress who cannot sleep without medications and they left to take proper diet. (Chang et.al 2006) as cited in (Lim, Bogossian and Ahern, 2010) reported consequences of stress on physical health that is increased pressures, sleep disturbance and tiredness. In another literature it says stress in nursing students creates issues in memory, in judgmental skills and in coping styles, Goff (2011). The students, who encounter stress, mainly have poor thinking and this further aggravate their psychological problems. I witnessed one of my classmate who developed psychological symptoms in second year 2013 due to increased stress in her academics. She was admitted in psychiatric ward for more than 2 m onths and still she takes medications. I observed the same symptoms in her which are mentioned in the literatures. According to literature, undergraduate nurse end up in mental issues due to increase level of stress. It causes emotional distress that is nervousness, low self-esteem, isolation, aggression, anxiety etc.(Jimenez,OsorioDiaz, 2010).In Karachi, Pakistan a study was conducted in three medical colleges and students participated were 360. They found gastro intestinal problems especially irritable bowel syndrome in students. It was mentioned in the article that irritable bowel syndrome is because of psychological stress in students. (Naeem et al., 2012). Moreover, (Prasad et al., 2013) also talked about psychological impacts of stress which lead to loss of concentration in educational field, loss of energy which ultimately leads to low output and thoughts of suicide. I also witnessed many cases where people did suicide, left the program, developed loneliness and symptoms like anxiety and drug abuse. O’Donnell (2009) stated that due to increased stress students are unable to focus and complete their nursing degree. They do not pay attention towards their studies which makes their life complicated.Galbraith and brown (2011) mentioned behavior related affects like use of alcohol, smoking and other drugs. Students use drugs as alternative coping strategies. The individual who suffer from violence may develop symptoms that persist for many years. They blame themselves for the incidence, feeling ashamed, and embarrassed. It alters their social life and builds negative thought about their career (magnavitaheponiemi, 2011).Yet another article by Mane et al. (2011) stated stress causes weak performance in education and in their later job life. Moreover they face many problems in their social life and personnel life. In my view stress always hinders in the progression of students whether it is there education, career, and health, their personal or social l ife. Strategies and Interventions There are many interventions and strategies to reduce the factors and negative impacts of stress in undergraduate nurses. According to (humped caputi, 2011) as cited in â€Å"Nurses education today†, student nurses are more exposed to stress and they need to build their capacity to balance their thoughts and cope constructively. Lim et al. (2010) found basic education of undergraduates very beneficial in control of stress.(Hubbard et al., 1984) as cited in ( Reevea et al., 2013) ; Yamashita and Miwasaito, 2012), mentioned about social support. According to which a strong support from others (friends and family members) enhance positivity in their health and thinking. Other than this a good relationship between students and their faculty can builds trust and confidence in students to perform their task courageously. (Jimenez ,2010; Yearwood and Riley, 2013), also mentioned that faculties should understand student’s stress so that they can support them in their grooming, progression and a proper guidance in clinical set up also reduce their stress level. In addition (Gibbons, 2010; Shomail Faisal, 2012), mentioned that the positive regards from teachers and colleague is helpful in stress management. According to Laragia (2013) to decrease stress in undergraduate nurses it is important to assess the cause and level of stress to plan interventions accordingly and help students in their theoretical and practical skill. Mane et al. (2011) highlighted about relaxation therapies and solution to those factors which are more common in students stress. Yamashita et al. (2012) found self-awareness and knowledge of dealing with stress as important strategies in alleviating of stress. Conclusion and Recommendation In conclusion every profession is stressful but nursing is more stressful and undergraduate nurses are more vulnerable to stress. There are many causes of stress which impacts the well-being of student nurses. The causes are increase work load in classes as well as in clinical, lack of knowledge, low self-esteem, encountering challenges with staff, patients and clinical placement. Undergraduates face many consequences of stress for example they suffer from psychological, emotional, social, and physical problem. They develop symptoms of suicidal ideation, alter in thought process, self with drawl from social life, high blood pressure, sleep problems, anxiety, frustration and it also impacts on their academics. Furthermore, it is very essential to find the root causes of stress and make proper strategies to reduce it. It is important for students that they should develop positive coping skills and cooperative relationship with faculties, staff and other professionals. Students can also take benefit from their social circle like from their parents and friends. In Pakistan nurses image is very poor and this lead to stress and many other issues in nurses. A proper research is needed to find the causes, prevalence and impacts of stress on the well-being of undergraduate nurses. I would recommend that students and teachers should make support group which will find out or help those students who are in stress. Furthermore, institution should not over burden the students. They should plan such activities which help them in relieving their stress such as sport timing, parties, and psychotherapy and counseling classes. If these strategies are implemented than students will be healthy and ultimately, there will be productive outcome. References Davidyan,A. (2008, January 10). Retrieved from http://http://www.severehypertension.net/hbp/more/theories-of-stress/ Donnell,O. (2009). The emotional impact of nursing student attrition rates.British Journal of Nursing,18(12), 745-747, 750, 752-754. Retrieved from http://www.scopus.com/ Galbraith,N.D., Brow,K.E. (2011). Assessing intervention effectiveness for reducing stress in student nurses.Journal of Advanced Nursing,67(4), 709-721. Retrieved from onlinelibrarywiley.com Gibbons., Dampster., Moutray. (2011). Differences in Perceived Stress and Its Correlates among students in professional courses.JCDR,5(6), 1228-1233. Retrieved from http://www.jcdr.net/article_fulltext.asp?issn=0973-709xyear=2011volume=5issue=6page=1228issn=0973-709xid=1620 Gibbons,C. (2010). Stress, coping and burn-out in nursing students.International Journal of Nursing Studies,47(10), 1299-1309. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Goff,A.M. (2011). Stressors, academic performance and learned resourcefulness in baccalaureate nursing student.International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 8(1). Jimenez,C., Navia-osorio,P.M., Diaz,C.V. (2010). Stress and health in novice and experienced nursing students.Journal of Advanced Nursing,66(2), 442-455. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05183.x/full Khowaja,K. (2009). International perspective: health care systems and care delivery in Pakistan.Journal of Nursing Administrator,39(6), 263-265. Retrieved from www.nursing center.com Kumar,R., Nancy. (2011). stress and coping strategies among nursing students.Nursing and Midwifery Research Journal,7(4), 141-151. Retrieved from medind.nic.in Labrague,L.J. (2013). Stress, stressor and stress responses of student nurse in a government nursing school. Retrieved from www.hsj.gr Lim,J., Bogossian,F., Ahern,K. (2010). Stress and coping in Australian nurses: a systematic review.International Nursing Review,57(1), 22-31. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ Magnavita,N., Heponiemi,T. (2011). Work place violence against nursing students and nurses.Journal of Nursing scholarship,43(2), 203-210. Retrieved from on line library. Wiley .com Manney,A.B., Mk,K., Paul,N., Shashidhar,H. (2011). Differences in Perceived Stress and Its Correlates among Students in Professional Courses.Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research,5(6), 1228-1233. Retrieved from http://www.jcdr.net/article_fulltext.asp?issn=0973-709xyear=2011volume=5issue=6page=1228issn=0973-709xid=1620 Martos,M.P., Augusto-landa,J.M., Lopez -zafra,E. (2011). Sources of stress in nursing students: a systematic review of quantitative studies.International Nursing Review,59(1), 15-25. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1466-7657.2011.00939.x/full Por,J., Barriball,L., Fitzpatrick,J., Roberts,J. (2011). Emotional intelligence: Its relationship to stress, coping, well-being and professional performance in nursing students .Nurse Education Today,31(8), 855-860. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0260691711000086 Prasad,C.V., Suresh,A., Thomas,D.K., Pritty,M.K., Beebi,S., Multazim,V. (2013). The level of stress and coping mechanism adopted by I Year B.Sc. nursing students.AMHS,1(1), 19-23. Retrieved from http://www.amhsjournal.org/ Reevea,K.L., Shumaker,C.J., Yearwooda,E.L., B., Crowella,N.A., Rileya,J.B. (2013). Perceived stress and social support in undergraduate nursing students educational experiences.Nurse Education Today,33(4), 419-424. Sawatzky, Richard, Ratner,G., Pamela,A., Richardson, Chris, Patricia. (2012). Stress and Depression in Students: The Mediating Role of Stress Management Self-efficacy. Nursing Research,61(1), 13-21. Retrieved from http://journals.lww.com/ Shomail,S., Faisal,A. (2012). Stressor and coping strategies among baccalaureate nursing students at Shifa college of nursing Islamabad, Pakistan.International Journal of Nursing education,4(2), 193-197. Somani,R.K., Khowaja,K. (2012). Work place violance towards nurse a reality from Pakistani context.Journal of Nursing Education and Practice,2(3). Retrieved from www.sciedu.ca/jnep Yamashita,K., Miwasaito. (2012). stress and coping styles in Japanese nursing students. International Journal Nursing Practice,18(5), 489-492.

Policy Proposal for Economic Reform in Russia Essay -- Economics Polit

Policy Proposal for Economic Reform in Russia Despite making a recovery after the 1998 market crash, Russia remains weighted with numerous holdovers from the Communist era that keep its economy from taking advantage of free-market reforms. In short, Russia has not prospered under capitalism because it has not yet discovered it. In order to do so, the Russian government must engage in extensive reform in several key areas: improving the rule of law, creating stable monetary policy, and ending a policy of favoritism to particular businesses. Engaging in these reforms would lower the extremely high transaction costs of doing business legally, stimulating a wave of new investment and wealth creation within Russia, as well as encouraging investment from abroad. While the causes of Russia’s economic problems are numerous, the absence of a rule of law causes enormous unpredictability and uncertainty that is the primary barrier to economic growth. The regulatory mess caused by presidential decrees, legislative changes and numerous bureaucracies putting out contradictory rulings is just one aspect of this problem. The court system, which is supposed to be a neutral arbitrator of private disputes, is highly publicized, and even worse, is used by the governments to silence critics and unfavorable companies. One of the major challenges to reform is the uncooperative nature of the bureaucratic apparatus in carrying out laws and policies enacted by the executive. While Yeltsin and Putin have generally been in favor of free-market reforms, the bureaucrats meant to carry out their policies are often rich oligarchs who stand to lose financially or politically from reform. To combat this, Putin has replaced most of the Yeltsin-era ruling... ...-07-98.html 9. Dmitry Pinsker, â€Å"TV6 saga nears final episode.† The Russia Journal http://www.trj.ru/index.htm?obj=5321 10. James A. Dorn and Ian Vasquez. Ending Russia's Chaos, September 9, 1998 http://www.cato.org/dailys/9-9-98.html 11. Daniel J. Mitchell, â€Å"Tax Reform: Russia, 1; United States, 0,† March 21, 2002 http://www.heritage.org/views/2002/ed032102.html 12. Rose Brady, Kapitalizm : Russia's Struggle to Free Its Economy, New Haven, Conn. Yale University Press, 1999. 13. Martha De Melo, and Gur Ofer, â€Å"Private Service Firms in a Transitional Economy: Findings of a Survey in St. Petersburg† Studies of Economies in Transformation, 1014-997X ; Paper No. 11: 1994. 14. William C.Gruben, "Dollarization: The Greenback Goes Global," Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Expand Your Insight, March 1, 2000 http://www.dallasfed.org/eyi/money/0003.html

Mental Health issues in Adults Essay

Mental health is defined in Healthy People 2020 as encompassing the ability to engage in productive activities and fulfilling relationships with other people, to adapt to change and to cope with adversity (USDHHS, 2010). In the United States nearly 57.7 Million adults (18 years and above) suffer from a mental health disorder in a given year and 6% of the population suffers from a serious mental illness (NIMH, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to look into the perspective of how best one can advocate for mental health disorder as a population health issue through various strategies including policy change. Population Health Issue and Population Affected Mental health disorders have no boundaries and affect all people without regard to gender, race or age. They are the leading cause of disability in North America (WHO, 2008b). Despite the staggering number of people with mental health disorders, only 25% obtain help in any part of the health care system, while the majority receives no specialty mental health care. It is unrealistic to have a goal of â€Å"decreasing the prevalence of mental illness† because mental illness by its nature is a complex bio psychosocial disorder and any stressful event in life may be the cause of mental health problem and everyone is susceptible to it. According to Byers et al. the number of people age 55 and above suffering from mood or anxiety disorders has been increasing for the last two decades and it has a trend of doubling itself every five years. This alarming trend will soon become a public health crisis as a large number of â€Å"baby boomer† generation ages. The increasing number of returning veterans is also another dimension to this crisis. A study conducted by RAND Corporation found that nearly twenty percent of servicemen and women returning from recent wars have some form of mental health condition (RAND, 2008). The estimated societal costs for the veterans based on prevalence and two years of treatment is estimated between $4.0 to 6.2 million. Advocacy Programs Researched in This Area The impact of mental illness on overall health and productivity in the US is often under recognized. There are many reasons for this under recognition; mainly the misunderstanding of the illness itself, lack of resources, stigma, or lack of social support can be cited. The World Health Organization (WHO) in recognition of the need for adequate resources launched a mental health initiative called Mental Health Global Action Program (mhGAP) to raise awareness and address a variety unmet needs. Other than WHO, consumer advocacy groups such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) deserve the credit for the advances made in the treatment of mental illness. The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Act otherwise known as the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was signed into law in 2008. The main goal of this Act is to eliminate unequal health treatment practice that has kept individuals from seeking mental health care for a long time. The way this law works it that it does not force group health plans to cover mental health benefits, however when plans cover mental health, it requires that they provide full and equal benefit in a way that is no more restrictive than all other medical and surgical procedures covered by the plan. Effective Attributes of the Programs MHPAEA has had quite an impact on the population since it went in effect in 2010. For starter, the statute does not require for employers to buy mental health benefits and employers with less than 50 employees are exempt of this statute. The second important point is that MHPAEA stipulates that any State law that provides greater protections than MHPAEA may continue to remain in effect. The last stipulation is great because it stops the Federal law (MHPAEA) from overriding a State law assuming that it protects its constituents better. Unfortunately some employers have taken MHPAEA as an excuse to drop mental health benefits in its entirety. The Screen Writers Guild was the first employer to announce its decision to drop mental health coverage for its 12000 employees. Some employers followed suit citing rising cost of insurance and burden on employers. NAMI argues cutting mental health benefits has higher cost to employers. According to NAMI most mental illnesses are highly treatable. For example, the most common mental illness in the United States is depression. The prevalence of depression is estimated to be 1 in 10 individuals of which 75% do not get the diagnosis nor the treatment. 72% are estimated to be in the workforce. NAMI estimates the indirect loss to employers amounts to 79 billion per year out of which 63 billion reflect loss of productivity due to mental illness. Mental illness causes more days of work loss and work impairement than chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, back pain and heart disease (NAMI, 2012). NAMI also claims that within two weeks of treatment 70 to 90% of individuals with depressions see a significant reduction of symptoms with and improved quality of life therefore it would be wise for employers to provide employees mental health coverage than incur costs for absenteeism. Health Advocacy Plan and Objectives for the Policy Implemented The very first step of making a health advocacy plan is to review and understand the existing health plans and be able to establish how they impact on the patients, health care providers and other stakeholders like insurers and the leaders (Jonas & Kovner, 2011). The next step is to establish the pros and cons of having such health plans (Jonas & Kovner, 2011). This would then influence a particular advocacy plan and the objectives of the policy. The objectives should take into account the prime position played by politicians in policy change (Alberta Heath Services, 2009). To effectively advocate for mental health, one needs to understand what is actually available. The facts are as follows: The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 47 Million of Americans are uninsured and out of this number 25% of them suffer from mental health or substance abuse disorder or a combination of the two. 1/3 of insured individuals have no coverage of both including outpatient therapy visits and inpatient crisis intervention. Then there is MHPAEA that exempts small groups therefore individuals insured under small group market may not have mental health coverage (unless the employer chose to provide one). The HHS estimates that about 95 percent of those with small group market coverage have substance abuse and mental health benefits (HHS, 2012). Communication to Various Stakeholders Communication in the public health sector can be done in several forms including through the mass media, seminars, schools, and churches and depending on the situation, place and target group, several methods can be used including posters, speeches, skits and literature among others. As a policy oriented approach, it divides the target audience into primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary target addresses the organizations, groups and people with the power to effect change. The secondary target is represented by those who can be mobilized to participate in the implementation. The tertiary target is the general public (Alberta Heath Services, 2009). In effect, therefore, mass media as means of advocacy help the organizations and the general public to make better health choices. The approach of communication NAMI took is to involve all three targets. The tertiary target i.e. the general public has also been the focus of NAMI especially because of the link between mental illness and substance abuse. Efforts to raise awareness are underway especially in the DC metro area where frequent walks organized by NAMI are happening. The aim of NAMI walks is to raise awareness of mental health and well-being in communities and to improve the general understanding of the illness, and reduce the misunderstandings and stigma associated with it. NAMI educates and trains practitioners and patients of the different pathways to recovery. Health practitioners, especially nurses get a larger opportunity to educate about the disease in their area of practice and also be the voices for the patients who do not have a voice. Data and Evidence to Substantiate Proposed Need The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is commonly referred to as the ObamaCare, has become regarded as a historical law ever since it was signed into the law in March 23rd, 2010 by President Obama (American Public Health Association, 2013). ACA built on the structures of MHPAEA to expand coverage of mental health and substance use disorder for more than 62 million Americans in the following three ways: 1.Essential Health Benefits Mental health and substance use disorders will be part of all individual and small group market â€Å"non-grandfathered† insurance plans (essential health benefits) effective January 1st 2014. â€Å"non-grandfathered† means plans that were not in existence before ACA was signed into law. This statute ensures that at least 5.1 million individuals (3.9 million currently covered in the individual market and 1.2 covered in small group plans) and will gain either mental health or substance use disorder coverage or both. 2.Parity in the Individual and Small Group Markets Under the ACA and the MHPAEA 7.1 million Americans currently covered in the individual market who currently have some mental health and substance use disorder benefits will have access to coverage of Essential Health Benefits comparable to their general and surgical medical coverage. 3.Increasing Access to Quality Health Care Finally, the ACA will expand essential health benefits insurance coverage to an estimated 27 million uninsured Americans through access to insurance market places and CMS. The essential Health Benefits packages includes mental health services In total, the Affordable Care Act will expand federal parity protection to at least 62 million Americans. Application of Attributes of Effective Advocacy Programs to Proposed Campaign Among many other health-care policies that have proved to be workable, Obamacare turned out to have adequate advantages that can be borrowed and applied in this campaign. Obamacare health policy emphasizes on quality health-care and not quantity. For instance, doctors and other health-care professionals are paid according to the quality of health service they provide (Obama Care Facts, 2013). Obamacare also highlights the importance of non-discrimination in the provision of health services across the entire population, thus ensuring uniformity in its application. One yet another vital attribute that is also of importance is the reduction of costs for preventive health-care options. This ensures that options explored by the general public are not exploitative and overburdening to them (Obama Care Facts, 2013). Obamacare has also been to a greater degree people-driven, as the citizenry have been effective in pushing their political leaders to support the health plan (Obama Care Facts, 2013). It does not take rocket science to know that mental health and substance abuse disorder patients would benefit tremendously from such a program. Impact of Existing Laws or Regulations The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act legislation contained several health reforms provisions that were already being rooted for by a number of health stakeholders including American Public Health Association (APHA) and other population health experts (APHA, 2013). Following the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, there has been a shift from the focus on treatment of the sick to the focus on promoting people’s health (APHA, 2013). The ACA and HP2020 have a common goal which is to create social and physical environments that promote health and wellness in all populations. The ACA will be effective in January 2014, so far the program looks very promising and the statute have been found to have very little impact on the employer-based insurance with a projected slight increase (2.7% only), especially with regard to the high end employers. However, there appears to be a decrease for the low end employers (Blumberg et al., 2012) contrary to what the critics of ACA are speculating. Analysis of Methods Used to Influence Policy Makers According to Milstead (2013), for nurses to succeed in advocating for the enactment of new and better policies, it is imperative that they strike a working relationship with the government agencies, officers as well as with the elected officials. This way the nurses have the chance to be recognized as having what it takes to effect policies concerning population health issues, and this will thus be included in making decisions concerning population health matters (Milstead, 2013). Establishing such a cordial relationship would be instrumental in helping both parties, namely the nurses and the policy makers to be able to review existing health policies and enact better campaigns (Milstead, 2013). Other than striking a rapport with the political leaders, the nurses should also strive to enhance their understanding of the policy-making process through the nursing internships that were already put in place by the nursing organizations (Milstead, 2013). Anticipated Obstacles and Strategies According to the online article by Alberta Health Services (2009), several challenges abound when it comes to advocating for population health. The leading and most obvious problem lies in the main aim of advocacy, which is to effect legislations that would then lead to changes in policies. This is the case since the policy change is highly a political issue whose process results in public tensions (Alberta Health Services, 2009). Almost all legislative changes and implementations are funded by the public resources, and, therefore, any suggested changes are often contested (Alberta Health Services, 2009). Further still, these changes often have economic consequences as well. As a result, more often than not population health advocates together with the like-minded politicians and members of the public of good will find themselves at the receiving end on the part of various interest groups who wish to maintain the status quo (Alberta Health Services, 2009). Obamacare, which seeks to provide preventive services also covered in insurance plans and to ascertain that people with insurance covers are not dropped while sick, has for instance, faced several obstacles mainly from the stakeholders in the insurance industry (Obama Care Facts, 2013). Anybody who wishes to conduct a successful advocacy for mental health and substance abuse disorders must be prepared to deal with all these obstacles, especially given that most insurance companies would be less willing to cover against mental health. View as multi-pages