The Impact in the United States of Global Adoption of IFRS

This paper presents the pros and cons of the use of IFRS by US companies. The quest for one set of high-quality accounting standards recognised globally is clearly the ideal goal. However, before making a decision on the use of IFRS in the United States (US), the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) should develop a blueprint to ensure that prerequisites for achieving a true global standard are satisfied and that convergence will continue. An 'improve and then adopt' approach appears to represent the best way forward for the US.     

Health insurance and retirement of married couples

Most health insurance in the USA is provided by employers until eligibility for public health insurance (Medicare) begins at age 65. Retiring before 65 exposes workers who lack retiree health insurance coverage to the risk of catastrophic medical expenditure. We solve and estimate a dynamic model of the employment behavior of older married couples that includes risky medical expenditure and health insurance. Parameter estimates imply that the risk‐reducing feature of health insurance can account for about half of the observed association between retiree health insurance and employment for married men, but can account for only one tenth of the much larger observed association for married women. Policy simulations imply very small effects on employment of changing the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Functional and Wellness Values in Visitors' Evaluation of Spa Experiences

Ever since the introduction of commercial software, software piracy has been an issue in most, if not all, regions. To address this issue, most official authorities have been trying to stop the spread of pirated software in their own jurisdictions. In spite of the generally agreed importance of intellectual property rights, hospitality and tourism researchers have rarely, if ever, investigated the issue of software piracy. The absence of published articles on the issue of software piracy is particularly true in the context of hospitality and tourism education. This paper reports on a study that examined the perceptions and experiences of hospitality and tourism students on software piracy. On the basis of the empirical results collected from hospitality and tourism students in Hong Kong, it is concluded that most students have used or purchased pirated software. In addition, low prices and easy accessibility are the major reasons for the widespread use of pirated software.     

The Determinants and Consequences of the Placement of Government Programs in Indonesia

Most estimates of the consequences of public programs rely onthe cross-sectional association between region-specific programsand program outcomes. Such estimates assume that the spatialdistribution of programs is random. This article reports estimatesof the effects of public programs on basic human capital indicatorsand the biases in conventional cross-sectional estimates ofprogram effects due to non-random program placement. The estimatesare obtained from pooled observations on human capital outcomes,socioeconomic variables, and program coverage at the kecamatan(subdistrict) level. The observations are based on successivesets of Indonesian cross-sectional household and administrativedata during 1976–86. The determinants of the spatial allocationof programs in Indonesia in 1976–86 are also estimated. The empirical results indicate that the presence of grade andmiddle schools in villages has a significant positive effecton the school attendance rates of teenagers. The presence ofhealth clinics in villages also positively affects the schoolingof females ages 10–18. However, no evidence is found ofany significant effects of the presence of family planning andhealth programs on either the survival rates of children oron cumulative fertility. The estimates also suggest that theuse of cross-sectional data results in substantial biases inthe estimates of program effects because of the evident nonrandomspatial allocation of public programs.     

Violence against nurses and its impact on stress and productivity

The purpose of this study was to examine how violence from patients and visitors is related to emergency department (ED) nurses' work productivity and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Researchers have found ED nurses experience a high prevalence of physical assaults from patients and visitors. Yet, there is little research which examines the effect violent events have on nurses' productivity, particularly their ability to provide safe and compassionate patient care. A cross-sectional design was used to gather data from ED nurses who are members of the Emergency Nurses Association in the United States. Participants were asked to complete the Impact of Events Scale-Revised and Healthcare Productivity Survey in relation to a stressful violent event. Ninety-four percent of nurses experienced at least one posttraumatic stress disorder symptom after a violent event, with 17% having scores high enough to be considered probable for PTSD. In addition, there were significant indirect relationships between stress symptoms and work productivity. Workplace violence is a significant stressor for ED nurses. Results also indicate violence has an impact on the care ED nurses provide. Interventions are needed to prevent the violence and to provide care to the ED nurse after an event.     

The language of business: a key nurse executive competency

The ability to interpret fiscal data pertaining to patient outcomes, human resources, customer satisfaction, and financial positions is a vital evidenced-based nurse executive competency. The ability of nurse leaders to influence and contribute in health system executive decision making requires fluency in accounting, "the language of business." After examining challenges faced by nurse executives, faculty at the Loewenberg School of Nursing at the University of Memphis integrated intensive accounting education into a new executive MSN program. Woven throughout the management accounting course is the concept that accounting data must be relevant and accurate for use by organization decision makers. Evidence-based decision making is emphasized when teaching planning and control activities. In addition, fluency in accounting is enhanced which leads to greater skill in patient and nursing advocacy. As competency in management accounting increases through the semester, executive MSN students are encouraged to apply cost accounting course content to their practice settings and to analyze how planning or control activities improve quality outcomes.