| Course | HD570 Health Education Leadership and Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion board post |
| Length | About 430 words, 2 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 discussion post |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MS in Health Education |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HD570 Unit 1
Three Nurses Hired, One Educator Not Replaced: A Unit 1 Discussion Post on Why One Budget Request Won
HD570 · Unit 1 Discussion Board Post
Posted by [Student Name]
Ashcombe Health Plan, its departments and every figure are composite; the theory of departmental power cited is real.
Initial Post
Ashcombe Health Plan is a composite Medicaid managed care plan serving about 118,000 members. In March, under a hiring freeze, care management received three nurse positions. In the same month, Health Education's request to refill the line of a health educator who had left was declined. I work in Health Education, so I have a stake, but I want to look at the two requests as a budget committee would.
They differed on three points.
Timing. Care management's request arrived two weeks before the budget lock, when the committee still had room to move money. Ours arrived a week after, when every change meant reopening a closed plan.
Accountability. Care management's request answered a finding from the state's external quality review, which had cited the plan for weak care coordination. The plan faced a corrective action deadline. Our request answered no finding and no deadline.
Price. Care management estimated avoided inpatient days per member per month, about $1.90, against the cost of three nurses. Our request cited 340 class attendances and strong member satisfaction ratings. Neither is a cost or a return.
Our request described what the department did; theirs described a problem the organization had to solve and what solving it would save, and only the second kind of request speaks the language a budget committee uses to choose.
I will concede something uncomfortable: the nurses may have been the better purchase. A state finding carries penalties, and care coordination for members with complex conditions is valuable work. Organizational theory suggests that units gain influence when they help the organization manage its most pressing uncertainties (Hickson et al., 1971), and that is exactly what care management did. Power, in that account, tends to follow whoever can cope with the problems leaders most need solved (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1977).
What I take from it is that Health Education never connected its work to anything the plan was accountable for. The plan's quality withhold, for example, depends partly on postpartum visits, which health educators help arrange.
What are your own departments held accountable for, and does your budget request say so?
Reply to Jordan
Jordan, your county lab won its new analyzer by citing turnaround times the state monitors. Did anyone in your unit learn that lesson for the next request?
References
Hickson, D. J., Hinings, C. R., Lee, C. A., Schneck, R. E., & Pennings, J. M. (1971). A strategic contingencies' theory of intraorganizational power. Administrative Science Quarterly, 16(2), 216-229. https://doi.org/10.2307/2391831
Salancik, G. R., & Pfeffer, J. (1977). Who gets power and how they hold on to it: A strategic-contingency model of power. Organizational Dynamics, 5(3), 3-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/0090-2616(77)90028-6
What the HD570 Unit 1 assignment asks for
The first unit in this course generally asks students to describe a resource decision they have seen, at work or in a case, and to explain why it went the way it did. Many prompts want the decision, the competing requests and an analysis of what made one more persuasive than another. Describe the requests evenly before judging them, even when your own department lost. Look at timing, the problem each request claimed to solve and how each was priced. Bring in an idea about organizational power or budgeting if your readings offer one. Disguise the organization and anyone who could be identified. Most posts in this unit fall around three hundred fifty to four hundred words, and a reply to a classmate is expected later in the week.
Inside the HD570 Unit 1 example
The writer opens by naming the plan, its size and the two outcomes in the same month, and admits to working in the losing department. Three differences follow in short paragraphs: timing relative to the budget lock, a link to a state external quality review finding, and a price per member per month against a count of attendances and satisfaction ratings. The highlighted sentence states that one request described activity while the other described a problem and its cost. A paragraph concedes the nurses may have been the better choice, drawing on strategic contingencies theory. The post closes by noting that postpartum outreach ties Health Education to the plan's quality withhold, and a reply asks a classmate whether their lab learned from a winning request.
Reading the HD570 Unit 1 grading rubric
Graders of this first post look for a fair account of both requests, analysis that goes beyond the outcome to the reasons for it, a sensible use of course ideas about power or budgeting and a reply that moves a classmate's thinking forward. Posts lose ground when they read as a complaint about the decision rather than an analysis of it. Specific differences, such as timing or the presence of a cost figure, earn more credit than general claims about politics. Conceding a point against one's own department often signals maturity. A short theoretical link is valued where it explains the pattern rather than decorating it. Clear writing, a sensible length and APA citations fill out the remaining marks.
HD570 Unit 1 help: mistakes that cost points
Students often write about a resource decision from inside the losing unit and let frustration shape the analysis. Others describe the decision without ever comparing the requests side by side. A common gap is leaving out timing, which often decides more than merit. Some posts identify colleagues or the organization too clearly. Another weakness is a theory named in a sentence but never applied. Listing what each request said, when it arrived and what it promised usually reveals the reasons quickly. If you have a decision from your own workplace in mind, describe both requests in neutral terms, and a writer can help you find the differences that mattered.
Get an HD570 Unit 1 example written to your instructions
Which manager in your own workplace got money others could not, and what did the winning request say? Describe both requests as you know them, with the HD570 Unit 1 prompt and rubric. The free first custom sample comes back in 24-48h, comparing the two by what the organization is accountable for, plus a classmate reply for boards that grade them. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More HD570 papers and MS in Health Education samples
- HD570 Unit 2: Organizational Placement Analysis
- HD570 Unit 3: Budget Construction
- HD570 Unit 4: Budget Reduction Memo
- HD570 Unit 5: Staffing Plan
- HD570 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- HD570 Unit 7: Supervision and Performance Case
- HD570 Unit 8: Resource Proposal to Leadership
- HD570 Unit 9: Partnership Negotiation Plan
- HD570 Unit 10: Unit Strategic Plan
- HD560 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- HD520 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- HD550 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- HD535 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
HD570 Unit 1 questions, answered
Can the manager in my post be someone I have never worked for?
Usually, if the prompt allows a case from reading or the news, though a manager inside your own workplace tends to give better material, because you know what the request said and what it competed against. Where you only know the outcome, say so, and reason about what the request probably contained rather than inventing detail. Composite or anonymized organizations are normal on this board.
Is it acceptable to criticize my own organization in the post?
Yes, provided the criticism is analytical and the organization is disguised. Describe decisions and the reasons behind them rather than individuals' motives, and change names and figures enough that nobody could be identified. The course values seeing politics clearly, which sometimes means admitting that the other department made the stronger case, as the example does.
What level of financial detail does a Unit 1 post need?
Enough to show what each request cost and what it claimed to return, even as rough figures. A post that compares two requests without any numbers misses the point this course builds on from its first unit: management decisions are judged against what they cost. Estimates are fine when labeled as estimates, and exact budget figures from a real employer are better left out.
Where can I find a free HD570 Unit 1 sample paper?
This page holds a complete Unit 1 discussion post comparing a winning nurse staffing request with a losing health education request at a composite health plan.
Why did timing matter so much in the example?
A request that arrives before the budget lock can still change the plan. One that arrives after asks a committee to reopen a closed budget, which most will not do.