Hospital Executives’ Perceptions of End-of-Life Care

Hospital executives are key stakeholders in the hospital setting. However, despite extensive medical and nursing literature on the importance of end-of-life (EOL) care in hospitals, little is known about hospital executives’ perceptions of the provision of EOL care in their facilities. The objective of this study was to capture hospital executives’ perceptions of the provision of EOL care in the hospital setting. This descriptive, naturalistic phenomenological, qualitative study utilized in-person interviews to explore executives’ opinions and beliefs. The sample consisted of 14 individuals in the roles of medical center directors, chiefs of staff, chief medical officers, hospital administrators, hospital risk managers, and regional counsel in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. An interview guide was developed and conducted utilizing a global question followed by probes concerning perceptions of EOL care provision. Hospital executives acknowledged that EOL care was a very important issue, and more attention should be paid to it in the hospital setting. Their comments and suggestions for improvement focused on (a) current EOL care, (b) barriers to changing EOL care, and (c) enhancing provision of EOL care in the hospital setting. The findings of this study suggest that hospital executives although key change agents, may have insufficient EOL information to implement steps toward cultural and infrastructural change and should therefore be included in any EOL discussions and education.