Understanding leaders' perspectives on inpatient discharge processes

The purpose of the qualitative--descriptive study was to understand the perceptions of health care leaders on the inpatient discharge processes of health care organizations. The sample consisted of 25 health care leaders. A content analysis of the data gathered was performed using NVivo8 qualitative software to assist with capturing elements and emergent themes. Descriptive statistics were used to count interview responses and to determine the prevalence of emergent themes and the overall trends in the data. The sample for the study was 25 health care leaders at a Caribbean hospital. The study was focused on the hospital's inpatient discharge processes. NVivo 8.0 qualitative software was used for coding and placing the words and phrases into categories and using the categories to develop themes. Five themes emerged from the study as follows: (a) being a good listener as a top leadership trait, (b) improving communication and coordination among staff, (c) improving readiness and timeliness to improve the discharge processes, (d) being open-minded to enhance leadership abilities, and (e) increasing participation and knowledge. This research provided insight on leaders' perceptions of transformational leadership and inpatient discharge processes. Transformational leadership theory and inpatient discharge processes provided the theoretical framework for the research. The findings provided insight into inpatient discharge processes in the health care delivery system. A recommendation for the future is to develop strategic plans from the knowledge gained from health care leaders' experiences and perceptions to improve operations and leadership in the health care delivery system.