Mediating Systems of Care: Emergency Calls to Long-Term Care Facilities at Life's End

Nursing home (NH) residents account for over 2.2 million emergency department visits yearly; the majority are cared for and transported by prehospital providers (emergency medical technicians and paramedics).

The purpose of this study was to investigate prehospital providers' perceptions of emergency calls at life's end. This article focuses on perceptions of end-of-life calls in long-term care (LTC).

This pilot study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design. Concepts from the symbolic interaction theory guided the exploration of perceptions and interpretations of emergency calls in LTC facilities.

A purposeful sample of prehospital providers was developed from one agency in a small northeastern U.S. city.

Semistructured interviews were conducted with 43 prehospital providers to explore their perceptions of factors that trigger emergency end-of-life calls in LTC facilities. Qualitative data analysis involved iterative coding in an inductive process that included open, systematic, focused, and axial coding.

Interview themes illustrated the contributing factors as follows: care crises; dying-related turmoil; staffing ratios; and organizational protocols. Distress was crosscutting and present in all four themes.

The findings illuminate how prehospital providers become mediators between NHs and emergency departments by managing tension, conflict, and challenges in patient care between these systems and suggest the importance of further exploration of interactions between LTC staff, prehospital providers, and emergency departments. Enhanced communication between LTC facilities and prehospital providers is important to address potentially inappropriate calls and transport requests and to identify means for collaboration in the care of sick frail residents.