Date of Conferral

4-21-2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Jean Gordon

Abstract

Resistance to patient experience initiatives remains a persistent challenge in acute care hospitals, often undermining organizational efforts to improve engagement, culture, and care delivery despite broad acknowledgment of their importance. Healthcare leaders need to understand this challenge as a primary indicator affecting patient experience outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to explore the factors that cause resistance to change faced by patient experience leaders (PELs) in the acute care hospital setting. The theory of planned behavior grounded this study. The participants consisted of 15 PELs working in acute care hospitals across the United States. Data were collected through semistructured interviews capturing participants’ professional experiences related to resistance to patient experience work. Participant stories were analyzed through narrative reconstruction and cross-narrative patterning to identify recurring storylines and meaning-making processes. The narrative analysis yielded five shared story patterns: (a) emotional and cultural fatigue; (b) leadership disconnect; (c) professional identity and psychological safety; (d) trust, transparency, and communication; and (e) coping, adaptation, and meaning-making. Healthcare leaders can use these findings to create narrative-informed leadership practices to strengthen public trust in healthcare delivery and improve patient-reported experience outcomes. The implications for positive social change include the potential for healthcare executives, PELs, and organizational change agents to develop and implement strategies that could address resistance through clearer communication, relational trust, and leadership alignment in acute care hospital settings.

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