Can coaching doctors and nurses improve End-of-Life care?
NCT ID NCT07327450
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tests whether coaching doctors and nurses can improve ethical decision-making in hospital teams. Researchers will train staff in 10 departments at Ghent University Hospital to communicate better and handle difficult end-of-life choices. They will measure if this leads to more written do-not-resuscitate orders and a better ethical climate. The trial involves 360 participants, including patients, families, and healthcare workers.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- coaching program (behavioral intervention)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could improve how hospital teams make ethical decisions and communicate about end-of-life care, benefiting patients and families.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage study with no phase, and results may not apply to other hospitals. The coaching may not change team behavior or patient outcomes as hoped.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 360 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Apr 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Jun 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients potentially receiving excessive treatment (PET) who are identified by clinicians during their first hospitalization. PET is defined as a patient in whom 2 or more clinicians doubt whether the treatment or treatment limitation code is consistent with their expected survival or quality of life (= "too much" or "excessive treatment") or whether the treatment limitation code is in line with the patient's or relatives' goals. * Family members of PET * Junior and senior doctors (including Department Heads) taking care of hospitalized patients * Nurses (including head nurses) taking care of hospitalized patients * Allied health professionals (psychologists, physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, spiritual care providers) taking care of hospitalized patients * PET admitted / clinicians working in the 10 participating departments of of the Ghent University Hospital (Cardiology, Gastro-enterology and Hepatology, General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, Hematology, Medical Oncology, Neurology, Nephrology (including dialysis unit), Pulmonology and the Medical ICU) Exclusion Criteria: * PET with a previous written DNI-DNACPR order * Patients and family members of PET who are less than 18 years old and persons who cannot understand Ducth questionnaires
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Ghent University Hospital
Ghent, East-Flanders, 9000, Belgium
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