COMPARISON OF OPINIONS OF SOCIAL WORK ADMINISTRATORS AND HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATORS TOWARD LEADERSIP TASKS

The purpose of this article is to report on the attitudes of hospital administrators and social work administrators toward specific leadership tasks performed by social workers in hospitals. The study population was comprised of all hospitals offering social services in a sixteen-county Midwest area. Opinions on the importance of the tasks and frequency with which they were performed are assessed. The data indicate that there is no significant difference between attitudes of the hospital administrators and social work administrators in their evaluation of the importance of these tasks or the frequency of performance. These unexpected findings offer implications for hospital-based social workers seeking expanded influence in their institutions.