Dr. Lasater has also received external funding to study the effects of nursing work environments on patient outcomes at the end of life. Individuals with advanced cancer and near the end of life often find themselves in the hospital where they are at risk for aggressive care they do not want, including intensive care unit admissions, life-prolonging treatments, repeated hospitalizations and emergency department visits, and in-hospital death. Dr. Lasater’s research examines the potential for hospital staff nurses to render patient and family-centered care at the end of life, given the right circumstances. Specifically, Dr. Lasater examines relationships between patient outcomes at the end of life, and modifiable features of nurses’ working conditions, such as patient-to-nurse workloads, work environments conducive to good working relationships with physicians and influence over clinical decision making, and a nursing skill mix that consists of mostly professional nurses including a majority with bachelors or higher education.