Team learning and innovation in nursing, a review of the literature

The capability to learn and innovate has been recognized as a key-factor for nursing teams to deliver high quality performance. Researchers suggest there is a relation between team-learning activities and changes in nursing teams throughout the implementation of novelties. A review of the literature was conducted in regard to the relation between team learning and implementation of innovations in nursing teams and to explore factors that contribute or hinder team learning. The search was limited to studies that were published in English or Dutch between 1998 and 2010. Eight studies were included in the review. The results of this review revealed that research on team learning and innovation in nursing is limited. The included studies showed moderate methodological quality and low levels of evidence. Team learning included processes to gather, process, and store information from different innovations within the nursing team and the prevalence of team-learning activities was contributed or hindered by individual and contextual factors. Further research is needed on the relation between team learning and implementation of innovations in nursing.