[Driving and hindering forces for team work in a Material and Sterilization Center of a teaching hospital]

The objective of this descriptive, cross-sectional study was to analyze the driving and hindering forces for team work at a Material and Sterilization Center (MSC) of a teaching hospital, through an approximation of Kurt Lewin's Field Theory,in Goiânia, Goiás. Participants were 35 professionals, who answered a self-administered questionnaire based on the referred theory, which establishes that group situations are permeated by forces that have a positive or negative influence on the individuals' movements, and concern the subjects' involvement (I), the groups interaction (Other) and the working environment (Evnironment). The data were submitted to content analysis, and distributed in the predefined dimensions. Results consolidated 1990 registers, with most (59.3%) being categorized as driving forces, mostly in the I dimension. It was observed there was balance between forces in the Other and Environment dimensions. Outlining the force field permitted an objective, concrete view of the strengths and weaknesses of the studied team, and the possibilities to promote changes.