Teamwork in a coronary care unit: facilitating and hindering aspects

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Teamwork Dynamics
• Interprofessional Collaboration

Background:

• Effective teamwork is crucial in high-acuity settings like coronary care units (CCUs).
• Understanding facilitators and hindrances to teamwork is essential for optimizing patient care and unit functionality.
• Multidisciplinary teams in CCUs face unique challenges impacting collaborative efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors that facilitate and hinder teamwork within a multidisciplinary CCU team.
• To analyze the perceptions of healthcare professionals regarding collaborative practices in their unit.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive study employing qualitative and quantitative data collection.
• The critical incident technique (CIT) was used for data collection via semi-structured interviews with 45 CCU professionals.
• Content analysis and CIT were applied for data analysis.

Main Results:

• A total of 49 situations, 385 behaviors, and 182 consequences were identified.
• Positive references (behaviors) were found to facilitate teamwork, while negative references (situations, consequences) hindered it.
• Collaborative and communicative interprofessional relationships were key facilitators; poor collaboration and inadequate management were significant hindrances.

Conclusions:

• Despite a prevalence of negative situations and consequences, positive behaviors highlight professionals' efforts to overcome obstacles.
• Interprofessional collaboration and effective communication are vital for successful teamwork in CCUs.
• Addressing management and collaboration issues is necessary to improve team functioning.