Nursing teamwork in a health system: A multisite study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• The conventional healthcare 'team' typically refers to interdisciplinary groups, with nursing-specific teams underrepresented in literature.
• Understanding teamwork within nursing-only teams is crucial as nurses provide the majority of patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the facets of teamwork within nurse-only teams in acute and continuing care settings.
• To identify specific teamwork characteristics prevalent in nursing-based teams.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional study design was employed.
• The Nursing Teamwork Survey was utilized to measure teamwork.
• Data were collected from 1414 participants across multiple acute care settings within a large Midwestern health system.

Main Results:

• Nursing teams demonstrated a solid understanding of diverse roles and responsibilities.
• A key finding was a tendency towards an individualistic mindset among nurse team members, rather than a collective, team-oriented approach.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced teamwork positively impacts job satisfaction, staffing efficiency, employee retention, and patient care delivery.
• Nurse leaders should focus on fostering team orientation, trust, and backup behaviors to cultivate highly functioning nursing teams.