Teamwork on Rounds on an Inpatient Ward Team: An Ethnographic Study

Pediatric hospitalists are expected to be adept at effective teamwork; yet, studies in which researchers describe teamwork practices in general pediatric inpatient settings are lacking. Our aim in this study was to examine the roles that general pediatric team members assume in real-life settings and how team members conduct teamwork practices on family-centered rounds.

In the ethnographic tradition, we observed a general pediatric team on a hospitalist service, focusing on family-centered rounds, and conducted in-depth interviews with interns, senior residents, and faculty. We collected data in the form of field notes from observations and transcribed interviews and used constant comparison methods to create codes and generate themes. We used Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) as an analytic lens and organizing framework.

Communication occurred in both structured and unstructured ways. Situation monitoring happened during routines, such as running the list, and led to creating a plan of patient care through shared decision-making. Some leadership characteristics were not exclusive to 1 team member. Finally, mutual support occurred through task completion and empowering learners; for example, attending physicians empowered senior residents, who also helped interns.

Our findings aligned with some, but not all, teamwork principles from TeamSTEPPS; misalignment may be due to contextual factors, such as the need to provide medical education and the development of grassroots routines (eg, running the list). Context is a key consideration when developing interventions to enhance teamwork on inpatient medical wards.