Team adaptation in acute health care: a scoping review protocol

This scoping review will map and chart the literature on team adaptation in acute health care.

Health care teams work in complex, dynamic contexts where adaptation is integral to effective care delivery. While the impact of team adaptation on care delivery is acknowledged, research aimed at understanding and improving team adaptation in acute health care is in its infancy. This scoping review will summarize the existing literature by charting key findings, mapping the methods employed, and identifying knowledge gaps. The findings may highlight a need for greater attention from health care organizations and education providers on improving team adaptive capacity.

This review will consider sources of evidence that include people working in teams in the context of acute health care. The concept under investigation will be team adaptation, including the related concepts of adaptive triggers, team adaptive outcomes, and team adaptive capacity. The review will exclude evidence on individual performance or non-acute settings, such as outpatient or rehabilitation facilities.

This review will use the JBI methodology for scoping reviews and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. Databases to be searched include MEDLINE, Embase, Emcare, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection, along with ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. No language or date limits will be applied. Data will be extracted using a piloted extraction tool and analyzed with basic qualitative content and descriptive analyses. Tables, figures, and associated narrative and descriptive summaries will present the results.

OSF https://osf.io/c3gf8/overview.