Collaborative Networks in Critical Care Nursing Teams: Based on Social Network Analysis and Multiple Regression...

Effective collaboration among intensive care unit (ICU) nurses is critical for patient safety, yet traditional analyses often overlook the relational dependencies inherent in teamwork. This study aimed to delineate task-specific collaboration structures and identify pair-level determinants using network-aware methodologies.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary ICU involving 96 registered nurses during day shifts from January 1, 2025, to February 1, 2025. Collaboration was defined as coparticipation in clinical events and categorized into four task types: emergent response, procedural care, patient flow, and safety double-checks.

Event-based networks revealed distinct topologies: Emergent care showed compact clustering, while procedural care displayed hub-and-spoke configurations centered on specialists. MRQAP analysis (R² = 0.27) identified work assignment proximity as the strongest predictor of collaboration (β = 0.314, p < 0.001). Psychological safety similarity (β = 0.176, p = 0.004) and competency complementarity (β = 0.142, p = 0.021) were also significant, while tenure similarity showed a borderline association.

ICU nurse collaboration is multidimensional and task-dependent. Managerial strategies should prioritize optimizing roster designs for spatial proximity, fostering a psychologically safe climate, and strategically developing complementary competencies to enhance team resilience and care quality.