Examining the average scores of nursing teamwork subscales in an acute private medical ward

Martina Costello,Tracey Coventry,Kylie Rusell

doi:10.1186/s12912-021-00609-z

Martina Costello, Tracey Coventry + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00609-z

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Abstract

BackgroundHealthcare is delivered by multidisciplinary healthcare teams who rely on communication and effective teamwork to ensure safe patient care. Teamwork builds on employee cohesion and reduces medical and nursing errors, resulting in greater patient satisfaction and improved healthcare. Effective teamwork not only improves efficiency and patient safety but leads to a healthier and happier workplace, reducing burnout among healthcare professionals. The purpose of this paper is to describe the findings of a pilot project on an acute medical ward in Western Australia. The aim was to understand the participants perceived level of teamwork to support future work practices and ultimately patient care.MethodsThis study used a descriptive survey research method to measure nursing teamwork in a clinical environment. The Nursing Teamwork Survey (NTS) measures the levels of nursing teamwork in acute healthcare facilities. Items for the NTS were generated on theoretical grounds, based on teamwork behaviours, offering a practical explanation of teamwork dynamics.ResultsThe survey incorporated five subscales. The response rate to the survey was 90 % (n = 45) with an overall average result on the survey being (m = 2.97) on a 0–4 Likert scale. The validated NTS has provided participants the opportunity to consider nursing teamwork with regards to their position and perceived responsibilities towards patients and team members.ConclusionThe findings highlight areas for consolidation and improvement in teamwork. Introducing teambuilding strategies and acting on results of this survey may support enhanced communication and teamwork influencing nursing care and patient outcomes. Findings recommend that activities to improve teamwork and ensuring teambuilding strategies are implemented to improve effective communication in an acute medical care setting would have significant impacts on staff satisfaction.

Highlights

Healthcare is delivered by multidisciplinary healthcare teams who rely on communication and effective teamwork to ensure safe patient care
Contemporary research suggests that healthcare is delivered by multidisciplinary healthcare teams who rely on effective teamwork and communication to ensure safe patient care [1]
This study evaluated a self-report of nursing teamwork and interactions within a clinical environment

Summary

Introduction

Healthcare is delivered by multidisciplinary healthcare teams who rely on communication and effective teamwork to ensure safe patient care. Teamwork builds on employee cohesion and reduces medical and nursing errors, resulting in greater patient satisfaction and improved healthcare. Contemporary research suggests that healthcare is delivered by multidisciplinary healthcare teams who rely on effective teamwork and communication to ensure safe patient care [1]. Effective teamwork builds on employee cohesion and reduces medical and nursing errors, resulting in greater patient satisfaction and improved healthcare [2]. The NSQHS standards aim to improve the quality of health service provision in Australia. The first standard relates to clinical governance for safety and quality [4] This standard enables organisations to actively manage and improve the safety and quality of health care for patients

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