Understanding the Mechanics of a Nursing Team

Participating in team work is a significant part of a nurse’s daily schedule. Understanding the way a team functions is essential. After all this can lead to better utilization of a team within any organization and further enhance the outcome. Nursing could certainly benefit from a high performing team after all, “teams make fewer mistakes than do individuals” (Miller, Riley, & Davis, 2009, p. 248).Therefore, steps need to be in place to make sure the teams are functioning at high capacity. One way to monitor the team’s success is to employ a team assessment questionnaire. The team questionnaire provides insight into the areas of the team that are functioning and addresses areas that may need redesign. The questionnaire ultimately provides direction for the team by utilizing thought provoking questions. When utilizing the questionnaire to evaluate the benefits of a team huddle. The questionnaire pointed to a deficiency in the area of roles while most of the other areas such as activities, relationships and, environment scored well; there was still opportunity for improvement. The purpose of this paper to evaluate the outcome of the team based on findings from the teamwork questionnaire.

A team consists of two or more individuals who come together for a common purpose (Baker, Day, & Sales, 2006). A recent team initiative called a huddle was instituted at my facility on several pilots units. These initial huddles proved to be successful and were implemented on my unit three weeks ago as a directive by our senior management. The huddle is a brief nursing team meeting that takes place several times a day and lasts about five to ten minutes. The huddle time will vary thought out the day in order to include all nursing shifts and personnel. Additionally, the huddles will consist of all available nurses on the unit and are led by the manager or charge nurse. The team huddles are documented in a binder and are available for all staff to review. This team initiative was implemented on the same day as a new admitting process occurred on the unit, so key goals of the team will be to disseminate information and discuss problems that hinder patient flow in the ambulatory surgery unit.

The most deficient area the team assessment yielded was in the roles category. Deficiencies would be fitting as huddles are a new concept during a critical transition. Members of the team as well as unit issues will vary on a daily basis, which can contribute to the uncertainty in the nurse’s roles and responsibilities.