Team Work

Team Work

MHA601

Instructor: Dr. Alisa Wagner

August 13, 2012

Teamwork

Within a hospital setting there are many people working alongside each other, some work as individuals, some as a group and others as a team. Even though it may not seem like there is a difference between the latter two, there is. A group is defined as two or more people who interacts with each other and share a common purpose, working independently and with one strong leader (Johnson, 2009, pg. 110). Whereas a team is defined as a group of people that all working on a common goal, sharing leadership, and have a collective responsibility (Johnson, 2009, pp. 110-111).

With this understanding of the basic differences of what a group is and what a team is it is easy to apply each term to the two different nurses presented within the case study. Nurse A comes from a team, this is evident when she explains that within her account of teamwork that there is no difference with each other’s roles, the goal is that they all work together to accomplish the task before them. Whereas with the account of teamwork with Nurse B, it is evident that she is not from a team, however she is from a group. The group of people that Nurse B is working with all work as individuals and it is apparent when she states that they work in a reactive state (Johnson, 2009). The way that both teams operated had an impact on the patient and the system around them, whether it was positive or negative impact would have depended on the team approach.

Within the team of Nurse A, the cohesiveness of the team created a stress free and learning environment for all that was involved. This is shown when Nurse A describes the situation where she grabbed the incorrect wire and the circulating nurse corrected her. The manner in which the correction was done makes an impact on the team dynamic and allowed for the team to continue the procedure without little or no conflict. By asserting a positive correction technique,...