Teamwork for Nurses: How to Instill Teamwork in Your Nursing Unit
By Sarah Stasik, Contributor
Nurse teamwork is a critical component of quality healthcare delivery. By working together, nursing teams can drive better patient outcomes, enhance patient satisfaction and minimize safety risks for everyone.
But teamwork for nurses isn't always as easy as "playing nice with others" or handling your own responsibilities so others can handle theirs. Discover some tips for encouraging teamwork among nurses, whether you're the nurse manager, a unit supervisor or an RN treating patients.
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Choose the right nursing team
"Great teamwork begins with having the right players," says leadership consultant Chelle Ham.
Who are the right players for your nursing unit? Ham says, "Those who have not only talent to do the job but espouse the shared values of the team. In your unit, that might be a patient first attitude, positivity or flexibility. Take the time to identify the characteristics that are “must haves” to fit well with the team and then select them consistently."
Ham recommends taking a teamwork approach to hiring to support this goal. That might mean incorporating peer interviewing or other opportunities that allow candidates to interact with existing team members to ensure a cultural fit.
Build relationships with your team
As a manager, invest the time to build individualized relationships with each nurse on your team," says Turnage. "Learn about each person’s strengths and goals. And go beyond 'just work' to learn about what they value as people —their families, their hobbies and their bucket lists. Understanding your team members as individuals creates a solid foundation for team building."
Foster relationships between team members
Turnage also says supervisors should encourage that same type of relationship among their teams. RNs don't need to be BFFs with others on their unit, but developing interpersonal understanding of each other can increase communication and nurse teamwork."
If you can bring the entire team together, do that and create opportunities for them to get to know each other on a deeper level too," she says. "Celebrate individual and team successes together. Pair people up for peer mentoring in ways that allow them to learn from one another. If your team is rarely in the same physical location, create a virtual space where they can connect, ask questions, share advice and celebrate successes together."
Promote a shared sense of purpose
American Nurse Today advises nurse leaders to work with staff to
develop a shared sense of purpose. Obviously, everyone on the nursing unit should have the goal of delivering excellent patient care, but beyond that, consider discussing what the mission of the unit or department is. What is the staff's vision for the team's future, and what fundamental principles guide everyone's daily decisions. By settling on a common foundation, units help ensure more comprehensive nurse teamwork.
Help, and ask for help, to promote nurse teamwork
Sharing common ground and a sense of purpose is great, but teamwork for nurses also involves sharing the workload. Judy Meinecke, RN, notes in an article for Nursing 2018 that RNs at any level can start a wave of teamwork by being the first person to reach out and offer assistance. Obviously, nurses have to stay withing facility procedures and can't take on tasks for others that are outside of their job description or nursing level. But whenever possible, step in to help with daily nursing activities when you see another RN is overloaded.
Traffic on the nurse teamwork road flows both ways, though, so don't be afraid to ask for help when you're the one who is overwhelmed. You may think you're burdening your coworkers inappropriately, but asking for assistance before crisis-level stress occurs actually fosters teamwork for nurses. First, it means you won't become so stressed that you start communicating poorly or treating coworkers unfairly. Second, it provides an opportunity for nurses in the unit to work together for a positive outcome.
Practice solid communication skills
Teamwork among nurses requires excellent communication skills. Even if you put all of the above tips into action, if your team isn't communicating on the same level, things can go wrong. According to Nursing Times, communication issues are one of the most likely causes of errors in healthcare. A way to minimize this issue is to check that other nurses (or anyone you're speaking to) understands the message. When everyone on the unit is in the habit of repeating their understanding of a message back —or asking someone to repeat their own message back to them —teams can work quickly and without misunderstandings. It's a good idea to include other communication tools in unit training to help every nurse on the team build this valuable skill.
Teamwork for nurses isn't something that's simply nice to have. It's critical to the success of every patient being treated and every healthcare professional on the team. Whether you're a nurse manager or a certified nursing assistant right now, you have a role to play in patient care and building a cohesive team.