Outline the characteristics of an interdisciplinary team. Support your argument with at least two references as well as personal anecdotes of positive and negative characteristics you have seen working in a team environment.
Interdisciplinary Teams
Characteristics of an Interdisciplinary Team
Registered nurses manage different units with a wide variety of health professionals and nonprofessionals. Healthcare providers are responsible for embracing unity to continue providing safe and promoting high-quality care to their clients. Interdisciplinary teams or collaboration entails different healthcare professionals withdiverse expertiseworking together towards attaining their clients’ goals.Members of the groups actively coordinate care and complement each other’s expertise to achieve shared goals. As discussed in this paper, interdisciplinary teams are characterized by various features.
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First, interdisciplinary teams have their practice focused on the patient. Any successful interdisciplinary team prioritizes the patient and has the latter’s needs in their minds. The team engages the client and their family members in various aspects of care and decision-making. Consequently, there is improved care and health outcomes, improved morale, and reduced errors (Hinkle & Cheever, 2018). Patients also feel valued and appreciated. In my place of work, the provision of collaborative care through interdisciplinary teams is holistic and focused on the total needs of the clients.
Additionally, there is effective communication within interdisciplinary teams. Marquis and Huston (2017) assert that effective communication is critical to the success of any group. Each member of the team possesses different verbal and nonverbal communication skills. Regardless, each person must exhibit exemplary skills to improve patient outcomes. At one point, I experienced a scenario where a nurse leaving duty failed to communicate some changes in a patient’s condition. The patient had a primary diagnosis of heart failure. Later, the patient almost lost his life, following arising complications which were not noted in good time. Had the nurse communicated early enough, the complications would have been mitigated.
Successful teams also show great teamwork. Buljac-Samardzic et al. (2020) assert that improving teamwork should be the highest priority to ensure patient safety, quality of outcomes, efficiency, and effectiveness within diverse healthcare settings. Team members should acknowledge and respect the abilities of their colleagues and help each other perform their roles. Individual characteristics of the team members must also promote oneness, respect for each other, and clarity of vision. Therefore, healthcare workers must aspire to establish interdisciplinary teams that promote efficiency and effectiveness in processes.
References
Buljac-Samardzic, M., Doekhie, K. D., & van Wijngaarden, J. D. H. (2020). Interventions to improve team effectiveness within health care: a systematic review of the past decade. Human Resources for Health, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-019-0411-3
Hinkle, J. L., & Cheever, K. H. (2018). Brunner &Suddarth’s textbook of medical-surgical nursing (14th ed.). Philadelphia Wolters Kluwer Health, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2017). Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application (9th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Health.
Outline the characteristics of an interdisciplinary team. Support your argument with at least two references as well as personal anecdotes of positive and negative characteristics you have seen working in a team environment.