This chapter focuses on the broader topic of team resiliency within the healthcare profession. Specifically, the authors discuss the current body of literature relating to healthcare teams, the concept of team resilience, and its potential application within the field of healthcare. Moreover, the authors propose different means of developing team resilience within healthcare teams including the theoretical application of an existing team resilience model to the healthcare profession. Lastly, suggestions are provided for future research that could help to develop the body of knowledge related to the topic.
TopHealthcare Teams
Teamwork has emerged as an important factor in increasing the quality of healthcare, as well as a critical element in reducing medical error (Rosen, et al., 2018). Team members must be able to coordinate their activities to provide effective, efficient care. Communication is critical during many phases of care such as transitioning from one unit to another, communication among team members during surgery, and when providing information to the patient.
Over and above communication, effective teamwork behaviors such as leadership, planning, situation awareness, and assertiveness are all critical in identifying and preventing errors and allowing team members to all work using a “shared mental model” (Cannon-Bowers, 2007). In so doing team members can work together effectively in the absence of explicit communication.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic has shed further light on the potential benefits of healthcare teams (Cheng,et. al., 2020). During the pandemic, an intervention was implemented within a medical team consisting of doctors, nurses, and staff members where the team could rely on one another through means such as peer support, after work social gatherings (i.e., sporting events), and daily measurements of the team members’ mood. Despite the demands of the pandemic, the team reported a generally positive outlook over the course of six weeks. Through these means, the team was able to rely on one another as a means of monitoring one another’s mental well-being in a difficult circumstance.
While there are benefits to working in healthcare teams, teamwork can also be difficult. Team members often come together relatively quickly and may be unfamiliar with one another. Many healthcare workers have not had specific training in effective teamwork. Furthermore, the Covid pandemic has made team processes more difficult in many cases. For example, personal protective equipment such as masks and face shields may make it harder to speak. Additionally, non-verbal communication may be severely curtailed. Reduced communication can result in downstream issues such as poorer decision making and reduced situation awareness (Ellis, Hay-David, & Brennan, 2020). New settings may induce role ambiguity, leading a breakdown of team processes