Teams in Small Organizations: Conceptual, Methodological, and Practical Considerations

Research on teams and teamwork has flourished in the last few decades. Much of what we know about teams and teamwork comes from research using short-term student teams in the lab, teams in larger organizations, and, more recently, teams in rather unique and extreme environments. The context in which teams operate influences team composition, processes, and effectiveness. Small organizations are an understudied and often overlooked context that presents a rich opportunity to augment our understanding of teams and team dynamics. In this paper, we discuss how teams and multi-team systems in small organizations may differ from those found in larger organizations. Many of these differences present both methodological and practical challenges to studying team composition and processes in small complex organizational settings. We advocate for applying and accepting new and less widely used methodological approaches to advance our understanding of the science of teams and teamwork in such contexts

TeamSTEPPS and Organizational Culture

Patient safety issues remain despite several strategies developed for their deterrence. While many safety initiatives bring about improvement, they are repeatedly unsustainable and short-lived. The index hospital’s goal was to build an organizational culture within a groundwork that improves teamwork and continuing healthcare team engagement. Teamwork influences the efficiency of patient care, patient safety, and clinical outcomes, as it has been identified as an approach for enhancing collaboration, decreasing medical errors, and building a culture of safety in healthcare. The facility implemented Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS), an evidence-based framework which was used for team training to produce valuable and needed changes, facilitating modification of organizational culture, increasing patient safety compliance, or solving particular issues. This study aimed to identify the correlation between TeamSTEPPS enactment and improved organizational culture in the ambulatory care nursing department of a New York City public hospital

How to enrich team research in healthcare by considering five theoretical perspectives.

The aim of this paper is to inspire team research to apply diverse and unconventional perspectives to study team dynamics and performance in healthcare settings. To illustrate that using multiple perspectives can yield valuable insights, we examine a segment of a team interaction during a heart-surgery, using five distinct interdisciplinary perspectives known from small group research: the psychodynamic, functional, conflict-power-status, temporal, and social identity perspectives. We briefly describe each theoretical perspective, discuss its application to study healthcare teams, and present possible research questions for the segment at hand using the respective perspective. We also highlight the benefits and challenges associated with employing these diverse approaches and explore how they can be integrated to analyze team processes in health care. Finally, we offer our own insights and opinions on the integration of these approaches, as well as the types of data required to conduct such analyses. We also point to further research avenues and highlight the benefits associated with employing these diverse approaches. Finally, we offer our own insights and opinions on the integration of these approaches, as well as the types of data required to conduct such analyses

Time to go wild: How to conceptualize and measure process dynamics in real teams with high-resolution

Team processes are interdependent activities among team members that transform inputs into outputs, vary over time, and are critical for team effectiveness. Understanding the temporal dynamics of team processes and related team phenomena with a high-resolution lens (i.e., methods with high sampling rates) is particularly challenging when going “into the wild” (i.e., studying teams operating in their full situated context). We review quantitative field studies using high-resolution methods (e.g., video, chat/text data, archival, wearables) and map out the various temporal lenses for studying team dynamics. We synthesize these different lenses and present an integrated temporal framework that is of help in theorizing about team dynamics. We also provide readers with a “how to” guide that summarizes four essential steps along with analytical methods (e.g., sequential and pattern analyses, mixed-methods research, abductive reasoning) that are applicable to the broad scope of high-resolution methods

Sensors and Wearables in Oncology: A study of the Barriers and Facilitators to Adoption

Innovation, although a subject of considerable debate (e.g., Baregheh et al., 2009; Christensen, 1997), can be defined as the introduction and dissemination of a new or a different idea into use or practice that drives impact (Solis and Sinfield, 2014). Many studies and editorials have highlighted the complexity of the United States health system and detailed the slow speed by which innovative ideas materialize into impactful innovations (Continuing America’s leadership (2017); England & Stewart (2007); Kannampallil, Schauer, Cohen & Patel (2011)). While there are many advances in sensor and wearable technologies in this instance, the adoption rate by oncologists has been slow. This slow or lack of adoption has a deep impact on the care, comfort, and potential survival of cancer patients. This study intends to describe barriers and facilitators to sensor technology adoption in oncology, then map those barriers and facilitators across two sets of stakeholders (oncologists and technologists). This qualitative study highlights key barriers including costs of technology, lack of time by oncologists, lack of communication between the two group, cultural and organizational factors, as well as global and policy factors. The enablers included the desire by both groups to work together for the benefit of the patients, as well as the need for tailored interventions leveraging an architected framework to propel this collaboration and align the stakeholders. The result of the study is a comprehensive conceptual framework and next steps detailed a short, medium, and long-term approach leading to adaptation, adoption, and diffusion. Being a first study of its kind, this can lead to further advancement in the field in terms of research and translational science

A multi-perspective and multi-theoretical approach on the role of Knowledge Process Capabilities in enhancing patient safety: the case of Chiapas

Knowledge in medical practice is indispensable in accomplishing the objective of healing, conserving and protecting human health. Health institutions are organisations of knowledge; through their human resources, processes, methods, practices and instruments, they constantly promote the generation, access, transference and application of knowledge. Therefore, governments in developing countries such as Mexico can integrate knowledge management strategies, considering as a reference the best practices of developed countries and adapting them to the context of public policies and institutions. However, in the adoption and adaptation process, the local context conditions influencing any knowledge-based initiative's success or failure must be carefully analysed and evaluated. Therefore, an exploratory study will provide insight into the contribution of different critical factors to the development of knowledge capabilities of healthcare professionals and their impact on the improvement of patient safety from the view of a public Mexican health institution.This research proposed a methodology composed of three phases. First, The knowledge generation to understand the foundations of Knowledge Management through a literature review of the theories, perspectives, disciplines, critical factors, and evidence from past studies that support this field of study. Second, the knowledge and evidence generated through rigorous statistical analyses to evaluate three structural models whose relationships were established based on previously identified theoretical foundations. The critical factors considered in this study are the Organisational Enablers of Knowledge Management, Culture of Collaboration, Technology Acceptance, Knowledge-Sharing Behaviour, Knowledge Process Capabilities developed by healthcare professionals, and Organisational Performance in terms of Patient Safety. Third, the knowledge generated through a dialogue between the evidence generated by statistical analyses and the conditions of the local context that affect the behaviours proposed by the theories.Identifying the context effects of a developing country such as Mexico will let to identify and analyse the conditions of the social, cultural, and economic dimensions and governmental practices that can obstruct the development of knowledge capabilities in healthcare professionals, as well as the formal establishment of knowledge practices. The importance of this contribution relies on the fact that health institutions are pillars for the development of society, so strengthening their different capabilities and knowledge strategies is more than ever essential for the well-being and development of countries

Promotion of self-management of chronic disease in children and teenagers: scoping review

Background: The scientific literature describes that self-management of chronic illness leads to improved health outcomes. Knowledge about interventions that promote self-management behaviors in children and teenagers has been poorly clarified. This study aims to map, in the scientific literature, the nature and extent of interventions that promote self-management of chronic disease, implemented and evaluated in contexts of health care provided to children and teenagers. Methods: The guidelines proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute were followed. The survey was conducted in June 2021, with access to international databases and gray literature, in Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish. Results: Interventions that promote self-management of children and teenagers can be developed through a local contact or through technological means of support for health care. The use of online supports, such as applications or communication platforms, should be parameterized with health professionals, according to the needs of users. Conclusions: The acquisition of self-management skills in pediatrics is a process supported by the family, health professionals and the community, in which the nurse, in partnership, can promote communication and health education through cognitive strategies, behavioral programs included in physical or online programs, adjusted to the patients’ needs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nursing Staff Optimizing Elder Care

Older adults, 65 years and older, make up more than 50% of the acute care patient population at a Southwest Michigan critical access hospital. This DNP capstone project was implemented for nursing staff members in a small rural hospital to assist with improving knowledge and perceptions of caring for older adults. Realized outcomes from this educational initiative were not meant to create new information but instead to focus on clinical issues and apply best practice for the purpose of determining evidence based solutions. The project’s design implemented to assess outcomes was a quantitative, descriptive, quasi-experimental, non-randomized approach. The plan included a pre and post intervention survey using the Geriatric Institutional Assessment Profile (GIAP) from the Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) Program. Education was provided after the pre intervention survey was completed via classroom presentations, hand-outs, and informational emails. The GIAP survey was repeated post educational intervention. Thirty nursing staff members participated in the pre intervention survey and seventeen completed the post intervention survey. Independent samples t-test on measures related to knowledge and attitudes revealed compelling percent changes representing statistical significance between pre and post GIAP survey responses with a p value of ˂ .05 in all areas measured

No soldiers left behind: An IoT-based low-power military mobile health system design

© 2013 IEEE. There has been an increasing prevalence of ad-hoc networks for various purposes and applications. These include Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) and Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) which have emerging applications in health monitoring as well as user location tracking in emergency settings. Further applications can include real-Time actuation of IoT equipment, and activation of emergency alarms through the inference of a user\u27s situation using sensors and personal devices through a LPWAN. This has potential benefits for military networks and applications regarding the health of soldiers and field personnel during a mission. Due to the wireless nature of ad-hoc network devices, it is crucial to conserve battery power for sensors and equipment which transmit data to a central server. An inference system can be applied to devices to reduce data size for transfer and subsequently reduce battery consumption, however this could result in compromising accuracy. This paper presents a framework for secure automated messaging and data fusion as a solution to address the challenges of requiring data size reduction whilst maintaining a satisfactory accuracy rate. A Multilayer Inference System (MIS) was used to conserve the battery power of devices such as wearables and sensor devices. The results for this system showed a data reduction of 97.9% whilst maintaining satisfactory accuracy against existing single layer inference methods. Authentication accuracy can be further enhanced with additional biometrics and health data information

Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Diabetes Management During Pregnancy

Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Diabetes Management During Pregnancy Abstract According to the Scope of Practice, Standards of Practice, and the Standards of Professional Performance for Diabetes Educators, registered nurses play an integral role in the promotion of diabetes self-management education and training in diabetes care (AADE, 2017). This paper upholds the standards set forth by the American Association of Diabetes Educators (2017) governing body, to stimulate the process of peer review, promote documentation of the outcomes of diabetes self-management education and training (DSME/T), encourage research to validate practice and improve quality DSME/T and diabetes care for pregnant women who use continuous glucose monitoring. To improve registered nurse education and diabetes practice, the Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Diabetes Management During Pregnancy Program was presented to the management and leadership of a high-risk subspecialty unit of a major Northern California healthcare maintenance organization. The implementation unit provided the staff, resources, and interest needed to support the project. The information provided in this paper discuss the needs assessment that was conducted as a basis for implementation of the pilot project. The SWOT analysis and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) are project management tools that were utilized as part of the proposed Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Diabetes Management During Pregnancy Program Doctor of Nursing project. The SWOT analysis provides details about barriers to the project, support for the need, and objectives enacted to overcome obstacles, and elicited sponsor, provider, and team member support. The WBS was used as a communication tool to inform, update, and review progress to ensure the project was completed on time and within budget. The budget forecasted the need of approximately $3,000.00 to successfully implement the project. The outcome measurement tool used to determine the success of the project was qualitative data received from the registered nurses upon completion of the CGM device training modules. Qualitative data was gathered from the registered nurses using Qualtrics pre- and post-education and training. The secondary outcome measurement tools were the latest lab result HgbA1c of \u3c7.0 mg/dl and a reduction of hypoglycemic episodes during pregnancy