Teams in a New Era: Some Considerations and Implications

Teams have been a ubiquitous structure for conducting work and business for most of human history. However, today’s organizations are markedly different than those of previous generations. The explosion of innovative ideas and novel technologies mandate changes in job descriptions, roles, responsibilities, and how employees interact and collaborate. These advances have heralded a new era for teams and teamwork in which previous teams research and practice may not be fully appropriate for meeting current requirements and demands. In this article, we describe how teams have been historically defined, unpacking five important characteristics of teams, including membership, interdependence, shared goals, dynamics, and an organizationally bounded context, and relating how these characteristics have been addressed in the past and how they are changing in the present. We then articulate the implications these changes have on how we study teams moving forward by offering specific research questions

Promoting Teamwork in Translational Medical Teams: Insights and Recommendations from Science and Practice

Translational medical teams are transdisciplinary, highly collaborative, and operate within dynamic environments to solve time-sensitive and complex problems. These teams are tasked with turning observations in the laboratory and clinic into effective interventions that improve the health of individuals and the public. The nature of the problems they seek to solve requires coordination among clinicians, scientists, and experts from various scientific disciplines. Characteristically, translational medical teams have complex compositions, structure, and pluralistic goals, which pose significant challenges and barriers to enacting effective teamwork, compromising team performance. Given these challenges, it is imperative to glean insights from teams research and the science of team science on how to execute efficacious teamwork. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to discuss specific teamwork processes (i.e., trust, communication, self-correction, backup behavior, shared mental models, and conflict management) that are critical to translational medical team performance and offer mechanisms to better equip such teams. Utilizing a theoretical framework of transdisciplinary teamwork adapted from the science of team science and tailored to translational medical teams, we describe each of these processes, their relation to translational medical team outcomes, and how they can be leveraged to improve teamwork. Such a discussion aims to provide practical guidance for conceptualizing and enhancing teamwork in translational medical teams

The Template of Events for Applied and Critical Healthcare Simulation (TEACH Sim): A Tool for Systematic Simulation Scenario Design

Simulation-based training (SBT) affords practice opportunities for improving the quality of clinicians’ technical and nontechnical skills. However, the development of practice scenarios is a process plagued by a set of challenges that must be addressed for the full learning potential of SBT to be realized. Scenario templates are useful tools for assisting with SBT and navigating its inherent challenges. This article describes existing SBT templates, explores considerations in choosing an appropriate template, and introduces the Template of Events for Applied and Critical Healthcare Simulation (TEACH Sim) as a tool for facilitating the formation of practice scenarios in accordance with an established evidence-based simulation design methodology. TEACH Sim’s unique contributions are situated within the landscape of previously existing templates, and each of its component sections is explained in detail

Exploring Telemedicine in Emergency Medical Services: Guidance in Implementation for Practitioners

Due to the growing specialties, evolving technologies, and disease complexities, quality care is now contingent upon the synthesis of expertise and seamless coordination of multiple, oftentimes distributed, individuals. EMS exemplify the aforementioned depiction, as it involves crew members serving multiple functions separately (e.g., managing patients and driving ambulances) as well as technology enabling the transmission of information between crews in the field and ED clinicians to foster patient management and preparation for incoming patient admissions.To integrate seemingly disparate team members and their expertise while addressing patient needs and navigating the challenging clinical care system, the healthcare community has leveraged telemedicine

Thick as Thieves? Big Pharma Wields Its Power with the Help of Government Regulation

Americans are barraged by an endless flow of ads that claim to remedy medical maladies with prescribed drugs. The commercials depict productive and happy lives, with suggestive associations that human flourishing can be achieved via pharmaceutical intervention. The appeals are accompanied by an exhaustive inventory of potentially negative life-altering side effects. As ads end with this depiction of relational bliss through drug use, viewers hear a fast-paced listing of monotone non-segmented disclaimers, which can range from modest impacts (e.g., slight weight gain) to very serious implications (e.g., suicidal ideations). Research suggests that hearing about the risks of use may increase consumers\u27 trust in the advertising. Sufferers may also conclude that stronger means better (i.e., helping them more effectively manage their condition). When it comes to health, consumers tend to mitigate the risk of taking drugs. Cognitive dissonance fuels a process of rationalizing side effects as part of the cost of wellbeing

On Being a Team Player: Evidence-Based Heuristic for Teamwork in Interprofessional Education

Identifying the need of a team-based approach for improving quality care, there has been growth in creating and implementing interprofessional education (IPE). The goal of IPE curricula should be to instill the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for optimal teamwork. With this objective in mind, this paper will provide a streamlined, evidence-based, memorable heuristic of teamwork that could guide interprofessional educators. Rooted in science, this heuristic consists of the six Cs of teamwork – cooperation, communication, conflict, coordination, coaching, and cognition. This paper will define the ‘Cs’ of teamwork and describe their importance, implications, and strategies for integration within interprofessional curricula

On Being A Team Player: Evidence-Based Heuristic For Teamwork In Interprofessional Education

Identifying the need of a team-based approach for improving quality care, there has been growth in creating and implementing interprofessional education (IPE). The goal of IPE curricula should be to instill the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for optimal teamwork. With this objective in mind, this paper will provide a streamlined, evidence-based, memorable heuristic of teamwork that could guide interprofessional educators. Rooted in science, this heuristic consists of the six Cs of teamwork — cooperation, communication, conflict, coordination, coaching, and cognition. This paper will define the ‘Cs’ of teamwork and describe their importance, implications, and strategies for integration within interprofessional curricula

Bringing The Science Of Team Training To School-Based Teams

Teams are ubiquitous in schools in the 21st Century; yet training for effective teaming within these settings has lagged behind. The authors of this article developed 5 modules, grounded in the science of team training and adapted from an evidence-based curriculum used in medical settings called TeamSTEPPS®, to prepare instructional and administrative personnel for teamwork and to enhance their teamwork skills. The resulting 5 modules, available for download on the American Psychological Association website, are collectively called Teach Teamwork and include: Introduction to Teams and Teamwork, Communication, Mutual Support, Situation Monitoring, and Leadership. In this article, the modules and supplemental materials are described, along with recommendations for implementation

Team Training In Obstetrics: A Multi-Level Evaluation

Obstetric complications and adverse patient events are often preventable. Teamwork and situational awareness (SA) can improve detection and coordination of critical obstetric (OB) emergencies, subsequently improving decision making and patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a team training intervention in improving learning and transfer of teamwork, SA, decision making, and cognitive bias as well as patient outcomes in OB. Method: An adapted TeamSTEPPS training program was delivered to OB clinicians. Training targeted communication, mutual support, situation monitoring, leadership, SA, and cognitive bias. We conducted a repeated measures multilevel evaluation of the training using Kirkpatrick\u27s (1994) framework of training evaluation to determine impact on trainee reactions, learning, transfer, and results. Data were collected using surveys, situational judgment tests (SJTs), observations, and patient chart reviews. Results: Participants perceived the training as useful. Additionally, participants acquired knowledge of communication strategies, though knowledge of other team competencies did not significantly improve nor did self-reported teamwork on the unit. Although SJT decision accuracy did not significantly improve for all scenarios, results of behavioral observation suggest that decision accuracy significantly improved on the job, and there was a marginally significant reduction in babies\u27 hospital length of stay. Discussion: These findings indicate that the training intervention was partially effective, but more work needs to be done to determine the conditions under which training is most effective, and the ways in which to sustain improvements. Future research is needed to confirm its generalizability to additional OB units and departments

The 6 Ws Of Rapid Response Systems: Best Practices For Improving Development, Implementation, And Evaluation

Delays in care have been cited as one of the primary contributors of preventable mortality; thus, quality patient safety is often contingent upon the delivery of timely clinical care. Rapid response systems (RRSs) have been touted as one mechanism to improve the ability of suitable staff to respond to deteriorating patients quickly and appropriately. Rapid response systems are defined as highly skilled individual(s) who mobilize quickly to provide medical care in response to clinical deterioration. While there is mounting evidence that RRSs are a valid strategy for managing obstetric emergencies, reducing adverse events, and improving patient safety, there remains limited insight into the practices underlying the development and execution of these systems. Therefore, the purpose of this article was to synthesize the literature and answer the primary questions necessary for successfully developing, implementing, and evaluating RRSs within inpatient settings - the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of RRSs. Copyright © 2014 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins