Teamwork and Collaboration in the Nursing Field

The QSEN Institute (2013) stated there are core competencies within knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) a nursing student must strive to achieve in order to promote teamwork and collaboration within their place of work. This paper will depict a knowledge competency, a skills competency, and an attitude competency for teamwork and collaboration and describe how the professional nurse demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for successful teamwork and collaboration.  

According to Cronenwett et al. (2007), there isn’t one definition of what constitutes quality care across the nursing industry and is lagging behind medical doctor’s core training in this regard. Nurses are not educated with a standard program that raises and maintains the quality of care and is sorely needed. According to Cronenwett et al., these core concepts are skill sets nurses can learn to adapt and utilize over the course of their careers, and cited the QSEN Institute’s efforts to promote these core competencies as a source for existing nursing professionals to incorporate and use in their practice, and as a core of educational curriculums for all nurses of the future. The following is an example of the core competency of teamwork and collaboration. It is expressed in a manner of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The example below demonstrates how each piece of knowledge is expected to be practiced in the field as a skill set and incorporated as an attitude to promote a constructive and efficient workplaces. 

The QSEN Institute (2013) defines one of its knowledge competencies as the ability to explain the duties of each member of a nursing team. A competent nurse knows how to clarify each role a team member plays, including the responsibilities of each team member, and ways to ensure each member is accountable for one’s own management of those responsibilities. Each team member is vigilant about the team running as efficiently as it can, and making sure work is either not left undone or work is performed twice because of misunderstandings of job descriptions. Also, a competent nurse is able to acknowledge other team members and the roles they play when a job is performed well. 

According to the QSEN Institute (2013), once the roles of team members are clearly defined, team members should demonstrate that knowledge by meeting the responsibilities delineated for them as a responsible team member. Team members should have the communication skills to define the role of each team member to promote maximum team efficiency, ask for help when needed, and find ways to express the acknowledgment of the contributions of other team members in achieving a successful outcome.

The QSEN Institute stated a successful team member possesses an attitude of mutual respect the the patient and recognizes that the autonomy and advocacy for the patient and each of the family members’ well being are the central focus of all their efforts.  The successful team member also has mutual respect for all colleagues and their skill sets and knowledge they bring to their job and their abilities to carry out the responsibilities of their own job requirements. 

Some may say that every person has their own strengths and weaknesses and their own personality. However, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes explained above are skill sets that can be learned and cultivated over time. Encouraging core competencies and promoting a constructive work environment are key elements of teamwork and collaboration competencies listed by the QSEN Institute. Hopefully, the QSEN Institute’s aspirations to carry out quality care for nurses across the industry for the good of the patient and the nursing staff will be realized, and each nurse will incorporate those competencies as their own and practice them every day on the job to promote the wellness of patients and an efficient work environment.

References

Cronenwett, L., Sherwood, G., Barnsteiner J., Disch, J., Johnson, J., Mitchell, P., Sullivan, D., Warren, J. (2007). Quality and safety education for nurses. Nursing Outlook, 55(3)122-131. 

QSEN Institute. (2013). Pre-licensure KSAS. Retrieved from http://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/