Pa. Group development Team assessment Findings Strengthen the team Foster teamwork by establishing and implementing a unit assessment process.
Teamwork follows the dynamic path of group development.
The authors evaluate their survey of teamwork in 14 ICUs and explain how nurse managers can evaluate and increase teamwork with a unit assessment process. The fact that a unit's collaboration and teamwork affects the quality of patient care doesn't surprise anyone who's worked in a hospital unit. The models of group development are well documented in the literature. The first stage is characterized by group members' dependency on the designated leader, safety concerns, and inclusion issues. A group enters the second stage of group development, referred to as a period of counterdependency and fight, when members try to liberate themselves from depending on the leader and fight among themselves about group goals and procedures.