Importance of Teamwork in Healthcare: A Theoretical Analysis

Running head: TEAMWORK
TEAMWORK
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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TEAMWORK
Introduction
Teamwork in healthcare can be defined as one two or more people who engage in
different interactions interdependently with a common purpose working towards the various
measurable goals that help in providing the best care to the patients meeting all their
requirements and needs (Cassimiro et al., 2015). This assignment would mainly include an
incidence where there was a failure in teamwork and would simultaneously describe the
necessary theory that would help to discuss the teamwork issues effectively.
Description of Clinical Experience
During my clinical placement, I was one of the team member who was caring for a
patient who has faced stroke and was currently in the medical ward. I was given the
responsibility to be an active member of a team of healthcare professionals who was to treat and
provide care to the patient. A team of four nurses and two experts were formed for attending the
patient. We were called by phone and assigned our work by care coordinator, who was leading
the team. However, the family members of the patient was seen to complain to the compliant
department stating that the healthcare team did not care for the patient and there were events of
missed medications, wring treatments, clash between experts and nurses and unprofessional
behavior in front of the patient. Following such complaint, care coordinator called the team
members to enquire about the issues that took place. I was shocked to see that all the members
were blaming each other for their faults. Many of the members stated that their team members
did not communicate them. This resulted in the medication errors, missed treatments and others.
A complete loss of communication was noticed among the team members. Moreover, there was
no bonding among the members of the team and as a result, effective feedbacks could not be

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TEAMWORK
shared. I got very scared when I saw that there were so much conflicts and power struggles
among the team members. So many issues ultimately resulted in very poor outcome when my
mentor diagnosed the condition of the patient and stated that her condition had deteriorated
mainly due to poor treatment and carelessness. The teamwork entirely failed and I got very upset
and lost my confidence.
Theoretical Analysis/Application
Tuckman’s theory of teamwork or group development helped me in analyzing the
mistakes that I have conducted while carrying on the teamwork. Tuckman had proposed five
important stages of teamwork out of which the first stage is called the forming (Weller et al.,
2014). In this stage, the team is mainly seen to acquaint and thereby take part in establishment of
different types of ground rules. In this step, formalities are preserved and the members are
mainly seen to be acting as strangers. The care coordinator completely neglected the step and did
not put any importance in the development of ground rules for the team members. The care
coordinator did not set any disciplinary rules as well and therefore all the members were found to
be confused. Moreover, the care coordinator did not have any introductory meetings. The team
members were not introduced to one another and therefore they faced problems as they did not
know with whom they were working (Rosen et al., 2014). The second step is called the storming
stage where the members of the team is seen to communicate their feelings but still they
visualize themselves as individuals rather than as part of the team. In this step, they are seen to
resist the control by group leaders. They are also seen to show hostility. This step was also not
conducted successfully. No initiatives were taken, where the members of the team would have
got the opportunity for developing rapport with each other or got have the opportunity to
communicate with each others. Researchers are of the opinion that better, the individuals