Teacher Response: The team approach is used in healthcare for many projects and the delivery of health care. Teams must be highly effective, which requires a strong lead and people who are willing to do the extra work to get the job done but when using the transformational style, the lead asks for input from all members.

In healthcare, teams are dynamic and multidisciplinary. They need to be able to work together effectively and efficiently (Spath & Abraham, 2013). They must possess specific knowledge, technical skills, and a positive disposition for working in teams.Not everyone has the characteristics to work well in a team.It is equally important for everyone to be able to monitor each other's performance, and have some understanding of everyone's task responsibilities (Sims, et al., 2004).

In healthcare, teams are critical. For instance, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, technicians, and other health professionals must coordinate their activities to deliver safe and efficient patient care (Baack, et al., 2020). Each individual performs interdependent tasks such as when the physician orders a treatment plan to care for the patient. The physician must state the order orenter the order into the system for the nurse and other healthcare professionals to perform their task. An example of this would be if the physician orders an IV antibiotic. The order has to be made by the pharmacist preparing the IV bag,and then the nurse administering the medication. Each has a specific role, but it requires each of them working in conjunction to achieve the common goal of providing safe and effective care.

This is also true on the administrative side. Many projects are completed with the use of teams. For example, when a hospital has to develop an improvement plan, the team is made up of managers, executives, administrative staff, and clinical staff.Each has a role in the development of the improvement plan.For example:If the hospital was experiencing a high number of patient falls, they would have to report the falls to the Joint Commission (TJC).Then the expectation from the accreditation agency (TJC) is that they investigate to find the cause(s), then develop a plan to reduce the number of patient falls. Then once the plan is implemented, they must monitor to determine if the plan reduced the number of patient falls.

Teacher question: So, with that said and knowing that you must have a multidisciplinary team, who would you include on a team to improve patient falls?Why would you include them? What can they contribute to the team?

Teacher question: Do you know of a leader in your organization that fits one of these profiles? Were they effective as a leader? If not, what happened?