Can Teamwork Be Mandated?

Teamwork seemed to be a consistent theme in the nurse to patient ratios debate. Clearly there is no evidence that patient ratios works (Buerhaus, 2010). We also know that the lack of teamwork increases patient deaths (Aiken, et al, 2002). So why not mandate teamwork. Make it a requirement that nurses must exhibit teamwork or they’re fired. It would eliminate bullying, lateral violence, eating our young, and nurses would gladly float to other units to help their colleagues who are short staffed. It would require hospitals to actively work on communication, teamwork training, and create systems for monitoring the effectiveness. What do you think?

Reference

Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Sloane, D. M., Sochalski, J., & Silber, J. H. (2002). Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction. JAMA, 288(16), 1987-1994.

Buerhaus, P. (2010). It’s time to stop the regulation of hospital nurse staffing dead in its tracks. Nursing Economic$, 28(2), 110-113.