Effective Team: From Diversity to Collective Teamwork

Course Code: 3922 / classroom

2 contact hours

Perioperative Nurses

Sterile Processing Personnel

Perioperative team members work in a fast-paced, demanding environment where they need to be flexible and ready to anticipate new challenges at any time. The composition of the team can vary from those who provide direct care in the operating room (OR), to those who provide direct care in the preoperative or postanesthesia care units, to those providing direct care for “on call” shifts, as well as those who provide support for the direct caregivers by processing and packaging instruments in the sterile processing area or present instructions for use for new equipment or technologies. Relationships and communications can breakdown under stressful circumstances. This continuing education activity will provide a brief review of how people who work in teams can increase their effectiveness by incorporating useful strategies into their daily experiences. An overview of group dynamics that team members often experience as they work together will be discussed. The factors that contribute to diversity in teams will be presented. Examples of strategies that can be used to enhance teamwork will also be discussed.