The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Are teamwork and professional autonomy compatible, and do they result in improved hospital care?

Are teamwork and professional autonomy compatible, and do they result in improved hospital care?
Are teamwork and professional autonomy compatible, and do they result in improved hospital care?
A postal questionnaire survey of 10 022 staff nurses in 32 hospitals in England was undertaken to explore the relationship between interdisciplinary teamwork and nurse autonomy on patient and nurse outcomes and nurse assessed quality of care. The key variables of nursing autonomy, control over resources, relationship with doctors, emotional exhaustion, and decision making were found to correlate with one another as well as having a relationship with nurse assessed quality of care and nurse satisfaction. Nursing autonomy was positively correlated with better perceptions of the quality of care delivered and higher levels of job satisfaction. Analysis of team working by job characteristics showed a small but significant difference in the level of teamwork between full time and part time nurses. No significant differences were found by type of contract (permanent v short term), speciality of ward/unit, shift length, or job title. Nurses with higher teamwork scores were significantly more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, planned to stay in them, and had lower burnout scores. Higher teamwork scores were associated with higher levels of nurse assessed quality of care, perceived quality improvement over the last year, and confidence that patients could manage their care when discharged. Nurses with higher teamwork scores also exhibited higher levels of autonomy and were more involved in decision making. A strong association was found between teamwork and autonomy; this interaction suggests synergy rather than conflict. Organisations should therefore be encouraged to promote nurse autonomy without fearing that it might undermine teamwork.
1475-3898
ii32-ii37
Rafferty, A.M.
5bf509f9-decd-41fc-98d7-1e2d91737460
Ball, J.
85ac7d7a-b21e-42fd-858b-78d263c559c1
Aiken, L.H.
208b445e-e042-418f-9522-cff72e78e6e6
Rafferty, A.M.
5bf509f9-decd-41fc-98d7-1e2d91737460
Ball, J.
85ac7d7a-b21e-42fd-858b-78d263c559c1
Aiken, L.H.
208b445e-e042-418f-9522-cff72e78e6e6

Rafferty, A.M., Ball, J. and Aiken, L.H. (2001) Are teamwork and professional autonomy compatible, and do they result in improved hospital care? Quality and Safety in Health Care, 10, supplement 2, ii32-ii37. (doi:10.1136/qhc.0100032).

Record type: Article

Abstract

A postal questionnaire survey of 10 022 staff nurses in 32 hospitals in England was undertaken to explore the relationship between interdisciplinary teamwork and nurse autonomy on patient and nurse outcomes and nurse assessed quality of care. The key variables of nursing autonomy, control over resources, relationship with doctors, emotional exhaustion, and decision making were found to correlate with one another as well as having a relationship with nurse assessed quality of care and nurse satisfaction. Nursing autonomy was positively correlated with better perceptions of the quality of care delivered and higher levels of job satisfaction. Analysis of team working by job characteristics showed a small but significant difference in the level of teamwork between full time and part time nurses. No significant differences were found by type of contract (permanent v short term), speciality of ward/unit, shift length, or job title. Nurses with higher teamwork scores were significantly more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, planned to stay in them, and had lower burnout scores. Higher teamwork scores were associated with higher levels of nurse assessed quality of care, perceived quality improvement over the last year, and confidence that patients could manage their care when discharged. Nurses with higher teamwork scores also exhibited higher levels of autonomy and were more involved in decision making. A strong association was found between teamwork and autonomy; this interaction suggests synergy rather than conflict. Organisations should therefore be encouraged to promote nurse autonomy without fearing that it might undermine teamwork.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: December 2001
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 389787
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/389787
ISSN: 1475-3898
PURE UUID: 81db9601-a535-4638-ae5c-d5f2ebad5011
ORCID for J. Ball: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8655-2994

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Mar 2016 10:03
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:51

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: A.M. Rafferty
Author: J. Ball ORCID iD
Author: L.H. Aiken

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×