Team nursing/job satisfaction

[luckynurse_1234]

I work on a med/surg/non-acute peds floor. We employ about 35 nurses total, and we are divided into 4 teams of about 8-10 people. I have worked with my team for over a year, and I am comfortable with them. But, we just got a new supervisor and she is doing away with the "team nursing" concept for ease of scheduling. I understand that in theory we should be able to work with anyone and that perhaps some people are too friendly and cover for each other, but I still hate the idea. I feel it gives them license to screw up your schedule, and how are you supposed to bond with your coworkers if you work with different random people every time? Does anyone else's workplace use team nursing, and how do you feel about it?

[Bruce_Wayne, ASN, RN]

Whenever I've heard the term "team nursing" before it was used to mean that nurses assignments would overlap and responsibilities would be divided between multiple nurses. AKA there would be a "med nurse" that'd give scheduled PO medicines for like a million patients and then the RNs would have to do thins like assess, IVs, pushes, prns.

The main concern in that kind of team nursing is that it's easy for something to fall through the cracks, especially if non-computer charting is used. For example a doctor stops a patient's medicine but the med nurse doesn't find out about it until way later after she's finished her med round and already gave the med.

Now onto what you're talking about, working with the same group of nurses over and over again. I could see how you would like that, and I can appreciate that you can build a rapport with your coworkers and learn how to work really well together.

But on the other hand, it seems as if they're having some staffing difficulties and it'd be easier to go to a more traditional staffing situation.

I'd say just keep doing what you do best and always operate with integrity and respect and you'll be fine.

[luckynurse_1234]

Lol I had never heard of the kind of team nursing you were referring to where they divide up the tasks. I an curious as to how many hospitals kept the same people working together every shift since this is my first nursing gig. You are right I guess in the long run doing that is hard because of individual schedule fluctuations

[evolvingrn, BSN, RN]

Lol I had never heard of the kind of team nursing you were referring to where they divide up the tasks. I an curious as to how many hospitals kept the same people working together every shift since this is my first nursing gig. You are right I guess in the long run doing that is hard because of individual schedule fluctuations

Team nursing is usually referring to what the previous poster is describing. where i work we have a set schedule but I end up working with everyone on our staff because none of us have identical schedules. I like the consisitency of a set schedule but like the variety of working with different people.

[vashtee, RN]

We have team nursing at the hospital I work in, and I agree that for us, it means that one RN and one LVN are assigned to twice as many patients. It is VERY unpopular where I work, and in fact, the hospital is phasing it out after giving the LVNs the opportunity to advance their licenses.

I can't wait for it to be over.