How to be better at teamwork (and still get your work done)

jennylee321 · Dec 8, 2018

I think most nurses have a pretty good sense of when other nurses are drowning. Whenever I'm super busy dealing with a decompensation or admission nearby nurses are typically either helping me or if they are too busy themselves, they have the courtesy not to ask me for help until I've got what I'm dealing with sorted.

Whereas I often have little stretches between my tasks where I will float around and see if anyone needs help. These are the best times to offer help because if you offering help when you really are quite busy the help you are offering won't be overly helpful (wow that was a lot of helps in one sentence lol).

I think frequent communication with colleagues is important to teamwork. I'm often working in a specific clinical area with 1-3 other nurses and I communicate when I have important things going on so we can coordinate tasks that require 2 nurses as well as breaks.

When you are offering help I think the most important thing to do is being specific in your offer. Particularly when someone is being held up with one busy patient. "Do you have any meds so for your other patients that I can do?" "Do you want me to do a round on your other patients?" "Should I call the on call doctor to get some orders for you?" Ect. Offer things that you can reasonably do within your current workload. Sometimes people ask me if I need anything, but they don't mean anything. They don't have time to stay for a 20 min procedure. So communication is key.

JKL33 · Dec 8, 2018

Some backround: I work on an adult general medicine floor in a large and busy hospital. I'm kind of new- about 1.5 years working as a nurse. I started in the medicine float pool at the same hospital and now have a position. I can be a little scatterbrained and anxious at work and the staff on my floor are amazing at helping me out if I'm drowning. I want to know how I can help other nurses, but still make sure my patients are cared for/i'm not getting behind.

Your desire to be a team player is admirable. The number one best way to help the team, though, is to make sure you have your own assignment well in hand. In your case you would want to make sure you have provided the most excellent care you can to your own patients, and then see about helping others.

It sounds a tiny bit like you are feeling needy (or are worried about being perceived as such) and so you want to mitigate that by showing others your willingness to help. That's understandable but your primary duty is to your patients. The patients who have been assigned to you don't have any other nurse - they have you. :) I will assure you that you are helping the team when you take good care of the patients entrusted to your care.

When you do find yourself in a position to help, offer it on very defined terms so that you don't get sucked in and feel obligated to continue a time-consuming task that puts your management of your own assignment in jeopardy. "I have 5 minutes - - are there any quick tasks I could take care of for you?"