Group Dynamics and Team Members in Healthcare - Essay Example

Introduction: A group or a team is comprised of different people who share a common goal to accomplish or in some cases; typically they are assigned a task to fulfill (Markiewicz, and West, 2004). The group or team members remain with each other through frequent interaction, constant communication, facilitate each other in number of issues and provide feedback during the entire task. These factors ensure the success of a team or a group (Kemper and Royce, 2002). Groups play a key role in facilitating an organization to meet its goals and objectives. Groups can be classified into different categories. There can be school study groups, discussion group, project group, research group or investigatory teams who work together in accomplishing a common goal within a specified time frame (Davies and Sinfield, 2000). Participation and Roles of Team Members: Participation and roles assigned to team members play a fundamental role in determining the strength and success of a group (Brown, 2000). Groups are formed to bring people with different minds, ideas and thinking on a single platform where the combine efforts and different mindsets are focused on achieving a common goal or fulfilling a shared task (Levi, 2010). This approach helps in developing creativity and providing out-of –the-box solutions. Keen participation of the group members result in the generation of different and new ideas, bring in creativity, provide better understanding and in-depth analysis of the situation (Hollenbeck and Wagner, 2009). As a result of keen participation and profound involvement by the team members enables the group to meet their goals (Wheelan, 2005). Unwillingness by the team members can bring devastated results and it may affect the overall performance of the team and as a result, this may give rise to series of failures (West, 2004). Similarly, roles assigned to the team members also hold a significant position in determining the success of a group. Participants or the team members are assigned different roles according to their competencies, abilities, knowledge and skills (Levin, 2004). Every team has a team leader which is responsible for organizing and managing the different activities performed by the other team members (Maxwell, 2002). Team leader stands as the controlling authority (Gislason, 2001). Active involvement by the team leader positively affects the performance of the team. A team is incomplete without an effective leadership by the team leader (Turman and Burtis, 2006). Key Team Members of My Group: As discussed earlier that a team cannot be considered effective and efficient in performance and producing results without the active participation of its team members (Frank et al, 2001). Hence, considering the setting and the requirements necessary to bring fruitful results; my team is comprised of a team leader, a nursery nurse, outreach support worker, outreach practitioner, manager, and centre manager along with other team members. Roles and responsibilities are assigned to the team members according to their abilities, skills, knowledge and competencies (Cuthbertson, and O'Connell, 2009). Essential Factors of a Group: Frequent interactions, communication, having a problem solving attitude, receiving and giving feedbacks are few essential factors that are required in the formation of a group. A group can be said incomplete or may lose its effectiveness in the performance of its group members; if it lacks any of the element as defined (Eys and Beauchamp, 2007) Critical Incident: Critical incident is a technique which involves set of different procedures which provide a detailed insight on human behavior based on observation. Critical incident plays a key role in analyzing an activity and its outcomes in either a positive or a negative manner. It makes a significant contribution to the activity. It plays an important role in resolving conflicts and other issues. Critical Incident Explained According to John’s Model of Reflection (1994): John’s model of reflection (1994) helps in creating the better understanding of the situation which helps in making a practitioner or a nurse to learn from his experiences and analyze the entire situation to avoid any mistakes in future. As discussed earlier, a critical incident can be analyzed through this approach. The critical incident I have encountered along with my team enabled me and my team to overcome the issues, resolves the conflicts, evaluates our performances on individual and collective basis and helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses. Description: This critical incident is associated with the treatment and care of an eight years old child who was brought to us in result of a car accident. He was fortunate enough to survive the accident but the trauma and the sudden shock was so severe that he gave up his will powers thus as a result, there was no sign of improvement in his condition. At that time, it was important for us to focus more on his mental stability and to get him out of the emotional trauma that was becoming a hurdle in his treatment. That was one difficult experience in which the patient was reluctant to recover because of the inner fear, trauma and the sudden shock. His parents were also very much focused and co-operating in bringing the child back to life. Key Issues: The key issues faced in this case were: a) The child was reluctant to co-operate and we were unable to pressurize him in anyway. However, we were trying to facilitate the little patient at level best but still it was a difficult in such a scenario to make any move without the willingness of the child. b) Secondly, we could have used other measures or procedures in the treatment of the child. But we were unable to get the permission from the parents. c) We wanted to gain the trust of child’ family particularly of his parents. Reflection: I was trying to understand the child’s psychology. I wanted to know that what is keeping the little guy from contributing in the treatment though I knew that it was the inner fear and sudden trauma that kept him from cooperating in the process. As a result, the medicines and other treatment we were giving were not sufficient enough. The little child was going through stress and extreme depression. At that point, I started studying and observing other child patients. However, gradually I started becoming friendly and close with the child. I told him that I was there not only for his treatment but I am there to console him as a friend. I started talking about different things that would create interest in his mind. Sooner, I observed a significant change in his personality, his attitude towards the treatment and he started becoming normal like any other patient. The stubbornness he showed during the early phases of the treatment was no where now. Consequences of the action: For the patient and the family: This action helped the patient and the family in the process of treatment. It was plain and clear to see the clear difference in the speedy recovery of the child. Parents were satisfied to see that our contributions were making huge difference. For Myself: My action helped me to understand the child’s psychology which will be an added advantage in any future case. I have gained a new experience and learnt approach on how to deal with the child patients. For the People I Work: My action helped my team to gain the better understanding of how to treat the child with emotional trauma. After my action, it was easier for them to treat the child in an easier manner. My Feelings after the Experience: I was happy and satisfied that I have learnt something different. This helped in boosting my confidence. From here I learnt that studying the patient closely and knowing about the psychology of a particular age group benefit you in long-run. Feelings of the Patient: The patient was coming back to life. His fears were losing their grip from his mind. He was coming out of the emotional trauma and the sudden shock that shattered his confidence. We were successful in getting his confidence back to him. How did I know that the Patient is Feeling Better: It was plain and clear to observe from his actions that the little child was feeling better. I could see the speedy recovery. He was smiling and his lost confidence was coming back. The stress and depression attacks he was facing were no more there. Influencing Factors: Internal Factors that influenced my decision-making and actions: Cooperation and support from my team members enabled me to develop a better understanding and in-depth analysis on the child’s behavior and psychology. Their constant motivation helped to remain consistent in my decision. My studies also helped me out in gaining the right knowledge. External Factors that influenced my decision-making and actions: The external environment and gaining knowledge from studying the psychology and human behavior of other children helped me out in gaining the right information. Support from the patient’s family can also be considered as one of the main factors contributing in making the right decision and taking the right action. Sources of Information that influenced my decision-making and actions: I gathered information from internet and the books on psychology. Internet and consultations with other psychologists regarding mental health of the child helped me to develop a rational approach towards how to deal children with fear and trauma of bad incidents. This helped me to polish my abilities. Alternative Strategies: I believe that my approach of understanding the child’s psychology and analyzing his behavior was a better and the only the option. I wanted to know that what were the factors and why the child was not responding to his surrounding in a normal manner. His actions were opposite as compare to the actions of other children or the patients. It was difficult to take the little child out of the trauma and the unknown fear that were troubling him during the treatment process. I do not believe that we could have had another option to deal with the child without understanding his mindset with a professional attitude. Learning: This approach of understanding your patient’s psychology helped me to develop a better understanding of the human behavior. I learnt a different technique on how to deal with children suffering from trauma and how to understand their psyche. Team Work Skills That Enhances My Strengths and Weaknesses: Co-operation and support has helped to overcome my weakness. It gave me a lot of confidence on myself. Constant communication with the other team members helped me to break all the barriers and get into interaction with my team. This helped me to understand everything I was committed to step by step. It is highly important to remain in touch with rest of the team members for effective performance. Conclusion: In healthcare it is highly important for the nurses and the practitioners to understand the value of care, to know your patients, their needs and to analyze their behaviors. At the same time, it is important for all them to enhance the value of team building and to emphasize on the need of maintaining communication and frequent interactions among the group members. I have learnt from my experience that it is important to know and understand the psychology of the patients in order to have a smooth flow of treatment. It is also imperative to involve the family of the patient in order to gain trust. Team members contribute together in maintaining this trust which is highly mandatory. It should be remembered that developing a team approach helps in better coordination and results in better care of the patient (Street, 1995). Forming groups help in overcoming the weaknesses of weak members which are compensated by the strengths of other capable and skilled members. List of References: JOHNS, C. and GRAHAM, J. (1996). ‘Using a reflective model of nursing and guided reflection.’ Nursing Standard, 11(2), pp.34-38. Kemper, R and Royce, A, (2002). Chronicling Cultures: Long-Term Field Research In Anthropology, Rowman Altamira, Oxford. Levi, D, (2010). Group Dynamics for Teams, Sage, London. Street, A. (1995). ‘Nursing replay: researching nursing culture together.’ Churchill Living stone, Melbourne. West, M,(2004). Effective teamwork: practical lessons from organizational research, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. Davies A, and Sinfield, A, (2000). British culture of the postwar: an introduction to literature and society, Routledge, London. Markiewicz, L, and West, M, (2004). Building team-based working: a practical guide to organizational transformation, John Wiley & Sons, Oxford. Brown, R, (2000). Group processes: dynamics within and between groups, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. Hollenbeck, J and Wagner, J, (2009). Organizational Behavior: Securing Competitive Advantage, Taylor & Francis, Oxon. Wheelan, S, (2005). The handbook of group research and practice, Sage, London. Frank M, et al, (2001). When teams work best: 6,000 team members and leaders tell what it takes to, Sage, London. Cuthbertson, B and O'Connell, T, (2009). Group dynamics in recreation and leisure: creating conscious groups through, Human Kinetics, Leeds. Pilati, M and Tosi, H, (2011). Managing Organizational Behaviour: Individuals, Teams, Organization and, Edward Elgar Publishing, Glos. Maxwell, J,( 2002). Teamwork makes the dream work, Thomas Nelson Inc, Belgium. Levin, P, (2004). Successful teamwork!: for undergraduates and taught postgraduates working on, McGraw-Hill International, Berkshire. Eys, M and Beauchamp, M, (2007). Group Dynamics in Exercise and Sport Psychology: Contemporary Themes, Routledge, London. Cuthbertson, B and O'Connell, T (2009). Group Dynamics in Recreation and Leisure: creating conscious groups through, Human Kinetics, Leeds. Gislason, S, (2011). Human Nature & Group Dynamics, Environmed Research Inc, Sechelt. Turman, P and Burtis, J, (2006). Group Communication Pitfalls: Overcoming Barriers to an Effective Group Experience, Sage, London. Read More