PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Baxter, S K
AU  - Brumfitt, S M
TI  - Benefits and losses: a qualitative study exploring healthcare staff perceptions of teamworking
AID  - 10.1136/qshc.2007.022277
DP  - 2008 Apr 01
TA  - Quality and Safety in Health Care
PG  - 127--130
VI  - 17
IP  - 2
4099  - http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/17/2/127.short
4100  - http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/17/2/127.full
SO  - Qual Saf Health Care2008 Apr 01; 17
AB  - Objectives: To examine staff perceptions of teamworking practice in the field of stroke care.Design: Qualitative interview study.Setting: Three teams providing care to patients with stroke across a typical care pathway of acute hospital ward, specialist stroke unit, and community rehabilitation.Participants: 37 staff members from a range of professions.Main outcome measures: Healthcare staff perceptions of teamworking.Results: Through detailed coding and analysis of the transcripts, five perceptions regarding the impact of teamworking on staff and patients were identified. These were: (1) mutual staff support, (2) knowledge and skills sharing, (3) timely intervention/discharge, (4) reduced individual decision-making and responsibility and (5) impact on patient contact time.Conclusions: Teamworking practice may be associated with a number of perceived benefits for staff and patient care; however, the potential for losses resulting from reduced patient contact time and ill-defined responsibility needs further investigation.