Development of the teamwork measure for nursing teams

The purpose of this study was to develop the Teamwork Measure for Nursing Teams and to examine its reliability and validity. Based on the theoretical model of teamwork components proposed by Dickinson and Mclntyre (1997), initial pools of items to measure three components (team orientation, team leadership, and team process) were generated. A questionnaire was administered to two different samples of nurses (study 1: N=568, study 2: N=6b0). The results of factor analyses revealed that every component of teamwork had subcomponents. Team orientation consisted of two-factors ("orientation for completing tasks" and "orientation for interpersonal relations"). Team leadership also consisted of two-factors ("job directions" and "concern for interpersonal relations"). The team process consisted of four-factors ("monitoring and coordination", "clarification of task", "information sharing", and "mutual feedback"), Scores on these subscales revealed acceptable levels of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Teamwork components positively related to group identification and job satisfaction, and negatively related to incident rates. These results confirmed the validity of the scales. Finally, potential applications of this teamwork measure and the implications for team management practice are discussed.