In Ontario patients receive comprehensive health service, which means that multiple health care professionals work collaboratively to deliver the best quality of care in every health care setting (Healthforceontario.ca, 2015). As an example, the health care team caring for a patient at Hamilton Health Sciences may include the attending physician, resident physician, consulting physician, registered nurse, social worker, nutritionist, occupational therapist, and physiotherapist (Hamiltonhealthsciences.ca, n.d.). A culture of teamwork is essential to the successful delivery of comprehensive health service, and achieving optimal patient outcome. In this paper, I will discuss the importance of teams in healthcare, the meaning of culture as it applies to team functioning and culture as it relates to effective working relationships.
Importance of Teams in Healthcare In healthcare, positive patient outcome is contingent …show more content…
It is the outward representation of an organization’s values, language, tradition, and customs (Marquis & Huston, 2014). According to Andriopoulos and Dawson (2014) there are three dominant characteristics that can be assigned to the concept of organizational culture; culture is a shared phenomenon, culture exists at two levels, the surface level (visible) and the deeper (less visible) level. The surface level of culture includes elements such as audible and visible patterns of behaviour exhibited by the group. The deeper level of culture is tied to the values that the group shares and the norms that establish the kind of conduct members of the group should expect from one another. A positive culture is one of the characteristics of a healthy organization. New team members gradually absorb the organization’s culture without being taught, and often without even noticing (Marquis & Huston,