Teamwork
Workforce and Leadership
Definition. Teamwork is the set of interrelated behaviours, attitudes and cognitions through which team members coordinate their work towards shared goals.
Explanation
Salas, Sims and Burke (2005) identified five core components, team leadership, mutual performance monitoring, backup behaviour, adaptability and team orientation, supported by shared mental models, mutual trust and closed-loop communication.
In health care, poor teamwork and communication are among the most frequent contributors to adverse events. Rosen et al. (2018) review evidence that team training, briefings and structured communication tools improve team processes and, in several settings, patient outcomes.
Related concepts
Psychological safety Patient safety culture Human factors
Read on The Health Topics
- Simulation Games and Reflective Thinking in Nursing Education
- Human Factors in Health Informatics: Recent Advances
- Patient Safety in Surgery: Insights from 2024–2025 Research
- Recent High-Impact Publications on Patient Safety (2021–2025)
- Continuous Quality Improvement in Healthcare Systems: A Scoping Review
- ISO Certification’s Impact on Hospital Patient Safety Culture
References
Rosen, M. A., DiazGranados, D., Dietz, A. S., Benishek, L. E., Thompson, D., Pronovost, P. J., & Weaver, S. J. (2018). Teamwork in healthcare: Key discoveries enabling safer, high-quality care. American Psychologist, 73(4), 433–450.
Salas, E., Sims, D. E., & Burke, C. S. (2005). Is there a “Big Five” in teamwork? Small Group Research, 36(5), 555–599.
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Teamwork. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/teamwork/
Articles that discuss this concept
22 articles on The Health Topics use this concept; the 12 that use it most are listed. The list updates as new articles are published.
- Human Factors in Health Informatics: Recent Advances 3
- Simulation Games and Reflective Thinking in Nursing Education 3
- ISO Certification’s Impact on Hospital Patient Safety Culture 2
- Continuous Quality Improvement in Healthcare Systems: A Scoping Review 2
- Recent High-Impact Publications on Patient Safety (2021–2025) 2
- Patient Safety in Surgery: Insights from 2024–2025 Research 2
- Understanding Lean Principles in Healthcare Risk Management 1
- SEIPS 101: Anesthesia Medication Delivery System Analysis 1
- Fostering Health Worker Safety and Patient Care 1
- Emergency Department Nurses in Charge: Roles and Problem-Solving Approaches 1
- Critical Care Nurses: Barriers to Quality End-of-Life Care 1
- AI in Online Learning: Supporting Shared Regulation 1