As a nurse, it’s your job to ensure your patients are receiving the best care possible. Whether you’re on a team of different healthcare experts or working with other nurses to care for an entire unit, teamwork is imperative to get the job done and improving patients’ health. So, how can you be a key team player and contribute to your nursing unit? Below are a few tips and tricks on how to become the most valuable asset to your team!

Communication is key. 

Sharing information with your team members is essential, as misunderstandings and errors will be less likely to occur. When changing shifts, be sure to clearly communicate all of the details of your patients to the next person coming in. Effective communication among team members will lead to a more balanced workload for everyone and better patient outcomes.

Adapt to new situations. 

Practicing adaptability on the floor will allow you to be more flexible, and make the workload easier for all of your team members. In your spare time, if you find that a nurse is struggling with a patient load, you could volunteer to assist them. If someone calls in sick, a well-functioning team will be able to adjust and fill in to ensure all patients are receiving the best care.

Know your team members. 

It is important to get to know each of your team members and be comfortable with them. Building relationships with your team members will help you instill trust, and understand how each member of the team functions. If you’re familiar with your team, you will be able to step in in situations where you usually wouldn’t have been able to.

When you can act as part of a team, your job becomes more natural, and you will find things are being done more efficiently. Research has found that working together will improve patient safety and reduce medical errors. Do you want to become part of a healthcare team? At Stat Staff, we offer contract and per-diem opportunities that will help get you started on your path to success. To learn more about our open contracts, visit our website.