The Relationship between Teamwork and Missed Nursing Care: Case Study in a Military Hospital in Tehran

Missed nursing care is a significant problem in care units in hospitals. Teamwork is an important element in assuring patient safety and quality of care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between missed nursing care and teamwork. This study includes 196 nurses from 11 care units, including intensive, general, rehabilitation, and medical-surgical care units in a military hospital in Tehran. Sampling was done using the census method. Data were collected using standard questionnaires formissed nursing care and teamwork. Regarding nurses, average teamwork among nurses and the average amount of missed nursing care is significantly different in intensive, general, rehabilitation, and medical-surgical care units (P < 0.05). The results of correlation analysis indicate that there is a reverse significant relationship among missed nursing care with teamwork and its subscales– including mutual trust, team orientation, backup, shared mental models, and team leadership (P < 0.05). The estimated regression, considering the personality traits of the nurses, indicates that in effective teamwork explains 12.6% of missed nursing care. Additionally, with more teamwork, the less missed nursing care is reported. The results of this study show that care units require investment to increase teamwork among nurses. When there is more teamwork, less missed nursing care has been reported.