Effects of team-building on communication and teamwork among nursing students

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of team-building on communication and teamwork(i.e. teamwork skills and team effectiveness) among nursing students. Background: Team-building is effective for improving communication and teamwork among the nursingorganization. However, the effects of team-building are not well known especially in Korea. Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental design. The sample was composed of 195 junior-year nursingstudents in Korea. The experimental group (100 subjects) participated in team-building activities over a100-day period, whereas no intervention was applied to the control group (95 subjects). Pretest was conductedin both groups, and post-test was conducted after the 100-day intervention. Findings: The pre–post change in mean communication competence score did not differ between the twogroups. However, the mean scores for teamwork skills and team effectiveness differed significantly between thetwo groups after team-building activity. Limitations: This study was not a double-blind test, and randomized sampling was not implemented. Cautionshould thus be used when interpreting the findings. Conclusion: Team-building activities were effective for improving the teamwork skills and team effectivenessamong Korean nursing students. Implications for nursing education: It is recommended that team-building activ ities should be includedregularly as an integral educational approach in nursing education. The findings suggest that suggests thatteam-building for improving communication and teamwork should be designated as one of the requiredcriteria for nursing college programme accreditation in many countries, including Korea. However team-building requires further testing to verify this across cultures. Implications for nursing policy: Nurses need to receive formal team-building training for improvingcommunication and teamwork, and formal education should be included in their job training schedule. It isrecommended that communication competence and teamwork be used as one of job performance evaluationsin their workplace.