Structure and Culture of Groups and Teams and the Experience of the Female Gender

Structure and Culture of Groups and Teams and the Experience of the Female Gender

Name:

Institution:

Structure and Culture of Groups and Teams and the Experience of the Female Gender

Section 1

The formation of a wound-care team has been an effective strategy towards developing collaborative efforts in providing patients with the highest level of medical care and attention. Wound-care and management is seen as a multidisciplinary, multifactorial, and interdisciplinary activity in that it demands differing levels of expertise and forms of care for successful treatment of wounds. The team is made up of nutritionists, nursing practitioners, occupational therapists, physical therapists, podiatrists, surgeons, social workers, prosthetists, and orthotists. The Integrated Team Effectiveness Model (ITEM), which is comprised of task design, team psychosocial traits, team processes, and team effectiveness, illustrates the importance of collaborative efforts by the medical professionals in terms of providing appropriate care to the patients (Miers, & Pollard, 2009).

Interactions were lengthy and detailed between the nurses and other professionals drawn from the healthcare facility. Inter-professional engagements, as described in Miers & Pollard (2009), are highly effective for integrated care. A participative leadership style was adopted whereby all individuals participated on an equal platform in terms of decision-making and solution development. This is important for motivation and driving all individuals drawn from varied professional backgrounds towards excellence and innovation in delivery of care. The nurses were able to provide suggestions to the team, in terms of the appropriate steps of action in providing wound-care (Lemieux-Charles, & McGuire, 2006).

Other professionals such as physicians, therapists, social workers, and surgeons also provided their ideas and strategies based on their respective areas of expertise. This resulted in the development of a collaborative approach in formation of solutions to counter existing and potential problems in providing wound care. This was effective towards enhancing team cohesiveness, given that individuals were motivated to use their experiences and knowledge in delivery of effective wound-care. Being part of the team was important for my professional attributes as it enabled me to understand the significance of mutual respect and engagement with other professionals in healthcare settings in formulation of solutions to common and complex problems in wound-care (Meerabeau, & Page, 1999).

Section 2

As noted in the readings, the nursing profession is also marked by the presence of gender inequities and stereotyped attitudes towards male and female nurses. It is important to note that men often encounter stereotyped barriers, which may impede their choices of specialty fields and risks of becoming victims of stereotyped behavior such as labeling. The readings indicate labeling of male nurses as “male nurses” whereas female nurses are simply termed as nurses. This indicates that gender discrimination is highly prevalent in modern healthcare facilities especially against male nurses (Gilbert, & Gubar, 2007).

Stereotyped views hold that the nursing profession is only limited to women because of the assumptions, that care is best delivered by women due to their sensitive and feminine nature. Male nurses are seen as ineffective caregivers, because of the presumed gender roles in terms of care giving in both domestic and healthcare settings. I think that stereotyped attitudes are not limited to women but also extend to men as seen in the texts, in terms of their ability to be assimilated into the nursing profession. Stereotyped ideologies are based on traditional views of gender roles for both men and women (Gilbert, & Gubar, 2007). This provides the basis of the assumption that the nursing profession is suitable for men and the doctors should be preferably male.

References

Gilbert, S. M., & Gubar, S. (2007). The Norton anthology of literature by women: The traditions in English. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

Lemieux-Charles, L. & McGuire, W. L. (2006). What Do We Know About Health Care Team Effectiveness? A Review of the Literature. Medical Care Research and Review, 63 (3) p.263–300.

Miers, M. & Pollard, K. (2009). The Role of Nurses in Interprofessional Health and Social Care Teams. Nursing Management, 15(9), p. 30–35

Meerabeau, L. & Page, S. (1999). I’m Sorry if I Panicked You: Nurses’ Accounts of Teamwork in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 13(1), p. 29–40