title: Team behavioral norms: a shared vision for a healthy patient care workplace.
abstract: Leaders are bombarded with healthy workplace articles and advice. This article outlines a strategy for laying the foundation for healthy patient care workplaces at the pivotal unit level. This process facilitates the nursing unit staff to create and implement a shared vision for staff working relationships. Fourteen acute care hospital units, all participants in a healthy workplace intervention, were selected for this analysis because they chose team behavioral norms as a top priority to begin to implement their vision for a desired future for their units, a healthy workplace. These units developed specific team behavioral norms for their expectations of each other. The findings revealed 3 major norm themes and attributes: norms for effective communication, positive attitude, and accountability. Attributes of each norm are described to assist nurses to positively influence their core unit work culture.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio School of Nursing, Los Angeles, Calif, USA. parsonsm@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: Mickey L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cornett
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000458:organization & administration; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D016519:Hospitals, Religious / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009096:Multi-Institutional Systems / Q000458:organization & administration; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012941:Social Responsibility; D013781:Texas; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*