Teamwork - general practitioners and practice nurses working together in New Zealand.
BACKGROUND
Teamwork in primary health care has been encouraged in New Zealand and in the international literature. It may improve work satisfaction for staff, and satisfaction and outcomes for patients. Teamwork may be classified as being multi-, inter- or transdisciplinary and is likely to be influenced by the nature of the work and the organisational context.


OBJECTIVE
To describe and analyse teamwork between general practitioners and practice nurses in New Zealand.


METHODS
Data were drawn from a survey of general practices and from interviews with primary health care staff and management.


RESULTS
Doctors and nurses in general practice in New Zealand see themselves as a team. Evidence suggests that the nature of the work and the business context most often leads to a multidisciplinary style of teamwork. Some providers have adopted a more intense teamwork approach, often when serving more disadvantaged populations or in caring for those with chronic illnesses.


CONCLUSIONS
Concepts of teamwork differ. This article provides a classification of teams and suggests that most general practice teams are multidisciplinary. It is hoped that this will help personnel to communicate their expectations of a team and encourage progressive team development where it would be of value.
School of Health, Charles Darwin University, Darwin NT, Australia.
Mary P
MP
Finlayson
Antony
A
Raymont
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D058006:General Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D019555:Physician-Nurse Relations; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires