Chapter 19: Building Effective Teams Yoder-Wise: Leading and Managing in Nursing, 7th Edition | Questions and Answers(A+ Solution guide)

1. A nurse manager is experiencing conflicts between herself and staff members. She had tried to develop a team by using a shared leadership model to empower the staff. Staff members are functioning: a. as a team. b. independently. c. interdependently. d. as a group. - ANS: D A group is a collection of interconnected individuals working together, with a high degree of interdependence, for the same purpose. A team is a unified group that is committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach, for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. The conflict indicates that the staff may not be united in a common purpose. 2. The nurse manager used a mediator to help resolve conflicts on the unit. During the mediation process, the nurse manager saw signs of potential team building. One key concept of an effective team is: a. conflict. b. task clarity. c. commitment. d. a designated leader. - ANS: C Team building involves moving toward a common vision, which requires commitment. Conflict and clarification of tasks are components in the development of this commitment. 3. A mediator suggested that the nurse manager and staff members decide on a method to resolve conflicts. It is important to have agreements about how team members will work together because: a. if there are no agreements, each member will make up rules about how to handle disagreements and relationships. b. people are naturally difficult and will not work well together without suchagreements. c. people will naturally ask for agreements about how to be together. d. a way to eliminate nonproductive team members must be available. - ANS: A People must agree on the goals and mission with which they are involved. They have to reach some understanding of how they will exist together. Tenets or agreements such as "I will respectfully speak promptly with any team member with whom I have a problem" go a long way to avoid gossiping, backbiting, bickering, and misinterpreting others. Without agreement, people have implicit permission to behave in any manner they choose toward one another, including angry, hostile, hurtful, and actingout behavior. 4. By following a shared leadership model, the nurse manager believes that staff members will learn to function synergistically. Some teams function synergistically because members: a. do not volunteer unwanted information. b. actively listen to each other. c. listen to the person who believes he or she is an expert. d. do not speak unless they are absolutely sure they are correct in their views. - ANS: B Active listening in a group creates synergy in that team members really hear one another's ideas and share in decision making. 5. The chief nursing officer decided that the nurse managers need a series of staff-development programs on team building through communication and partnerships. She understood that the nurse managers needed to build confidence in ways of handling various situations. The greatest deterrent to confidence is: a. lack of clarity in the mission. b. lack of control of the environment. c. fear that one can't handle the consequences. d. fear that the boss will not like one's work. - ANS: C