Mutual Support

"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link."

Mutual Support is the essence of teamwork.

It protects team members from work overload, and helps them in conflict situations
that may reduce effectiveness and increase the risk of error.

There are four helpful tools that can foster the process of mutual support.

They are:

1. Task Assistance: Team members foster a climate in which it is expected that assistance
will be actively sought and offered as a method for balancing workloads and reducing the
occurrence of error.

2. Feedback: Feedback is the giving, seeking, and receiving of performance-related
information among the members of a team for the purpose of improving team performance.
It is the ability to communicate self-improvement information to others in a useful way.

3. Advocacy and Assertion: Two techniques for intervening when your viewpoint does not
match that of the decision maker.

In advocating for the patient and asserting a corrective action, the team member has an opportunity
and a responsibility to correct errors or reinstate situational awareness.

Failure to employ advocacy and assertion has been identified as a primary contributor to
clinical errors.

The goal is to assert a corrective alternative in a firm, but respectful manner.
When viewpoints are in conflict, always act as an advocate for the patient.

Example:

The following is an example of this process:

• Make an opening with the facts:   "We were told to call the attending physician if the HR is above 110" 
• State the concern:                   "I am concerned because her HR has been 120 for 5 minutes now"
• Offer a solution:                      "I think we need to call the attending physician"
• Seek agreement:                    "Do you agree?"         

      
     4. Conflict Resolution:

There are two types of conflict that teams face -

• Informational Conflict
• Interpersonal Conflict

Let's take a moment to learn more about some tools for resolving these two forms of team conflict.

 

  

 

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