Evaluation of the relationship between teamwork and individual work performance perceptions of nurses

The study aimed at examining the relationship between teamwork and individual work performance perceptions of nurses. The study conducted with 303 nurses working in three public hospitals in Istanbul. We collected data using the Descriptive Characteristics of Nurses Form, Teamwork in Nursing Scale, and the Perceptions of Individual Work Performance Scale and analyzed them using the t-test, ANOVA, correlation, and regression tests. The nurses enrolled in the study were 27.66 years old on average, predominantly female, single, had a bachelor's degree. The teamwork score of nurses, most of whom did not belong to any team, was 3.69±0.67 while their individual work performance perception score was 3.80±0.66. We found that there was a significant and positively moderate relationship between nurses' perception of teamwork and individual work performance (r= 0.410; p= 0.000) and that teamwork increased and significantly influenced individual work performance (β=0.410; R2=0.165; F=60.851, p=0.000). Also, the number of patients attended to during a shift negatively affected nurses'individual work performance (β=-0.125), while confidence (β=0.213), support (β=0.157), and team leadership dimension of the teamwork scale positively influenced it (R2=0.191; F=9.928; p=0.000). In addition, we found a statistically significant difference between the teamwork scale and its subdimensions and age, gender, marital status, the department in which they worked, work experience, the number of patients they attended to during a shift, satisfaction with the hospital, nurses, other health personnel, participation in a team, and their opinions about the difficulty of teamwork. We also found a statistically significant difference between their individual work performance and their marital status, the number of patients they attended to in a shift, the department they worked in, their satisfaction with the hospital, doctors, nurses, and other health personnel. In conclusion, although the majority of nurses were not part of a team, teamwork with trust, leadership, and team support in nursing influences perceptions of nurses' individual work performance. Nurses should be encouraged to participate in teams where they are supported by trust and team leadership, and patient-nurse ratios should be balanced to improve perceptions of job performance.