Group Dynamics in Professional Nursing

Hospital nursing work highly focuses on the continuity of care where nursing professionals work in shifts so as to provide continuous 24-hour care to individuals. As such, the production of nursing care arises from teamwork and personal efforts. Teamwork is fundamental in attaining qualified care results. Generally, it is often hard to coordinate a group of people because the members are diverse in terms of their specific thoughts, motivations, as well as their ideas (Levi, 2017). It is important for efforts to be converged so as to attain common goals and objectives of a particular group.

The Group Leader and How They Came to be Chosen

Effective group leadership is vital in achieving qualified health care results. For this reason, choosing a good team leader is of essence. This is consequently driven and improved when there is the existence of integrative and strategic coordination that has the capacity to integrate collective work with a view to attaining common goals and objectives as well. In this regard, Debbie was our group leader. She did a good job in coordinating group members. As a group, we employed the participatory process in choosing Debbie as our group leader. Ideally, the process relies on the perspicacity of group members to identify individuals with leadership characteristics and also those who can effectively lead a team. It is crucial to note that the success of a group highly relies on the leader’s effective performance and task functions to keep the team focused as well as individual functions that focus on the group members’ need.

Before choosing a group leader, we first examined each member’s individual characteristics. Debbie was chosen to be our group leader because she possessed specific characteristics that are essential for a group leader. First, she possesses the capacity to foster group work and directly coordinate each member’s activities. Second, she has good communication skills and can encourage group members to be creative and innovative. More so, she can allow the free flow of communication and ideas to amplify general group communications. Lastly, she has the ability to complete tasks and encourage and motivate others as well.

How the Recorder/Secretary Was Chosen

Ideally, having a secretary is crucial in professional groups as he or she keeps an account of each meeting and may record the events of the past meetings including the topics of discussion. In my group, Megan was chosen as our group secretary and she was mainly in charge of keeping time. She ensured that all members of the group attended the group discussions on time as well as ensuring that we used the designated discussion time during our discussions. We ideally chose Megan to be our secretary because she has good time management skills. Because we needed a secretary to be in charge of keeping time, Megan emerged as the best candidate for the position since she is good in time management. In addition to good time management, she also has good listening skills which puts her in a better position to record our group discussion topics.

Describe Group Development

Ordinarily, groups have specific development stages. First, the forming stage is the initial development stage. Herein, the group members may possess different ideas concerning their purpose and there is minimal trust between the members. Moreover, individuals are often careful about what they say (Wheelan, 2009). Second, the storming stage symbolizes the arguments that will arise when the group defines itself. Conflict may arise concerning leadership, purpose, as well as the procedures for working. Herein, individuals frequently feel that the group will not come together.

Third, the norming stages arises when group members have a common vision and are focused on creating objectives and goals. Members are learning the strengths of one another and are trying to work together. The group is more productive and stable. Fourth, the performing stage signifies that individuals possess a sense of purpose and communicate openly and effectively. Also, members trust each other (Wheelan, 2009). The group is also highly effective and there is high team spirit. Fifth, transforming stage arises when the group is functioning effectively and can redefine its purpose and members respond swiftly to change. There is open communication, high levels of trust, and leadership is shared.

Generally speaking, cohesiveness is vital in a group. Group cohesion refers to members’ strength to work together to attain common goals and objectives. Additionally, the members desire to support each other. Cohesion results in increased interactions, positive group aftermath, and conformity to norms, as well as goal directedness. As per Wang & Huang (2009), there are a number of factors that affect the cohesiveness of a particular group namely: similarity among group members, goals, and structure of communication, leader behavior, and form of interdependence among members, size of the group, group atmosphere, and group activities. My group had high levels of cohesiveness since the members were friendly, productive, enthusiastic, and supportive.

The Roles of Other Members in the Group

Madison and I were in charge of conducting extensive research on the various group topics. Also, there was another girl who was also in charge of research but I can’t seem to find her name. We were all allocated this role because we possess good research skills. In addition, obtaining information from peer reviewed journal articles is no problem for us because we can critically evaluate internet sources. For instance, we conducted extensive research on the issue topic using peer reviewed articles. On the other hand, Keri had the role of putting all research work together in Power Point. We gave her this role because she is organized; therefore, she can effectively put all research work together. For example, after we conducted research on the issue topic, Keri actively integrated all research work into Power Point slides.

Analyzing My Own Role

My main role in the group was conducting research primarily because I am very objective and I can collect a lot of information for analysis so that we can arrive at a conclusion as a group. Further, I also possess the following skills that are essential for a researcher namely; attention to detail, good communication and technical skills, and critical thinking. Typically, I identified the issue topic, reviewed available literature, clarified the issue, gathered data, and analyzed the data as well. For example, I carried out extensive research on the issue topic whereby I examined available literature on the topic, clarified the problem, and gathered and analyzed the data I got. 

Active and Passive Participants in the Group Process

My group members and I were all active participants in the group process because we all took part in the group activities thus adding value to the group. We each had different roles to encourage active participation. We all took our roles seriously and ensured that we completed each of our tasks. Debbie, the group leader, was an active participant because she effectively organized the group members and led the discussions efficiently. Also, she really motivated us to carry out our tasks efficiently and complete them on time. Megan, on the other hand, actively participated in the group by ensuring that we all kept time. For example, she reminded us about the group discussion time, a day before the exact discussion day to prevent lateness. Also, those of us who were in charge of research actively researched the issue topic. We all ensured that we had gathered adequate information on the topic at hand. Lastly, Keri played her role as an active participant when she integrated all research information in power point. As a result, through active participation, everyone in the group completed their work on time.

Conflict in the Group and How It Was Resolved

Conflict is inevitable in groups because at times, group members have different viewpoints. For instance, we had a conflict in the group whereby not all of us agreed on the meeting time to discuss our issue topic. We all had different views on the meeting time which consequently resulted in conflict. Debbie, the group leader, managed to effectively resolve the conflict. She employed the collaborative conflict management style whereby she tried to meet the needs of all group members (Hempel, Zhang, & Tjosvold, 2009). For example, she listened to each member’s needs and the reasons why we wanted a particular time. Afterwards, she came up with a meeting time that will satisfy all our needs. As a result, we managed to resolve the conflict successfully.

How the Group Decided the Issue Topic Was to Be Presented (Presentation)

The group came to an agreement that the issue topic was to be presented using Power Point presentations. Keri was in charge of integrating all the research work into Power Point. We agreed on power point presentation through examining the benefits of other types of presentation as a group. For instance, we all researched about the benefits of different types of presentations then discussed our findings as a group. Power Point presentation stood out because it can enhance our presentation and the overall understanding of other students and the professor as well. It further enables us to present our issue topic in a more dynamic way than merely giving a lecture.

How the Labor for the Project Was Divided and How Library/Internet Research Was Done

Generally, we divided labor based on the ability and skills of group members. We examined each member set of skills and abilities then allocated roles based on the assessment. Thus, we able to complete our work in a timely manner. Apart from dividing labor, internet research was done using the Google scholar search engine. This engine is suitable as it provides peer reviewed journal articles. Our main aim was to use peer reviewed articles for research as they provide quality research material. During the research process, we searched for key words in our issue topic thus, we were able to obtain a variety of information. Also, we critically evaluated the internet sources mainly in terms of accuracy and objectivity.

A Description of the Results of the Initial and Final Group Evaluation Rating Scales and Questions Addressed on the Scales.

The initial group rating scale showed that we had scored a total of 59 points in terms of group cohesiveness. At that time, the group had medium levels of cohesion particularly because group members were very friendly, accepting, enthusiastic, productive, warm, cooperative, supportive, interesting and successful. Each of these characteristics had a score of 8 points. However, the group being satisfying and productive had a score of 7 points mainly because members were not initially carrying out their tasks actively. However, in the final group rating, we managed to score 80 points which showed that the group was highly cohesive. The productivity of the group had tremendously improved primarily because all the members were actively involved in group activities thus promoting a satisfying environment for group members. Additionally, the members were cooperative and supportive. We all cooperated in group activities and supported each other in their particular tasks.

Conclusion

Overall, group work is vital in attaining qualified care results. Group work typically focuses on attaining common goals, cooperation, and the ability to integrate actions. Essentially, having an effective group leader is necessary as he or she will help steer the group in the right direction. Also, dividing tasks among group members is imperative as it encourages active group participation. Further, conflict management is crucial in groups so as to enable the members to work effectively with each other. All in all, group cohesion is important as it promotes a satisfying environment for the members.

References

Hempel, P. S., Zhang, Z., & Tjosvold, D. (2009). Conflict management between and within teams for trusting relationships and performance in China. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30 (1), 41-65. doi:10.1002/job.540

Levi, D. (2017). Group dynamics for teams . Los Angeles: Sage.

Wang, Y., & Huang, T. (2009). The relationship of transformational leadership with group cohesiveness and emotional intelligence. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 37 (3), 379-392. doi:10.2224/sbp.2009.37.3.379

Wheelan, S. A. (2009). Group Size, Group Development, and Group Productivity. Small Group Research, 40 (2), 247-262. doi:10.1177/1046496408328703