By Michelle Villaflores, BSN, RN

I have been an ICU nurse for close to two decades now. In the different hospitals that I have worked for and with colleagues that I have worked with, workload has always been one of the factors why nurses stay, go someplace else or quit the profession entirely.

In a February 2017 article made by Spencer Sutherland for RNnetwork.com, a survey among nurses showed that a good 27% cited feeling overworked as their reason for leaving nursing.

Fast forward to a February 2023 article by Jack Flynn on www.zippia.com, a similar survey conducted among nurses showed feeling overworked as the main reason for leaving the profession for good.

On both pie graphs, one would also see that the next reason cited by nurses for leaving is too much paperwork which still falls on the realms of workload.

With the above graphs, I am in the opinion that teamwork can be something that can address the problem of nurses leaving. 

Teamwork Makes Everything Work!

Teamwork in nursing as defined in an article by Darby Faubion, BSN, RN, for NursingProcess.Org is “a patient-centered approach focused on shared goals among nurses. The concept uses each nursing team member’s unique strengths and skills to promote the delivery of high-quality, effective nursing care and promote positive healthcare outcomes for all patients.”

As I understood the term to mean from the definition, it is tapping the skills of different nurses to make patient care better. In the process, workload, not to mention accountability, is also shared.

In my capacity as an ICU nurse, I have personally experienced having teamwork work wonders especially as the load on the floor heightens. There is no escape from being tired or fatigued, but the notion that you are not alone or that somebody has your back definitely helps assuage the situation. On the other hand, I have also been in instances before when I felt like quitting the next day because of the pile of work I have had to do alone since there was no one to help me. Physically, it was already exhausting. However, it also drained me mentally and emotionally. I reckon that this is probably the same with other nurses. We give our all at all times and sometimes, we reach a point where there is no more left to give. During these moments, the presence of colleagues in one’s team comes in handy.

In the same article by Darby Fabion, BSN, RN, for NursingProcess.Org, it was mentioned that there are 5 reasons why teamwork is so important in nursing. As I understood it, it includes professional relationships among nurses being built and nurses being satisfied with their jobs. It fosters sharing of best practices and sharing of workload. These, in my own opinion, make teamwork important in efforts to retain nurses in the ICU. True, a nurse has the responsibility to always be ready to give his/her 100% in the discharge of duties. But at the end of the day, we nurses are humans too. It should not be frowned upon that we get overwhelmed or disenchanted by our work occasionally. And whether we like it or not, the care that we give emanates from how much energy we have left. If we are doing things alone most of the time, we are surely spending more energy and accomplishing less. Teamwork makes it possible for everyone to synergize and be of aid to one another and finish more goals in the end. As in many aspects of life, sharing the load makes it bearable for everyone. And in the grand scheme of things, harnessing teamwork may just prove to be an effective tool to retain nurses not only in the ICU but in hospitals in general.

Michelle Villaflores is currently employed as an ICU nurse in the Medical/Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at the Memorial Regional Hospital.