Overview
Write a 4 page report that addresses the challenges of working effectively within a multigenerational team environment and provides evidence-based strategies for improving the work environment to support all generations.
Today's nursing workforce is made up of women and men from a wide variety of cultures, races, religions, and sexual orientations. In addition, nurses and nursing leaders come from four different generations with different attitudes, beliefs, work habits, and experiences. You may find yourself working with team members from the Traditional Generation (Veterans), the Baby Boom Generation, Generation X, and the Millennial Generation.
Team leaders need to understand, value, and support the skills, knowledge, and characteristics of each generation in order to build a cohesive, high-performing team. The leadership strategies that have worked in the past may not be as effective in the health care environment of today.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Explain strategies for effective interprofessional teamwork and collaboration in health care delivery.
Identify specific skills members of each generational group bring to nursing teams.
Describe strategies for building cohesiveness within multigenerational nursing teams.
Competency 2: Analyze the implications of working with interprofessional teams in multifaceted health care settings.
Describe the characteristics of the generational groups working in nursing.
Explain types and causes of conflicts that are likely to occur among multigenerational members of nursing teams.
Competency 3: Develop evidence-based nursing interventions to address specific problems and enable systemic change.
Explain the benefits of a multigenerational nursing team for the organization, the team members, and patients.
Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations of a nursing professional.
Write content clearly and logically, with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
Correctly format citations and references using current APA style.
Context
How do you describe yourself? Do you define yourself by your gender, marital status, ethnicity, or profession? Or do you prefer to think of yourself in terms of your accomplishments and skills? We are all so different from each other in many ways.
When interprofessional teams work together, it requires a blending of talent, knowledge, and resources. How individuals blend as a team can be likened to a fine recipe.
Great chefs know that variety makes for unusual, interesting, and tasty results. Each ingredient makes a unique contribution to the final outcome. But each must be included at the right time and in the right amounts. Some ingredients complement the overall recipe. Other ingredients are bold and play a major role in the taste or texture. Still other ingredients are subtle and afford the sweet or savory aftertaste. Individually, the ingredients could not be a final product. Collectively the ingredients result in culinary masterpieces.
Consider the various aspects of diversity within teams. Levi (2017) distinguishes diversity across two dimensions: personal attributes and functional attributes. How do these attributes contribute to team diversity and positive outcomes?
Questions to Consider
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.
How do you identify yourself? Is it by your gender, ethnicity, career, children, personality, or something else?
How do others identify you?
When describing a co-worker to someone who does not know that person, what is the first description you typically use?
Suggested Resources
The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context.
Mitchell, R., Parker, V., Giles, M., & White, N. (2010). Toward realizing the potential of diversity in composition of interprofessional health care teams: An examination of the cognitive and psychosocial dynamics of interprofessional collaboration. Medical Care Research and Review, 67(1), 3-26.
Hendricks, J. M., & Cope, V. C. (2013). Generational diversity: What nurse managers need to know. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69(3), 717-725.
Moceri, J. T. (2012). Bias in the nursing workplace: Implications for Latino(a) nurses. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 19(3), 94-101.
MacNaughton, K., Chreim, S., &Bourgeault, I. L. (2013). Role construction and boundaries in interprofessional primary health care teams: A qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 13(1), 1-23.
Egues, A. L., &Leinung, E. Z. (2013). The bully within and without: Strategies to address horizontal violence in nursing. Nursing Forum, 48(3), 185-190.
Barry, M. (2014). Creating a practice environment that supports multigenerational workforce collaboration. American Nurse, 46(1), 13.
Padgett, S. M. (2013). Professional collegiality and peer monitoring among nursing staff: An ethnographic study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 50(10), 1407-1415.
Longo, J. (2013). Bullying and the older nurse. Journal of Nursing Management, 21(7), 950-955.
Hutchinson, M. (2013). Bullying as workgroup manipulation: A model for understanding patterns of victimization and contagion within the workgroup. Journal of Nursing Management, 21(3), 563-571.
Robichaux, C. (2012). Developing ethical skills: From sensitivity to action. Critical Care Nurse, 32(2), 65-72.
Brunetto, Y., Shriberg, A., Farr-Wharton, R., Shacklock, K., Newman, S., &Dienger, J. (2013). The importance of supervisor-nurse relationships, teamwork, wellbeing, affective commitment and retention of North American nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 21(6), 827-837.
Bookstore Resources
The resources listed below are relevant to the topics and assessments in this course and are not required.
Levi, D. (2017). Group dynamics for teams (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Chapters 13, 14, and 16.
Assessment Instructions
Preparation
Research the characteristics of the four generations in the nursing workforce today: The Veterans (born 1925-1945), the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), the Gen Xers (born 1963-1980), and the Millennials (born 1980-2000). How can nursing leaders use this information to build a work environment that supports all generations?
Requirements
You have been asked to prepare a report on the challenges of working effectively within a multigenerational team environment. Your report must also include evidence-based strategies for improving the work environment to support all generations. Format this assessment as a report for your organization. Include a title page and references page, and format your supporting citations and references following APA guidelines.
Include the following in your report:
Briefly describe the main characteristics of each of the four generations working in nursing today (Veterans, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millenials). Focus primarily on attitudes toward work and family, communication styles, and comfort with technology.
Identify at least one specific skill that each generation brings to a team.
Explain the types and causes of conflict that are likely to occur within a multigenerational team.
Describe strategies a team leader can use to help build cohesiveness within multigenerational nursing teams. Be sure you include strategies for communication, setting and managing expectations, motivation, and mutual respect.
Explain the benefits of a multigenerational nursing team for the organization, the team members, and patients.
Your completed assessment should be 4 pages in length, not including title page and references page.
Additional Requirements
Include a title page and references page.
Reference at least three current scholarly or professional resources.
Use APA format for citations and references.
Use Times New Roman font, 12 point.
Double space.