For fifty years, health care teams have been a misunderstood, undervalued, and neglected part of health care. Yet, as Drinka and Clark make clear, well functioning interdisciplinary health care teams (IHCTs) have the potential to help the health care system face its demons—financial constraints and comprehensive error-free care. Because of misunderstandings, administrators, funders, and policy makers keep the potential for interdisciplinary teams hidden. Health care educators teach versions of teamwork that are inadequate and clinicians cling to autonomous modes of practice.
IHCTs have characteristics and problems that are unique to health care settings and the health providers who work in them. Drinka and Clark present a groundbreaking attempt to develop a comprehensive framework for IHCTs. They intend to empower clinicians who work on teams and educators who teach teamwork to impart the basic essentials of effective interdisciplinary teamwork in the health professions. Until now, much of the thinking about IHCTs has been drawn from the research and practice literature from other fields, such as business and group dynamics, which may be of only limited relevance to health care settings. Drinka and Clark present new ways of thinking about team development and maintenance, leadership, conflict, the science and art of practice, communication, and team members as teachers and learners. Anyone who is currently working in health care or is considering a career in health care should read this book.
"It is extremely exciting to note the new work of Theresa Drinka and Phil Clark in their textbook, entitled Healthcare Teamwork: Interdisciplinary Practice And Teaching. Teams have changed drastically over the last decades, and this new book adds substantially to our understanding of what needs to be accomplished, and what should be considered when planning for interdisciplinary health care teams training and practice. The text is brought alive with interesting vignettes, excellent tables and graphics, and the authors use their substantial knowledge of the subject to bring us the latest content needed for understanding interdisciplinary practice and teaching. This text should be required reading for all undergraduates who will ultimately become clinicians in order to prepare them for the real world of practice."-Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN Professor of Nursing New York University
Book Description
Develops a comprehensive framework for interdisciplinary health care teams.
Theresa JK Drinka, PhD, MSSW, LCSW has been a clinical social worker, program developer, administrator, educator, and clinical researcher. In 1996 she established a consulting and training business, conducting human systems analysis and team development. In addition to co-authoring the book, Health Care Teamwork: Interdisciplinary Practice and Teaching, Dr. Drinka has authored articles, videos, and book chapters on inter-professional dynamics, self-directed work teams, mental health, and patient and team assessment instruments.
Jeni Synnes, MSSW, LCSW is a clinical social worker and a program manager. She has spent her career working primarily in mental health and geriatrics. She specializes in offering behavioral management techniques to staff to help prevent burnout when working with challenging clients and colleagues.
Theresa: "Since the beginning of time, the story has been used to transmit life lessons. I believe it is still one of the most useful ways to teach about human behavior. I grew up in a large extended family. Every Sunday, as a child, many relatives would meet at my grandmother's house. There wasn't room at the table for everyone so the women would first feed the men and then the children. In the third shift, the women would sit down to eat, and tell stories. I remember yearning to sit at the women's table because I wanted to hear the colorful stories told by my aunts and great aunts. Because I was not yet allowed at this table of wisdom, I positioned myself so I could at least hear some of their tales. The stories were sometimes sad, often humorous, and always instructive. I learned many of my life lessons from listening to these stories and as a qualitative researcher I continue to catalogue stories as a way to understand patterns of behavior.
Jeni: "Theresa and I are a mother-daughter team and this is our first book together. Years ago we began conversations about situations in which we felt that we had been manipulated. My mother helped me analyze my own experiences with manipulative behaviors. Eventually we discussed the stories told to us by our friends. We realized that many people who had been stung could not see the behavior patterns leading up to their sting."
As professionals, we listen to the stories of clients, workshop attendees, friends, and people we meet by chance who just want to unburden themselves. Often these stories involve a significant event in a person's life and frequently the stories involve having been emotionally hurt by someone else. As social workers, we have spent many years observing stinging behaviors in our clients, and the effects of stinging behaviors on our clients. The inspiration for this book arose as we thought of our own lives, and the times we have been unexpectedly stung by someone with manipulative behaviors: a coworker, friend, or someone who was just passing through our lives. Over the years, we have informally counseled friends and acquaintances that sought our guidance after being caught off guard and stung by someone they trusted. As we spoke with our friends and colleagues, we realized that they had stories to share. They, in turn, asked their friends and acquaintances for more stories. As our volume of stories grew, we decided to write this book. Although we have read many books, articles, and blogs about "emotional bloodsuckers," "prima donnas at work," "backstabbers," "nasty people," "bullies" and other such characters, the volume of stories that we collected in a short time from friends and acquaintances surprised us. We encourage you to read books about manipulators and to apply the principles from those books. However, we feel that many people learn best from reading everyday stories by others. Our book elaborates on these themes by organizing true-life vignettes and narratives that exemplify a variety of stinging behaviors.
