Team nursing in acute care settings: nurses' experiences.

A shift to the practice of team-based models of nursing care has occurred as a response to skill mix changes in acute health care settings. Little is known about nurses' experience of working in team-based models of nursing care delivery. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study of the experiences of nurses working in teams in acute care settings in an area health service. Main findings are benefits of team nursing, team approach, team effectiveness, increased responsibility, availability of support and engagement with the multidisciplinary team. These findings have implications for understanding the essential elements of team nursing as experienced by team members; providing key messages for health services implementing team nursing and giving direction for further research.