If you are embedded on a hospital floor or a clinic, you will see the group stages in action. It is difficult to clearly see the progression from one stage to the next in projects during school. The projects are normally short in length and it is not unusual for students to divide up the project and work separately until the end when all of the pieces are put together. As a healthcare professional, your group projects will more closely follow the forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning stages. You will learn to work together optimally as a team to deliver the best care possible for patients whether you are within a surgery group or a wing at a nursing home.

A common complaint among students is that assigned group work is frustrating because one or two students don’t contribute fully or at all and that they have to pick up the slack. This can be frustrating especially when the instructor evaluates the group project and everyone receives the same grade regardless of the degree of one’s personal contributions. Once you graduate and move into your health professional job, you will notice that group work will differ significantly. Each member of the group will shoulder their responsibility within a unit or surgery team. There is no room for social loafers as there is too much at stake in healthcare. Nurses can’t shrug off their responsibilities of taking the vitals of their assigned patients in hope that other nurses will do their tasks if they choose not to do them.