Dyadic teams and nursing care: A critical incident study of nurses in the emergency medical service

Aim and objectives The aim of the study was to describe Emergency Medical Services (EMS) nurses’ experiences of and coping with critical incidents, when providing nursing care as a member of a dyadic team. Background Nursing care in EMS is a complex task, taking into account the physical, psychological as well as existential dimensions of the patient's suffering. In this, EMS nurses are dependent on the dyadic team. Teams in EMS are described as essential for providing safe medical care. However, nursing care also comprises relationships with patients as a means of reducing patient suffering. Design The study has an inductive descriptive qualitative design, in adherence to the COREQ‐checklist. Methods A critical incident technique was used. Thirty‐five EMS nurses were interviewed individually, with a focus on dyadic teams providing nursing care. The interviews were analysed with the aim of defining main areas, categories and sub‐categories. Results The experiences of critical incidents emerged to form two main areas: “Functional co‐operation” and “Dysfunctional co‐operation,” comprising seven categories and sixteen sub‐categories. Their coping with critical incidents encompassed two main areas: “Adapting oneself” and “Adapting nursing care and the colleague,” comprising four categories and eight sub‐categories. Conclusions Reflection as part of the daily practice emerges as important for the development of nursing care both in relation to individual team members and also the dyadic team as a unit. In addition, the results highlight consensus within dyadic teams regarding the objectives of nursing care, as well as the importance of defined roles. Relevance to clinical practice This study underlines the importance of strengthening the dyadic EMS team's ability to co‐operate using common goals and knowledge within clinical nursing care. The individual team members’ different roles have to be explicit. In addition, clinical care has to be organised to generate preconditions for mutual performance monitoring through collegial feedback and reflection.