90 Days to Level Up Your Teamwork

Week 5Teaming Without Fear

Benchmark goal: Grasp the power of psychological safety.

The tiny newborn twins seemed healthy enough, but their early arrival at only 27 weeks’ gestation meant they were considered high-risk. Fortunately, the medical team at the busy urban hospital where the babies were delivered included staff from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU): a young neonatal nurse practitioner named Christina Price (all names in this story are pseudonyms) and a silver-haired neonatologist named Dr. Drake. As Christina looked at the babies, she was concerned. Her recent training had included, as newly established best practice, administering a medicine (a prophylactic surfactant) that promoted lung development as soon as possible for a high-risk baby. Babies born very prematurely often arrive with lungs not quite ready for fully independent breathing outside the womb. But the neonatologist had not issued an order for the medicine. Christina stepped forward to remind Dr. Drake about the surfactant and then caught herself. Last week she’d overheard him publicly berate another nurse for questioning one of his orders. She told herself that the twins would probably be fine—after all, the doctor probably had a reason for avoiding the surfactant, still considered a judgment call—and she dismissed the idea of bringing it up. Besides, he’d already turned on his heel, off for his morning rounds, white coat billowing.

Unconscious Calculations

In hesitating and then choosing ...