The NICU: The Multidisciplinary Team Leader Role
In the NICU, we work with a traditional team nursing organizational structure, however, aspects of the multidisciplinary team leader role are a part of the overall care of the baby. According to Marquis and Huston (2015), team nursing allows more autonomy for the nurse as they share responsibility and accountability in the unit. My unit operates smoothly with the nursing manager at the top of the chart. In descending order is the chain of command: charge nurse, who could also be a clinical lead, clinical lead, the nursing staff, and then the patient. The roles are clear and concise when the charge nurse is a clinical lead; we have 8 total in our unit, divided equally between day and night. Conversely, the role becomes cloudy when a floor