Current health care safety research suggests that further efforts are needed to reveal the specific and unique characteristics of team practices in the health care sector (Baker et al. 2006; Lyndon 2006). Intuitively, this includes an understanding of how different types of knowledge and skills are applied in actual team work practices (Greenhalgh et al. 2008; Smith et al. 2006). However, the research also points to the importance of exploring system factors in relation to team work practices (Catchpole et al. 2006; Infante 2006). Specifically, the “system” is commonly perceived as something vague and indefinable (Infante 2006), and currently only a handful of studies document original findings that can be related to system factors (Catchpole et al. 2007; Christian et al. 2006; Leach et al. 2009; Mackintosh 2009). Judging by the limited efforts that has gone into understanding the system factors surrounding interdisciplinary teams and safe work practices, there is a need for studies that not only reveal the character of the system factors but also relate the particular findings to existing research to support a continuation of research efforts. This represents our incentive for studying the system in relation to interdisciplinary team practices.
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