Team working part 1: Nursing is a team profession

My first experience as a nurse was as a student, training to be an adult general nurse. In those days about 75% of the training was spent in a variety of clinical placements, spending about 8 weeks with different clinical teams. After qualifying I trained as a mental health nurse, again spending time in an array of mental health settings. I then worked as a staff nurse on a number of wards and as a community psychiatric nurse before moving into nurse education. It is only now when I reflect back on those working experiences, that I realise the importance of the ethos of being part of a team. It was such a natural part of nursing that I don't think I understood how valuable and central it was to the nursing profession. Take a few moments to reflect on your own career in terms of the place that team-working has had on the way that you developed and currently function as a nurse.