Do individuals within one organization share the same rituals and routines?

Rituals and routines are deemed as daily actions and behavior of individuals within an organization, often accepted as normal behaviors within that cultural workplace. Within my placement, I witnessed how staff were allocated tasks as one routine within the ward. About the placement area, morning routines were very ritual. Most commonly; a trained nurse was allocated to do the morning medication round and liaise with the multi-disciplinary team then arrange discharges.  Other members of staff were given patients to assist with their hygiene needs and see to regular tasks such as observations and pressure area care.

While analyzing the daily routine there were some positive aspects; staff had direct accountability and a shared task load. Adaptation toward routines makes staff feel accepted leading to less conflict between the team. Nevertheless; this could be a disadvantage if routines include poor practice and never questioned. I found this ritual caused barriers to communication between the multi-disciplinary team and often discouraged nurses being proactive. Bach and Grant acknowledge that accurate and timely collaborative communication is vital; This proved to be difficult on the ward, as the nurse responsible for communicating during ward round with the multidisciplinary team, was often not the same nurse allocated to the care of the patients being discussed. There were separate priorities and task loads often leading to lack of communication between the team, which at times lead to a lack of patient centered care and often delayed discharges.