Moderating effects of task interdependence on interaction behaviours and creativity for nursing students on interdisciplinary teams

Abstract

Aims Nursing students in Taiwan often study in interdisciplinary teams that must create healthcare products. Creativity is imperative for the students’ success, but studies have not explored the relational precursors to team creativity in nursing education. Therefore, the relationship was examined between task interdependence, interaction behaviours (constructive controversy, helping behaviours and spontaneous communication) and creativity for nursing students on interdisciplinary teams in Taiwan to investigate whether high task interdependence moderates the correlations between interaction behaviours and creativity. Design Descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study. Methods Participants were nursing students (N = 99) attending interdisciplinary capstone courses in 2- or 4-year nursing programmes at a university for science and technology in Taiwan. Self-report questionnaires were used to collect the students’ demographics and perceptions of their teams’ task interdependence, interaction behaviours and creativity between January 2018 and January 2019. Pearson's correlation coefficient revealed variable associations. SPSS PROCESS macro displayed moderating effects. Results Task interdependence had significant positive correlations with all three interaction behaviours and team creativity. Each interaction behaviour also had significant positive correlations with team creativity. High task interdependence negatively moderated the relationships between team creativity and (a) constructive controversy, and (b) spontaneous communication, but not (c) helping behaviours. Conclusion The empirically validated moderation model and study results suggest that nursing educators can foster creativity in their students by encouraging task interdependence and helping behaviours, and teaching students to build constructive controversy and spontaneous communication into their collaborative plans. Impact In Taiwan, nursing students must demonstrate creativity in interdisciplinary capstone courses. Their ability to do so requires them to cooperate with students in other disciplines who have unique skills or knowledge. This study provides insights into the relational factors that may improve creativity for nursing students on interdisciplinary teams.