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Safe transfer of information and responsibility at shift change, escalation, ward and hospital transfer, discharge and LMC-specialist handover.
NZ$139DetailsAdd to cart
Consent, privacy and communication
Teamwork and Collaboration
Working with colleagues, other services, patients and whānau to deliver safe, coordinated care in Aotearoa New Zealand
- 3hours (estimated)
- 10sections
- 20final questions
- 80%pass mark
- PDFcertificate
- Online and self-paced, on any device
- Reflective account template
- Knowledge checks in every section
- Instant certificate of completion
What you will learn
- Distinguish multidisciplinary, interprofessional and transdisciplinary working and identify everyone who forms part of a patient's care team, including patients, whānau and unregulated staff.
- Explain how Right 4(5) of the Code of Rights and the teamwork standards of the Medical, Nursing, Midwifery, Pharmacy and Dental Councils apply to everyday collaboration.
- Use role clarification to agree responsibilities across overlapping scopes of practice, including newer roles.
- Apply individual professional accountability within team decisions, including raising, escalating and recording dissent.
- Prepare for, contribute to and record multidisciplinary meetings so that options, dissent and actions with owners are clear.
- Collaborate reliably across organisations and with iwi, kaupapa Māori and Pacific providers, sharing information within the Health Information Privacy Code 2020.
- Build team culture using whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, structured onboarding, shared cultural load and routines such as huddles and debriefs.
- Resolve clinical disagreements and recurring working-relationship conflicts using structured, interest-based approaches.
- Respond to incivility, bullying, harassment and concerns about a colleague using the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, employment law, professional codes and HPCA Act notification routes.
- Plan credible remediation and evidence of change, such as multisource feedback, if your teamwork or conduct toward colleagues is questioned.
Who this course is for
Doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dental and oral health practitioners, paramedics and allied health practitioners registered under the HPCA Act 2003, plus team leaders, charge nurses, practice managers and clinical educators.
Doctors (MCNZ) Nurses (Nursing Council) Midwives (Midwifery Council) Dental professions (Dental Council) Pharmacists (Pharmacy Council) Other HPCA Act professions
After a concern
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a responsible authority inquiry.
Routine CPD
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
About this course
This course teaches health practitioners in New Zealand how to work as effective members of interprofessional teams: clarifying roles across scopes of practice, keeping individual accountability inside team decisions, running and contributing to multidisciplinary meetings, collaborating across hospitals, general practice, pharmacy, aged care, kaupapa Māori and community services, and bringing patients and whānau into the team as partners. It also covers team culture, whanaungatanga and inclusion, conflict and how to resolve it, bullying and harassment, concerns about colleagues, and supporting each other under pressure.
It is written for doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dental and oral health practitioners, paramedics and allied health practitioners registered under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, and for team leaders and educators. Examples are drawn from wards, theatres, general practice, maternity, mental health, community pharmacy, dental practice, aged residential care and rural services.
Every responsible authority's code requires practitioners to respect colleagues, communicate openly, collaborate and act on unsafe practice, and Right 4(5) of the Code of Rights gives every consumer the right to co-operation among providers. When collaboration fails, the Health and Disability Commissioner, responsible authorities and the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal look at what each practitioner did to co-operate. This course shows how to meet those expectations day to day, and how to show insight and lasting change if your teamwork is questioned.
Course details
- Learning time
- Approximately 3 hours (estimated learning time including knowledge checks, reflection and assessment)
- Standards covered
- Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (Rights 4(5), 5–9, clause 3); HPCA Act 2003 (ss 34, 45–51, 100, 101, 118); MCNZ Good medical practice (Working with colleagues) and statements on Unprofessional behaviour, Concerns about another doctor, Cultural safety and Resource constraints; Nursing Council Code of Conduct principle 6 and standards of competence (2025); Midwifery Council Code of Conduct; Pharmacy Council Code of Ethics 2018 principle 7; Dental Council Standards Framework standards 17, 18, 21 and 28; Health and Safety at Work Act 2015; Employment Relations Act 2000; Health Information Privacy Code 2020
- Format
- Self-paced, gated lessons with knowledge checks, case studies and reflection
- Assessment
- 20 scenario-based questions, 80% to pass (16 of 20)
- Outcome
- Certificate of completion and a written reflection for your CPD record
- Alignment
- Mapped to the Code of Rights and the teamwork, collegial and cultural safety standards of the Medical, Nursing, Midwifery, Pharmacy and Dental Councils and other responsible authorities
Course curriculum
10 sections · 24 lessons · 3 hours (estimated) · 20-question final assessment
-
1Teams and collaboration in Aotearoa health care3 lessons
- What turns a group of practitioners into a team
- Why collaboration is a safety, quality and equity issue
- What the codes and standards require of you
-
2Roles, scopes and accountability inside teams3 lessons
- Knowing your role and your colleagues' roles
- Individual accountability in team decisions
- Direction, delegation, students and the unregulated workforce
-
3Interprofessional collaboration in everyday practice3 lessons
- Multidisciplinary meetings and shared care plans
- Collaborating across services, organisations and sectors
- Patients and whānau as partners in the team
-
4Building team culture: whanaungatanga, inclusion and shared routines3 lessons
- How team culture forms, and how to shape it
- Inclusion, hierarchy and cultural safety between colleagues
- Team routines that build shared understanding
-
5Disagreement and conflict in health teams3 lessons
- Where conflict comes from
- Resolving clinical disagreements safely
- Conflict skills for working relationships
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6Behaviour that harms teams, and teams under strain3 lessons
- Incivility, bullying and harassment as team and safety issues
- When a colleague's practice or conduct worries you
- Teams under pressure, and supporting each other after harm
-
7When teamwork becomes a regulatory concern: accountability, insight and improvement3 lessons
- How HDC, responsible authorities and the Tribunal look at teamwork failures
- Insight and remediation when your teamwork is questioned
- Measuring and improving how your team works
-
8Conclusion and key points1 lesson
- Conclusion and key points
-
9References and further reading1 lesson
- References and further reading
-
10Your reflective account1 lesson
- Your reflective account
Assessment and certificate
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
- Pass mark 80%: 16 correct out of 20
- Knowledge checks in each section as you go
- Tests whether you can apply the standards, not recall a page
- Not passed yet? Review the sections and retake it
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
- Your name, the course title and the estimated learning time (record the time you actually spend)
- Completion date and a unique certificate ID that can be verified
- Ready to download as a PDF as soon as you complete the course
Fitness To Practice
Certificate of Completion
This certifies that
Your Name
has successfully completed
Teamwork and Collaboration
3hours (estimated)
Continuing professional development record — New Zealand
Your reflective account
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Questions about this course
Am I still accountable for decisions made by the team?
Yes. Team decisions do not remove individual professional accountability. The course shows how to raise, escalate and record dissent, contribute to multidisciplinary meetings so options and actions with owners are clear, and apply Right 4(5) of the Code of Rights on co-operation between providers.
How does the course approach team culture in Aotearoa?
Through whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, structured onboarding, shared cultural load and routines such as huddles and debriefs, and by collaborating reliably with iwi, kaupapa Māori and Pacific providers while sharing information within the Health Information Privacy Code 2020. These habits build trust before conflict arises.
What does the teamwork course teach about disagreement between colleagues?
Structured, interest-based approaches to clinical disagreements and recurring working-relationship conflicts, so the discussion stays on the patient and the problem rather than on personalities or hierarchy, with clear steps for escalating when agreement cannot be reached. Examples include disagreements over discharge, escalation and treatment plans.
Does the teamwork course cover bullying and harassment?
Yes. It covers responding to incivility, bullying, harassment and concerns about a colleague using workplace health and safety law, employment law, professional codes and HPCA Act notification routes, and how teams under strain can support each other. Practical scripts help you raise behaviour early and record what was said.
Can the teamwork course help if my conduct toward colleagues has been questioned?
It ends with a plan for credible remediation and evidence of change, such as multisource feedback. If an authority or employer has set requirements, check with them first; outcomes cannot be promised. The course runs 3 hours (estimated) and costs NZ$139; it is independent, with no council approval.
How this course was built
Official sources only
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: the HPCA Act 2003, the responsible authorities' standards and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Original, edition by edition
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
Reviewed when rules change
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
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