Boundary Spanning by Nurse Managers: Effects of Managers’ Characteristics and Scope of Responsibility on Teamwork Raquel M. Meyer, RN, PhD Assistant Professor, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto Manager, Baycrest Centre for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care Toronto, ON Linda O’Brien-Pallas, PhD, RN, FCAHS Professor Emerita, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing Former CHSRF/CIHR Chair in Nursing Health Human Resources University of Toronto Toronto, ON Diane Doran, PhD, RN, FCAHS Professor Emerita, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing Former Scientific Director, Nursing Health Services Research Unit University of Toronto Toronto, ON David Streiner, PhD Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University Hamilton, ON Mary Ferguson-Paré, PhD, RN, CHE Former Vice President, Professional Affairs & Chief Nurse Executive University Health Network Toronto, ON Christine Duffield, PhD, RN, FACHSM, FACN, FAAN Associate Dean (Research) & Director, Centre for Health Services Management Director, Health Services & Practice Research Strength, Faculty of Health University of Technology Sydney, Australia 42 NURSING RESEARCH Abstract Increasing role complexity has intensified the work of managers in supporting healthcare teams. This study examined the influence of front-line managers’ charac- teristics and scope of responsibility on teamwork. Scope of responsibility considers