* Corresponding author. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 22 (1998) 327— 331 Factors related to good group performance in nursing Gustav Wickstro¨m*, Leena Helela¨-Hannus, Marjut Joki, Marjukka Laine, Jaana Pentti, Leena Tamminen-Peter, Marjaana Soininen Hameenkatu 10, FIN-20500, Turku, Finland Abstract In nursing, the strain resulting from physical, mental and social work loads depends on both individual work capacity and the performance of the group. The relation between assessments of individual work capacity and assessments of the performance of the ward as a whole was determined on 10 wards, on the basis of questionnaire answers concerning personal physical and mental performance, as well as effectiveness, flexibility, division of tasks and cooperation of all the nursing staff. No relation between average individual performance and group performance was found. Group perfor- mance ratings were closely associated with management atmosphere and supervisor support. The opinions of the auxiliary nurses were mostly decisive for the general opinion of the staff. Relevance to industry Individual employees are increasingly dependent on cooperation with fellow employees to perform well in their job. Both in the service sector and in industry, any limitations to cooperation puts strain on the individual employee and may over time result in a lower level of health and performance.  1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Nursing; Occupational load; Individual capacity; Cooperation; Social support 1. Introduction The aim of ergonomics is to fit the demands of work to the capacities of the workers. Tradition- ally, ergonomics has been concerned with indi- vidual loads from manual handling of materials, work with VDUs, etc. In several fields of work, the load of individual employees is, however, strongly affected by the performance of their co-workers. In these cases, ergonomic evaluation and correspond- ing improvements should not be directed only to- ward individuals, but also toward groups of workers. One such group is the nursing staff on a hospital ward which should be capable of work- ing effectively as a team so as not to overload its members. The costs of hospital services have risen steadily in most countries, due both to technological development in medicine and to the increasing 0169-8141/98/$19.00 Copyright  1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved PII S0169-8141(97)00085-1