Interpersonal trust from the viewpoint of tele-ICU nurses

Performance of virtual teams depends significantly on the trust between virtual team members. Virtual teams whose members have low or no trust with each other experience problems in collaboration (e.g., team members share less information with one another), which may compromise their performance. The focus of this research is on a virtual team where some team members (i.e. teleintensive care unit (ICU) nurses) "work through" the actions of other team members (i.e. ICU nurses) who directly affect the final outcome (i.e. patient care). Prior trust literature has not looked at how the role, indirect or direct, of the individual team members affects the final team outcome. A lack of trust within this virtual team could compromise communication and coordination, and therefore patient care. The objective of this study is to develop an in-depth understanding of trust between virtual team members who have uneven roles. This is done by identifying characteristics of trust from the viewpoint of tele-ICU nurses who provide indirect patient care and support to the ICU nurses who provide direct patient care. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 tele-ICU nurses in five tele-ICUs. A content analysis identified themes related to interpersonal trust from the viewpoint of tele-ICU nurses.;Results show that all tele-ICU nurses said that the trust between them and the ICU nurses is important and reciprocal. Trust between the tele-ICU virtual team members is influenced by organizational characteristics and local context. Also, the use of various rich technologies to communicate and share information effects trust within this dyad. A lack of trust in this relationship may have a negative impact on patient care.;Even though only the ICU nurses have a direct impact on patient care they need to trust the tele-ICU nurse's suggestions and recommendations. Future research needs to examine the trust themes generated from this study from the viewpoint of ICU nurses. These findings can be used to develop interventions to aid in developing and sustaining trust in the tele-ICU and other similar virtual teams.