Knowledge sharing in a Thai intensive care unit nursing team: A case study of a private hospital in Eastern Thailand

Abstract

            The purpose of this study is to explore the practices of knowledge sharing in a Thai private hospital intensive care unit (ICU) nursing team. This study selected a constructing grounded theory strategy. Purposive sampling and theoretical sampling including grounded theory interviewing and an in-depth interview are used to collect data from the 29 participants who consisted of senior and novice nurses in the same Thai ICU until the theoretical categories were saturated. The findings were initially open codes and these were developed as concepts and categories. A total of seven main categories were identified as: (1) A Nurse’s Necessary Knowledge; (2) Knowledge Resources; (3) Method of Knowledge Transformation; (4) Process of Knowledge Transformation; (5) Facilitating Knowledge Sharing in the ICU; (6) Obstacles to Knowledge Sharing; and (7) Feelings towards Knowledge Sharing. Moreover, this study provided a more detailed picture of the knowledge that a Thai ICU nursing team shared with one another. One unexpected finding was that some nurses did not disclose the information as much as they should have done, although it was the part of the hospital’s plan to teach the nurses certain things when they joined a department. Administrators should create a culture of caring and sharing in order to contribute to the voluntary sharing of knowledge and the willingness of nurses to work in a hospital ICU.