The mediating effect of ICU nurses’ teamwork level between workload and missed nursing care in infection prevention and control

Objective To explore the mediating effect of ICU nurses’ teamwork level between workload and Missed Nursing Care in Infection Prevention and Control (MNCIPC) and to provide references for improving the status of MNCIPC in ICUs and enhancing the quality of clinical nursing. Method A total of 350 ICU nurses from six tertiary hospitals in Shanghai were recruited from January to March 2025 via convenience sampling. This study utilized a general data questionnaire, the MNCIPC Survey, the Nurse–Nurse Collaboration Scale (NNCS), and the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to investigate the mediating effect of ICU nurses’ teamwork level on the relationship between workload and MNCIPC. Results A total of 328 ICU nurses ultimately participated in the survey. Workload was positively correlated with MNCIPC ( p < 0.01) and negatively correlated with nurses’ teamwork level ( p < 0.01). Nurses’ teamwork level was negatively correlated with MNCIPC ( p < 0.01). The mediating effect analysis revealed that nurses’ teamwork level partially mediated the relationship between workload and MNCIPC, with an indirect effect value of 0.055, accounting for 21.74% of the total effect based on bootstrapping with 5,000 samples. Conclusion The level of teamwork among ICU nurses may be a mediating variable between workload and MNCIPC. Nursing managers may closely monitor ICU nurses’ workload and actively foster a work environment that promotes mutual support and close collaboration to enhance teamwork, thereby improving the current situation of MNCIPC.