Patients require access to various healthcare professionals to manage their different healthcare needs. Most nurses work in a healthcare team, established to provide optimum care for patients. This article explores the stages necessary to develop an effective healthcare team and identifies the team attributes required to enable effective teamwork. These include: effective leadership, a shared mental approach (a common understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all members of the team), respect among team members and shared training. Scenarios involving a rheumatology team that includes the author are used to demonstrate how effective teams can be established in practice, and the benefits of effective healthcare teams to staff well-being and patient care.