Table of Contents
SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation) template is a document that give you other clinicians with an unambiguous and certain way to deliver important information to other medical professionals.
What is the SBAR?
The USA Navy first developed the concept of SBAR. They developed it as a means of communicating information to nuclear submarines. Due to its success, the SBAR is introduced in the 1990s to the health care system.
However, SBAR is basically a technique that gives a framework of communication among the members of a healthcare team about the situation of a patient. SBAR nursing is a concrete tool. It can be very useful in framing conversations that need sudden attention or action, particularly if they are regarding patients with critical status.
What to include in the SBAR template?
The SBAR nursing document is used to deliver any non-urgent and urgent patient information to other healthcare professionals. SBAR examples are generally used for the following;
- Having conversation with physical therapists and other medical professionals.
- Very useful for in-person discussions and those done over the phone.
- Hand off communications.
- To resolve the problem with a patient.
- Regular safety briefings.
- While calling an emergency response team.
Moreover, this tool is used to communicate and organize information. As obstacles, the SBAR could get subjected to existing communication barriers and time constraints. This technique still improves the quality of communications. In case, you are making your own template then include the following;
Pre-SBAR
There are a few things you should do first before initiating an SBAR;
- You have to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the patient.
- Having the patient’s on-hand and a list of their existing allergies, IV fluids, labs, and medications.
- Fulfill all of the patient’s important signs.
- Determine the patient’s code status and report it.
Situation
Here, you have to include the precise and clear description of the current situation of the patient. You should specify what is going on with the patient at the present moment. In case, you’re giving a shift report to the next nurse, then specify the following;
- The name of the patient
- The reason that why the patient is on the unit
- Also, it is essential to introduce the next nurse to the patient
Background
You must give relevant and clear background details regarding the patient. Provide the next caregiver background information and it should be specific to the relevant history of the patient. The diagnosis of the patient, history of any treatment or procedures done, and family history are discussed in this part. You may also like a medical consent form.
Assessment
In this section, state your professional conclusion on the basis of the patient’s background and current situation. In simple words, you have to discuss the patient current condition.
Recommendation
Specify the person that you are communicating with what you require from them. Stat that it would be the best response to the patient’s care for the day that what you are thinking.
The benefits of effective communication will be appreciated with your coworkers including the following;
- The next ability of the nurse to examine patients right away and prioritize their care.
- Explaining equipment use and sharing information relevant to the requirements of individual patients.
- Promoting accountability among shifts by sudden visualization of patient requirements.
- Improvement of staff relationships as communication among shifts goes on face-to-face.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, a SBAR template is an effective tool that gives a framework for effective communication. With the help of this document, you can develop an environment that enables the people to show their concerns by speaking up. By improving the communication between caregivers, you can prevent negative outcomes for patients.
