The insufficient handoffs created stress and dissatisfaction among the nurses, and the units did not have a good relationship, says David Neave, RN, clinical specialty educator. Many patients are transferred to the 6 South unit for telemetry using SBAR, but the nurses on both units recognized gaps in the process that sometimes resulted in rapid response calls. The adult ED at Methodist includes 30 monitored beds and 12 hallway beds, with an average annual census of 61,000. 1 “It allows for an easy and focused way to set expectations for what will be communicated and how between members of the team, which is essential for developing teamwork and fostering a culture of patient safety.” “SBAR is an easy-to-remember, concrete mechanism useful for framing any conversation, especially critical ones, requiring a clinician’s immediate attention and action,” IHI noted. Recommendation: Action requested/recommended.Assessment: Analysis and considerations of options.Background: Pertinent and brief information related to the situation.Situation: A concise statement of the problem.The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) provides this summary 1 of SBAR: The hospital uses the popular Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation (SBAR) process to improve continuity of care in handoffs, but nurses thought there still was room for improvement, says Denise Schmittou, BSN, RN, clinical nurse coordinator. A nursing team at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio developed a new process for handing off patients from the ED to a telemetry unit that improved patient care and decreased the number of rapid responses for recent transfers.

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