SBAR stands for Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation. SBAR is a standardized way of communication among health care providers. The nurse or the therapists can use SBAR when communicating with the physician and other members of the home health team. SBAR is also used during hand-off communication with other members of the interdisciplinary team or during patient transfers to the hospital or a another health care facility.

SBAR offers home health organizations and other health care facilities  a solution to bridge the gap in hand-off communication through a standardized approach to patient reporting in varied situations. Hand-offs is the process of passing on specific information about patient care from one caregiver team to another.

MANILA, (PNA) -- The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Friday warned the nursing schools that will fail to implement the revised nursing curriculum next school year faces revocation of license.

CHED Commissioner Nona Ricafort revealed that nursing schools have until June next school year to implement the CHED revised curriculum for nursing.

“Reports reaching CHED head office indicated that some 30 percent compliance of all nursing schools across the country,” Ricafort said.

“By June next year everybody must comply and implement the new curriculum otherwise the commission may be constrained to revoke their license,” Ricafort said.

Just last week I heard over the news that a magnitude-eight-earthquake devastated the province of Sichuan in China. As is usual with me listening to the news in the car, the information came and went without much fuss. This is not the first time a town is crushed by an earthquake. In my own lifetime, I have seen, felt and heard what a ‘big one’ feels like, having been at the top floor of Palma Hall (as a green, clueless freshman in college) when the earthquake of 1990 hit Luzon without warning.

The feeling of impending doom I felt while attempting to run down several plights of stairs that swayed from left to right is a sensation I will never forget… not one I will want to revisit soon either. Minutes later we were relieved to see ourselves out of that tall building, and all its Romanesque beauty. The structure still stands to this day though… a testament to the miracle of excellent planning, and sturdy construction.

Through the Phoenix Phil-Am Lions Club of Arizona my husband and I thus far have participated in 6 Cataract Medical Missions. The total surgeries done are now over 600 since 2003 and traveled to both Mexico and the Philippines. We do as many as 44 cases a day and worked over 12 hours as a post-op nurse primarily, as a pre-op nurse, translator, organizer/and or record keeper, transporter, resource person and as many roles as possible depending upon the need.