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.

SBAR highlights critical information about patient care that needs to be communicated to the IDT or other health care professionals. The report is more accurate, efficient, and consistent with SBAR. It is a practical way of giving verbal report.

Why implement SBAR at your workplace?
The safe and effective care of patients depends on consistent, unflawed communication between caregivers. SBAR provides simple steps for health care givers to follow.

 Many studies have shown that a number of avoidable  medical mishaps happen during hand-offs where there is a breakdown in communication among health care givers. SBAR is tool we can adopt when communicating with other professionals across the health care continuum to ensure patient safety.