Safe, effective clinical care depends on reliable, flawless communication between caregivers. Communication breakdowns between health care providers are a central feature in episodes of avoidable patient harm. For this reason, the Joint Commission has issued a new requirement in association with its National Patient Safety Goal 2, which states that facilities must implement a standardized approach to handoff communications.

Because clinical teamwork often involves hurried interactions between human beings with varying styles of communication, a standardized approach to information sharing is needed to ensure that patient information is consistently and accurately imparted. This is especially true during critical events, shift handoffs, or patient transfers.

Utilized extensively in medicine, and originating from the nuclear submarine service, SBAR stands for:

S – Situation: What is happening at the present time?

B – Background: What are the circumstances leading up to this situation?

A – Assessment: What do I think the problem is?

R – Recommendation: What should we do to correct the problem?

SBAR creates a shared mental model for effective information transfer by providing a standardized structure for concise factual communications among clinicians — nurse-to-nurse, doctor-to-doctor, or between nurse and doctor. Other tools like critical language, psychological safety, and effective leadership are central to providing safe care.

You'll learn how to: 

• Identify how communication failures are a root cause of unanticipated adverse events
• Apply SBAR, an effective model used to enhance effective communication
• Explain the importance of Assertion and Critical Language to allow providers to speak up when they perceive risk to a patient
• Describe the limitations of human performance and the value of reliable systems to help ensure safe care
• Explain the clinical value in effective teamwork and communication in providing safe patient care