2.2.e SBAR, Handover and Discussions
We have demonstrated the use of a variety of communication tools in Mee’s case. The midwife conducted a handover, or brief report, with the nurse. The midwife initiated a discussion with the pediatrician. The nurse used an SBAR to collaborate with the midwife.
When working within interprofessional and intra-professional teams, there are 4 types of collaborative practices: discussion about the care plan, consultation about an aspect of the care plan, shared care for entire care plan, and a transfer of care for the entire care plan. Health care providers will use structured communication tools to convey information during all 4 types of collaborations. Often an SBAR is applied within each of these conversations but differences exist between the amount and type of information conveyed as part of the SBAR.
SBAR is a mnemonic that stands for Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation. It is a structured communication technique used to convey clinical information to others regarding a clinical situation. It allows the communicator to organize their thoughts in a short and structured way, and the listener to anticipate and understand exactly what is being asked of them.
Before beginning your conversation with another provider, determine which type of conversation you are having about the care plan. Do you plan to have a discussion, consult, share care, or transfer care? Then determine if you are requesting a contribution to the care plan or making a recommendation about the care plan. What outcome do you expect from this conversation with your teammate? Consider the situation and background next. How much information does the receiver of information need to have in order to collaborate effectively with you? When you are sharing care, the amount and type of information you need to provide will be more detailed than the information conveyed to a provider with whom you are requesting a consultation about one aspect of the care plan. In each case the result of communication will include clarification of the plan including roles and responsibilities for each member of the conversation.
Personal Reflection
The following graphic describes aspects of an SBAR when consulting or transferring care. Consider how this SBAR may be different if you were using it in a discussion or when sharing care situation.