title: Introduction of Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation into Nursing Practice: A Prospective Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to introduce and evaluate the compliance to documentation of situation, background, assessment, recommendation (SBAR) form.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty nurses involved in active bedside care were selected by simple random sampling. Use of SBAR was illustrated thru self-instructional module (SIM). Content validity and reliability were established. The situation, background, assessment, recommendation (SBAR) form was disseminated for use in a clinical setting during shift handover. A retrospective audit was undertaken at 1stweek (A1) and 16thweek (A2), post introduction of SIM. Nurse's opinion about the SBAR form was also captured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Majority of nurses were females (65%) in the age group 21-30 years (80%). There was a significant association (P= 0.019) between overall audit scores and graduate nurses. Significant improvement (P= 0.043) seen in overall scores between A1 (mean: 23.20) and A2 (mean: 24.26) and also in "Situation" domain (P= 0.045) as compared to other domains. There was only a marginal improvement in documentation related to patient's allergies and relevant past history (7%) while identifying comorbidities decreased by 40%. Only 70% of nurses had documented plan of care. Most (76%) of nurses expressed that SBAR form was useful, but 24% nurses felt SBAR documentation was time-consuming. The assessment was easy (53%) to document while recommendation was the difficult (53%) part.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SBAR technique has helped nurses to have a focused and easy communication during transition of care during handover. Importance and relevance of capturing information need to be reinforced. An audit to look for reduced number of incidents related to communication failures is essential for long-term evaluation of patient outcomes. Use of standardized SBAR in nursing practice for bedside shift handover will improve communication between nurses and thus ensure patient safety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Meera S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Achrekar
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Vedang
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Murthy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Sadhana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanan
authors.affiliation: Leelabai Thackersey College of Nursing, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Rani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shetty
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Mini
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Navin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khattry
keywords: Nurses; assessment; background; recommendation; shift handover; situation