Opinionnaire of Staff Nurses on Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) Handoff Protocol

Abstract

This study aimed at obtaining the opinion about situation, background, assessment, recommendation (SBAR) technique of handoff using an opinionnaire among nurses. A survey approach was used. The study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital and consisted of 44 staff nurses. The data were collected through an opinionnaire on SBAR technique during patients’ handoff. The data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics. Out of 44 subjects, 25 strongly agree that SBAR is relevant to their work area and 26 of them agree that it is applicable to nursing practice. Two of them disagree that the information in SBAR is easy to comprehend. Twenty-seven samples strongly agree that SBAR helps in ensuring patient safety, 26 of them strongly agree that it brings uniformity in handing over and 28 of them strongly agree that it helps in providing quality care. Majority (30) of the samples strongly agreed that SBAR provides a framework to briefly present the patient situation and 26 of them strongly agreed that it enables quick glance to patient. Findings of the study revealed that majority of staff nurses either agree or strongly agree for most of the items on SBAR technique of communication during patients’ handoff.