A Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Situation-Background- Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) Communication Technique During Patient’s Handoffs among Staff Nurses in Paediatric Unit of SDM Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital, Dharwad

Abstract

Introduction: Bedside Handoff is a time when responsibility and accountability of care is transferred
from one nurse to another at change of shift. Accurate communication between the health care workers
regarding information about a patient is a critical element of patient care and safety during the
hospitalization of patient. The SBAR (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation) process has
proven to be an effective communication tool in health care settings to structure standardized technique,
particularly between physicians, nurses, and for interdepartmental communication. Statement of the

Problem: A study to evaluate the effectiveness of standard operating procedure (SOP) on situation-
background-assessment-recommendation (SBAR) communication technique during patient’s handoffs

among staff nurses in paediatric unit of SDM tertiary care teaching hospital, Dharwad. Objectives: •
Assess the current practice of staff nurses during patient’s handoffs. • Evaluate the effectiveness of SBAR
communication technique during patient’s handoffs. Methods: A pre-experimental one group pre-test
post-test design was adopted for the present study. 40 staff nurses were selected by non-probability
purposive sampling technique. The tool comprised of 19 items in 4 sections includes situation (5),
background (9), assessment (2) and recommendation (3). Data was collected through bedside shift
report checklist and analyzed by using descriptive
and inferential statistics appropriate to achieve the
set of objectives. Results: • In pre-test, the mean
practice score was ±11.25 with standard deviation
as ±2.28; as the mean post-test score was ±17.125
with standard deviation ±1.39 respectively. • The
calculated paired ‘t’ value was 5.731 which was
higher than table value 2.02 at 0.05 level of
significance. Hence research hypothesis was
accepted. Interpretation and Conclusion: After
introduction of SOP on SBAR communication
technique, all the staff nurses scored all the
components of SBAR communication technique
above 85%, which explains that SOP on SBAR
communication technique developed for patient’s
handoffs was effective. Introduction of Standard
Operating Procedure on SBAR communication
technique helped the staff nurses to assess and
communicate all relevant information regarding
patient care to the other health care workers.