Perceptions of Nurses Regarding Using the SBAR Tool for Handoff Communication and Patient Safety at Saudi Arabia, 2024

Abstract

Background:Communication failure has been reported in the literature as the primary source of medical errors and patient harm. Among various methods of handoff communication, Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation (SBAR) is a reliable and efficient framework that nurses worldwide use.SBAR shift reports are used to make sure that patients' information is conveyed concisely and without unnecessary details.

The study aimed: To evaluate the perceptions of nurses regarding using the SBAR tool for handoff communication and patient safety.

Methods and Materials: Descriptive research design was used in Hospital at Makkah, Saudi Arabia.Convenient sampleinvolved of 50 nurse's works at inpatients department. There are two tools for data collection: The first tool consists of two parts Part I: Personal data sheet which gathered data about: gender, age, and years of experience, educational qualification, and marital status. Part II: Self-administer questionnaire about Nurse’s perception related to (SBAR) situation, background, assessment, and recommendation. It included 25 multiple choice questions. The second tool: patient’s safety audit checklist, the tool consists of 17 items with sub-items covering general patient’s safety goal.

Results:all nurses had unsatisfactory knowledge score and no patient’s safety activity.

Conclusion: Nurses are not active in connection to patient safety goals and have a low knowledge score regarding SBAR shift reports. Consequently, putting in place an in-services training program on SBAR shift report applications and doing additional research on the structure of SBAR shift reports and its effects on nurses' productivity and patient satisfaction