This is part of my course developed on Moodle for EDCI 575

1. +
Communicating
Effectively using SBAR

2. +

70-80% of medical errors

63% of sentinel events

Medical malpractice cases

Major safety violations

Patient injury/death

Loss of license

Loss of $$$$$
Poor communication is cited

3. +
How do you
prepare before
calling a physician
with an issue?

4. Preparation
• Have the patient’s chart open
• Rehearse in your mind what you want to say
• Think about the goal of your call
• Determine the appropriate physician to call
• Run it by another nurse if you are unsure

5. +
How can we communicate critical
info more effectively?

6. +
SBAR

7. +
Situation
• Problem
Background
• Brief history, relevant context, what’s been going on with the patient that now
has changed
Assessment
• What you think is going on
Recommendation
• What you want or what needs to be fixed

8. Example: Your diaphoretic patient
•
•
Home meds continued: Amaryl 2mg daily
PO, Metformin 500 mg daily PO
•
+
Diabetic; admitted yesterday with hyperglycemia
Previous assessments:
•
alert & oriented
•
vital signs stable
•
AM blood sugar was 128
Currently, the patient is diaphoretic, alert but disoriented. Blood sugar is 66

9. +
Situation : Problem
• Dr. Lane, this is Kathy at Community Hospital IMCU. I am calling you about Mr.
Smith. His current blood sugar is 66 and he is symptomatic.
Background: Brief history, relevant context, what’s been going on with the patient
that now has changed
• He was admitted yesterday with hyperglycemia. All of his blood sugars have
been over 150 until now. He is alert and I gave him a glass of orange juice. He
responded to that with a blood sugar of 92.
•
Assessment: What you think is going on
• He refused to eat very much. He also told me that he skips the Metformin at
home because of the gi distress.
Recommendation: What you want or what needs to be fixed
• Do you want to change his hypoglycemic dose or frequency?

10. +
Accept the
challenge to use
SBAR
•
It takes practice
•
Stretch yourself and become a SBAR expert

11. +
References

Greater Chicago 2013- Article: Building Collegial Nurse-Physician Relationships
retrieved from: http://www.azhha.org/patient_safety/sbar.aspx

Video: “Strengthening Nurse Physician Relationships”