Enhancing Patient Safety Through Effective Communication: The Role of the SBAR Handover Tool

Patient safety is a significant concern during the delivery of health care in hospital settings. The commission of errors during patient handoffs is a growing issue in the healthcare community and a major concern among all nurses. Miscommunication among healthcare workers has been identified as a common cause of medical errors, particularly during the hand- off of patients during shift changes, often due to a lack of consistency during patient handoff procedures [1]. Miscommunication among healthcare workers has been identified as a common cause of medical errors, particularly during the hand-off of patients during shift changes, often due to a lack of consistency during patient handoff procedures [2]. While communication failures are among the most common causes of medical errors that harm patients, 67% of those errors are related to handoffs [3]. Effective communication during nurse-to-nurse reports is critical to ensure information about patients is shared in a manner that promotes safe patient care.