Implementing Handoff Communication

In Brief Healthcare systems are seeking assistance from other well-known industries for a solution to issues related to handoff communication, the system for relaying patient information from one caregiver to another. Although the handoff should provide accurate information about a patient's care, treatment, services, and condition, inconsistencies in communication among practitioners exist. This lack of consistent messages prompted staff development nurses in a community hospital to introduce the SBAR process (situation, background, assessment, and recommendation) as the standard for handoff communication to reduce errors and improve patient safety. These authors report on an approach to improving handoff communication using the SBAR (situation, background, assessment, and recommendation) process in a community hospital.