Implementing the situation background assessment recommendation (SBAR) communication in a rural acute care hospital in Kenya

Abstract

The aim of the study was to successfully introduce the SBAR communication framework for nurses and clinicians and to assess whether the introduction of the communication framework improved the perception of their ability to speak openly and freely to clinicians. Communication failures have been cited as the leading cause of inadvertent patient harm in the United States, as many as 98,000 hospitalized patients lose their lives each year because of preventable medical errors and the majority of these errors are attributed to communication failures. A pilot descriptive project was completed using Lewin’s management change theory. A pre and post implementation survey were administered to a sample (N = 25) of healthcare professionals. The intervention was education sessions. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics. Several factors were assessed in the survey. The factors within group communication openness and accuracy improved with a difference mean ± standard deviation of 1.10 ± 4.07 and 0.1 ± 3.55 respectively, while the factors of between group communication openness and accuracy improved with a difference mean ± standard deviation of 2.0 ± 2.31 and 0.75 ± 3.59, respectively. The factor of communication timeliness improved slightly with a difference mean ± standard deviation of 0.12 ± 2.51. The factors of patient safety issues and the frequency of events reported had a negative difference mean ± standard deviation. In conclusion, the perception of the framework SBAR was positive and its implementation can improve communication between professionals and improve patient safety.

Keywords: Nursing, communication failure, SBAR, organizational culture change, patient safety.