SBAR is a four-part communication tool nurses use to report patient information clearly to doctors. Situation covers current status, Background covers history, Assessment covers vital signs and symptoms, and Recommendation states what you're asking for. A worked example shows how to call a doctor about a patient with breathing trouble.
SBAR is tested heavily on the nclex, so you will definitely want to master this. My friend, my clinical instructor, would also have us actually give her our SBAR reports anytime that she asked. It was kind of scary. So, S stands for situation. What is happening with the patient right now? B is background, so relevant context and history. And then A is your assessment, your objective and subjective data. And then R is the recommendation, what you need or want to happen. So recommendation recommendations for this patient. So let me give you an example. If you are calling the doctor, you say Dr. Smith, this is Nurse Christina. I'm on Fort West. I'm calling about Mr. Taylor in room 310. He's having acute difficulty breathing. Now that's the situation. So he's a 68 year old male admitted yesterday for pneumonia and he has a history of copd. Now that's the background. All right. Now his respiratory rate now is 28. His oxygen saturation dropped from 92 to 88% on room air and he has audible wheezing. Now, that part is the assessment. And then I've started him on two liters of oxygen. I'm requesting an order for a stat breathing treatment and a chest X ray. Now that's the recommendation.
