Nur-351 Week 2 Discussion Board Post 1: Case Study

Chamberlain College of Nursing — NUR-351— Week 2 Discussion Board Post 1 — Jan 2015 The Joint Commission (2014) identified communication errors as the fourth highest root cause of sentinel events from 2004 through the second quarter of 2014. In order for nurses to be effective in their dynamic roles, they must be effective communicators with an array of interdisciplinary healthcare team members, patients and families (CCN, 2014). Communication can be frustrating, leading to pertinent information not relayed, resulting in the rise of potential errors and poor patient outcomes. Have you ever been frustrated when communicating with a physician, giving shift report, or consulting the physical therapist? To reduce frustration and potential errors and increase patient safety and outcomes, nurses must also be efficient in their communication style. The communication model, SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation), becomes an invaluable communication resource, when adopted and implemented by the facility and all healthcare team members are trained
accordingly (Dunsford, 2009). This nurse has used SBAR in her medical facility and found it enhanced the effectiveness of communication among fellow nurses and interdisciplinary team members, reduced potential delays in treatment in TCU and reduced shift report duration.
After the successful adoption and implementation of SBAR, this nurse’s facility also began incorporating verbal bedside reporting, if the patient consented. This nurse currently educates future nurses in SBAR and incorporates it in weekly nursing clinicals. Feedback from nursing students, regarding the use of SBAR, is that they feel more confident in communicating with medical personnel because they feel more confident in discerning what is pertinent information to relay. This nurse feels empowering new nurses with tools to increase their confidence and effectiveness as communicator, ultimately equates to increase nurse and patient satisfaction and
safety.

References
Chamberlain College of Nursing. (2014). NR 351 Lesson two lecture. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from http://nursingonline.chamberlain.edu
Dunsford, J. (2009). Structured communication: improving patient safety with SBAR... Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation. Nursing For Women 's Health, 13(5), 384-390. doi:10.1111/j.1751-486X.2009.01456.x
The Joint Commission (2014). Sentinel Event Data: Root Causes by Event Type 2004 – 2Q 2014. Retrieved from http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/18/Root_Causes_by_Event_Type_2004-2Q_2014.pdf