SBAR Handover

Expansion

SBAR:

• S - Situation: who you are, who the patient is, and the problem in one sentence
• B - Background: relevant history, admission reason, current treatment
• A - Assessment: your observations, NEWS2 score, and what you think is happening
• R - Recommendation: what you want, and by when

“The R is the part people omit.” Saying “I need you to see this patient within 15 minutes” is more effective than describing the observations and hoping.

ATMIST is the prehospital and trauma equivalent:

• A - Age
• T - Time of incident
• M - Mechanism
• I - Injuries found and suspected
• S - Signs: observations
• T - Treatment given

RSVP is an alternative for deterioration: Reason, Story, Vital signs, Plan.

Handover is a recognised source of error, particularly at shift change and between teams. The principles that reduce it are a fixed structure, a quiet environment, read back of critical information, and an explicit statement of who is now responsible.