Bedside Is Best

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to find the most effective way for nurses to give shift handoff so that patient safety will be improved. In the field of nursing, patient care and communication are the top priorities, yet there is no implemented standardized shift handoff protocol used in healthcare facilities or taught in nursing education. This project focused on answering the question: In patients admitted to the hospital, does desk report or bedside report with the use of SBAR decrease incidents at shift change and improve patient safety during a hospital stay? Research on this subject determined that the use of bedside report in conjunction with SBAR promoted patient safety, reduced cost to healthcare facilities, and increased both nurse accountability and critical thinking. The analysis of this data supports that in the field of nursing the implementation of bed side shift report and SBAR can greatly improve patient care and promote safety.