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Am J Perinatol 2022; 39(02): 216-224
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1715524
Original Article

Evaluation of a Modified SBAR Report to Physician Tool to Standardize Communication on Neonatal Transport

Shaneela Shahid
1   Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
2   Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
,
Lehana Thabane
1   Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
2   Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
3   Department of Anesthesia, McMaster University; Biostatistics Unit, St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Canada
,
Michael Marrin
4   Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
,
Karen Schattauer
4   Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
,
Laurel Silenzi
4   Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
,
Sayem Borhan
1   Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
5   Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Canada
,
Balpreet Singh
6   Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
,
Cherian Thomas
7   Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
,
Sumesh Thomas
8   Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
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Abstract

Objective SBAR (situation, background, assessment and recommendation) is a structured format for the effective communication of critically relevant information. This tool was developed as a generic template to provide structure to the communication of clinical information between health care providers. Neonatal transport often presents clinically stressful circumstances where concise and accurate information is required to be shared clearly between multidisciplinary health care providers. A modified SBAR communication tool was designed to facilitate structured communication between nonphysician bedside care providers operating from remote sites and physicians providing decision-making support at receiving care facilities. Prospective interventional study was designed to evaluate the reliability of a “SBAR report to physician tool” in sharing clinically relevant information between multidisciplinary care providers on neonatal transport.

Study Design The study was conducted between 2011 and 2014 by a dedicated neonatal transport service based at McMaster Children's Hospital which provides care for approximately 500 infants in Southern Ontario annually. In the preintervention phase, 50 calls were randomly selected for the evaluation and 115 consecutively recorded transport calls following adoption of the reporting tool. The quality of calls prior to and after the intervention was assessed by reviewers independently. Inter-rater agreement was also assessed for both periods.

Results Inter-rater agreement between raters was moderate to perfect in most components of the SBAR “report to the physician tool” except for the assessment component, which showed fair agreement during both preintervention and postintervention periods. There was an improvement in global score (primary outcome) with a mean difference of 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77–1.14; p < 0.001) and in cumulative score with a mean difference of 8.55 (95% CI: 7.26–9.84; p < 0.001) in postintervention period.

Conclusion The use of the SBAR report to physician tool improved the quality of clinical information shared between nonphysician members of the neonatal transport team and neonatal transport physicians.

Key Points

  • Long-Accurate and concise information sharing is crucial for decision-making in neonatal transport.

  • Information sharing between multidisciplinary teams can be enhanced by using a commonly understood information sharing template.

  • The SBAR report to physician tool improves the quality of information shared between multidisciplinary team members in neonatal transport.

Keywords

SBAR - neonatal transport - communication tool - handover

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 10 May 2020

Accepted: 02 July 2020

Article published online:
20 August 2020

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