ISBAR – Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation
ISBAR is a mnemonic designed to improve the quality of information passed between individuals. In a medical setting, it improves patient safety by allowing clinicians to communicate in a structured and standardised format. It allows clinicians to frame conversations such that critical information is conveyed in an efficient and well understood manner.
Patient information is conveyed under the headings: Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation. Sub headings for each of the ISBAR structure are also provided. Variations of these sub headings are often used – with different sub headings suggested for different medical settings – allowing the format to be extended depending on the needs of different medical areas.
The Ranesys ISBAR Handover tool uses the ISBAR mnemonic for patient data collection, indexing and presentation. Its use has verifiably improved the quality, consistency and safety of patient handover in the various clinical settings our tool is being used in. The clinical settings supported by the Ranesys ISBAR Handover tool are: Medical; Surgical; Mental Health; Obstetrics and Gynaecology; and Paediatrics. There is also a custom setting for deteriorating patients. Please click here to find out more about the tool.
