Date
6-16-2025
Department
School of Nursing
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Chair
Goodrich, Cindy
Keywords
communication, health care protocols, SBAR, nursing reports
Disciplines
Nursing | Psychology
Recommended Citation
Tricoli, Michael, "Strengthening Communication Between Staff and Health Providers in a Mental Health Setting" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7087.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7087
Abstract
Communication between nursing staff and providers is essential for supporting optimum patient outcomes. Each component of the communication process needs to be clearly defined to create an environment of safety for both patients and caregivers. The SBAR (situation, background, assessment, recommendation) is a nurse-driven protocol that is widely used as a communication and documentation template in health care organizations. This format is currently not being used effectively on the mental health units where the evidence-based project was implemented. Recognizing and reiterating the value of SBAR as a communication tool is necessary when communication deficits are noted. The purpose and scope of this scholarly project was to provide refresher education on the SBAR approach among nurses and providers and to emphasize the importance of the use of such a tool to strengthen communication among these health care professionals. The project is designed to explore attitudes on communication and SBAR effectiveness on two behavioral health units while surveying communication effectiveness between nurses and health providers with any change in patient status before and after an educational intervention. The two populations targeted with the intervention: care providers and registered nurses. Key results showed improved attitudes and understanding of the SBAR communication tool with implications for practice noted as SBAR is an effective communication tool on behavioral health units when effectively presented.
