ENHANCING PATIENT SAFETY THROUGH STRUCTURED AND DOCUMENTED HANDOVER FOR ANAESTHESIA TRANSFERS: A SIMULATION-BASED QUALITY IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE.
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Keywords
Patient safety, SBAR, simulation training, handover, interprofessional communication, quality improvement, medical education
Abstract
Background: Communication failures during patient handovers represent a critical threat to patient safety, particularly during high-risk transitions from operating theatres to intensive care units. Despite widespread recognition of this problem, standardized approaches to handover training remain inconsistently implemented across healthcare institutions.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive simulation-based educational intervention utilizing the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) framework and ISOBAR checklist in improving anesthesia-to-ICU handover quality, communication completeness, and healthcare provider confidence.
Methods: A prospective, quasi-experimental pre-post study was conducted over 3 months in a tertiary care academic hospital. Fifty-seven healthcare providers participated in a multi-component intervention including structured educational sessions, standardized in-situ simulation scenarios, and systematic debriefing. Primary outcomes were measured using the pre validated SBAR-LA rubric, checklist adherence rates, and self- confidence scores. Qualitative feedback was analyzed thematically.
Results: SBAR-LA scores demonstrated significant improvement from pre- intervention (mean 10.8, SD 3.6) to post-intervention (mean 15.8, SD 3.0; p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 1.5). . Checklist adherence increased from 58% to 88% (p < 0.01), while self-confidence scores improved from 2.9 to 4.2 (p < 0.001). Qualitative analysis revealed enhanced awareness of structured communication protocols, improved interprofessional coordination, identification of previous communication gaps, and high perceived value of simulation-based learning.
Conclusion: This simulation-based intervention significantly enhanced the quality and completeness of anaesthesia-to-ICU handovers. The integration of validated assessment tools facilitated objective evaluation and supported sustainable team-based learning. These findings support broader implementation of structured handover training as a critical patient safety initiative.
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Dr. Archana Shivashankar
Associate Professor, Department of anesthesiology. JSS medical college, JSS Academy of higher education and research.
Dr. Sarika M. Shetty
Associate Professor, Department of anesthesiology. JSS medical college, JSS Academy of higher education and research.
Dr. Meghana Marulasiddappa
Assistant Professor, Department of anesthesiology. JSS medical college, JSS Academy of higher education and research.