Nurses Experiences with ISBAR in the Hospital Operating Unit- Literature Review
Nasimiyu, Audrey Jane (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2025032821995
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2025032821995
Tiivistelmä
The research explores the role of ISBAR (Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation). The purpose is to provide nurses with knowledge on the application of ISBAR in a hospital surgical unit.
The theoretical background is divided into three main concepts: ISBAR, nursing roles and tasks, and the operating unit. ISBAR is an information transfer approach used by nurses and healthcare professionals to facilitate swift and efficient patient report handovers, applicable in various healthcare settings. The operating unit is a well-structured area where surgical procedures are conducted. Surgical patients are cared for in three phases: preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative. Nurses’ responsibility in patient care includes using a person-centered approach in caring for patients and promoting safety. The nurses in operating rooms, scrub nurses and circulating nurses, play vital roles in patient care.
This thesis adopts a descriptive literature review as its method of inquiry, whereby the author evaluates the findings of several studies to answer the research question. This research used PubMed, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Science Direct, and Google Scholar to obtain articles systematically, employing Boolean operators to enhance the search.
The selected articles were identified and analyzed using thematic analysis to categorize the data into key themes. The research identified three major themes, including the application of ISBAR tool during patient report handovers for nurses in the surgical unit. In the second theme entails the impact of ISBAR on team collaboration, and the last theme is the challenges and barriers to the implementation of ISBAR. This study was successful despite bias issues emerging from the types of articles used. The articles were specific about ISBAR application in the operating room but failed to cover other key areas where the tool could be used. Ethical considerations regarding data privacy were observed throughout the study.
The findings in this thesis indicate that ISBAR was successful in improving report transmission during handoff. ISBAR builds teamwork and reduces the likelihood of errors occurring in the operating unit. The study concluded that despite the challenges in adopting ISBAR, it is important to have the tool applied to all healthcare workers within the operating unit, including nurses. Thus, hospitals and other care facilities are recommended to investigate adopting ISBAR while providing the necessary strategies to handle the identified challenges.
The theoretical background is divided into three main concepts: ISBAR, nursing roles and tasks, and the operating unit. ISBAR is an information transfer approach used by nurses and healthcare professionals to facilitate swift and efficient patient report handovers, applicable in various healthcare settings. The operating unit is a well-structured area where surgical procedures are conducted. Surgical patients are cared for in three phases: preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative. Nurses’ responsibility in patient care includes using a person-centered approach in caring for patients and promoting safety. The nurses in operating rooms, scrub nurses and circulating nurses, play vital roles in patient care.
This thesis adopts a descriptive literature review as its method of inquiry, whereby the author evaluates the findings of several studies to answer the research question. This research used PubMed, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Science Direct, and Google Scholar to obtain articles systematically, employing Boolean operators to enhance the search.
The selected articles were identified and analyzed using thematic analysis to categorize the data into key themes. The research identified three major themes, including the application of ISBAR tool during patient report handovers for nurses in the surgical unit. In the second theme entails the impact of ISBAR on team collaboration, and the last theme is the challenges and barriers to the implementation of ISBAR. This study was successful despite bias issues emerging from the types of articles used. The articles were specific about ISBAR application in the operating room but failed to cover other key areas where the tool could be used. Ethical considerations regarding data privacy were observed throughout the study.
The findings in this thesis indicate that ISBAR was successful in improving report transmission during handoff. ISBAR builds teamwork and reduces the likelihood of errors occurring in the operating unit. The study concluded that despite the challenges in adopting ISBAR, it is important to have the tool applied to all healthcare workers within the operating unit, including nurses. Thus, hospitals and other care facilities are recommended to investigate adopting ISBAR while providing the necessary strategies to handle the identified challenges.