Capella 4005 Assessment 3

Name

Capella university

NURS-FPX4005 Nursing Leadership: Focusing on People, Processes, and Organizations

Prof. Name

Date

Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal

Effective communication between nurses and physicians is essential for safe, timely, and coordinated patient care. At St. Michael’s Medical Center, communication breakdowns during patient handoffs, emergencies, and transitions between departments can contribute to delays, misunderstandings, and preventable safety events. A standardized SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) communication process can provide a consistent structure for exchanging critical patient information. Combined with interdisciplinary teamwork, leadership support, staff education, and ongoing evaluation, SBAR can strengthen communication, support faster clinical decision-making, and promote patient safety.

Objective of the Interdisciplinary Plan

The primary objective of this interdisciplinary plan is to implement standardized communication practices using the SBAR framework during nurse-physician interactions, particularly during emergencies, patient transfers, and clinical handoffs.

SBAR provides healthcare professionals with a predictable structure for communicating essential information. Nurses can use the framework to explain the patient’s current situation, provide relevant background information, communicate their assessment, and identify the recommended next step. Establishing this shared communication process can reduce ambiguity and help ensure that important clinical information is not overlooked.

The implementation will focus on improving communication efficiency while supporting broader patient-safety goals. Key outcomes will include monitoring communication-related errors, treatment response times, staff perceptions of interdisciplinary communication, and adherence to the SBAR process.

Questions and Expected Outcomes

Several questions can guide evaluation of the proposed SBAR implementation.

Evaluation Question	Expected Outcome
How will SBAR affect nurse-physician communication?	SBAR is expected to provide greater structure and clarity while reducing the potential for misinterpretation.
Will staff require additional training?	Yes. Initial education and practice will be necessary to promote consistent use of the framework.
How will effectiveness be measured?	Outcomes can be evaluated through error reports, response times, SBAR adherence, and staff feedback.
What barriers may affect implementation?	Resistance to change, inconsistent use, workflow pressures, and limited reinforcement may affect adoption.
How could improved communication affect patient care?	More structured information exchange may support timely clinical decisions and reduce communication-related safety risks.

Change Management Using Lewin’s Model

Kurt Lewin’s Change Management Model provides a practical framework for introducing SBAR into a multidisciplinary healthcare environment. The model consists of three stages: unfreezing, change, and refreezing.

During the unfreezing stage, hospital leaders identify existing communication problems and explain how inconsistent handoffs can affect patient safety and clinical efficiency. Sharing baseline data, staff concerns, and examples of communication failures can help create awareness of the need for change.

The change stage involves educating nurses, physicians, and other relevant personnel about SBAR. Staff can participate in training sessions, simulations, role-playing exercises, and supervised practice. These activities allow clinicians to become familiar with SBAR before it becomes part of routine workflow.

During the refreezing stage, the organization reinforces SBAR as an expected communication practice. Leadership support, monitoring, feedback, refresher education, and integration into organizational procedures can help maintain consistent use. A structured change process can also help address resistance and support long-term adoption (Ahaiwe, 2024).

Transformational Leadership and SBAR Implementation

Transformational leadership can support successful interdisciplinary communication initiatives by encouraging collaboration, engagement, and shared responsibility. Leaders who communicate a clear vision for patient safety can help staff understand why standardized communication is important.

Transformational leadership also emphasizes staff participation and professional development. For SBAR implementation, leaders can encourage nurses and physicians to provide feedback about barriers, participate in training, and identify opportunities to improve the communication process. Creating an environment in which team members can raise concerns respectfully may strengthen trust and accountability.

A systematic review by Ystaas et al. (2023) identified relationships between transformational leadership, nursing work environments, and patient outcomes. In the context of this plan, leadership engagement can therefore provide organizational support for communication improvement and interdisciplinary teamwork.

Interdisciplinary Team Collaboration Strategy

Successful SBAR implementation requires participation from multiple healthcare professionals rather than relying solely on nurses or physicians. Each team member should have clearly defined responsibilities throughout the implementation process.

Team Member	Primary Responsibility
Nurse Educator	Provides SBAR education, demonstrations, simulations, and practice sessions during the implementation period.
Unit Manager	Coordinates implementation on the unit, monitors adherence, and facilitates regular progress meetings.
Nurses and Physicians	Use SBAR during critical handoffs, patient transfers, and emergency communications.
Quality Improvement Team	Tracks communication-related outcomes, evaluates safety indicators, and provides periodic reports.
Hospital Leadership	Provides organizational support, allocates resources, and reviews implementation progress.

The TeamSTEPPS framework can complement SBAR by strengthening teamwork, communication, leadership, situation monitoring, and mutual support. TeamSTEPPS emphasizes structured teamwork strategies that can help healthcare professionals coordinate their activities and respond effectively to patient-care needs.

Training that combines standardized communication tools with teamwork principles can give clinicians opportunities to practice communication in realistic situations. Real-time coaching, feedback, and performance evaluation can further reinforce appropriate communication behaviors. Evidence from healthcare settings suggests that TeamSTEPPS-based interventions can influence perceptions of teamwork and patient safety culture (Hassan et al., 2024; Trujillo & Ann, 2022).

Staff Training and Implementation

Staff education should occur before SBAR becomes an expected component of clinical workflow. The nurse educator can coordinate training sessions covering the purpose of SBAR, each component of the framework, appropriate situations for its use, and common communication challenges.

Practical exercises are particularly useful because staff need to apply SBAR rather than simply understand its definition. Simulation-based scenarios can include emergency deterioration, patient transfers, changes in patient condition, and communication between nursing and medical teams.

The implementation process can include:

Initial SBAR education for participating staff.
Practice using clinical scenarios and simulations.
Feedback from nurses, physicians, and other team members.
Monitoring of SBAR use during selected handoffs.
Refresher training when communication gaps are identified.
Regular review of outcome data by the quality improvement team.

A 2024 pilot study examining SBAR in obstetric and gynecological settings found that the tool can provide a structured approach to clinical communication and patient safety, supporting its consideration as part of communication improvement initiatives (Toumi et al., 2024).

Required Organizational Resources

Implementing SBAR requires adequate staffing, training resources, technology, leadership support, and funding. Many of the necessary resources may already be available within the hospital, which can reduce the need for major infrastructure investments.

Resource	Requirements
Staffing	Nurse educators, project coordinators, nurses, physicians, quality improvement personnel, and leadership representatives.
Training Resources	SBAR educational materials, TeamSTEPPS resources, simulation activities, and staff practice sessions.
Technology	Existing EHR systems and communication platforms can support documentation, monitoring, and communication workflows.
Facilities	Training rooms, staff areas, simulation spaces, and interdisciplinary meeting areas.
Financial Resources	Funding for educational materials, staff training, monitoring tools, and external consultation when necessary.
Leadership Support	Administrative oversight, policy support, staff engagement, and continued evaluation.

A project coordinator can oversee implementation activities, collect feedback, coordinate training, and communicate progress to organizational leaders. Existing electronic health record systems and communication technologies can also be incorporated into the initiative where appropriate.

Risks of Not Implementing the Plan

Failing to address communication problems can create ongoing challenges for patient safety and organizational efficiency. Inconsistent handoffs may contribute to missing or misunderstood information, delayed responses, duplication of work, and difficulties coordinating care.

Communication problems may also increase pressure on healthcare professionals by requiring clarification, repeated communication, or correction of preventable misunderstandings. Over time, inefficient interdisciplinary communication can affect workflow and staff satisfaction.

Implementing a standardized communication process does not eliminate clinical risk, but it provides healthcare professionals with a common structure for sharing essential information. Regular evaluation is therefore necessary to determine whether SBAR is being used consistently and whether implementation is associated with improvements in relevant safety and communication measures.

Measuring the Success of SBAR Implementation

Evaluation should include both quantitative and qualitative measures. Baseline data should be collected before implementation and compared with data obtained after SBAR has been introduced.

Potential indicators include:

Communication-related incident reports.
Handoff completeness and SBAR adherence.
Response times during selected clinical situations.
Staff perceptions of interdisciplinary communication.
Patient-safety indicators relevant to the implementation setting.
Staff participation in SBAR training.
Feedback from nurses and physicians regarding workflow and usability.

The quality improvement team can review these measures monthly and provide reports to hospital leadership. Quarterly reviews can then determine whether additional education, workflow changes, or leadership interventions are needed.

Sustainability of the Interdisciplinary Plan

Long-term sustainability depends on making SBAR part of routine organizational practice rather than treating it as a temporary quality improvement project. Leadership should reinforce expectations, managers should monitor implementation, and educators should provide refresher training when necessary.

SBAR can also be incorporated into orientation programs for new nurses and physicians. Including the framework in relevant policies, handoff procedures, competency assessments, and simulation activities can further normalize its use.

Continuous feedback is important because communication practices may change as staffing, technology, patient populations, and organizational workflows evolve. A sustainable approach should therefore combine standardized procedures with periodic evaluation and opportunities for staff input.

Conclusion

A standardized SBAR communication process can provide St. Michael’s Medical Center with a structured approach for improving nurse-physician communication during emergencies, handoffs, and patient transitions. Successful implementation requires more than introducing a communication acronym; it depends on staff education, interdisciplinary collaboration, transformational leadership, appropriate resources, and ongoing measurement. Using Lewin’s Change Management Model and complementary TeamSTEPPS strategies can provide a structured foundation for implementation and sustainability. Continuous monitoring can help the organization identify barriers, reinforce effective communication practices, and support its broader patient-safety goals.

References

Ahaiwe, L. (2024). The impact of Intervention to Reduce Acute Care Transfer (INTERACT) for Heart Failure (HF) patients in the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) [Doctoral dissertation, ProQuest]. https://www.proquest.com/openview/982a82bf043e43c31c72dd9ff0267ee9/1

Hassan, A. E., Mohammed, F. A., Zakaria, A. M., & Ibrahim, I. A. (2024). Evaluating the effect of TeamSTEPPS on teamwork perceptions and patient safety culture among newly graduated nurses. BMC Nursing, 23, Article 543. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01850-y

Toumi, D., Dhouib, W., Zouari, I., Ghadhab, I., Gara, M., & Zoukar, O. (2024). The SBAR tool for communication and patient safety in gynaecology and obstetrics: A Tunisian pilot study. BMC Medical Education, 24, Article 521. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05210-x