Verbal report is vital to ensure and maintain continuity of patient care and hence has to comply with legal and professional requirement.
Definition
Verbal report is defined as the verbal exchange of key information regarding the patient and healthcare management between members of the healthcare.
Purposes for Verbal Report
- To communicate between the healthcare team members.
- To prevent delay and repetition in patient care.
- To plan the care.
- To enhance the quality of services.
- To prevent legal issues.
- To serve as a basis for educational tool.
Areas of Usage
Verbal reports are commonly used in the following:
- Change of shift reports.
- Telephone orders and reports.
- Care plan conference.
- Nursing rounds.
- When communicating with physicians.
Formats for Verbal Reports
The formats for verbal report to communicate among the healthcare team members vary among institutions and they include I PASS the BATON, I-SBAR, PACE, and five P’s. The sample tools are discussed as follows:
- I PASS the BATON: Introduction, patient, assessment, situation, safety concerns, background, actions, timing, ownership, next.
- I-SBAR: Introduction, situation, background, assessment, recommendation.
- PACE: Patient/problem, assessment/actions, continuing (treatments)/changes, evaluation.
- Five P’s: Patient, plan, purpose, problem, precautions, physician (assigned to coordinate).
1) Report Between Nurse and Physician in Healthcare Setting
The commonly used format for reporting between the nurse and the physician in clinical setting is I-SBAR.
This format was developed to structure conversations between physicians and nurses to explain the situations that require immediate action. Currently, this tool or format has increased communication satisfaction among the healthcare providers because of its preciseness. The Joint Commission on Accreditation describes I-SBAR communication technique as follows:
- I: Introduction/identify
- Who you are and who is the patient?
- What are their pertinent demographic details?
- S: Situation
- What is the situation?
- Why is the physician called?
- B: Background
- What is the background information?
- A: Assessment
- What is your assessment about the problem?
- Are you unsure about the problem?
- Is the patient deteriorating?
- R: Recommendation
- How should the problem be corrected?
- Introduction: Dr. A, “I am Ms. B, staff nurse in general medical ward. I would like to update you regarding Mr. X’s condition and clarify orders with you.”
- Situation: For the past 30 minutes, Mr. X is having pain in the periumbilical area and now it is radiating to the right lower quadrant.
- Background: Mr. X, 45 years old, male, was admitted at 08.00 am today with complaints of vomiting and abdominal pain and he is on NPO as per order.
- Assessment: He looks unwell; pain score is 7/10 and is constant in nature; BP is 110/70 mmHg.
- Recommendation: Do you want to order any tests or medication? If there is no improvement, when should I call you back?
2) Report at the End of the Shift
The commonly used format for reporting at the end of the shift is PACE. It is a patient-centered, systematic template, promoting safety and continuity of care between shifts by organizing the data into the following four categories:
- Patient/problem: This includes the patient’s name, age, room number, diagnosis, reason for hospital admission, and recent procedures or surgery. Summarize any medical history that is relevant to the current admission (e.g., allergies and any restrictions such as “logroll side to side only”).
- Assessment/actions: Focus on nursing assessment and interventions that were performed as per the patient’s requirement.
- Continuing/changes: Focus on the patient care and treatments that must be continued in the upcoming shift. It also includes recent or anticipated changes in the patient’s condition or the plan of care. Examples of these data include patient care goals, lab tests, medications, treatments, tests, appointments, or plans scheduled for the next shift, and expected discharge timing.
- Evaluation: Evaluate the patient’s response to nursing and medical interventions, the effectiveness of the patient care plan, and the goals and outcomes for the patient.
Best Practices
- Deliver report at the bedside when possible to verify details directly with the patient.
- Use concise, jargon-free language and avoid lengthy narratives.
- Prioritize unstable or time-sensitive issues first.
- Confirm receipt and understanding by having the listener restate critical points.
- Limit interruptions and choose a quiet environment to reduce miscommunication.
Do’s and Don’ts
| Do | Don’t |
|---|---|
| Use a standardized format (SBAR/ISBAR) | Wing it—avoid unstructured, ad hoc reporting |
| Verify patient identifiers at the start | Omit changes since the last report |
| Emphasize critical data first (unstable vitals, new findings) | Overload listener with non-relevant details |
| Invite questions and confirm understanding | Assume listener “knows” the plan without explicit confirmation |
| Document that handover occurred (time, participants, mode) | Skip verbal report even for “stable” patients |
REFERENCES
- Annamma Jacob, Rekha, Jhadav Sonali Tarachand: Clinical Nursing Procedures: The Art of Nursing Practice, 5th Edition, March 2023, Jaypee Publishers, ISBN-13: 978-9356961845 ISBN-10: 9356961840
- Omayalachi CON, Manual of Nursing Procedures and Practice, Vol 1, 3 Edition 2023, Published by Wolters Kluwer’s, ISBN: 978-9393553294
- Sandra Nettina, Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice, 11th Edition, January 2019, Published by Wolters Kluwers, ISBN-13:978-9388313285
- Adrianne Dill Linton, Medical-Surgical Nursing, 8th Edition, 2023, Elsevier Publications, ISBN: 978-0323826716
- Donna Ignatavicius, Medical-Surgical Nursing: Concepts for Clinical Judgment and Collaborative Care, 11th Edition ,2024, Elsevier Publications, ISBN: 978-0323878265
- Lewis’s Medical-Surgical Nursing, 12th Edition,2024, Elsevier Publications, ISBN: 978-0323789615
- AACN Essentials of Critical Care Nursing, 5th Ed. Sarah. Delgado, 2023, Published by American Association of Critical-Care Nurses ISBN: 978-1264269884
- Ernstmeyer K, Christman E, editors. Nursing Fundamentals [Internet]. 2nd edition. Eau Claire (WI): Chippewa Valley Technical College; 2024. PART IV, NURSING PROCESS. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK610818/
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