in the training course and to use SBAR in their daily work. Eighty per cent
(155 of 194) of the personnel were trained during the period May to September
2011 and the rest were offered continuous training.
3) Information material describing the SBAR structure and the SBAR
pocket card to be used was distributed to all personnel. At the PACU, the
SBAR card was attached to the patients’ tables, where most handovers were
conducted. In the room where the physicians’ handovers were conducted, a
SBAR poster was set up on the wall. At the ICU, a pre-printed SBAR template
was used for the receivers’ notes during handover.
4) To monitor the intervention process and as feedback to the intervention
group, 168 structured observations were performed during 7 months of the
implementation period to measure adherence to SBAR at handovers. The
structured observations, using a specific protocol, were conducted in the OT,
PACU and ICU by members of the local inter-professional group.
As careful control of the implementation is required for interpretation of
the findings, process evaluation86, 87 measures were made. The process evaluation
was performed by the author (MR) during 7 months of the implementation
period using structured telephone interviews with a random sample of
66 personnel in the intervention group. The process evaluation showed that
the majority of personnel had taken the in-house training course and had
used the SBAR tool during the past seven working days (Paper II and III).
The intervention was conducted during a period of 11 months. Questionnaires
were delivered at baseline and follow-up, and the incident reports
were collected during a one-year period prior to implementation and oneyear
period after implementation (Paper II). Digitally recorded, structured
observations of handovers, reproduced reports and reviews of anaesthetic
records were conducted at baseline (Paper I) and at follow-up to s