Informative Speech Essay

Intended Audience

My audience for this informative speech will be for both new and experienced nurses working on any hospital floor that has regularly scheduled shift handoff reports. As this is a rather specific group, and terminology could be dependent to the type of care that is being done on a particular unit, a broader audience would be less appropriate. Bedside nursing experience will also be a large factor, as the information presented will be used primarily to reinforce and help guide already learned and used practices. The topic will be significant to help improve communication amongst clinical staff members by providing tools and solutions to help make a more concise, informative shift change report to prevent a lack of pertinent information, and allow for a more seamless transition in patient care.

Plan I. Introduction

A.

Consistent use of SBAR aids in identification and correction of improving the receiver 's confidence in the information contain in the handoff report (Blom, Petersson, Hagell, & Westergeren, 2015)

d. The SBAR communication tool can serve to eliminate temporarily the perceived hierarchies of the healthcare system (De Meester, Verspuy, Monsieurs, Van Bogaert, 2013; Vardaman, Cornell, Gondo, Amis, Townsend-Gervis, Thetford, 2012)

IV. Conclusion

A. Thesis: Medical errors can be attributed to communication barriers between medical staff during reports and hand off. Concentrating on pertinent information and utilizing standardized methods such as SBAR we can help to diminish the frequency of these errors.

B. Main points:

i. Providing appropriate, concise information during handoff report can help to reduce the occurrence of medical errors. ii. Standardized tools for report such as SBAR have been shown to increase efficiency and help to eliminate communication barriers.

C. Closing: By focusing on the important facts at hand we can improve confidence, avoid errors, and help better care for our patients and their