ISBARR Communication Tool:

What to Report When Calling the Physician

Before calling the physician:
1.
Assess your patient
2.
Review assessment data and patient chart considering appropriate physician to notify
3.
Know your patients admitting medical diagnosis
4.
Read and review the most recent physician notes and nurses notes
5.
Have the patients chart in hand and be ready to give the physician the patients history,
allergies, code status, I & O, most recent vital signs, lab and diagnostic results, and
current medications
6.
Focus on the current problem your patient is experiencing. Be concise and clear when
reporting your assessment to the physician
*Not everything needs to be reported to the physician-just report findings pertinent to your
patients current problem.

IDENTIFY

State your name, title, and unit

SITUATION

I am calling about: (Patient name and room number)

The PROBLEM I am calling about is:

BACKGROUND

State Admission Diagnosis and Date

State pertinent Medical History
Give brief synopsis of treatment if pertinent

ASSESSMENT

Most recent Vital Signs

Changes in Vital Signs or Assessment from Prior
Assessment

RECOMMENDATION

Say what you think would be helpful or needs to be

done for your Patient (labs, medications, x-ray,
transfer to ICU, physician evaluation, EKG,
Consultant Evaluation)
Ask about any Changes in Orders

READ BACK / VERIFY

Restate orders you have been given

Clarify frequency for assessing VS
Under what circumstances do you call physician
back

Adapted from Haig, KM, Sutton S, & Whittington, J. (2006). SBAR: A shared mental model
for improving communication between clinicians. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 32(3), 167-175.
Additional Reference for the Material
Enlow, M., Shanks, L., Guhde, J., & Perkins, M. (2010). Incorporating Interprofessional Communication Skills (ISBARR) Into an
Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum. Nurse Educator, 35(4), 176-180. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0b013e3181e339ac