Gaps in the flow of information, caused by health care workers’ insufficient communication and reporting skills, are one of the major causes affecting patient safety. In general, verbal reporting in the nursing field is unstructured. Especially in acute situations, the time pressure causes challenges for quality communication. Through standardising the handover process, gaps in the flow of information can be reduced, and as a result patient safety will be improved. The internationally used the SBAR reporting method is one of the widely studied standardised protocols for reporting. It is a method used for concise communication of the most essential information in the health care field. The SBAR method is proved to be especially suitable tool for reporting in acute situations requiring rapid action.

The purpose of this functional Bachelor’s thesis was to prepare teaching material on reporting utilising the SBAR method for Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK). The purpose was also to create a reporting tool for acute situations for the nursing students. The aim of this thesis was to offer nursing students a good basis for reporting, especially in acute situations wherein rapid actions are needed. This was achieved by preparing PowerPoint teaching material and a printable checklist. The language of the teaching material and the checklist is Finnish. The ultimate goal of this Bachelor’s thesis was to enhance nursing students’ reporting skills, and through this, improve patient safety. Theoretical starting points of this thesis consist of patient safety, communication in the health care field, and teaching material. These subjects were studied through a literature review.

For the future research, one recommendation could be to study if nursing students find the SBAR method useful in practice. Another future recommendation could be to study the SBAR method from the aspect of receiving a report.