SBAR Report Sheet Template (Printable PDF & GoodNotes)
An SBAR handover sheet with four lined boxes: situation, background, assessment and recommendation. Use it to organise a handover, a call to a doctor or a shift report clearly and in the same order every time. Keep it general, with no patient identifiers.
- Printable US Letter8.5 × 11 in, white paper
- Printable A4210 × 297 mm, white paper
- iPad / GoodNotesAlso Notability and Noteshelf
- E-ink tabletreMarkable, Kindle Scribe, Boox
Free PDF, 1 page, undated. No sign-up needed.
Shown for iPad in the Ocean Calm theme. Printable downloads use white paper (there's a dark mode preview below); the e-ink version is black and white.
One page, ready to fill in.
- Boxes for situation, background, assessment and recommendation
- Undated, so you can print or duplicate it as often as you need
Who it's for
Registered nurses, nursing students, healthcare assistants, paramedics and junior doctors who want a consistent structure for handovers and escalation calls. Care home staff and community nurses calling a GP out of hours use the same structure, as do carers who need to explain a change in someone's condition clearly.
Getting the most from a sbar report sheet.
Situation in one sentence
What's happening now and why you're calling or handing over: "I'm concerned about a post-op patient with increasing pain and a rising heart rate."
Background: only what's relevant
Admission reason, relevant history, procedures, medications and allergies that matter to this situation.
Assessment: what you think
Your findings and observations, and what you think is going on. Say it, even if you're unsure; it's what the listener needs.
Recommendation: what you need
Be specific: "I'd like you to review the patient within 30 minutes" or "please prescribe…". End with what happens next.
No identifiers on personal notes
Follow your hospital's policies on patient information. Use this page as a structure and for training, not to store identifiable details.
Practise out loud
Read your SBAR aloud before a call. Hearing it helps you cut unnecessary detail and makes sure your recommendation is clear and specific.
Included in 2 planners
This template is a page in each of these planners. Open one to see everything else that comes with it.
Get it inside a full hyperlinked planner
The nurse & shift worker planner includes this page alongside dated month and week pages for your year, with side tabs and links between every page. Pick your device and theme, preview it free, and pay only when it's right.
- Dated pages for the whole year
- Tap a tab or a date to jump there
- GoodNotes, Notability, Samsung Notes, e-ink and print sizes
Opens the nurse & shift worker planner with the Shift Work section switched on.
Or read about the nurse & shift worker planner first.
About this sbar report sheet template
Need help importing it? See devices and apps or the FAQ.
What does SBAR stand for?
Situation, background, assessment, recommendation. It's a structured way to communicate about a patient, widely used in nursing and healthcare.
Can nursing students use it?
Yes. It's a good way to practise handovers and calls during placements and simulations.
Can I use it for patient handover?
Use it as a structure, following your workplace's policies on what you can write down and where.
What's in the nurse planner?
A shift schedule, SBAR handover notes and a CPD log, plus wellness, sleep and budget pages for shift workers.
Is SBAR used outside nursing?
Yes. It began in the military and is used across healthcare, and some businesses use it for escalating problems clearly.
