How to write an SBAR nursing handover without it becoming a mess

On the surface, an SBAR handover looks like four simple boxes, but in practice, it's very easy for it to turn into a rambling narrative. When the night shift is short-staffed, if you write a wall of background info for every patient, the incoming nurse won't be able to grasp the key points. I now pull out abnormal risks separately—such as fall risks, lines/tubes, skin integrity, pain, pending…