Clinical handoff communication is the transfer of essential patient information, responsibility, and authority between healthcare providers during transitions of care. SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) provides a structured framework: Situation identifies the patient and immediate concern, Background provides relevant clinical history, Assessment communicates the nurse's clinical judgment about the problem, and Recommendation proposes specific actions or requests. I-SBAR-R extends the framework with Introduction (identifying yourself and your role) and Readback (receiver repeating critical information for verification). Communication failures are identified as the leading root cause of sentinel events and adverse outcomes in healthcare, with handoff errors contributing to an estimated 80% of serious medical errors. The nurse uses standardized handoff tools consistently, communicates clinical reasoning rather than just data, highlights active problems and pending results, identifies contingency plans (what to do if the patient's condition changes), allows opportunity for questions and clarification, and performs bedside handoff when possible to include the patient in the communication process and verify information accuracy.