Try a Nursing task

• Patient: Eleanor Moss; lives alone in ground-floor flat; daughter visits evenings; prefers written morning visit time.
• Background: left hip replacement 17 September 2026; discharged home today after physiotherapy assessment.
• Current: walking with frame; assistance required for lower-body dressing; wound dry; dressing intact; pain controlled on the discharge regimen.
• Plan from ward team: community nurse visit 25 September for wound review and medication-list check; follow supplied wound plan; do not change medicines.
• Teaching: can describe transfer technique; cannot read small print on medicine labels; large-print list supplied but understanding not yet checked.
• Coordination: daughter cannot attend morning visits; patient consents to daughter receiving appointment information; transport home arranged.
• Follow-up: orthopaedic clinic 1 October; hospital team remains contact for concerns under discharge plan.
• Other: retired library assistant; enjoys historical novels; television repaired during admission.

24 September 2026 Ms Priya Sen Community Nursing Coordinator Willow Community Service, 8 Alder Road, Fairford Dear Ms Priya Sen, Re: Eleanor Moss, born 12 February 1952 Ms Moss was admitted to our hospital and had a left hip replacement on 17 September. She is a retired library assistant who enjoys historical novels, and her television was repaired while she was here. She is going home today and I am writing about her continued care. She has made progress with physiotherapy and uses a frame for walking. Her wound is dry and the dressing is intact. Pain is controlled with the discharge medicines. She needs some help with dressing her lower body, but she can describe the transfer technique. These are the main things we have worked on during her stay. She lives in a ground-floor flat on her own. Her daughter visits in the evenings and may receive appointment information with her consent. A large-print medicine list has been supplied because she cannot read the small labels. Please help with the wound and medicines at home and make the necessary arrangements for a visit. She would appreciate written details of the appointment. She has an orthopaedic appointment on 1 October. Thank you for looking after her and supporting her recovery. Yours sincerely, Registered Nurse

24 September 2026 Ms Priya Sen Community Nursing Coordinator Willow Community Service, 8 Alder Road, Fairford Dear Ms Priya Sen, Re: Eleanor Moss, born 12 February 1952 I am writing to arrange a community nursing visit for Ms Moss tomorrow, following her discharge after a left hip replacement. She needs a wound review and a check of her understanding of the discharge medicines, particularly because she cannot read the small print on the labels. Her operation took place on 17 September. She is now walking with a frame following physiotherapy assessment, although she still requires assistance with lower-body dressing. Her wound is dry, the dressing is intact and her pain is controlled on the discharge regimen. Please follow the supplied wound plan. Ms Moss lives alone in a ground-floor flat. Her daughter visits in the evenings but cannot attend a morning visit. Ms Moss would prefer written confirmation of the morning appointment and has consented to her daughter receiving appointment information. She can describe the agreed transfer technique. A large-print medicine list has been supplied, but her understanding of it has not yet been checked. Please review this with her and compare the medicines with the discharge list. Her orthopaedic follow-up is on 1 October; concerns should be directed through the contact route in the discharge plan. Yours sincerely, Registered Nurse

• Purpose. Make the reason for writing clear immediately and develop the requested action sufficiently.
• Content. Select information the recipient needs for continuing care and transfer the supplied facts accurately.
• Conciseness and clarity. Summarise relevant information efficiently without obscuring meaning or adding distracting detail.
• Genre and style. Use a factual professional register suited to the recipient, avoiding judgement and unnecessary shorthand.
• Organisation and layout. Group related information and order the letter so the reader can locate the main needs quickly.
• Language. Use vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation accurately enough for precise, effortless understanding.

• The prescription and dose are unchanged.
• The new device has a preparation stage and an inhalation stage which the patient confuses.
• This conversation arranges private demonstration followed by observed practice. Physical technique demonstration follows the conversation using the patient’s actual prescribed device guide; candidates are not tested on unsupplied device steps.
• If technique remains difficult, repeat the unclear stage and arrange a further specialist teaching appointment. Prescription questions go to the prescriber.

Opening: I don't want to go through another lesson. I felt silly last time.

You know when to take the medicine but confuse preparing the device with inhaling.

The previous professional corrected you in front of your adult child. You want to practise without an audience.

Initially guarded; become more willing if privacy and non-judgemental feedback are offered.

Do not volunteer all hidden concerns at once. Respond to the candidate’s actual words; do not rescue a missed task by explaining the care plan for them.

Nurse: Hello, I’m the nurse working with you today. I understand the new device has been frustrating. Could you tell me what happened at the last session?

patient: I tried to use it and got corrected in front of my daughter. I felt as though I should already know.

Nurse: You knew your old device well, and this one asks you to do things differently. What part of the change has been hardest to follow?

patient: I know when to take it. I get mixed up about getting it ready and when I should breathe in.

Nurse: Being corrected in front of someone else can feel embarrassing. Thank you for telling me. This is a chance for us to make the explanation work for you, rather than test you.

patient: That sounds better, but I still do not want my daughter watching.

Nurse: Would you prefer to practise just with me today, and decide later whether you want her involved?

patient: Yes. I would be more comfortable if it were private.

Nurse: Let’s do that. First we can look at preparing the device, then the inhalation stage. After each part, I’ll pause so you can tell me what needs another explanation.

patient: Could you show me before I have a go?

Nurse: Of course. I’ll demonstrate first using this training device. Then you can try, and we can repeat any step that is unclear without rushing.

patient: I was worried you would expect me to get it right straight away.

Nurse: No. The medicine dose has not changed, but the way this device is used is different. That is why checking the technique matters even though the prescription is familiar.

patient: So I do not need to take extra medicine because it feels different?

Nurse: The prescribed dose stays the same. I am helping with the device technique, not changing the prescription. If you have a question about the dose, we will take it to the prescriber.

patient: All right. I think I was confusing the new device with a new dose.

Nurse: That is an important distinction. We’ll use the manufacturer’s guide as we practise, and I’ll watch the sequence rather than assume the leaflet has explained everything. What would help you remember the two stages?

patient: Seeing them separately, I think. The whole diagram was too much at once.

Nurse: We can separate them. Before we start the demonstration, could you tell me how we have agreed to practise and what you will do if a step is still unclear?

patient: You show me first, then I try on my own with you here. If I am not sure, I ask and we go over that part again.

Nurse: Exactly. We will check it together and agree any further practice you need. Is there anything else that would make the session more comfortable?

patient: No, having privacy and not being rushed is what I needed.

• Intelligibility. Speak so that pronunciation, stress and intonation allow the listener to follow without undue effort.
• Fluency. Maintain a workable pace and connected speech, with pauses that support rather than repeatedly interrupt meaning.
• Appropriateness of language. Choose respectful language and explanations suited to the patient, situation and level of understanding.
• Resources of grammar and expression. Use a sufficient and accurate range of structures and vocabulary to express clinical information and respond flexibly.
• Relationship building. Open appropriately, listen respectfully, avoid blame and acknowledge the person’s feelings.
• Understanding the patient's perspective. Explore the patient’s ideas, worries and expectations, notice cues and use them in the response.
• Providing structure. Sequence the consultation logically, signpost changes and organise explanations into manageable parts.
• Information gathering. Invite an account, move from open to focused questions, clarify vague statements and summarise for correction.
• Information giving. Check prior understanding, explain in small sections, invite reactions and check what the patient has understood.

Wrong answer: B To replace discussion of outstanding tasks at handover.

Unallocated tasks must still be raised verbally; the form supplements discussion.

Answer: A To record who has agreed to carry out an outstanding task.

The problem was recorded tasks without accepted responsibility. The box identifies the person who has accepted the task.

Therefore the correct answer is A: To record who has agreed to carry out an outstanding task.