PREPARATION FOR CLINICAL w/ CHART REVIEW by Barbara ...

PREPARATION FOR CLINICAL w/ CHART REVIEW
by
Barbara Michaels
The following guidelines should help you with preparing yourself for a clinical experience:
1. Your time is valuable, and you should not be spending more than 10­15 minutes on each
patient.*
2. Begin with reviewing the doctor's orders; this provides you with a legal basis for delivering
nursing care.
3. Always consult the admitting orders first, followed by the daily updates.
4. If your patient has surgery/delivery, remember that all pre­op orders were canceled.
5. Pay particular attention to medication orders and intravenous fluid orders.
6. Check the patient information sheet next for age, sex, religion, etc.
7. Quickly read over the doctor's history and physical if the chart has one. (In teaching
hospitals, there may be several versions of the H and P from residents, medical students,
and interns. Choose the one that is most legible to read. They basically say the same
thing. You do not need to read all of them.)
8. Elicit from the H and P the chief complaint and the admitting diagnosisCmost important.
Focus on the system review from the system(s) that would be most affected by the chief
complaint. For example, if the patient was admitted for shortness of breath, focus on the
cardiac and respiratory systems. OB patients, focus on prenatal, labor and delivery,
immediate postpartum recovery room, and postpartum. Note status of newborn.
9. Next, read the doctor's progress notes from the past several days. If the patient had
surgery, be sure to read the operative report in the progress notes.
10. After you have digested the information from the doctor's section, read the nursing history
and assessment and the past 24 to 48 hours of nurses' notes.
11. If the patient is having laboratory tests done on a frequent basis to monitor disease
progress, such as proteins and sed rates, check the laboratory reports. Sometimes you will
find this information incorporated into the progress notes. Medical students are supposed to
put them there.
12. Finally, if the patient has had major diagnostic tests, such as a CAT scan or gallbladder
series, read the results of the studies. Don't necessarily focus on understanding every word
of the report, but do comprehend the findings.

13. If your hospital includes daily medication records in the chart, you will also need to
review them at this time. Make sure that what is ordered in the doctor's orders is
reflected in the medication records.
14. Last but not least, don't be hesitant to ask one of the staff nurses about your patient.
She may confide in you that she hasn't read the chart other than the doctor's orders.
However, she may have attended rounds with the physicians and will be able to give
you insight from that aspect.
15. Don't forget a black pen and your stethoscope.
* These 15 suggestions are intended to help you with efficient use of your valuable
time. There are times, for example, with patients that have been hospitalized for a
long time or have very complicated problems that 15 minutes will not be adequate.
You will have to be the judge of that.
** Don't forget to consult the nursing Kardex also for pertinent information regarding
the care of your patient. But remember, for legal purposes, the information that is in
the chart is what must guide your actions.