ward rounds

[crit care]

i often look through medical notes just to be a bit nosey and find out why the patient has come in..normally by looking at them and the drugs they are on, you can determine if they are going to be interesting or not....i don't do it for every patient, and also depends on the ward type..admissions...look through every medical notes, critical acre areas, look through notes...run of the mill patients awaiting discharge, stable, then no need....often the notes will help clear up prescribing as well if you are unsure as to why they have prescribed cetain drugs, would explain it in there and show the drs thinking pattern as to why they ahve prescribed the drugs

[Nik]

Being on a trauma ward the past couple of weeks, I always try and have a peek in the notes to see the reason for admission. Generally it's things like little old ladies falling over after knocking against something or slipping on a wet floor and breaking their hip. Occasionally though you do see some admissions which make you laugh - one lady fighting with another at her residential home, then falling over and fracturing her hip, a bloke found drunk on the pavement after having an argument with his wife and storming off, people getting all sorts of bits and bobs such as pieces of bone stuck in the fingers and hands etc.

[Asterix]

ignore

[Nik]

Well...yeah. Don't get too hung up on reading everything in the medical notes every single day. Remember you'll be expected to progress by taking on more patients, and reviewing them in the same amount of time. Often if something looks unusual on a drug chart, checking the notes will help you find out what the docs have (usually wrongly) done.