S: Sick or not sick
I: Identify - name, diagnosis, code status
G: general (BRIEF) hospital course
N: new (relevant) events of the day
O: Overall health/clinical condition
U: Upcoming possibilities/changes WITH rationale
T: Tasks to complete
?: Questions
I started as a night float and LOVED it. It's a great time to just be a doctor and not worry about the BS discharge stuff. Remember, as the night float you are covering many lists with many patients you don't know very well. You should NOT have to think too much into things unless something unexpected happens. ALWAYS demand code status and identification. When sign-ed out a task, always know exactly why you're doing it. Always make sure you have parameters if you are checking up a lab. E.x. if you get signed out to check a midnight I's and O's, what is their goal? What do you do if you are not within goal? If they want someone to be net neg 1L, and the patient isn't, you shouldn't have to be rummaging through past medication orders to figure out what would be a good dose.
They should have a list of contingencies. Common problems that may occur: known sundowning, anxious patients, patients who malinger, pt's who will complain about pain etc. What should follow is what you should do about it. e.x. sundowning and combative --> 1mg IV haldol. This list does not and should not be talked about everytime on signout but instead acts as a quick reference for you as a night float should something come up.
If a contingency would become an emergency then it should be mentioned at signout. E.x. I had a patient who would go into VT spontaneously. Contingency plan = EKG, bolus lido 100mg, start gtt at 1mg/hr, stat page EP, consider CXR and troponins if indicated.
My hospital's signout system also lets us include a list of meds and most recent labs which is SUPER helpful because then I wouldn't have to log into the computer and wait for it to load before loading the website/program to look that stuff up.
You as the intern should NOT be running codes.