interns/former interns - how do u keep track of patients?

I use the "medicine resident scutsheet" from here: http://www.medfools.com/downloads.php

I printed it out and took it to kinkos, and had them make me double-sided cards on thick cardstock.

I found that the patient tracking sheets added a lot of extra time to my prerounds. I basically just print up the labs from the computer and photo copy my note for the day and jot down notes for myself as we round.

ramonaquimby said:

thanks for the tips, guys! i am familiar with the site and love their scut sheets. i used the "medical scutsheet" when i did peds and that worked well. and with trainwrecks, eh hem...i mean, medicine, i think i might need the 'heavyduty' scut sheet. is it TOO detailed?

regardless, those of you who bring it to kinkos, are you having them make youa large 8.5x11 card/sheet? or did you make it into a 4x6 somehow? and for those that use a 'mini-clipboard', waht size are we talking here? i'm realziing my clipboard gets very heavy very quickly, lol...

thanks for all these tips!

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The pdf for the "resident" cards has two cards per 8.5x11 sheet, so each card is 8.5x5.5 after you cut it in half. The mini clipboards are about the same size. I keep my cards on a ring, but I also have a clipboard in my pocket for blank cards and other pieces of paper I tend to accumulate. If you fold a 8.5x11 sheet of paper in half, it fits on there perfectly, and fits in a white coat pocket.

As far as adding/saving time, I find the cards save me time. When I'm taking a H&P, either from the patient or night float, I jot the info right on the card, then write the official (and legible) H&P from the card. The resident version of the card is less detailed than the med student one, and it doesn't have spaces for all of the labs for every day. I just write the abnormal ones, or labs I'm particulary interested in following, in the notes section for each day, and let the med student worry about keeping track of daily normal CBCs.

But everyone is different. I hate the ultra heavy and cumbersome white coat with a passion, and so if the cards do in fact add an extra few minutes to my day, I'll take that over a wad of xeroxed progress notes and H&Ps in my pockets.

Ah yes, the good ol' surgery H&P. A: appendicitis. P: OR. I miss those.

I use my signout (a Word table). Honeydoos go on the blank back side. The important labs/studies are immortalized on the signout. The other stuff I either remember or can always look up. The really important stuff about any patient can be summarized within 10 lines of Arial Narrow 7-point font. If you can't do that, you don't have a good grasp of your patients.

Once I start dictating, I will start using something to keeping track of hospital events for ease of d/c dictations.

we have automatically generated lists that pull the most recent labs and vitals from the computer system. but when your census is 70, all you need are names, location, dx, POD, and dispo plan. memorize everything else and get away with the crappiest dictation possible... i love surgery

My advise is to keep in mind that your scut sheet a tool for you. It's supposed to make your life easier, not harder; so don't make the mistake of wasting too much time on making the most beautiful scut sheet.

I think the key is understanding your patient's medical problems and obscessing over results and medications. When I watch practicing attendings round, they write down the room number, the patient's name, 2-3 words about the problems, a couple of lab numbers, and that's it.

(That said, I destroyed an entire ecosystem when I was an intern.)

As a med student and sub-I I did the whole cards and ring thing, but as an intern it was just too much time/work and still left me writing a sign out for the nightfloat. Instead I spent my time writing good sign outs (we had a general format for the NF) on the computerized system, and the system generated a list of patients' signouts (there was a general format people used for signout to NF) and a coversheet with a list of all my patients, their DOB, and their room number. It also had a square next to the name, so you could check off after you'd completed everything for that pt. We'd made a quick grid on the bottom of the coversheet where we'd scribble labs and brief to do's. End of the day, I'd update the sign out and print off a copy for NF and for my next morning at 5am.

MBK2003

Hey guys,

As one of my New Years Resolutions, I'm trying to be more organized and efficient--especially in terms of taking care of my patients. The problem is that I've tried all the scut work sheets to track my patients but it doesn't seem to work for me. I've decided I want to use a sign out sheet as the main way to follow my patients but my current sign out sheet isn't the greatest. Does anyone have any good sign-out sheet tips or any templates that they wouldn't mind posting on here. I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks!

I was old fashioned - we had a computer generated patient list, hopefully only 1 page, and I folded it in half lengthwise. On the back side, which folded over to meet the patient's name, I wrote down labs. On the front in the space between patients, I had their vitals, and a check list of things to do.

While it may have been busy at times with sick patients, lots of vent settings, etc. I had a system, so everything was always written in the same place and I frankly could have patient info a lot faster than most of those with PDAs or cards.

Whatever works for you is the best system.

I've done them all on different rotations. The only thing that I really liked about the notecard system is that you could have a list of current and admission meds and a PMH on you at all times. Actually, even if you use a different system for keeping track of "to do" stuff and labs, having a little card on hand with that stuff can be really useful. It always sucks when you can't remember if someone has CAD or CRF when the attending ask you or when you want to start a drug or something.

Kimberli Cox said:

I was old fashioned - we had a computer generated patient list, hopefully only 1 page, and I folded it in half lengthwise. On the back side, which folded over to meet the patient's name, I wrote down labs. On the front in the space between patients, I had their vitals, and a check list of things to do.

While it may have been busy at times with sick patients, lots of vent settings, etc. I had a system, so everything was always written in the same place and I frankly could have patient info a lot faster than most of those with PDAs or cards.

Whatever works for you is the best system.

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Did you print a new sheet everyday and kept the old sheet for reference OR you kept a running log of new events on the old sheet. Thank you.

radsbound said:

Did you print a new sheet everyday and kept the old sheet for reference OR you kept a running log of new events on the old sheet. Thank you.

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I printed a new sheet everyday and kept the others behind it, in chronological order. I could fit a full month's worth of patient lists in my pockets. It came in very handy and worked well for me.

Some liked new lists for evening rounds but I was a "one list a day" gal...except on rare occasions when the census changed so radically that I needed a new one. Otherwise, I would just write in admissions and cross off discharges.

As the packet of lists got thicker, it was harder and harder to lose (and you might with just one page).