Nursing — Discharge after Day-Case Surgery
A nurse discharges a 54-year-old man home the same day after a routine hernia repair. This is a beginner case: a short, uncomplicated hand-over with a clear wound-care and follow-up instruction. It builds clean discharge structure before the harder, denser cases.
Letter type
Discharge
Write to
Community / Practice Nurse
Target length
180–200 words
The case notes
Patient: Mr Brian Kelso, 54 years old, electrician
Procedure: Day-case inguinal hernia repair under general anaesthetic; uncomplicated; discharged same day
Wound: Small groin wound, dissolvable sutures, dry dressing in place; practice nurse to check in 5 days
Pain: Mild; paracetamol and ibuprofen advised
Advice given: No heavy lifting or driving for 1 week; keep wound dry for 48 hours
Observations: Stable; tolerating diet and fluids; passed urine before discharge
Medical history: Well; no regular medication
Task: Write a discharge letter to the practice nurse outlining the wound check and follow-up advice required.
Writing task
Write a discharge letter to the practice nurse outlining the wound check and follow-up advice required.
What to include, what to cut
The hardest mark to win is selection. The same case notes contain decision-relevant facts and distractors. Here is what an examiner expects to see in a Grade B letter for this scenario, and what should be left out.
Include
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The procedure and that recovery was uncomplicated
The recipient needs the headline event and that there were no complications to guide the wound check.
-
Wound status and the 5-day check
A concrete, time-bound nursing action — the reason the letter exists.
-
The activity and wound-care advice given
Lets the practice nurse reinforce consistent advice at the follow-up visit.
Leave out
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Anaesthetic detail
Not relevant to community wound care; it belongs in the surgical record.
-
Occupation as a stand-alone note
Only relevant if you tie it to the lifting restriction; otherwise leave it out.
Criterion in focus · Organisation & Layout
A short discharge is the ideal place to practise clean layout: opening purpose, what happened, the wound and follow-up, then the closing request. Keep one idea per paragraph and the structure marks follow.
Now write the letter — and find out what is blocking your Grade B
Write a 180–200 words discharge letter from these notes, paste it into the free checker for an instant read, then submit it for a human grade against all six criteria. Dr Mariam's team returns line-by-line feedback, from $12.