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
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
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 $15.