OET letter writing is categorised in 3 types mainly. These are
It’s important to note that regardless of the type of letter, the approach to writing an OET letter is the same.
Given below is the composition of a sample discharge letter based on Official OET Case notes.
Follow the 33 tips given in the sample, and you will find that securing A or B for OET writing sub-test is much easier than thought.
Table of Contents
- OET Case Notes for Discharge Letter (Nursing)
- Date, Recipient’s Address, Greeting and Re: Line
- Introduction – Patient, Medical Issue & the Purpose
- Body Paragraph 1 – Medical Reasons for Admission
- Body Paragraph 2 – Nursing Management (during hospitalization)
- Body Paragraph 3 – Latest information about the patient
- Conclusion – Expected care/action by the reader
- Closing Sentence – Not Included in Word Count
- Complimentary Close – Yours…
- Mock Test – Test Your Writing Skills
- Final Sample Letter
- Quiz – Check Your Knowledge
The following scenario involves a patient who is being discharged back to the retirement home where he resides.
OET Case Notes (SOURCE) Discharge Letter (Nursing) |
Summary of the case notes:
- The patient resides in a retirement home.
- He received treatment for pneumonia.
- He is being discharged back to the same facility.
- The letter is addressed to the resident community nurse at the retirement home. Therefore, the reader already knows the patient.
Date, Recipient’s Address, Greeting and Re: Line |
Date (Given in the case notes as ‘Assume that today’s date is …’) Recipient’s Name Greeting (Dear ……. ) Reference line (Re: the patient’s full name & age) Tip 1: ‘20 January 2022’ is the preferred date format at the start. Tip 2: dd/mm/yyyy is the preferred date format in in the reference line and paragraphs. (Avoid switching date formats in the reference line and paragraphs.) Tip 3: Interchanging the order of Date & Recipient’s Details is acceptable. Tip 4: Interchanging the order of Greeting & Reference Line is acceptable. Tip 5: If the DOB of the recipient is not given in the case notes, write age in the reference line. (You may use aged 63, aged 63 years, 63 years old or 63 years of age) Tip 6: Watch the spelling. If you are using British/American spelling, be consistent in the letter. Avoid mixing the styles. Ms Georgine Ponsford 10 February 2019 Dear Ms Ponsford, Re: Mr Lionel Ramamurthy, aged 63 |
Now, let us take a stepwise approach to composing each paragraph.
Introduction Patient, Medical Issue & Purpose |
The purpose of the letter should be immediately apparent to the reader; therefore, it is discussed in the introduction paragraph. Writing ‘introduction’ of a referral OET letter is similar to other types of letters such as a referral or a letter. It covers the full name of the patient, introduces the medical complaint and generally discusses the reason(s) for writing the letter. Tip 7: Refer ‘Notes’, ’22 Jan 2019’ and ‘Writing Task’ given at the start and end of the case notes respectively to identify the purpose. Tip 8: Keep in mind that excluding the purpose would affect your score negatively. Tip 9: You may use the key word ‘discharge’ to indicate the purpose as you are discharging the patient to back his residential location. Tip 10: Keep the introduction succinct to make the purpose immediately apparent to the reader. TIP 11: Avoid secondary information/details that may obscure the objective of introduction. Tip 12: Write full name with title at the first occurrence in the introduction as the patient is an adult. (Adult – aged above 16) Tip 13: Please note, ‘Writing Task’ says the patient is being discharged ‘tomorrow’. Date of discharge is also given as ‘11 Feb 2019.’ Tip 14: Avoid using ‘a/the/this/my patient’ to refer to the patient in the letter as it is considered less polite. Introduce the patient: Refer PATIENT DETAILS and WRITING TASK.PATIENT DETAILS: Medical Complaint: Refer Treatment RecordDiagnosis: Pneumonia Reason for writing the letter: Refer Writing Task.… back to the retirement home upon his discharge tomorrow The introduction of your OET letter is now I am writing regarding Mr Lionel Ramamurthy, who was admitted on 04/02/2019 due to pneumonia. He is being discharged back into your care tomorrow. |
Body Paragraph 1 Medical Reasons for Admission |
Refer ‘Medical Background’ Tip 15: Identify relevant information/details: The presenting condition of the patient is relevant in this letter as the progress is related that. Select the most relevant/obvious information. Medical background: Admitted with pneumonia – acute shortness of breath (SOB), inspiratory and expiratory wheezing, persistent cough (–>chest & abdominal pain), fever, rigors, sleeplessness, generalised ache. On admission – mobilising with pick-up frame, assist with ADLs (e.g., showering, dressing, etc.), very weak, ambulating only short distances with increasing shortness of breath on exertion (SOBOE). Tip 16: Avoid Irrelevant information: Please remember, the reader knows the patient and his background well. Therefore, the following can be excluded.
Tip 17: Avoid short forms; it is less formal. Tip 18: Avoid using pronouns to refer to the patient at the first occurrence in a paragraph. Use last name (surname) with appropriate title when referring to the (adult – aged above 16) patient initially in a body paragraph. Tip 19: Verb tense: Past tense is used here as the patient’s condition at the time of admission is discussed. Let’s compile relevant information and compose the body paragraph 1 as follows. On admission, Mr Ramamurthy had fever, severe shortness of breath, wheezing and chest and abdominal pain due to persistent cough. He was mobilising with a pick-up frame and required assistance with ADLs. He appeared weak and could walk only short distances that led to worsening of SOB. |
Body Paragraph 2 Nursing Management (during hospitalization) |
Refer ‘Nursing management’. Tip 20: Verb tense: Past tense is used here as the patient already received the care mentioned. Let’s compile relevant information and compose the body paragraph 2 as follows. During hospitalization, Mr Ramamurthy was encouraged to have proper nutrition, including oral fluids, and to ambulate as per physiotherapist’s review. Chest physiotherapy, including deep breathing and coughing exercises, were initiated. He was maintained in a sitting position more than lying to ensure postural drainage. |
Body Paragraph 3 Latest information about the Patient |
Refer ‘Assessment’ and ‘Medical progress’. Tip 21: Verb tense: Present tense is used here as it is the patient’s condition, in which he is returning to the facility. Tip 22: Use ‘currently’ as no specific date is given in the case notes. This paragraph can be written as below. Currently, Mr Ramamurthy has made good progress with normal inflammatory markers and has gained weight by 1.5kg after a dietitian review. However, he is slow but can perform ADLs independently. He still has slight chest and abdominal pain. |
Conclusion Expected Care/Action by the Reader |
After briefing the reader on the patient’s presenting complaints, treatment provided and the condition of discharge, conclude the letter explaining the purpose of the letter (what exactly is expected from the reader after the patient returns to the retirement home). Refer ‘Discharge plan’. Tip 23: Give an introductory phrase to link the conclusion to the patient’s complaints and past medical history. Tip 24: Make sure the tone used is polite and formal. Tip 25: Avoid capitalizing generic drug name(s). (If you are using brand names, capitalize accordingly.) |
Closing Sentence Not included in Word Count |
Tip 27: You can be relieved that the closing sentence is not considered for ‘word count’. However, remember not writing closing sentence may affect your score negatively. Tip 28: A typical polite closing sentence can be written as the addressee can get back to the writer if he needs more information about the patient. Tip 29: Avoid being overpolite. Tip 30: Avoid including informal words and phrases. For example, feel free to, ask me, call me. A closing sentence can be written as given below. If you have any queries, please contact me. |
Complementary Close Yours….. |
Tip 31: Use appropriate salutations in the letter. Yours sincerely (If the name of the recipient is given.) Yours faithfully (If the name of the recipient is NOT given.) Tip 32: Write the name of the profession/designation indicated in the case notes. You may give the name of the hospital or organization if given (optional). Tip 33: Leave a single blank space between all sections. In this case, the name of the reader is given. Therefore, Yours sincerely, |
Let’s take a Mock Test and find out how much
Final Sample Letter |
Ms Georgine Ponsford Resident Community Nurse Community Retirement Home 103 Light Street Newtown 10 February 2019 Dear Ms Ponsford, Re: Mr Lionel Ramamurthy, aged 63 I am writing regarding Mr Lionel Ramamurthy, who was admitted on 04/02/2019 due to pneumonia. He is being discharged back into your care tomorrow. On admission, Mr Ramamurthy had fever, severe shortness of breath, wheezing and chest and abdominal pain due to persistent cough. He was mobilising with a pick-up frame and required assistance with ADLs. He appeared weak and could walk only short distances that led to worsening of SOB. During hospitalization, Mr Ramamurthy was encouraged to have proper nutrition, including oral fluids, and to ambulate as per physiotherapist’s review. Chest physiotherapy, including deep breathing and coughing exercises, were initiated. He was maintained in a sitting position more than lying to ensure postural drainage. Currently, Mr Ramamurthy has made good progress with normal inflammatory markers and has gained weight by 1.5kg after a dietitian review. However, he is slow but can perform ADLs independently. He still has slight chest and abdominal pain. In your care, it would be appreciated if you could provide Mr Ramamurthy with good nutrition, including oral fluids, eggs, fruits and vegetables, and monitor his diet. Please keep him warm and administer paracetamol for chest and abdominal pain. If you have any queries, please contact me. Yours sincerely, |
I appreciate the email.its alot interesting to learn from it.
I appreciate the sample OET Letters,and would like to learn more.
Here is another one: OET Sample Referral Letter
Also, to improve your writing skills further, you may use our OET Writing Correction Service
pls provide me more oet writing for nurses. thank you so much
OET Sample Referral Letter
thanks …i learned a lot from above letter.
Here is another useful one: OET Sample Referral Letter
This is informative and l have been helped. Thank you doctor
Please provide referral letter for social worker
This is fantastic but does it mean that it is only Doctor will be asked to write a discharged letter? Thank you
That’s not necessary. Even nurses can write discharge letters.
Is repeating ”Your further pulmonary rehabilitation sessions would be ….” again in the conclusion considered redundancy , as it is already stated in the introduction ??
Thank your for that amazing letter though. I would like to know if there is something like that for other OET letter types.
Yes, in a way it is but if it helps reach 180 words, then it’s not a bad idea to do so.
When re-writing case notes, I understand you’re expected to use your own words, but if you’re unsure of a word (e.g. white patches = dense white shadow), should you risk using the word? Or stick to what is written in the case notes?
Also, I noticed ibuprofen, sputum and iv antibiotic notes were omitted. Do you risk marks for accuracy, or gain marks for conciseness in doing so?
Any help is much appreciated, thanks
No, there wont’ be a penalty for writing the medical terms/conditions as given in the case notes. You could write about ibuprofen (we missed in the sample letter), while IV information is provided.
I learned a lot from your discharge letter thank you benchmark
i want to buy letter writing correction for oet
To get your letters checked, simply visit this link and buy a package from the table
Soon after the purchase, you will receive an email with Letter Submission Instructions. All you need to do is follow those instructions and submit your letters for correction to [email protected].
To arrange the leeter for a coherent information like for the pain history and its recovery in subsequent visits, will i have to write examination findings in each visit? Or i can ommit that part for coherence.
Thank you so much for the great job you are doing, I was not able to writing a discharge letter and I learn a lot from it
Hi, good sharing. Just a question, the writing question will be given based based on what profession you are or is random? Thanks.
based on your occupation.
Good helpful
Provide sample case notes fir pharmacist please.
Thank you
I want to know that if I’m a discharge letter, we didn’t mention a further referral to urologist when necessary. How much is this thing penalised ?
Quite helpful and educating
thanks that was very good and concept clear information for me