How to choose the right words when charting

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Dr. Brady: Before you chart something that may be critical, consider conspiring with the rest of your team. I’m not saying you should lie. You are obligated to tell the truth, but you get to decide how you will tell the truth. If you and the doctor think your patient with a URI and chest pain may actually have a pulmonary embolism, chart “pleuritic chest pain” and the CT scan is justified—and if there is a complication from the contrast, everyone is vindicated.

If, like most people with a URI and chest pain, she really has just a painful cough, chart “painful cough” instead of “pleuritic chest pain” and send her home. If three months later she really does have a blood clot and you all land in court, the consistent, harmonious charting will likely get the case dropped.

One more example: If a mom says her child is lethargic, but the child looks fine, chart “less playful” rather than “lethargic.” That’s what the mom means. She doesn’t mean “I can’t keep my child awake,” which is the medical definition of lethargy.

Again, you shouldn’t lie, but if you spend a little time conspiring or collaborating with the doctor and explaining things to your patient, you might accomplish many things that would make both your mother and President Obama proud: less unnecessary testing, lower medical costs, more realistic patient expectations, few medicolegal lawsuits and hopefully happier, healthier and more trusting patients. Perhaps if we are breathing in harmony, work could even become more harmonious.

Nurse Rebekah: Harmonious! Sounds like yoga to me! Relaxing and very zen-like. However, when it comes to charting and documentation, I just try to be as objective as possible. For instance: “Patient complains of severe nausea and is currently eating chips in triage.” That uses the patient’s own words but paints a pretty clear (and objective) picture of what is really going on.

Try at all costs to take the bias out of your charting. If your chart looks biased, a lawyer can always say to a jury, “Look, Nurse Child wrote that this patient stank and was rude. She didn’t even like this patient, so how could she have taken good care of him?” That will make you look like Nurse Ratched.

Instead, you can always chart: “Patient stood up on gurney and urinated into sink while calling staff ‘ugly, stupid, dirty gigolos.’” The patient just painted his own picture as a real jerk.

Healthy work environments and healthy communication styles go hand in hand. In the super technology-laden world that we live and work in today, we can take care of many, many patients, all at the same time. This can come at the expense of face time with our colleagues. So strike a downward-dog pose, breathe and collaborate. Maybe even light a candle to relax as you conspire away.

Got it? Conspiring with your colleagues is a good thing. So choose your words carefully, communicate your concerns and expect an increasingly harmonious environment.

The Essentials of Nurse Charting

Part 1: The Secret of Successful Charting

Part 2: The One Thing Nurses Should Never Assume About Charting

Part 3: How to Avoid Lawsuits with Charting

Part 4: How to Choose the Right Words When Charting