soap notes

[pedspnp]

Hey everyone this is going to sound silly coming from an NP student, but does any one else have problems with thier SOAP notes or Progress notes, In clinic it seems like I take forever to do a note, its like I know what I want to say, but I want to keep it as succinct as possble but it seems like I am writing a chapter for my ongoing novel. This is my first semester doing clinicals.

[Joan Z]

My 0.02--it takes a few years of practice to write concise yet thorough SOAP notes. Unfortunately at the beginning they take forever too. Ask your preceptor for suggestions to cut things down. We had two versions of notes when I was in school--one for our classes, one for the chart.

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

I agree with the above poster, it comes with lots and lots of practice.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Yep - I endorse the above opinions.

That said, I was a journalist in a prior life and I love to write and write and write. However, seeing X-amount of pts doesn't allow me the luxury so keep it simple and just the facts.

[BChapp3182]

I too have difficulty with soap notes. I found the most awesome set of books to help me, called "SOAP Notes" there are like 4 or 5 different ones. They are like $25 ea. on amazon. just do a search for soap notes on amazon and they will come up. Has a blue cover, paperback.

Let me tell you these books have been the best learning tool when it comes to clinical (they are pocket sized to take to clinical). I use them to study from as well. I can't recommend them enough.

[psychRNBonnie]

A few of my classmates & I looked at the University of California's "A Practical Guide to Clinical Medicine" site a few times while we were learning the format - http://meded.ucsd.edu/clinicalmed/introduction.htm

I'm hopeful that complete & concise notes come with practice

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

RN Bonnie what an absolutely brilliant website. I have bookmarked it.

Thanks for that link