Celia Grant needs help to stand, supervision to walk, and assistance with lower-body dressing. A single label such as “needs mobility help” hides the different tasks.
Original practice material written by OETify. All people, services and records in this sample are fictional, for writing practice only. By the OETify editorial team.
Assistance recorded by activity
| Activity or arrangement | Fictional transfer record |
|---|---|
| Patient and admission | Celia Grant, aged 81, on Birch Orthopaedic Ward; postoperative recovery after a hip fracture |
| Destination | Rowan Rehabilitation Unit has accepted her; transfer arranged for today |
| Standing | Needs staff help to stand from a low chair |
| Walking | Uses a walking frame with staff supervision |
| Washing | Washes face and upper body independently |
| Dressing | Needs assistance with lower-body dressing |
| Toileting | Uses the call bell to request staff assistance before going to the toilet |
| Communication | Explains needs clearly and participates in care planning |
| Pain and prescription | Reports discomfort during movement; analgesia administered according to current prescription |
| Accompanying documents | Medication chart and postoperative rehabilitation plan |
| Receiving team’s role | Continue the accompanying plan and review assistance needs during rehabilitation |
| Future home discharge | Lives with husband, who cannot currently provide physical help; home arrangements undecided |
Handover task for the receiving nurse
You are a nurse on Birch Orthopaedic Ward. Today is 9 October 2026. Write to Mr Thomas Kerr, Nurse in Charge, Rowan Rehabilitation Unit, 7 Rowan Drive, Birchfield. Explain today’s transfer and group the assistance needs so the receiving nurse can find them quickly. Include the accompanying care plan and the unresolved home arrangements.
Compare these possible summaries before drafting:
A: Ms Grant needs assistance with mobility and personal care but communicates clearly.
B: Ms Grant needs help to stand from a low chair and supervision when walking with her frame. She washes her face and upper body independently but needs assistance with lower-body dressing.
Both summaries are consistent with parts of the record. Summary B lets the nurse identify the activity and level of help. It still needs the separate toileting arrangement; Summary A leaves all those distinctions to the attachment.
Model transfer letter grouped for use on arrival
Model letter
Mr Thomas Kerr
Nurse in Charge
Rowan Rehabilitation Unit
7 Rowan Drive
Birchfield9 October 2026
Dear Mr Kerr,
Re: Celia Grant, aged 81
Ms Grant is transferring to your unit today for rehabilitation, which you have accepted, following postoperative recovery from a hip fracture on Birch Orthopaedic Ward. Please continue her care under the accompanying postoperative rehabilitation plan and review her assistance needs as her rehabilitation progresses.
Her assistance needs differ between activities. Ms Grant needs staff help to stand up from a low chair. When walking, she uses a walking frame and needs staff supervision. Before going to the toilet, she uses the call bell to request staff assistance. She washes her face and upper body independently, but she needs assistance with lower-body dressing.
Ms Grant reports discomfort during movement. Analgesia has been administered according to her current prescription, and her medication chart accompanies her. Ms Grant explains her needs clearly and participates in care planning.
She lives with her husband, who cannot currently provide physical help at home. Arrangements for her eventual discharge home have not yet been decided.
Thank you for your care of Ms Grant. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the ward.
Yours sincerely,
Divya Pillai
Registered Nurse, Birch Orthopaedic Ward
Why grouping helps without removing detail
The model gives movement and personal care their own paragraph. Standing help, walking supervision and toileting assistance stay attached to their activities. Independent washing also stays: replacing the whole paragraph with “requires personal care” would hide that ability.
These notes apply OET’s Writing assessment criteria.
| Criterion | What the model does |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Stated once: continue the plan and review assistance needs. Later paragraphs give the activity details and documents needed to do that. |
| Content | Keeps each ability and its conditions instead of giving Celia one overall dependence label. |
| Conciseness and Clarity | No second review request and no repeated announcement of today’s transfer. |
| Genre and Style | Functional descriptions for a nursing reader, without judging whether Celia is progressing well. |
| Organisation and Layout | Arrival needs are kept apart from future home discharge. Her husband’s limitation goes in the final paragraph because home arrangements are still unresolved. |
| Language | Names actions: “stand from a low chair” says what the help is for. “Assistance with a chair” would leave the action unclear. |
A weaker handover with scattered assistance needs
Weaker version (do not copy)
Mr Thomas Kerr
Nurse in Charge
Rowan Rehabilitation Unit
7 Rowan Drive
Birchfield9 October 2026
Dear Mr Kerr,
Re: Celia Grant, aged 81
Ms Grant is transferring today after a hip fracture for continued rehabilitation care and review of her assistance needs. She needs mobility and personal-care support and communicates clearly.
She washes her upper body and reports discomfort during movement. Her husband cannot provide physical help at home. She uses a frame under supervision and needs lower-body dressing assistance.
Analgesia was administered according to her prescription. She requests assistance before toileting and needs help with a low chair. Her medication chart and rehabilitation plan accompany her. Please review her assistance needs and continue her plan when she transfers today. Home discharge arrangements are undecided.
Yours sincerely,
Divya Pillai
Registered Nurse, Birch Orthopaedic Ward
The weaker version mostly retains the facts but makes the nurse assemble them across paragraphs. Move walking, standing and toileting together; place washing and dressing beside each other. Restore “independently” to upper-body washing and specify help “to stand from” the chair. These edits preserve useful ability information while making the assistance instructions easier to retrieve.
Remove the repeated request and transfer date in the final paragraph. Group the husband’s limitation with the undecided home arrangements after today’s care details. The revised letter then separates work on arrival from information for later discharge planning.
Cover your case notes and read only your assistance paragraph. Check whether it tells the nurse what Celia does independently, what needs supervision, and what needs staff assistance.