RN handover after a minor head injury
RN OSCE practice station

The task

You are the RN in an emergency department. Oliver King, aged 28, is moving to a short-stay observation area after a clinician-assessed minor head injury. A second RN is receiving the handover. Review the supplied findings and give a structured bedside RN handover with the patient involved. Complete the supplied practice record. A second RN is available. You have eight minutes; describe and select physical actions in this online exercise.

What this station tests

• Oliver’s injury, arrival and analgesia times give useful handover background.
• Include GCS components, pupils, strength and headache trend.
• The next neurological set is due at 10:30 under his written plan.
• Ask the receiving RN to accept monitoring and named deterioration triggers.

Sources for the clinical content

• ACSQHC: Communicating for Safety Standard
• ACSQHC: Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration Standard

An original practice scenario with invented patients. Not an exam question.

Practise next

• Telephone escalation for worsening infection
• Calling from a clinic about sudden breathlessness
• Shift handover for a resident with acute confusion
• Calling for a child with increasing oxygen needs
• Telephone escalation of a falling neurological score