Chest pain in a middle-aged man at the emergency department
NZ nursing OSCE practice station
Focused assessment · 2 min to read · 8 min to perform
Haroon Siddiqui, aged 56, arrived 5 minutes ago with central chest discomfort.
Haroon SiddiquiI've got this tightness in my chest. It's probably just indigestion.
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Open the full station (charts, voice, result letter) →The task
You are the nurse in the emergency department. Haroon Siddiqui, aged 56, arrived 5 minutes ago with central chest discomfort. A health care assistant is available and the emergency doctor can be called. Introduce yourself, confirm his identity and carry out a focused assessment, including his pain history, observations and the tests he needs. Decide what must happen in the first minutes, who needs to know and how soon. Document your assessment and actions in the progress note provided, and explain to Mr Siddiqui what you are doing and what will happen next.
What this station tests
- Chest pain with sweating and radiation needs an ECG within 10 minutes of arrival.
- Show an abnormal ECG to the doctor immediately; do not wait for the next round.
- Give no medicine without an order or standing order, check allergies first, and ask early about aspirin and pain relief.
- Take a full pain history using onset, location, character, radiation and associated symptoms.
- Document times of the ECG and escalation clearly.
Sources for the clinical content
- Healthify: heart attack
- Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand oxygen guidelines for acute oxygen use in adults (PubMed record)
An original practice scenario with invented patients. Not an exam question.