OET Writing sample (nursing)

OET transfer letter sample for nurses

A transfer letter hands over ongoing nursing care to another team. The reader will be caring for your patient within hours, so the letter must be practical: what the patient can and cannot do, what needs watching, and what is due next. Here is an original practice task about an older woman moving from an orthopaedic ward to residential aged care.

The case notes

NURSING — WRITING TASK (practice)

Time allowed: Reading time 5 minutes, Writing time 40 minutes

Notes:
Today's date: 15/09/2026
Patient: Mrs Edith Harwood, DOB 03/11/1941 (84 yrs)
Orthopaedic Ward 3A, St Columba's Hospital, Kingsbridge
Admission date: 01/09/2026   Transfer date: 15/09/2026

Social background:
- Widow (husband died 2019). Retired primary school teacher
- Lived alone, 2-storey house; cleaner weekly
- Son (Peter, 58) lives nearby, visits twice weekly, holds power of
  attorney. Daughter lives overseas
- Enjoys crosswords and radio. Attends church Sundays
- Aged-care assessment 10/09: pt and family agree to permanent
  residential placement

Medical history:
- Mild Alzheimer's dementia (dx 2023), donepezil 5 mg nocte
- Osteoporosis
- Hypothyroidism, levothyroxine 75 mcg mane
- Hearing impairment, hearing aid L ear
- Cholecystectomy 1988

Nursing management and progress:
01/09 Found on floor at home by son (approx. 10 hrs). X-ray: L fractured
      neck of femur. Dehydrated, IV fluids
02/09 L hip hemiarthroplasty. PCA morphine
03/09–06/09 Acute delirium: agitated at night, pulling at IV line.
      Urine culture: UTI → trimethoprim 300 mg daily × 3 days (completed)
05/09 Sacrum: stage 1 pressure injury. Pressure-relieving mattress,
      2-hrly repositioning
08/09 Delirium resolved. Baseline: mild confusion, disorientated to
      time in late afternoon
10/09 Walks 20 m with 4-wheeled walker + assist of 1. Assist with
      transfers, showering, lower-body dressing. High falls risk
11/09 BNO 3 days → Movicol 1 sachet daily. BO 12/09
12/09 Sacral skin improving, intact. Appetite poor (eats ~half of
      meals). Wt 52 kg (admission 55 kg). Dietitian: high-protein
      supplement drink BD
13/09 Wound clean, dry, 18 staples in situ. Continent of urine by day;
      occasional night incontinence → pads
14/09 Hearing aid misplaced twice on ward (found in bedding)

Medications on transfer:
- Paracetamol 1 g QID
- Oxycodone 2.5 mg PO 4-hrly PRN (last given 12/09, before physio)
- Enoxaparin 40 mg SC daily until 30/09
- Levothyroxine 75 mcg mane; donepezil 5 mg nocte
- Movicol 1 sachet daily; cholecalciferol 1000 IU daily

Transfer plan:
- Staple removal 16/09 (day 14)
- Supervised walking programme BD with 4-wheeled walker
- Pressure care: 2–3 hrly repositioning, pressure-relieving
  mattress and cushion
- Weekly weight, food intake chart, supplement drinks BD
- Orthopaedic outpatient review with X-ray 14/10/2026
- Son to bring personal belongings and clothes

Writing Task:
Using the information in the case notes, write a letter to Ms Grace
Fielding, Nurse Unit Manager, Willowbank Residential Aged Care,
7 Orchard Way, Kingsbridge, who will be responsible for Mrs Harwood's
ongoing care.

In your answer:
- Expand the relevant notes into complete sentences
- Do not use note form
- Use letter format
The body of the letter should be approximately 180–200 words.

Thinking like the receiving nurse

Ms Fielding's staff will help Mrs Harwood out of bed tonight, give her medications tomorrow morning and remove her staples. Before writing, sort the notes into four questions: What happened? (briefly), What does she need help with? (mobility, hygiene, continence), What could go wrong? (falls, skin breakdown, weight loss, confusion) and What is due next? (staples, anticoagulant end date, outpatient review). This structure is typical of nursing transfers and is covered in more depth in our OET Writing for nurses guide.

Model letter

Ms Grace Fielding
Nurse Unit Manager
Willowbank Residential Aged Care
7 Orchard Way
Kingsbridge

15 September 2026

Dear Ms Fielding,

Re: Mrs Edith Harwood, DOB 03/11/1941

I am writing to hand over the care of Mrs Harwood, an 84-year-old woman with mild Alzheimer's dementia, who is transferring to your facility today for permanent placement following surgery for a fractured left hip.

Mrs Harwood underwent a hemiarthroplasty on 2 September. Her wound is clean and dry, and the 18 staples are due for removal tomorrow. She developed delirium caused by a urinary tract infection, which has resolved, although she still becomes disorientated in the late afternoon.

She is at high risk of falls. She walks 20 metres with a four-wheeled walker and one assistant, and needs help with transfers, showering and dressing. Please continue her supervised walking programme twice daily. A sacral pressure injury is healing, so regular repositioning and pressure-relieving equipment remain essential.

Her appetite is poor and she has lost 3 kg; therefore, weekly weighing, a food chart and twice-daily supplement drinks are recommended. She wears pads at night for occasional incontinence, and her hearing aid should be checked regularly, as she tends to misplace it.

She requires subcutaneous enoxaparin until 30 September, regular paracetamol and oral oxycodone when needed. An orthopaedic review is booked for 14 October.

Yours sincerely,

Registered Nurse
Ward 3A, St Columba's Hospital

Why the model works

• Handover purpose is explicit and the reader immediately knows the placement is permanent, which changes how the facility plans care.
• Surgery and delirium are summarised in two sentences. The day-by-day ward events are not needed.
• Risks have their own paragraphs. Falls and skin integrity sit together; nutrition, continence and hearing sit together.
• Time-sensitive items are precise: staple removal tomorrow, enoxaparin end date, outpatient review date.
• Requests are embedded naturally ("Please continue…", "are recommended") rather than saved for a long list at the end.

Content selection table

Selection tables show one reasonable approach. The key test is whether each included detail helps the receiving nurse care for the patient safely.

Tips for OET transfer letters

Describe function, not just diagnosis

"She has had a hip replacement" tells the reader little. "She walks 20 metres with a four-wheeled walker and one assistant" tells them how many staff to send. Always translate diagnoses into what the patient can do.

Flag risks early and clearly

Falls, pressure injuries, malnutrition, confusion and anticoagulation are the risks aged-care staff most need to know. Give each a clear sentence rather than hiding them inside a chronological account.

Avoid the ward diary

Transfer notes are usually long and date-stamped. Rewriting every date ("On 3 September… on 5 September… on 8 September…") produces a long, hard-to-scan letter and damages Conciseness & Clarity. Summarise the hospital stay in two or three sentences.

Keep dates that require action

Past dates rarely matter; future dates almost always do. Staple removal, the last enoxaparin dose and outpatient appointments should be accurate. Relative expressions such as "tomorrow" are fine when the letter date makes them clear.

Choose the right register

The reader is a senior nurse, so nursing terminology is appropriate, but ward shorthand such as "BNO", "assist x1" or "BD" should be expanded. Our common mistakes guide lists other abbreviations that often slip through.

Where the practice letter in the checker goes wrong

The weaker candidate letter preloaded for this task opens by saying Mrs Harwood "is coming to your facility", without stating the handover purpose or permanent placement. It spends its first paragraph on her career, hobbies, cholecystectomy and the ten hours on the floor, lists medications with shorthand, and forgets the staple removal date and the hearing aid. Load it into the checker to see how those choices affect the estimated scores, then try rewriting it.