| Course | PA 614 Clinical Clerkship - Emergency Medicine |
|---|---|
| Week | 2 |
| Paper type | Sign-out brief |
| Length | About 520 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 614 Week 2
Shift Sign-Out Brief at 07:00: Four Patients Carried Into the Day Shift, One Block Each in the Same Order, the One Action Each Needs, Triggers Written Out and a Closing Line on Every Block
Student Name
Chamberlain University
PA 614: Clinical Clerkship - Emergency Medicine
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Shift Sign-Out Brief at 07:00: Four Patients Carried Into the Day Shift, One Block Each in the Same Order, the One Action Each Needs, Triggers Written Out and a Closing Line on Every Block
How the Blocks Are Built
Ridgeview Community Hospital emergency department, night shift April 18 to 19, 2026. Four patients remain at 07:00. Each block follows the same order: who and where, the problem, the one action due, the triggers that change the plan and a closing line saying what the incoming clinician does not need to do. The structure follows the elements of a standardized handoff: illness severity, summary, action list, situation awareness and contingency, and synthesis by the receiver (Starmer et al., 2014).
Bed 4: R.S., 58, Chest Pain
Stable. Chest pressure at rest for 20 minutes yesterday evening, resolved. ECG normal. HEART score 3. First high-sensitivity troponin at 01:10 below the limit; second drawn 05:20 after a clotted sample, result due about 06:30. Action: read the second troponin. If below the limit with a rise under 3 ng/L, discharge with outpatient stress test (referral already written, unsigned). If not, call cardiology. Not needed: repeat ECG unless symptoms return.
Bed 9: M.A., 81, Fall With Hip Pain
Stable. Fell at home at 02:00. Hip X-ray: no fracture seen. Cannot bear weight. Action: CT of the right hip, ordered 06:15, not yet done. If CT shows a fracture, call orthopedics; if not, physical therapy evaluation for ambulation before any discharge. Trigger: new confusion or a fall in hemoglobin, since M.A. takes apixaban. Not needed: head CT, done at 03:00, normal.
M.A.'s daughter is on the way and wants to be called before any discharge decision; her number is in the chart. Physical therapy does not start until 08:00.
Bed 12: T.K., 34, Abdominal Pain
Watch. Right lower quadrant pain since midnight, white count 13.1, ultrasound nondiagnostic, appendix not seen. CT abdomen and pelvis with contrast done 06:40, read pending. Action: read the CT. If appendicitis, page general surgery and keep nothing by mouth. If normal, repeat abdominal examination before deciding on discharge. Not needed: pregnancy test, done, negative.
Hallway 2: J.D., 27, Laceration
Stable. 4-centimeter left forearm laceration from glass at 05:30, irrigated, tetanus updated, repair not started. Action: repair, about 25 minutes. No tendon involvement on examination. Not needed: X-ray, done, no glass seen.
The Line That Closes It
Every block ends on what the reader is spared, so the day team does not repeat work already done. Read-back given to the day physician assistant at 07:05; two questions answered about bed 9.
The read-back took four minutes for four patients. The day PA asked whether M.A.'s apixaban should be held; the answer, recorded on the sheet, was to hold the morning dose until the CT result is known. Nothing else needed clarifying.
References
Starmer, A. J., Spector, N. D., Srivastava, R., West, D. C., Rosenbluth, G., Allen, A. D., Noble, E. L., Tse, L. L., Dalal, A. K., Keohane, C. A., Lipsitz, S. R., Rothschild, J. M., Wien, M. F., Yoon, C. S., Zigmont, K. R., Wilson, K. M., O'Toole, J. K., Solan, L. G., Aylor, M., . . . Landrigan, C. P. (2014). Changes in medical errors after implementation of a handoff program. New England Journal of Medicine, 371(19), 1803-1812. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1405556
Reading the PA 614 Week 2 instructions
The second week asks for a sign-out brief built as a stack of short blocks, one per patient, each in the same internal order so the reader finds the same information in the same place. Each block should identify the person and location, state the problem rather than a label, give the one action the incoming clinician must take and write out the triggers that would change the plan. Close each block with a line saying what the reader is spared, such as tests already done. Write it to be read and then spoken at handover. If your assignment supplies the patients, the same structure applies. Cite the handoff framework you follow. Avoid narrative; the reader needs actions and thresholds, not the story of the night.
Inside the PA 614 Week 2 example
An opening section names Ridgeview Community Hospital, the night of April 18 to 19 and the five-part block order, citing Starmer et al. (2014). Bed 4 gives a 58-year-old with resolved chest pressure, a normal ECG, a HEART score of 3 and a second troponin due at 06:30, with discharge or cardiology depending on the value. Bed 9 gives an 81-year-old fall patient on apixaban with a normal hip X-ray, unable to bear weight, awaiting CT, with triggers for confusion or bleeding. Bed 12 gives a 34-year-old with right lower quadrant pain and a white count of 13.1 awaiting a CT read. Hallway 2 gives a 27-year-old with a forearm laceration ready for repair. Each block ends with what not to repeat, and a closing section records the 07:05 read-back.
Reading the PA 614 Week 2 grading rubric
Sign-out briefs lose the most when blocks follow different orders, which forces the reader to search each one. Next comes a block with no single action, or with actions buried in narrative. Graders deduct for triggers that are vague, such as "if worse." Faculty reward a problem stated plainly, one action per block, written thresholds and a closing line on what need not be repeated. A read-back recorded at the end earns credit. Citation of the handoff framework used, in APA form, is expected. Concision is checked throughout, since the brief is used at the bedside.
Common PA 614 Week 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Sign-out briefs most often fall short by telling each patient's story from arrival, so the reader cannot find what to do. Another common problem is "follow up labs" without saying which lab, when or what value matters. Some briefs also omit what has already been done, so tests are repeated. If your patients are different, or your site uses a set format such as SBAR or I-PASS, send the patients and the format; a brief prepared for you would give each patient a block in the same order with one action, written triggers and a closing line, and would follow your site's headings. If your section supplies the patients, the brief would be built from them as given.
Get a PA-614 Week 2 example written to your instructions
Send the assignment and the rubric, with any sign-out template your site uses and the number of patients your prompt sets, and a custom PA-614 Week 2 brief is written to them and returned inside 24-48h. The first one costs nothing, and it is built to sit beside your own draft rather than to replace it.
More PA 614 papers and MPAS samples
- PA 614 Week 1: Emergency Note Reader Post
- PA 614 Week 3: Pending Results Note
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- PA 614 Week 5: Interrupted Encounter Write-up
- PA 614 Week 6: Patient Callback Note
- PA 614 Week 7: Shift Documentation Audit
- PA 614 Week 8: End of Shift Summary
- PA 612 Week 2: Admission History and Physical
- PA 610 Week 2: Family History Pedigree Map
- PA 608 Week 2: Blueprint Mapping Exercise
- PA 604 Week 2: Job Offer Comparison Memo
PA 614 Week 2 questions, answered
Does the sample use a specific sign-out format?
It uses whichever one you send. Sites hand out fixed field sets, and some classrooms mark against a named framework, so a brief laid out differently from the one your grader expects loses marks for things that are present but in the wrong place. Send the form your rotation uses, or the headings the assignment lists, and the sample is laid out that way.
Is the brief written to be spoken or to be read?
Both, usually, and that is part of what makes it hard. Most sections describe a document handed over while it is also being said out loud, which sets an upper limit on sentence length and rules out abbreviations a listener cannot unpack. The example is written so that a reader following along silently and a reader hearing it get the same instructions.
What if my assignment gives me the patients already?
That is the common version and it makes the request easier. Where the classroom supplies a set of cases, the example is written on those, so what you compare is the compression and the wording rather than the clinical content. Where nothing is supplied, the sample runs on constructed cases built to the count and mix your rubric describes.
Where can I find a free PA 614 Week 2 sample paper?
A complete PA 614 Week 2 shift sign-out brief for four emergency patients, each in an identical block with one action, is on this page.
Why does each block in the PA 614 Week 2 sample end with what is not needed?
So the day team does not repeat tests already done, such as a head CT, a pregnancy test or an X-ray for glass.