| Course | PA 616 Clinical Clerkship - Surgery |
|---|---|
| Week | 6 |
| Paper type | Postoperative check note |
| Length | About 440 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 616 Week 6
Postoperative Check Note for C.N. Six Hours After Heller Myotomy: Two Times at the Top, Each Line Written as a Difference From the Recovery Room Record, Unchanged Stated as a Finding and the Note's Purpose Named
Student Name
Chamberlain University
PA 616: Clinical Clerkship - Surgery
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Postoperative Check Note for C.N. Six Hours After Heller Myotomy: Two Times at the Top, Each Line Written as a Difference From the Recovery Room Record, Unchanged Stated as a Finding and the Note's Purpose Named
The Note
Postoperative check, April 14, 2026, 15:45. Compared with the recovery room record at 10:15.
Symptoms: pain 3 of 10 at the port sites (10:15: 5 of 10); no chest pain (unchanged); no shortness of breath (unchanged); nausea once at 13:00, settled with ondansetron (10:15: none).
Vital signs 15:30: temperature 37.6 (10:15: 36.8); pulse 88 (10:15: 76); blood pressure 128/74 (10:15: 132/80); respiratory rate 16 (unchanged); saturation 96 percent on room air (10:15: 98 percent on 2 L).
Examination: lungs clear and equal, no subcutaneous emphysema in the neck or chest (unchanged); abdomen soft, port sites dry (unchanged).
Intake and output since 10:15: intravenous 900 mL; urine 400 mL.
Assessment: expected course six hours after laparoscopic Heller myotomy. Temperature and pulse slightly higher but within the range expected after surgery; no sign of perforation or pneumothorax.
Plan: continue nothing by mouth except sips; esophagram tomorrow 09:00 as planned; recheck vital signs at 20:00; call the resident for temperature 38.5 or above, chest pain, pulse over 110 or new shortness of breath.
Called to: the night intern, by page at 15:50, to report the check; no change to orders.
Two Times at the Top
The note fixes the earlier reference point, 10:15, so "unchanged" has a meaning.
Unchanged Is a Finding
No chest pain, no subcutaneous emphysema and clear lungs are recorded as unchanged findings, not left out. After myotomy, chest pain, fever or air in the tissues can be early signs of a mucosal perforation (Vaezi et al., 2020), so their absence is information.
Say What the Note Is For
This note answers one question: is C.N.'s recovery on the expected course six hours after surgery? It does not repeat the operative details.
The Same Order as Before
The order of symptoms, vital signs, examination and intake matches the recovery room record, so a reader can compare line by line.
If a finding had changed in a worrying direction, such as new chest pain, it would have gone at the top of the note with the time the resident was called, not in its usual place.
References
Vaezi, M. F., Pandolfino, J. E., Yadlapati, R. H., Greer, K. B., & Kavitt, R. T. (2020). ACG clinical guidelines: Diagnosis and management of achalasia. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 115(9), 1393-1411. https://doi.org/10.14309/ajg.0000000000000731
The Chamberlain PA 616 Week 6 instructions
The sixth week asks for a postoperative check note of six to eight lines, brief by design. The opening line fixes two times: when the earlier state was recorded and when this check happened. Everything after is written as a difference from that earlier record, so the reader can see the trend at once. Unchanged findings are findings and should be written as such, especially when their absence matters. Say what the note is for, usually whether recovery is on the expected course. Keep the same order as the earlier record so a reader can compare line by line. The note may say what should happen next and when to call. Even when nothing is wrong, the note has to be written. Cite guidance behind any finding you single out.
How this PA 616 Week 6 example is built
The note opens with the 15:45 check against the 10:15 recovery room record. Symptoms move from pain 5 to 3, with nausea once at 13:00, and no chest pain or breathlessness, unchanged. Vitals show a temperature of 37.6 against 36.8, a pulse of 88 against 76 and saturation of 96 percent on room air against 98 on oxygen. The examination records clear lungs and no subcutaneous emphysema, unchanged. Intake and output follow. The assessment calls the course expected, and the plan keeps sips only, the morning esophagram and call thresholds. Sections explain fixing two times, recording unchanged findings because chest pain, fever or air in the tissues can signal perforation (Vaezi et al., 2020), naming the purpose and keeping the earlier order.
Where the points sit in the PA 616 Week 6 rubric
Postoperative checks lose the most when they read as a fresh examination with no reference point, so the reader cannot tell what changed. Next comes leaving out unchanged findings that matter for this operation. Graders deduct for notes that run long and repeat the operative details. Faculty reward two times at the top, each line written as a change and a stated purpose. Keeping the earlier record's order earns credit for comparability. Clear call thresholds in the plan show safe handover. Citation of the guidance behind any highlighted finding, in APA form, completes the rubric.
PA 616 Week 6 help: mistakes that cost points
Postoperative check notes most often fall short by listing current vital signs without the earlier values. Another common problem is "patient doing well" with no findings behind it. Some notes also omit the complication-specific negatives that justify calling the course normal. If your patient had a different operation, send the earlier record and your check findings; a note written for you would fix both times, write each line as a difference, record unchanged findings that matter, name its purpose and keep the earlier order. If the patient had a problem at the check, the note would state it first and say who was called.
Get a PA-616 Week 6 example written to your instructions
Put the week's instructions in the request with the earlier note or data your section supplied, since the check is written against it and a sample built without one is only half the assignment. A custom PA-616 check note comes back inside 24-48h and the first is free. Say if your site has a required format and the sample uses it.
More PA 616 papers and MPAS samples
- PA 616 Week 1: Surgical Service Chain Post
- PA 616 Week 2: Pre-Rounding Data Sheet
- PA 616 Week 3: Service Census Update
- PA 616 Week 4: Case Preparation Card
- PA 616 Week 5: Operative Note Draft
- PA 616 Week 7: Procedure Log Summary
- PA 616 Week 8: Chief Resident Feedback Reply
- PA 614 Week 6: Patient Callback Note
- PA 612 Week 6: Goals of Care Summary
- PA 610 Week 6: Encounter Log Gap Review
- PA 608 Week 6: Timing and Pacing Analysis
PA 616 Week 6 questions, answered
Who should the note be addressed to?
Whoever your section names, and where it names nobody, the position that reads first on the service you described in week one. On most surgical teams that is the intern or the resident covering the floor rather than anyone further up. What matters for marks is that a position is named at all and that the choice fits the chain the rest of your assignments describe.
Can the note say what should be done next?
It can propose, and on this clerkship the proposing is usually what earns the marks, provided the sentence is written as a proposal and carries the position it is addressed to. What costs marks is a proposal written as a decision, because the note then claims an authority the writer's stated role does not carry, and the inconsistency is visible on the page.
My scenario has nothing wrong with the patient. Is there a note to write?
Those are often the better samples, because the whole document then rests on the comparison rather than on a dramatic finding. An unremarkable check still states two times, still pairs each item with its earlier state, still carries one sentence of reading, and still closes on an addressed line. Writing an ordinary check well is the skill the week is actually assessing.
Where can I find a free PA 616 Week 6 sample paper?
A complete PA 616 Week 6 postoperative check note written as differences from the recovery room record is on this page.
Why are unchanged findings recorded in the PA 616 Week 6 sample?
After myotomy, chest pain, fever or air in the tissues can signal perforation, so their continued absence is information the next reader needs.