A model OET nursing discharge letter, taken apart

Below is an invented nursing case, a discharge letter written from it, and a paragraph-by-paragraph look at why each sentence is there and what stayed in the notes.

The task

A discharge letter is one of the letter types OET names for the Writing task, alongside referral, transfer and advice. You are a staff nurse on a cardiology ward. Using the case notes, write a letter to Ms Helen Marsh, Heart Failure Specialist Nurse, Community Heart Failure Service, Larkhill Health Centre, 22 Mill Lane, Brackenford, who will continue Mr Brody's care at home.

The case notes

This case is invented and is not based on any official OET task.

• Mr Walter Brody, DOB 21/08/1946 (80); admitted 06/11/2026; discharge today 13/11/2026
• Writer: Hannah Price, Staff Nurse, Ward 12 (Cardiology), Fernbridge General Hospital
• Lives with wife (Joan, 78) in a bungalow; retired bus driver; keeps an allotment; grandchildren visit at weekends
• Ex-smoker (stopped 20 yrs ago); alcohol 2 pints beer at weekends
• PMH: hypertension (15 yrs); osteoarthritis R hip; NKDA
• Admission: 3/52 increasing SOB on exertion, ankle swelling, sleeping on 3 pillows; weight 91 kg
• 07/11: echo: new diagnosis of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (LVEF 30%); IV diuretic
• 09/11: changed to oral diuretic
• 10/11: two new HF medicines started (names and doses in discharge summary)
• 12/11: ankle swelling much reduced; SOB on stairs only; U&Es stable
• 13/11: weight 84 kg
• Education: weighs each morning, records in diary; to contact HF nurse if sudden weight gain, more SOB or ankle swelling returns; wife present; has bathroom scales; given HF booklet
• Plan: HF nurse home visit within 1 week: weight, symptoms, BP, bloods (renal function, K+); then increase HF medicines step by step per cardiology plan
• Discharge summary incl. medicines and plan: copies to GP (Dr Rao, Brackenford Surgery) and community HF team
• Referred to cardiac rehabilitation; team will phone him
• Cardiology outpatients in 3 months; letter to follow

The model letter

The letter would open with Ms Marsh's name, title and address as the task gives them, the date and a subject line such as "Re: Mr Walter Brody, DOB 21/08/1946". The greeting, body and sign-off follow.

Dear Ms Marsh,

Mr Walter Brody, who was diagnosed with heart failure during this admission, is going home today, and I would be grateful if your team could continue his care.

Mr Brody was admitted on 6 November after three weeks of increasing breathlessness and ankle swelling, and an echocardiogram showed heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. He was given a diuretic, and two new heart failure medicines were started on 10 November. He is now breathless only on stairs, his ankle swelling is much reduced, and his weight has fallen from 91 kg to 84 kg.

He has learnt to weigh himself each morning, record the result in a diary and contact your team if his weight rises suddenly, his breathing worsens or his ankles swell again. His wife, who lives with him, attended this teaching.

At a home visit within one week, please check his weight, symptoms and blood pressure and take blood for kidney function and potassium. After that, please increase his heart failure medicines step by step, following the cardiology plan in the discharge summary sent to your team. The cardiac rehabilitation team will also phone him.

Please contact me with any questions.

Yours sincerely,

Hannah Price, Staff Nurse, Ward 12 (Cardiology), Fernbridge General Hospital

The body, from "Mr Walter Brody" to "any questions", is 194 words.

Taking it apart

The opening

The first sentence carries three things: who the patient is, what has just happened (a new diagnosis, home today) and what Ms Marsh is being asked to do (continue his care). OET's assessment criteria say the purpose should be introduced early and expanded on later, often near the end. This sentence is the short version; the fourth paragraph is the detailed one.

The admission in one paragraph

Six lines in the notes become one paragraph that answers two questions for the reader: what has happened to his heart, and where does he stand now? The two weights and the ankle swelling earn their place: they are the baseline Ms Marsh will compare her own findings against.

The LVEF percentage stayed in the notes: naming the type of heart failure gives her what she needs.

What he can do himself

This paragraph tells the reader what she can build on. A nurse visiting a man who already weighs himself and knows the warning signs will plan differently from one starting from scratch. His wife earns a clause because she was there for the teaching and lives with him; her name and age do not.

The request

This is the detailed version of the purpose, and it is specific: when and where (a home visit within one week), what to check (weight, symptoms, blood pressure) and what to take (blood for kidney function and potassium), then what comes next (increase the medicines step by step). Each item comes straight from the plan line in the notes.

The letter names no medicines and no doses. The notes point to the discharge summary for those, and the letter says it has been sent to her team, so nothing is lost and no figure can be copied wrongly. The rehabilitation referral gets one sentence because it tells her who else will be in touch with him.

The close

One line, offering a contact. Nothing new is introduced in the close.

What was left out, and why

• His job, the bungalow, the allotment, the grandchildren, smoking and alcohol: none of them changes what the nurse does at the first visit.
• Hypertension, the hip and NKDA: the two long-standing conditions do not change the visit she is being asked to make, and NKDA means there is no drug allergy to warn her about.
• The day-by-day entries and the LVEF figure: the diagnosis and the outcome summarise them, and listing each one would make her rebuild the timeline herself. Only two dates stay: the admission, and 10 November, because her blood tests and dose increases follow the new medicines.
• Sleeping on 3 pillows: it describes him on admission; "breathless only on stairs" tells her where he is now.
• The stable U&Es: a stable result asks nothing of her, and she is taking fresh bloods for kidney function and potassium at the visit.
• The scales and the booklet: "has learnt to weigh himself each morning" already tells her he can do it at home.
• The GP's name and the outpatient appointment: the clinic will send its own letter, the appointment is three months away, and neither detail changes the first visit.

For a fuller method of sorting the notes, see how to choose what goes into your letter, and for timing see a five-step method for the 45 minutes.

Length and layout

OET asks for a body of approximately 180 to 200 words, with no automatic penalty for going over or under; a letter far outside the range usually loses marks under the six criteria instead. Its nursing sample tasks ask for full sentences and letter format, but OET says no particular layout is required as long as the letter is clearly laid out and suits the task.

For a second model letter on a different case, plus a checklist for the last five minutes, read the free OET Writing guide for nurses.

Check the current rules. OET can change the format, the word guidance and the criteria, so confirm them on the official OET Writing page before you sit the test. Clodia is independent and not affiliated with OET or Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment.