EM Cases · Patient disposition and safety-netting
Discharge counselling and safety-netting — the communication station
An ACEM Fellowship OSCE communication station. Tests the discharge counselling of a stable patient with an undifferentiated-but-now-resolved presentation: confirming the discharge gates are met, explaining the working diagnosis and the remaining uncertainty, delivering specific, written, condition-based safety-net advice with teach-back, and arranging a results follow-up pathway and a named review. Maps to the OSCE communication domain and the ED systems, safety and professional competency. ACEM-primary, globally tagged.
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Study tools
Target exams
ACEMFRCEMABEMFRCPCCCFPEMEBEEM
Prompt
A 32-year-old woman is ready for discharge after an emergency department workup for severe lower abdominal pain that has now settled, with a normal pelvic ultrasound, normal bloods and a negative pregnancy test. Counsel her on discharge, arrange follow-up, and give written safety-net advice.
Stem
All persons, presentations and observations in this station are fictional and invented for teaching assessment; they do not describe a real person.
References2ShowHide
- [3]Gorick H. How to provide effective safety netting in the emergency department. Emergency Nurse, 2025.PMID 40624849
- [7]Steel PAD, Hancock D, Han JH, et al. Outcomes of 72-hour emergency department return visits requiring hospital admission in older adults: a nationally representative analysis. BMC Geriatr, 2026.PMID 42215907