2 min reading · 10 min station · reminders at 2 min

Station - Instructions for candidate

You are an intern on the acute medical ward. A patient you have been looking after since admission starts to show signs of deterioration shortly after the nursing staff commence the first dose of an IV antibiotic.

Kavya Menon is a 42-year-old female who was admitted to the ward this morning with suspected community-acquired pneumonia. The nursing staff have just started an intravenous antibiotic infusion. You are called urgently to the bedside as the patient has developed a rash and is having difficulty breathing. She appears unwell and you note she has become very pale.

Vital signs on arrival at bedside
HR 124 bpm regular, BP 74/44 mmHg, RR 28, SpO2 88% on room air, temperature 37.3 C

Your tasks are to:

  1. Perform an A to E assessment and treat as you go.
  2. State your most likely diagnosis to the examiner.
  3. Outline your immediate management plan to the examiner.
  • A registered nurse is present at the bedside to assist you.
  • You do not need to take a history.

This is a 10-minute station, with 2 minutes of reading time.

Ask the examiner

Say what you would examine or request, the way you would in the station. Nothing is named until you ask for it.

Whatever the examiner recognises is revealed below. Or pick a numbered item to reveal it blind.

Investigations

Ask for a category the way you would in the station: “Can I have the obs and a set of bloods?”

Examination

Say what you would examine and how; the examiner reports what you would find.

After treatment

Once you have acted, ask how the patient has responded.

Candidate view - instructions only. Open the full station for the patient script, the examiner pack and the marking sheet.