Doctor Orders & Nursing Notes

Hospital & IPD

Doctor Orders & Nursing Notes

Use this page to view active inpatients, create and track doctor orders, write nursing notes, and record shift handovers.

Doctor Orders & Nursing Notes illustration

How to find this page

  1. 1

    Sign in to EliteHMS

  2. 2

    Select Orders & Notes from the left-hand menu

Orders & Notes option in the left-hand menu
Orders & Notes in the left-hand menu

What this page is for

Use this page to view active inpatients, create and track doctor orders, write nursing notes, and record shift handovers.

Note:It works with IPD Management: a patient must have an active IPD admission before they appear in the Active Patients list.

Tip:If the page shows 0 Active Patients, there are no active inpatient admissions at the selected location. Admit the patient in IPD Management first, then return here.

Understand the summary cards

  • Pending Ack: Orders waiting for a nurse to acknowledge them.
  • Unacknowledged: A summary count of orders that have not reached a completed or cancelled state.
  • Today Orders: Orders created today.
  • Active Patients: Patients with active IPD admissions.
Orders & Notes summary cards
Summary cards at the top of the page

Tip:Use Refresh to reload the patient list, order counts, and handovers.

Active Patients: open a patient’s orders and notes

Select Active Patients, then search by patient name, bed, or ward. Choose a patient to open their record. From there, use the Orders and Notes tabs.

Active Patients list with search box and pending-order highlights
The Active Patients list

The patient list can highlight patients who have pending orders. A No active IPD patients message means there are no current admissions to select.

Create a doctor order

From a patient’s order view, select New Order. The order is linked to that patient’s active admission.

  1. 1

    Choose an Order Type

    Medicine, Investigation, Diet, Procedure, Nursing, Consultation, Restriction, or Other.

  2. 2

    Choose a Priority

    Routine, Urgent, STAT, or One-Time.

  3. 3

    Enter the required Order Title / Summary

  4. 4

    Add clear Detailed Instructions

  5. 5

    Add Frequency, Duration, and start or end dates where needed

  6. 6

    Review the order, then select Send Order to Nurses

New Order form with order type, priority, title, and instructions
The New Order form

Tip:Make the title and instructions clear enough for the receiving staff to understand the intended task.

Warning:Use priority according to your facility’s policy. STAT means the request needs immediate attention under that policy.

The app notifies staff about new orders. The receiving nurse should read and acknowledge the order.

Note:Acknowledgement records that the order was seen, not that the task was completed.

Review and update orders

Expand an order card to read its detailed instructions, acknowledgement notes, completion notes, or modification history. Use the status filters to narrow the list.

Order cards with status filters
Order cards and status filters

Statuses include:

  • Pending: Waiting for acknowledgement.
  • Acknowledged: A nurse has recorded that they read the order.
  • In-Progress: The task has been started.
  • Completed: The task was marked done.
  • Cancelled: The order was cancelled.
  • On-Hold: The order is paused.

Available actions may include Acknowledge, Done, and Cancel. When marking an order done, add completion notes if they help explain what was completed. Cancelling asks for a reason.

Warning:Acknowledging all orders is available in the patient view; use it only after reading every order.

Note:A doctor can edit an order before it is completed or cancelled. If an acknowledged order is changed, it returns to Pending so nurses can review the updated instructions.

Write a nursing note

Select a patient and choose Write Note, or use the page’s handover option for a shift-wide handover. Choose a note type:

  • Progress Note: A record of the patient’s progress.
  • Observation: An observation made during care.
  • Incident Report: A record of an incident.
  • Patient Education: Information or instructions given to the patient.
  • Discharge Note: Notes related to discharge.
  • Other: Another nursing note type.
Write Note form with note type, title, content, and tags
The Write Note form

Enter a required Title and Note Content. You may add comma-separated tags to make notes easier to recognize. In the patient view, the note is associated with that admission.

Tip:The note form also offers Private (nursing staff only) and Pin to top options. Use them according to your facility’s documentation and access policies.

Write a shift handover

  1. 1

    Select Write Handover at the top of the page

    Or choose Shift Handovers and select Write Shift Handover.

  2. 2

    Enter the handover title and overall shift summary

  3. 3

    Complete the handover section

    See the list below.

The handover section can include:

  • Shift: Morning, Evening, or Night.
  • Outgoing Nurse and Incoming Nurse
  • Ward
  • Critical Patients
  • Pending Tasks
  • A patient-by-patient summary, including condition, last vitals, pending tasks, and alerts for the next nurse.
Shift Handover form with shift, nurses, ward, and patient summaries
The Shift Handover form

Warning:Include clear, current information that helps the incoming staff continue care safely. Verify patient names and bed numbers, and follow your facility’s handover policy.

Past handovers appear under Shift Handovers. Select a handover card to expand and read its summary and patient details.

Helpful terms

  • Acknowledge: Record that an order has been read.
  • Handover: Passing important patient and task information from one shift to the next.
  • IPD: Inpatient Department; patients staying in the hospital.
  • STAT: A priority label for immediate attention under the facility’s policy.
  • Investigation: A requested test or examination, such as a lab test or imaging.