Problem: generic method helps, but some cases appear again and again — the non-healing wound, the planned renal procedure, the stroke transfer — and each has facts examiners expect to see. Answer in brief: master the three highest-frequency nursing cases with their expected-fact checklists, and bank their paragraph shapes for exam day. This guide teaches all three with checklists and a worked wound referral, and OET Writing for Nurses — Course 5 trains them across 23 topic sections with mock tests.
Case 1: the non-healing wound referral
Expected facts: duration of non-healing, size and depth trajectory, exudate and odour, surrounding skin, pain score, diabetes/vascular status, dressings tried with effect, swabs and antibiotics. Shape: concern-first purpose (“referred with a wound unhealed at eight weeks despite…”), wound description with measures, what has been tried, precise request (tissue-viability review? vascular assessment? admission?). Duration plus tried-and-failed is the referral’s logic — without both, it reads as impatience.
Case 2: renal care and the planned procedure
Expected facts: baseline and current function with trend, fluid status, potassium, dialysis access or lack of it, procedure name with date and consent status, transport and escort needs. Shape: purpose naming the procedure and date, function trend, fitness and access details, checklist-style handover (consent confirmed, allergies, escort arranged). Procedure letters are logistics documents — the examiner checks nothing is missing, not how beautifully it reads.
Train all three cases supervised? The full OET Writing for Nurses — Course 5 covers specialist wound referral, renal procedures and stroke transfer across 23 topic sections with 24 lessons and mock tests. Explore the course →
Case 3: stroke transfer
Expected facts: event date and type, deficits in functional language, swallow status, rehab trajectory with two dated points, mood and family involvement, receiving-unit actions. Shape: the stroke engine (deficits, trajectory, actions) from the Course 2 method, compressed — transfer letters have less space than rehab referrals, so one line per stable item and full detail only for the unstable.
Worked example: wound referral letter
Fictional case, newly written: Mr Osei, 67, diabetic, plantar ulcer 5 × 3 cm unhealed at nine weeks despite offloading and dressings; moderate exudate, no odour; pedal pulses palpable; pain 3/10; swab grew staph, flucloxacillin completed without improvement; HbA1c 68.
Shape: “Thank you for seeing Mr Osei, 67, with a diabetic foot ulcer unhealed at nine weeks despite offloading and a completed antibiotic course.” Measures and trajectory. Tried-and-failed list. Diabetes context with trend. Request: “I would appreciate tissue-viability review with a view to advanced dressings or vascular assessment; he remains ambulant with offloading and will attend promptly.” Checklist complete — roughly 180 words.
Banking shapes for exam day
After training each case, write its shape from memory: four paragraph purposes plus the expected-fact checklist, no notes. Banked shapes cut planning to minutes because the examiner’s expectations are pre-loaded. Re-bank monthly — shapes fade faster than facts.
FAQs
Must wound letters include exact measures?
Yes — size, depth where known, duration and exudate level. “Large ulcer, long time” is not a referral; “5 × 3 cm, nine weeks” is.
How do procedure letters differ from referrals?
They hand over logistics, not arguments: consent, allergies, access, transport, escort, return plan. Persuasion is replaced by completeness.
What is in the course?
Twenty-three topic sections on specialist wound referral, renal procedures and stroke transfer letters, with 24 lessons and 5 complete mock tests.
The matching course
OET Writing for Nurses — Course 5 banks the highest-frequency nursing cases: non-healing wound referral, planned renal procedures and stroke transfer — 23 topic sections, 24 lessons, 5 mock tests. For cases you will almost certainly meet, train their shapes here.
Sources and note
- OET Writing format per the official OET site: oet.com — Writing. Measures and regimens above are illustrative fiction; follow local protocols in practice and current OET guidance for the exam.
- Course details verified from its public staging page (read-only): 23 topic sections, 24 lessons, 5 mock tests.
- Case and letter lines are newly written and fictional; other valid structures exist.
Put this into practice
Compare these course outlines and choose the practice that matches your next goal.
