Station - Instructions for candidate
You are an intern in the Emergency Department of a Perth metropolitan hospital.
Linh Le, a 48-year-old pharmacy assistant, presented at 10 am with fever and rigors that started two hours ago, and profound weakness. She has a PICC line in situ for ongoing medical treatment. The triage nurse has recorded her observations and asked you to see her immediately.
| Triage observations | Temperature 38.8 degrees C, Heart rate 105 regular, Blood pressure 95/60 mmHg, Respiratory rate 22, SpO2 96% on room air, Alert and orientated. |
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Your tasks are to:
- Take a focused history of the presenting complaint and relevant background.
- Perform a focused examination of general appearance, chest, abdomen, skin and the PICC line site. Describe to the examiner what you would examine and findings will be provided to you.
- Request appropriate investigations.
- State your most likely diagnosis to the examiner.
- Outline your initial management plan to the examiner, including immediate actions and first-line antibiotics.
- You do NOT need to summarise your findings to the examiner.
- Findings will be provided by the examiner on request.
This is a 15-minute station, with 2 minutes of reading time.