Record a reading your doctor can use
Record a reading so that it is worth something to the person who asked for it.
Somebody has asked you to measure something at home and write it down. A reading with no date and no context is a number floating in the air.
The same reading with “Tuesday, ten past eight, sitting down, before breakfast” beside it is something a clinician can use. The writing down is the job.
Key points
- Ask exactly who wants a reading, how often, and how they want it sent
- Record the date, the time, the circumstances and the reading exactly as it appeared
- Send every reading you took, including the ones that look odd
- Take any number that worries you to your doctor’s office, the nurse line or 911 rather than to a search engine
What to remember
- Write what you actually saw. A tidied-up log is worse than no log at all.
- Record what happened, not what you hoped. Then hand it to somebody qualified to read it.
Try this
If anybody has asked you to measure something at home, find where those readings are now. If they are on scraps in a drawer, put them into one note this week, with dates.
Practice: Record a reading your doctor can use. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.