For LPN / Charge Nurse (SNF)s ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have a personal AI assistant in Claude that already knows you're an LPN charge nurse at a skilled nursing facility — your unit, your residents' typical diagnoses, the documentation system you use, and the writing style regulators expect. Every time you open it, you start from that shared understanding instead of re-explaining from scratch.
What you'll need
What you should see: A confirmation that Pro is active, and your usage limits are now higher.
Troubleshooting: If you already have a free Claude account, just upgrade from the sidebar. You don't need to create a new account.
What you should see: A new project space with an empty conversation and a settings panel on the right side.
This is the most important step. In the Project settings panel (right side), look for Project Instructions or Custom Instructions. Click to edit and paste in the following — customize the parts in brackets:
I am an LPN charge nurse at a [X]-bed skilled nursing facility. I work [day/evening/night] shift managing a [X]-resident unit.
My residents are primarily elderly (average age 80+) with diagnoses including: CHF, COPD, dementia, Type 2 diabetes, post-hip or knee replacement, pressure ulcers, and recurrent UTIs.
I document in PointClickCare. I need Medicare-compliant skilled nursing documentation language.
When I ask you to write documentation, use:
- Professional nursing language appropriate for SNF regulatory review
- Neutral, objective language in incident reports (no admission of fault)
- Medicare-required language in skilled nursing notes ("skilled observation and assessment," "resident instructed on," "continued skilled services required due to...")
- SBAR format for physician communication documentation
I am subject to CMS Conditions of Participation and state survey requirements. Documentation must support continued stay authorization and be defensible in survey review.
Unless I say otherwise, format all notes as I would enter them in PointClickCare.
Click Save.
What you should see: Your instructions are saved. Claude will now apply this context to every conversation in this Project.
Troubleshooting: If you don't see a Project Instructions field, look for a gear/settings icon within the Project, or check if the interface has updated since this guide was written.
Start a new conversation inside the Project. Type:
"Write a nursing progress note. Mrs. Rodriguez, 82, CHF. This morning her legs were more swollen than yesterday, O2 sat 91% on room air (baseline 95%), she complained of feeling 'puffy.' I elevated her legs, notified the physician, 40mg furosemide PO ordered and given at 1pm. O2 sat improved to 95% by 3pm."
What you should see: A professional SNF nursing progress note with appropriate clinical language — no additional setup required. Compare this to what ChatGPT produces without custom instructions and you'll notice Claude knows the SNF context and regulatory expectations from the start.
As you use the assistant, note which prompt phrasings produce the best results. You can create a simple reference list on your phone's notes app:
Daily progress note: "Write a nursing progress note for a SNF resident. [Name, age, diagnoses]. Today: [what you assessed and any interventions]."
Incident report: "Write an SNF incident report. [What happened, when, resident assessment, notifications made]. Use neutral, objective language."
SBAR for physician call: "Write an SBAR I can read from when calling the physician about [clinical situation for resident name, diagnoses, vitals, your impression]."
Medicare skilled note: "Write a Medicare skilled nursing note. Services provided today: [what skilled services you delivered]. Clinical reason stay is still needed: [rationale]."
Family letter: "Draft a family notification letter for [resident name]'s family. [What happened, what we did, current status]. Professional and caring tone."