CNU Library Blog

Resources for SOAP notes

SOAP notes allow doctors to communicate important information about a patient's well-being quickly and effectively. These notes are intended to help medical professionals in their daily routine, but can also help health professionals SOAP stands for:

• Subjective (patient's perspective) 
• Objective (results, measurements) 
• Assessment (your summary of patient's condition) 
• Plan (to manage patient's condition) 

The resources below describe in more detail what the patient's perspective may include, important results and measurements to report, what a proper assessment includes, and what may constitute the plan going forward. 

Here are some resources for writing SOAP notes: 

• Gomella and Haist’s Clinician’s Pocket Reference, 12e: Chapter 7, Chartwork (on Access Medicine)
• Huppert’s Notes: Pathophysiology and Clinical Pearls for Internal Medicine, Appendix 1: Practical Skills for Learners (on Access Medicine)
• Wolters Kluwer: What are SOAP notes? (Wolters Kluwer is a well-known health sciences database company and publisher!) 
• StatPearls: SOAP notes (on the National Library of Medicine website)
• Purdue Owl: SOAP Notes (includes what a SOAP note is and examples)