Why a shared log helps

A family caregiver log is a running record that everyone who helps can read and add to. It answers the questions relatives otherwise text each other all day. Was the dressing changed? Did the supplies come? What did the nurse say on Tuesday?

It also protects the person you are caring for. When a daughter covers mornings, a son covers weekends and a neighbor fills in, nobody sees the whole week. The log does. A slow change, such as a little more drainage every few days or a parent eating less, shows up on paper before any one helper would notice it.

A personal visit notebook, which one person carries to appointments, is a different tool. See keeping a wound care visit notebook.

Get your loved one’s agreement first

The log is about a person, and that person has a say. Ask your loved one who may read it and what they would prefer to keep private. Some people are comfortable with their children knowing about a wound but not about incontinence, money or mood.

If your loved one cannot make that choice, the person with legal authority to act for them should decide who has access.

Choose a format everyone will use

The best format is the one your least technical relative will keep up with.

  • A paper notebook. Keep it where care happens, with a pen attached.
  • A shared online document. Easy for relatives in other cities. Limit access to named people, not anyone who has the link.
  • A group text. Fine for quick alerts, but hard to search later. Use it to point people to the log, not to replace it.

Pick one person to look after the log. They do not write every entry. They make sure entries are being made and bring the log to visits.

What to write in each entry

Keep entries short and factual. Put the date, time and your initials first, then what you saw or did.

  1. Dressing: changed or not, by whom, and whether it was dry, damp or soaked
  2. Wound area: skin color around it, amount of drainage, any smell
  3. Pain: what your loved one said or showed, and when
  4. Eating and drinking: about how much
  5. Medications: any dose missed or refused
  6. Movement: time out of bed, turning, any fall or near fall
  7. Mood and alertness: any change from their usual self
  8. Calls and visits: who, what they said and what happens next
  9. Supplies: what is running low

Write what you observed, not what you think it means. “Bandage wet through by 3 pm, second day in a row” is more useful to a clinician than “wound seems worse.” The guide on describing wound changes to your care team gives more wording you can borrow.

If your relative has diabetes, ask the clinician whether blood sugar readings and daily foot checks should go in the log. Our page on diabetic foot ulcers explains why those details matter.

Keep an open-items page

Give the first page of the log to things that are not finished. Each line needs a task, a name and a date.

  • Questions waiting for an answer from a clinician’s office
  • Supply or equipment orders that have not arrived
  • Appointments to schedule or rides to arrange

Cross items off when they are done. This page keeps two siblings from calling the same office about the same order. If your family has not yet divided the jobs, see sharing wound care responsibilities with family.

Protect privacy

A log holds sensitive health information. Treat it that way.

  • Leave out Social Security numbers, account numbers and passwords
  • Use a private, password-protected file for an online log
  • Take wound photos only if your loved one agrees and the clinician has asked for them
  • Remove access when someone stops helping

Use the log with the care team

Bring the log, or a one-page summary of the last week, to each visit. Keep a current medication list in the front, and ask about a medication review if the list at home no longer matches what the clinicians have.

The log does not replace a phone call. Call the treating clinician about spreading redness, more drainage, a new smell, fever, worsening pain or new confusion. Call 911 for heavy bleeding that will not stop, trouble breathing or chest pain.

Gateway’s care coordination keeps track of the scheduling, records, orders and supplies side of wound care in Greater St. Louis and the Metro East. To talk with us, call 314-325-0126 or request a callback. See our page for families and caregivers for more.

Common questions

How much detail does a caregiver log need?

Less than you think. Two to five lines per shift is enough on an ordinary day: dressing, pain, eating, anything unusual. Write more only when something changes or a clinician calls. A log that takes two minutes gets kept, and one that takes twenty does not.

Should the paid aide or home health nurse write in our family log?

You can invite them to, and a short note from an aide is often helpful. Agency staff also keep their own official records, which the family log does not replace. Ask the agency whether its staff may write in a family notebook.

What if relatives disagree about what the log shows?

Take the question to the treating clinician instead of settling it among yourselves. Bring the entries as written. The log gives the clinician facts, and the clinician is the one to say whether a change matters and what should be done.

Is a group chat good enough for a small family?

For two people who talk every day, it may be. The weakness is finding things later. When an office asks when the drainage increased, scrolling through weeks of messages is slow. If you use a chat, copy the important facts into one dated list each week.

Related pages

General information to help you talk with your own clinician. It is not medical advice, and the treating clinician makes every clinical decision. For a medical emergency, call 911.

Updated October 2026