Printable Caregiver Daily Log: Free Daily Care Log Sheet (PDF)

All four files have the same seven pages. Pick the paper size you use: US Letter in the US and Canada, A4 almost everywhere else.

• Caregiver Daily Log, color, US Letter (PDF, 7 pages)
• Caregiver Daily Log, black and white, US Letter (PDF, 7 pages)
• Caregiver Daily Log, color, A4 (PDF, 7 pages)
• Caregiver Daily Log, black and white, A4 (PDF, 7 pages)

Print the care details page once. Print the two daily log pages for each day, and the handoff and weekly pages as often as you need them.

• Page 1 — Cover.
• Page 2 — How to use this log: the few habits that make a shared log work, how to record medicines, and when to call 911.
• Page 3 — Care details: the person’s doctor, pharmacy, allergies, usual routine and preferences, and their medicine list. Fill it in once.
• Page 4 — Daily log, page 1: meals and drinks, medicines given (time, dose, who gave it, any refused) and the personal care done today.
• Page 5 — Daily log, page 2: movement and activity, sleep and rest, mood, toileting, notes for the next caregiver and questions for the doctor.
• Page 6 — Shift handoff notes: one line each time care passes to someone else.
• Page 7 — Weekly summary: the main points of the week on one page, to take to appointments.

A log only helps if everyone uses it the same way. These habits keep it accurate:

1. 1

   Keep one log in one place

   a clipboard on the kitchen counter or next to the medicines, so nobody has to hunt for it.

2. 2

   Write things down when they happen

   not at the end of the shift from memory. A meal, a drink or a medicine takes a few seconds to note.

3. 3

   Record what actually happened

   including a dose that was refused or missed, or a meal that was barely touched. Those are the details the doctor needs.

4. 4

   Fill in the notes before you leave

   so the next person knows about the sore heel, the poor night or the call from the pharmacy.

5. 5

   Copy the main points onto the weekly summary

   and take it to appointments. A week on one page is easier to discuss than seven loose sheets.

• The log records; it does not decide. Give medicines exactly as prescribed or as the label says.
• Write the time, the dose and your name for every medicine given, so nobody gives a second dose by mistake.
• If a dose is missed or refused, write it down and ask the pharmacist or doctor what to do. Do not double up on your own.
• Keep the medicine list on the care details page up to date after every appointment or hospital stay.

They do different jobs. The caregiver daily checklist is a list of tasks to tick off by time of day, so nothing gets missed. This daily log is a record of what actually happened: what was eaten, which medicines were given, how the day went. Many families use both: the checklist on the fridge, the log on the clipboard.