How to Write Client Notes in ElderSuite

📝 Overview

A Client Note is a dated free-text note stored with a client record in the Client Center. Use it for operational or general remarks that belong on the client — not for clinical nursing narrative.

Notes start from the client, never from a Center button alone. Open Client Center from the ElderSuite main menu, then either select the client on Client List and click Add Note, or open Client Information, go to the Notes tab, and click Add Note. The Client Note window holds only a Date and a Note box. The client the note belongs to is fixed by the window that opened it and cannot be changed here.

This is not a Nurse's Note. Nursing narrative lives in Nursing Center → Nursing Notes; see How to Write Nurse's Notes in ElderSuite. Creating and editing the client record itself is covered in How to Add a Client in ElderSuite. This Guide covers the Client Note window only.

⚙ How It Works

1. Open a New Note From Client List or Client Information

Open Client Center, then Client List. Select the client's row and click Add Note on the Clients toolbar. A please-wait message appears, then Client Note opens with today's date already in Date and a heading that reads “Client Note for ” followed by the client's name. The title bar still reads Client Note, so use that heading to confirm which client you are writing about.

Or open the client in Client Information, go to the Notes tab, and click Add Note. That is the only note button on Client Information — its toolbar carries only Save & Close, Delete, and Print.

If the client record is brand new and has never been saved, ElderSuite asks first: “This is new record which has not been saved. You must save the record before you can create related Notes. Would you like to save now?” Answer Yes and let the save succeed before the note window opens. No stops there.

For a Limited Access sign-in, every route into this window needs the Edit Notes permission. Without it, Add Note is unavailable (and Edit Note does nothing). Permissions are read at sign-in, so sign out and back in after an administrator grants the permission in the Provider Center.

2. Enter the Date and Note Text

Keep a complete date in Date before you rely on saving. A new note already has today's date. You can type a date or use the calendar control beside the field. The calendar accepts dates from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2100.

Type the note in the Note box. The box is not required — ElderSuite will save a note with no text in it.

Only one Client Note window is open at a time. On Client Information, clicking Add Note while a note is already open brings that window forward instead of starting a blank new one. Finish or close the open note, then click Add Note again. From Client List, ElderSuite closes the open note window first and then opens a blank new one.

3. Save and Close

Click Save & Close on the toolbar (or press Alt+S). ElderSuite checks that the text in Date is at least eight characters long. If it is shorter, nothing happens — no message appears, and the window stays open. With a complete date, a please-wait message appears, the note is written, the Notes grid behind the window updates, and the window closes.

There is no Cancel button. To leave without saving, use the title-bar close control. When the date is complete and something changed, ElderSuite asks “Would you like to save your changes?” Yes saves, No discards, and Cancel keeps the window open.

4. Edit or Delete an Existing Note

From the Notes grid on Client List or on the Notes tab of Client Information, double-click the note's row. On the Notes tab you can also select the row and click Edit Note. The window opens with that note's own date and text; nothing is overwritten until you save.

To remove the note, click Delete on the Client Note toolbar. ElderSuite asks “Are you sure you want to delete this record?” with No preselected. Yes deletes only that note — the client record is untouched — refreshes the Notes grid, and closes the window.

Start a second note for the same client from Add Note again after you finish the one on screen. The Client Note toolbar carries only Save & Close and Delete; there is no Add New or Print on this window.

✅ Important Limitations

A Client Note cannot be printed from the Client Note window. There is no Print button and no print preview here.

The note stays with the client that opened it. You cannot reassign a note to a different client from this window.

This is not Nursing Notes / a Nurse's Note. Clinical nursing narrative belongs in the Nursing Center.

A blank Note box can still be saved. An incomplete Date blocks saving without a warning message.

Deleting a note deletes that note only. It does not delete the client or other related records.

⚠ Keep a Complete Date Before You Close

Both Save & Close and the title-bar close control require at least eight characters in Date. If the date is blank or half-typed, Save & Close does nothing with no message, and closing with the X skips the “Would you like to save your changes?” question and discards what you typed. Put a complete date in Date before you finish typing, and prefer Save & Close over the title-bar close when you mean to keep the note.

💡 Need More Help?

For step-by-step instructions, click Ask Eddie from within ElderSuite.