Pneumonia recovery log for an elderly parent: discharge instructions + 14-day daily log

If you are the son or daughter bringing a parent home after pneumonia — whether after a hospital stay or after a diagnosis treated at home — you are the one who will fill the pill organizer, remember the follow-up appointment, and notice whether Dad seems more short of breath today than yesterday. Pneumonia recovery has two distinct parts: a short window at discharge where you need to capture the plan correctly, and then a period of watching how your parent is doing while the antibiotic course finishes, for as long as your parent's care team suggests.

This page is built as one printable sheet for both parts: a compact discharge-instruction block to fill in before or on the day you bring your parent home, and a 14-day daily log for the weeks that follow.

This article is educational and is not medical advice. Always follow the instructions you receive from your parent's clinicians. Your parent's written discharge instructions override anything general on this page — this log is a place to copy those instructions down and record what you observe, not a source of medical guidance itself.

What this page covers and what it does not

• Discharge instructions, captured once — the antibiotic plan, any oxygen or equipment, follow-up appointments, and a teach-back confirmation
• A daily log, 14 days by default — breathing, cough, energy, meals and fluids, and whether each day's antibiotic doses were given as scheduled, for as long as your care team suggests
• Temperature, only if your parent's care team asked you to track it — with a source field so it's clear whose instruction it was

What this page does not do: it does not interpret what you observe, it does not set thresholds for when to call, and it is not a substitute for your parent's written instructions. What to watch for and when to call is in your parent's discharge instructions — copy those instructions into the box at the top of the log so everyone helping can see them.

For the broader, condition-agnostic version of a hospital discharge, see the hospital discharge checklist for an elderly parent coming home — it covers home safety, overnight coverage, and general follow-up planning that apply to any hospital stay. This page focuses on the parts that are specific to pneumonia.

The discharge-instruction block and 14-day log

Fill in the discharge block once, before or on the day your parent comes home. Then use one row of the daily log per day for the next 14 days.

### Discharge-instruction capture (fill in once, before leaving)

| Item | As written in the discharge instructions |
|---|---|
| Date of discharge (or diagnosis, if treated at home) | |
| Antibiotic name, dose, and how often | |
| How many days is the full course? | |
| What to do about a missed dose (per instructions) | |
| Oxygen or breathing equipment prescribed? If yes, what and who is setting it up | |
| Follow-up appointment #1 — with whom, date/time | |
| Follow-up appointment #2 (if any) — with whom, date/time | |
| Repeat chest X-ray or imaging scheduled? If yes, when and where | |
| Teach-back: did someone walk us through this plan, and were we able to repeat it back? (yes/no) | |
| Who to call with questions (name and number, from instructions) | |

### 14-day daily log

| Day / Date | Breathing (in your words) | Cough (better / same / worse) | Energy level | Meals and fluids | Antibiotic doses given today (of those scheduled) | Temperature (only if instructed; source: _____) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | | | | | | |
| Day 2 | | | | | | |
| Day 3 | | | | | | |
| Day 4 | | | | | | |
| Day 5 | | | | | | |
| Day 6 | | | | | | |
| Day 7 | | | | | | |
| Day 8 | | | | | | |
| Day 9 | | | | | | |
| Day 10 | | | | | | |
| Day 11 | | | | | | |
| Day 12 | | | | | | |
| Day 13 | | | | | | |
| Day 14 | | | | | | |

Describe breathing and energy in your own words — "walked to the kitchen without stopping" or "more winded getting out of bed" are useful entries. This log does not grade or interpret what you record; the care team does that with the information you bring them.

When to call

What to watch for and when to call is in your parent's discharge instructions — copy those instructions into the box at the top of the log so everyone helping can see them. This page does not set its own thresholds for what counts as worse or better; that call belongs to your parent's care team. If it's an emergency, call 911.

How to adapt this to your situation

If your parent was treated at home rather than hospitalized. Use "Day of diagnosis" in place of "Date of discharge" and fill in the antibiotic plan and follow-up appointment from that visit.

If a paid caregiver or home health aide helps. Keep one shared log rather than parallel ones, so everyone can see whether doses were given and how the day went.

If your parent has memory loss. Lean on what you observe — energy, appetite, how they're moving around — rather than relying only on what they report. If this pneumonia followed a hospital stay and your parent has dementia, what changes at home after a parent with dementia is discharged from hospital covers the broader adjustments.

If your parent has other conditions being managed at the same time, such as heart failure or COPD, keep this log alongside — not instead of — any condition-specific tracking your parent's care team has already set up.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Leaving the discharge block blank and relying on memory. The antibiotic plan and follow-up dates are easy to mix up once you're home and tired. Fill in the block before you leave, while a nurse or discharge planner is still available to answer questions.

Only logging when something feels wrong. A blank log on the good days makes it hard to see whether your parent is actually improving day over day. See MedlinePlus and the CDC for general pneumonia information — but for how your parent specifically is expected to recover, ask their care team. Logging ordinary days too is what lets you and the care team see the trend.

Stopping antibiotics early because your parent feels better. Mark each day's doses as given exactly as written on the label. This log's "doses given today" column is there to help you and the care team confirm the course was finished — questions about whether or when to stop go to the prescriber or pharmacist, not to your own judgment.

Not bringing the log to the follow-up visit. Whether or not a repeat chest X-ray was ordered, bring this page. It turns "she seems better" into a specific, day-by-day account the clinician can act on.

Related planning steps

• Hospital discharge checklist for an elderly parent coming home — the general checklist for home safety, overnight coverage, and broader follow-up planning
• Post-hospital follow-up appointment prep checklist — how to prepare for the follow-up visit once you have this log filled in
• Caregiver observation log template for tracking health changes — a broader log to shift to once the 14-day window is over
• What to track during a parent's hospital stay — if your parent is still in the hospital and you want to start tracking before discharge