Taking a snipe
Formal Definition
A colloquial inpatient-team phrase describing the act of briefly stepping in to complete a small, defined task (a quick patient assessment, a documentation update, a brief family conversation, a med reconciliation item) that was requested by the senior or inherited from the team list — particularly tasks that are afterthoughts to the main workup and tend to accumulate at the end of the day; "snipe" implies a focused, short, well-bounded interaction, not a deep workup.
How It's Used on the Ward
"Take a snipe at X" or "I sniped room 612" — the senior or co-resident asks someone to take a quick look at a patient for a specific small task ("can you snipe room 612 and confirm his BUN/Cr from this morning is in the chart"); the snipe is done in 5-10 minutes and reported back, freeing the senior to focus on bigger items.
Example
""Late afternoon, the team is wrapping up. Senior: 'We still need to update Mrs. Garcia's code status in the chart and tell her son her admission meds. Can you snipe that while I go update surgery on the consult question?' Resident: 'Yep — I'll snipe Mrs. Garcia now.' Five minutes later: 'Sniped: code status updated to DNR/DNI per earlier conversation with patient and son; meds reviewed, no changes; son updated. Done.'""
Clinical Context
Why "snipe": implies surgical precision on a small target — the task is bounded, focused, and done quickly rather than absorbed into the larger workflow. Where it stands apart from regular "to-do" items: snipes are typically low-stakes but time-sensitive, can be delegated freely, are usually verbal rather than requiring detailed plan, and they reduce the cognitive overhead of the senior by absorbing low-priority items. Common snipe items: code-status updates, brief family calls, lab follow-up documentation, medication-reconciliation small items, transport coordination, administrative paperwork. Not a snipe: a detailed consult question, a discharge summary, a longitudinal disease workup, a complex family meeting. Counter-concept: "I'll take the full task" or "I'll own the workup" — when something is complex and requires sustained focus rather than a quick intervention, it stops being a snipe. Use with awareness: over-reliance on snipes can leave small tasks undone when nobody explicitly "snipes" them; ensure task ownership is clear and the senior maintains the list.