--- {"title": "How to chart updates without typing for nurses in 2026", "description": "A plain guide for nurses to chart updates by voice, with the steps, the tools to try and the mistakes to avoid.", "url": "https://xpdaily.com/how-to-chart-updates-without-typing-for-nurses/", "date": "2026-10-18"} --- A plain guide for nurses to chart updates by voice, with the steps, the tools to try and the mistakes to avoid. Hold a key and speak, and the words are typed into whichever window is in focus. Read the typed text and fix it before you save the update. | Option | Its own fee | Separate service fee | |---|---|---| | Pen and paper | not published | not published | | Built-in speech tool on your computer | not published | not published | | QuickDictate | free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account; commercial use needs a separate licence [^1] [^1] | cloud providers bill you separately for their service [^1] | ## What you need before you start Charting an update by voice takes a few things ready before a shift starts. - **A computer that can run the dictation tool.** Check the tool's requirements before you install it. One option in this guide runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 [^1]. - **A way to turn speech into typed text.** The tool types what you say into whichever window you are using [^1]. - **A speech service, where one is needed.** With some set-ups you choose a provider, and that provider bills you directly [^1]. With a local set-up, dictation needs no internet connection or API key once a model is installed [^1]. - **A quiet place to speak.** Words land where you want them only if the computer can hear you clearly. - **Access to the charting program you already use.** You do not need to move to a new system. - **A short test block before the shift.** Run a few trial lines into a blank note so you know the tool is working before the first patient. Set the tool up before the shift begins, not while you are charting. Voice charting helps most when you have a calm minute to speak and then to check what was written. ## Step by step These steps work step with voice dictation and with paper, so they hold for any way you chart. If you do chart by hand, skip the listening steps and type from your notes later. 1. **Set up the dictation tool on the computer you chart on.** Install it and open it once so it is ready. 2. **Choose how it listens.** Hold a key while you talk, or press it once to start and once to stop, and change either key to suit you [^1]. 3. **Pick how speech becomes text.** Choose a cloud provider, or choose a local model if you want dictation with no internet connection or API key once a model is installed [^1]. 4. **Test a line in a blank note.** Dictate a sentence you use often and check it comes out as expected. 5. **Do a quiet check of the room.** If the machine cannot hear you, the update will be wrong. Lower or mute other noise in the room. 6. **Open the charting window you want to use.** The words go to whichever window has focus, so set that window first [^1]. 7. **Dictate the update in short phrases.** Say the details in small pieces so the text stays accurate. 8. **Read the text before you save it.** Voice turns speech into text, not into a ready chart, so check spelling and the order of what you said. 9. **Fix words the tool does not know.** If your own terms come out wrong, list them so they are recognised, and use a replacement table so a phrase like \"Chat GPT\" types as \"ChatGPT\" [^1]. 10. **Say or use the discard command for a slip.** Saying \"scratch that\" drops the text you just dictated instead of putting it in [^1]. 11. **Restore the room after you finish.** If other apps' sound was muted or turned down while you spoke, it goes back to its old level when you stop [^1]. 12. **Review after your first few shifts.** Note which phrases go wrong and fix them so later updates take less checking. ## Tools that can do it You do not need software for this. Here are options to consider for charting an update without typing. **Pen and paper.** You write the update by hand and type it into the chart later. Nothing is published here about price or limits because it depends on what you already own. **A built-in speech tool on your computer.** Your computer may already offer a way to turn speech into typed text. Facts about built-in tools are not provided here, so check the current details on its own page for what it needs, what it charges and how it handles your words before you choose it. **QuickDictate.** QuickDictate is made by the team that publishes this site. QuickDictate is one option. It is a Windows program that types what you say into whichever window you are using [^1]. You hold a key while you talk or press it once to start and once to stop, and you can change both keys [^1]. What you say is typed into whichever window has focus, such as an editor, chat box, terminal or web form [^1]. You can use ElevenLabs, Deepgram, OpenAI, AssemblyAI, DashScope or Google, and that provider bills you directly [^1]. Choose Local in Settings and install a speech model such as Whisper Large v3 Turbo; dictation then needs no internet connection or API key [^1]. With five of the cloud providers, words appear while you are still talking [^1]. You can list words and phrases to help it recognise them, and a replacement table fixes spellings such as \"Chat GPT\" to \"ChatGPT\" [^1]. Profiles can change the provider, language, vocabulary and formatting depending on which app is in focus [^1]. You can browse and filter your last 50 dictations in Settings, and the history survives a restart or self-update [^1]. Saying \"scratch that\" discards the text you just dictated instead of inserting it [^1]. While you are dictating, other apps' audio is muted or turned down, and it goes back to its old level when you stop [^1]. If you sign in, you can sync preferences such as hotkeys and language between PCs [^1]. QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account, and cloud providers bill you separately for their service [^1]. From v0.9.0 on, it is source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0: free for personal and other noncommercial use, and commercial use needs a separate licence; releases up to v0.8.0 were MIT [^1]. It runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11, with no Mac or Linux version [^1]. It is delivered as an .exe file on GitHub, with a built-in updater that works silently, and it can also be built from source [^1]. ## Common mistakes to avoid **Talking before the tool is listening.** If you open the charting window and start speaking without pressing the key, the words fall anywhere. Press the key first, then talk. **Dictating in a noisy room.** A busy corridor will put the wrong words in the chart. Find a quiet spot or wait for a calm minute. **Saving without reading.** Voice gives you the text you said, not a ready chart. Read each update once before you save it. **Expecting the tool to know your words.** Words from your unit that the tool has not heard can come out wrong. Add them so they are recognised the next time [^1]. **Using medical terms without a second check.** Accuracy matters in a chart, so confirm any term you rely on. Check that no spoken number or name reads differently on screen. **Forgetting to close down after the update.** Leave the tool and the listening key in a known state when you stand up, so the next person is not interrupted. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can QuickDictate chart updates when the computer is offline? Yes. Choose Local in Settings and install a speech model such as Whisper Large v3 Turbo, and dictation works with no internet connection and no API key [^1]. Otherwise you pick a cloud provider, and that provider bills you directly [^1]. The right choice depends on whether the machine you chart on can reach the internet during a shift. ### Does QuickDictate send audio to a cloud service? Only if you choose the cloud set-up. Then you pick a provider, such as ElevenLabs, Deepgram, OpenAI, AssemblyAI, DashScope or Google, and that provider bills you directly for its service [^1]. With the local set-up, you install a speech model and dictation needs no internet connection or API key [^1]. The two ways differ in what runs where. ### Is QuickDictate free for nurses to use? QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account [^1]. Cloud providers bill you separately for their service [^1]. If a hospital charts for commercial purposes, commercial use needs a separate licence from v0.9.0 on, since the current releases are source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 [^1]. ### Which computers can run QuickDictate? QuickDictate runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11, and there is no Mac or Linux version [^1]. It is delivered as an .exe file on GitHub, with a built-in updater that works silently, and it can also be built from source [^1]. Check the machine you chart on against these requirements before you choose it. ### Can QuickDictate fix how words come out? Yes. You can list words and phrases that are sent to the provider to help it recognise them, and a replacement table fixes spellings, so a phrase like \"Chat GPT\" types as \"ChatGPT\" [^1]. Saying \"scratch that\" discards the text you just dictated instead of inserting it [^1]. This suits nurses with terms the tool does not yet know. QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account. Cloud providers bill you separately for their service. [^1] - [Visit QuickDictate](/go/start) ## Sources [^1]: QuickDictate's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher) (/go/start)