Is a nurse’s note of observations of a patient's condition admissible in evidence?

That objection is met, in my view, by Ares v. Venner, 1970 CanLII 5 (SCC), [1970] S.C.R. 608. In that case, the court considered the admissibility of notes made by nurses in a patient’s hospital records. No objection was raised to simple records of observations made by the nurses of the patient’s condition from time to time, but it was argued that the nurses’ subjective “opinions” or assessments of phenomena, such as the colour and the relative coolness of the patient’s skin, were inadmissible hearsay. However, Hall J., for a unanimous court, held that the notes were admissible under the traditional exception for records made in the course of performing a duty. He said, at p. 626: Hospital records, including nurses’ notes, made contemporaneously by someone having a personal knowledge of the matters then being recorded and under a duty to make the entry or record should be received in evidence as prima facie proof of the facts stated therein. This should, in no way, preclude a party wishing to challenge the accuracy of the records or entries from doing so.