A few years ago a study was made of hospital scales in the UK: the results were disturbing – See http://www.lacors.gov.uk/lacors/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?id=20486.
The Government’s response has been to require that properly calibrated scales of an appropriate quality be used and that the scale should show metric units only – See http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/efa-2010-001a.pdf. For more info about classes of weighing devices in the UK, see Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_Kingdom. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John M. Steele Sent: 08 September 2012 00:31 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:51878] WEIGHING PEDIATRIC PATIENTS IN KILOGRAMS Brief article about it: http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/JoannaAllhands/171358 Going metric: The Arizona Department of Health Services e-mailed a link about a movement to start <http://www.ena.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/Position%20Statements/WeighingPedsPtsinKG.pdf> weighing pediatric patients in kilograms. Seems odd, given how much America hates the metric system. But if you see it on your kid's chart someday soon, you'll know why: pediatric medications, unlike adult medications, are administered based on a child's weight in kilograms. Docs fear kids could get the wrong dose if the conversion from pounds to kilograms goes awry. Position paper of the Emergency Nurses Association: http://www.ena.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/Position%20Statements/WeighingPedsPtsinKG.pdf Description "Of all the ways that pediatric patients can be harmed during treatment, medication errors are the most common and most preventable".1 Developmental differences and dosing complexities unique to pediatrics put children at high risk for both medication errors and for serious consequences as a result of these errors.1,2 In contrast to adult medication doses (which are often standard, unit-doses), pediatric medication doses are weight-based; based specifically upon the patient’s weight in kilograms. Determining the correct dose of a pediatric medication typically requires multiple calculations, and adult concentrations of drugs must often be diluted for pediatric administration. A 2009 analysis of 479 medication errors involving wrong weights discovered that over 25% were due to "confusion between pounds and kilograms".3 Weighing and documenting pediatric weights only in kilograms has been repeatedly recommended in the literature as a strategy to decrease medication errors not only in the emergency department, but throughout the inpatient encounter.1,4,5,6,8,9 ENA Position It is the position of the Emergency Nurses Association that: 1. Pediatric weights only be measured and documented in kilograms .1,4,5,6,8,9 2. Scales used to weigh pediatric patients only be configured to record weights in kilograms .5 3. Pediatric weights are recorded in a prominent place on the medical record.8 4. Electronic medical records are standardized to allow only kilograms for pediatric weight entries. 5. The pediatric patient’s actual weight is considered part of the mandatory nursing assessment unless they require resuscitation or emergent stabilization. 6. For the pediatric patient who require resuscitation or emergent stabilization, a standard method of estimating weight in kilograms is used (e.g., length-based system).6,7 7. The pediatric patient’s weight in kilograms is included in any inter or intra disciplinary patient handoff report. . . . .
