Importance of Regular and Accurate Weights

Why Weigh Patients? For accurate calculation of medication dose To provide information regarding nutritional status To assess total fluid balance To support diagnostic tests To evaluate a patient’s response to medical treatment (e.g. diuretic therapy)

Who uses weights? Pharmacists: prescribe medication based on body weight Occupational therapists: need weights for ordering assistive devices Physiotherapists: assessment for mobility devices Physicians: part of their clinical assessment and overall status Social Workers: Discharge documentation Dietitians: To provide accurate diagnosis, treatment and monitoring for risk of malnutrition

Tips for Implementation Make sure equipment is available, easy to access and working properly Consult staff regarding what day is best and the best way to start, so it becomes part of the routine; continue to consult the team throughout the process Have an easy location for weight to be recorded (i.e. a bright coloured paper with room numbers) Choose 1 day/week as a “weigh day” where all patients on the unit are weighed Don’t just weigh the mobile patients; remove barriers to this by having appropriate equipment

Tips for Implementation Put up reminders about weigh day or when to use specific scales (i.e. Just Press “Zero” posters as reminders to use bed scales) Work as a team (i.e. if a PT is assisting a patient to walk, weigh the patient while they are already out of bed) Communicate with the team about how they are doing Continue to audit after implementation and feed back results

Acknowledgements These slides were created and approved by: Heather Keller Celia Laur Bridget Davidson The More-2-Eat Education Group* * Includes input from the UK Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme (NNEdPro) Group The More-2-Eat study was funded by Canadian Frailty Network (known previously as Technology Evaluation in the Elderly Network, TVN), supported by Government of Canada through Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program