how accurate does weight have to be on hospital admission forms?

[SammyRo]

DS is going in to hospital on Monday for day surgery for adenoids and grommets. Our scales are broken, so we measured DS at the grandparents but DH seems to think they are a couple of kilo's out. Do we have to be 100% accurate or is a kilo or two going to be ok?

[briggsy's girl]

They will weigh him again. Drugs are administered in a per kilo rate so he will be weighed by them. They leave nothing to chance

[Phteven]

They need to know the weight to make the anesthetic is correct. Let them know at admission that the weight might be out by a few kg and if they need to they will reweigh.

[peanutter]

as BG and Onyx have said, meds (and in particular, anaesthetics) are calculated by weight, so it's very important.

[briggsy's girl]

Put weight on firm with a question mark to show them you are not confident. They should weigh him as a matter of routine (dd was weighed twice before her surgery cos anaesthetist didn't believe what nurse had written!).

[BlackCat]

I left that section blank on our admission forms. They did it when we arrived on the day. They were very lovely about it.

[Mother Goose]

like the others said - it is vital in pediatric medicine - all the medications for kids are based on weight.

And like the others have said, every patient (Adult or Child) should be weighed on admission - especially if undergoing surgery. I've never not weighed a patient I've admitted.