The importance of a scale in any medical facility cannot be overemphasized. They can be found on the corners and hallways of hospitals and other medical facilities. You will find a hospital scale in various hospital departments because it is an important piece of equipment to have because it is used by different types of patients.
Knowing the weight of a patient is absolutely necessary for detecting fluid retention. This information is also needed for checking for malnutrition, and calculating proper medication dosages. Therefore, it is very important for healthcare workers to pay attention to the accuracy of this information. Readings should be methodically recorded without a second thought. Patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals can sustain injuries from an unsafe or outdated scale.
A patient may also be incorrectly treated if the scale is not properly calibrated. In fact, a recent survey has shown the inaccuracies found in the readings of hospital scales. To avoid a situation like this, the accuracy of the readings gotten from a measuring scale must be given utmost attention.
Higher weights, lower accuracy
The number of people diagnosed with obesity continues to increase on a daily basis. Figures gotten from the National Council on Strength and Fitness suggest that almost four million Americans (3.8 million to be precise) weigh over 300 pounds. Statistics also show that 400,000 Americans weigh above 400 pounds. There is a tendency for the accuracy of a scale to reduce as weight increases. Therefore, there seems to be an inverse relationship between weight and the accuracy of a scale. This is capable of causing inconsistent readings meaning that the weight of a patient will be incorrectly represented. For quality healthcare, the recommended standard is 1 pound per 150 pounds precision for accuracy of treatment and correct dosing. The inaccurate readings gotten from a scale may cause over-treatment or under-treatment because so many physicians use a patient’s Body Mass Index (BMI) as a measure of planning dosage and treatment. Inaccuracy is both costly and risky. Weight loss or weight gain signaling a change to the patient’s health condition may be masked under these inaccuracies.
The importance of standardization
Standardization of scale should be the utmost priority of hospital systems or IDNs. A lot of them use at least four scale brands across their facilities. Therefore, members of staff have to familiarize themselves with the operations of multiple scales which can cause a variation in the result of the weight. Staff and patients have a lot to benefit from standardization across a hospital system. Another important benefit of standardization is that it reduces costs.