I&O and weighing diapers

[fsaav]

I'm a student and I am currently in my pediatric rotation. My patient was a child who was potty-training so she wore diapers but at other times used the toilet. When recording I&Os I questioned how to document the weight of the diaper so that it was obvious that it was weight and wouldn't be confused with mls of urine. I was told that weight in grams equals mls and I should document it the same without any special notation needed. I was surprised by this and wanted to look more into it, but I haven't been able to find documentation so I wondered what your practice is and where I could find more information about this.Thanks.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Weighing diapers is standard practice pretty much everywhere. You have to subtract the dry weight of the diaper, of course. You should chart that the urine was contained in a diaper to distinguish it from urine output via Foley catheter or any other possible source. We also weigh dressings if there is a lot of fluid loss into the gauze.