Fall from weighing scale

Specialties NICU

Published

This happened on new year night in our unit. A case of peri asphyxia hypotonic hypoactive babe was placed on the seca scale for weighing after sponge. the nurse applied oil on her during bath. the babe kicked his leg and slided off from the scale on to the floor. the babe had no external injury. xrays , head uss ,cbc bga, and ct normal. incidental report was completed. now Idont know what will be the further proceedings? Did anybody faced this situation?

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Specializes in Neonatal ICU (Cardiothoracic).

:uhoh21:

No, never had this happen to me..... I'm sure the people involved will be talking to the unit manager and hospital risk management department in case the family opens a lawsuit against the hospital.

Glad to hear the baby was ok...

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I have never heard of this happening before either. Maybe that is why our unit doesn't use oil.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

Why are they putting oil on the baby? Seems unnecessary--how do you get the leads to stick after that? We advise the parents not to use oils or powders on the babies skin, just diaper cream if needed.

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Specializes in NICU.

Oh man. My preceptor has seen one baby fall in her 20 years in NICU and she said it was the worst sound she's ever heard in her life. Our scales only have two sides as well, so most nurses squish towels around the sides.

Glad baby was okay.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

We had it happen once about 10 years ago....it was a bigger kid and the nurse took her hand off the kid for a minute to grab something and he flipped over the side! It was horrible...he did end up with a skull fracture and a small subdural bleed, but luckily he turned out okay.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

Once upon a time, in the "bad" old days, if a kid had a major blowout (you know the kind, poop up his back all the way to his ears), the nurse would take him over to the sink and clean up the mess while someone else tackled the bed. Needless to say, only in convalescing kiddos.

And then some wiggle worm managed to escape and slide into the sink. The "take 'em to the sink" thing stopped immediately.

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How do you explain that to the parents? I mean, rightfully so, any parent would probably lose their temper and it would be uncomfortable... glad the little one turned out okay. Is their any obligation to let the parents know the entire story?

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Specializes in level 3 NICU.

wow! what did the hospital lawyer have to say about this? what did the parents say.? i feel really bad for the nurse this happened to.

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
This happened on new year night in our unit. A case of peri asphyxia hypotonic hypoactive babe was placed on the seca scale for weighing after sponge. the nurse applied oil on her during bath. the babe kicked his leg and slided off from the scale on to the floor. the babe had no external injury. xrays , head uss ,cbc bga, and ct normal. incidental report was completed. now Idont know what will be the further proceedings? Did anybody faced this situation?

I have never heard of putting oil on a baby! Not a good idea, as you can see.:confused:

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.

What purpose would the oil serve that simple lotion wouldn't?

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
How do you explain that to the parents? I mean, rightfully so, any parent would probably lose their temper and it would be uncomfortable... glad the little one turned out okay. Is their any obligation to let the parents know the entire story?

There most definitely is an obligation to inform the parents. It should have happened immediately once the baby was safely back in bed and examined and treated for injuries.

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