Fluid Balnce Charts

uk_nurse · Apr 7, 2004

i too am a paeds nurse and fluid balance charts on my ward are done regularly. Docs are very hot on them. we fill them in when we do the observations.(every 4hrs),its part of our routine. when a parent ask for some milk for the babies when we give them the milk we chart it and fill in how much they had on last feed too.That way all our charts are up to date.

UK2USA · Apr 13, 2004

I am a nurse in the UK too. We complete fluid balance charts every hour, including the volumes of medications, saline flushes, stool volumes etc. In children less than 5 kg we also measure the volume of blood taken for samples and include this. We also have two totals (1) Balance for that day and (2) Cumulative balance for the length of stay... that way if you have a child that passes a large vomit for example you can see it on the days balance, but also see what effect it has had on the balance overall since admission. Hope this helps.

Loquax · Jun 11, 2004

We've got module in our patient records computer system that takes care of most of the calculating. We have separate lists where we record all volumes of i.v. infusions (no measuring of injections, only infusions) and every morning we input yesterday's total volume in the system. It works very fine for us.

The computer could actually record the i.v. volumes itself using the electronic medication records (where the total volumes are input when the physician orders the drugs), but we've got a separate system for cytotoxic drugs and they are not connected to each other, so we still use the manual records for the i.v. to avoid confusion.

shelley13 · Jun 20, 2004

HI Jen I am in Wellington probably having the same issues as you. I am currently trying to redisn the fluid balance sheet here, as our accuracy does not exsist. If you have any updates on info I would appreciate it. Perhaps a bit of brainstorming might work

Shelley

:balloons:

Hi everyone
I am a peds nurse that works and lives in New Zealand. I am doing a project related to my workplace on fluid balance charts since they are a huge issue in my workplace as there is no consistency.
Does anyone have any feedback as to how they do their fluid balnce charts at their workplace. i would be very grateful for any ideas.
Thanx
Jen

curly73, BSN, RN · Jul 6, 2004

We have several paper fluid balance sheets that we use in our hectic paeds ward with varying accuracy. Which may give you some ideas. We also ensure that the offgoing RN charts are checked by the oncoming person as a part of handover process and any discrepancies sorted there and then.

Am happy to send you some fluid chart copies if you could let me know where to post to.

JenMarie · Jul 7, 2004

Hi Curly

I sent you a private message

Thanks

Jenny

JenMarie · Jul 7, 2004

Hi Shelly

I private messaged you also.

Thanks

Jenny