a noob Q!?

Nurses General Nursing

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1.does anyone know how many pounds a patient need to gain in a week to be reported?

2.how much med can u waste in an SNF or hospital when administering meds?

i tried looking this up and asking my fellow nurses about this questions but all of us gave different answers and still dont know the right answer. the first question i put 5pounds and for the second q. i put half the tab or ml.

sorry if this question seems too easy or stupid, just cant figure it out..

thanx in advance!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
1.does anyone know how many pounds a patient need to gain in a week to be reported?

2.how much med can u waste in an SNF or hospital when administering meds?

Why report a patient for gaining weight? Are you referring to CHF? If so, you report a weight gain of 3 pounds in a 24 hour period.

Why would you be wasting meds? Sounds like homework?

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Why report a patient for gaining weight? Are you referring to CHF? If so, you report a weight gain of 3 pounds in a 24 hour period.

Why would you be wasting meds? Sounds like homework?

this was actually a test that was given to me and a few of other nurses trying to apply at a local hospital. these were some of the questions they had on the test that i was confused about.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Home Health.

this may sound stupid....but whats SNF?

Normally a patient gains/loses 5 lbs/week at most. If you have a gain of that much in a day's time, then its fluid, etc. I dont know what the exact answer is, its mainly nursing judgement. Its especially important with dialysis pt's, chf, liver patients.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
this was actually a test that was given to me and a few of other nurses trying to apply at a local hospital

If it was at a hospital then I would assume that the issue is CHF and the answer is 3 lbs in 24 hours. You can't assume the patient will be there for a week. They rarely are.

As far as wasting meds. If it's a controlled substance you must have someone watch you waste it and co-sign the waste. As far as like splitting pills, you just throw the other half in a sharps container or down the sink. No need to keep any count on those. If it's a medication that has been DC'd then you return the leftover to the pharmacy but whatever system they use. We put them in plastic bags and tube them back to the pharmacy with a pt ID sticker on the bag.

this may sound stupid....but whats SNF?

Normally a patient gains/loses 5 lbs/week at most. If you have a gain of that much in a day's time, then its fluid, etc. I dont know what the exact answer is, its mainly nursing judgement. Its especially important with dialysis pt's, chf, liver patients.

SNF is Skilled Nursing Facility as in nursing home where the patients have IV's and other skilled services. How much weight a patient gains is not a nursing judgement, it is an objective finding that should be reported if it exceeds, loss or gain, the protocol of the facility :nurse:

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In CHF, a weight gain of 1 - 2 pounds a day for 3 days in a row is a reportable case..

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Home Health.

"nursing judgement" was only meant that you should know if your patient is in danger. Any nurse should be able to use judgement to know that a couple pounds gain in a day's time is something significant. You also have to consider if the patient was previously weighed in bed with any covers, clothing, pillows, etc. Just felt like clarifying.

How much weight a patient gains is not a nursing judgement, it is an objective finding that should be reported if it exceeds, loss or gain, the protocol of the facility :nurse:
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