Pediatric Nurse Educator, needs help

[msutton]

I work in a small community hospital. I am the educator for a adult med/surg/peds unit. I want to know how you guys calculate I&O for your pediatric patients. We currently calculate intake and output in cc's and weigh all diapers, totalling q8h. The pediatricians want I&O calculated in cc/kg/hr for ALL their patients. I feel this is unrealistic for the population of kids we have on our unit. Thoughts? Suggestions?

[TexasPediRN]

I think the MD can figure out that part themselves :)

We have a computer based system, so all I&O's are documented there. Diapers are weighed and recording, and intake is recorded as well.

At the end of the shift, if you wanted to, you just take the total urine, and do that simple calculation to figure out urine/kg/hr.

Yeap, the physician can do that himself/herself :) No need to calculate it hourly, unless the pt is critical, but im assuming in your situation it is not.

-Meg

[Penguin67]

I've been a pediatric nurse for nearly 20 years, and have always done shift totals for i/o in cc's. If the physician wants more than that, allow them to calculate it themselves.

I also teach at a university, and that is not a calculation that is commonly taught to students, nor is it in any of the calculation books that I've seen.

Don't let them force this on you. They are capable of a bit of math!