Thermometer woes...

[ohiobobcat]

So I got a Veratemp thermometer this year. The Veratemp is a infrared scanning thermometer that you hold 1-2 inches from the forehead and it scans the person's temp without touching them. I have some kids in my school who would not tolerate a thermometer under the tongue, which is why I purchased this Veratemp thermometer.

My other thermometer is a Welch-Allyn SureTemp. It came with my office. I have used this thermometer hundreds of times and the highest temp reading I have ever gotten on it is 99.9 F oral- and that was my own son. (I was nice and sent him home!!)

I have been running a little experiment and checking students' temps with both thermometers.

Today there was an almost 4 degree difference!! Student checked with a 98.7 F oral with the Welch-Allyn and 102.2 F with the Veratemp. That's a big difference!! He presented with cold symptoms- cough, runny nose, headache. Student felt a little warm. He wanted to stay in school (what is UP with my students?!?) and had an otherwise benign exam so I gave him a couple ibuprofen and sent him on his way.

I haven't had the Welch-Allyn calibrated. I just got the Veratemp a few months ago.

Just had another student measure 97.9 with the Welch-Allyn, and 99.7 with the Veratemp. What the heck?

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

i've found that my veratemp is fairly accurate, but sensitive to things like a hot room or sweat or things like that. I've noticed that if a student if sitting in the sunny window in my office, the sun covered part of their face will read febrile and the part in the shade will be afebrile. I've taken to checking the kids at their temple and have found that my results have been more consistent. I have doubted my veratemp from time to time so i still keep my trusty thermoscan on the desk to as my verifier.

[chasinRT]

Not familiar with the Veratemp but is it set for oral mode vs. rectal or core mode? That makes a difference in some of the thermometers I have used over the years. Compare apples to apples, so to speak.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

this is the sort of thermometer used on Kace.....(sp) the nurse in the Ebola fiasco, why would you want one? ear therm, under the arm, etc.

[fetch, BSN, RN]

I had the same issues with my VeraTemp, ended up giving it to another nurse in the district to try and fight with. I use an Exergen temporal scanner, which is sometimes a degree off, so if I get something funky I check with an oral.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I had the same issues with my VeraTemp, ended up giving it to another nurse in the district to try and fight with. I use an Exergen temporal scanner, which is sometimes a degree off, so if I get something funky I check with an oral.

I use the Exergen as well. It is usually dead one, sometimes a little higher for me. If I get a reading with it higher than 99.5, I re-check with my oral thermometer.

[OldDude]

I have a thermofocus infrared and a welch allen sure temp. The thermofocus consistently reads about one degree cooler than the welch allen oral.

[rbytsdy]

I hate the Veratemp. I used it on one kids last year - it read 99.0. The kid looked ill so I took it again with an oral thermometer. It was 103.3. I still have it because I will use it on special needs kids who do not like to be touched. However, I got a Braun ear thermometer this year. Of course i sent one kid home at 2:15 (we dismiss at 2:40) with a fever of 100.0 (district policy). Mom called 20 minutes later to inform me AND the principal that her daughter did not have a fever because she just checked it.