Weekly Weights

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I am having a hard time getting the nurses to pay attention to getting the weekly weights done. I've told them more than once but for some reason, they think they are too busy. The system is in place....weights on shower day. It's not a difficult concept. Any ideas? How do you all deal with this? I'm really close to just writing them all up.

[Salisburysteak, BSN, RN]

I am not a DON or anything, but where I work the Restorative Aides are responsible for all weights. Daily, weekly & monthly. They are also responsible for writing a NN on weight. For example, res weight for August is 150lbs.

Hope this helps you some. :-)

[savoytruffle, BSN, RN]

I struggled with this as well. My expectations were clear cut. Weights by 1 pm on Tuesday. Re weights by 1pm Wednesday. I had some spend more time and energy avoiding the task than what took to complete it. I delegated to each LPN- they were each responsible for their hall. I advised them to follow up by eleven am- reminding the aids of the weights still to be done, and again at one pm. The CNAs leave at two. After reminding certain people more than a week- I had to resort to a write up. I felt that I was being more than fair by laying out the rules. I also made the LPNs write the weight Down in the book (no EMR) after i suspected some of charting inaccurate or fictitious weights. (One frail resident was stable for a month, then showed an eight pound loss in one week). The LPNs (some) resented having to remind other adults to do their jobs. One stated "no one tells me when meds are due. I have to organize myself ". While I agree- I also said that's why she was in a charge position. Charges ARE responsible for others work, just as I, as the manager, was responsible for theirs, just as the DON was responsible for mine. The staff that do the right thing and get their weights on time shouldn't be punished for the ones that don't.

[MarggoRita]

Where I work the bath aid is responsible for getting a weight at the time of the bath. Has never been a problem, and if we have residents with daily weights then the aid that gets them up grabs their weight on the way to breakfast.

[LTCRN4LIFE]

Wts on Sunday. Re-wts on Mon. Evaluated on Tues by FSS & ADNS. Weekly wound & wts meeting on Thurs. All wts done by Restorative Aide. Has solved my problems and I have seen the gammet.

[bluegeegoo2, LPN]

My last and current facility have Restorative do weights as well with no issues getting them all done and in a timely manner.

[AngelRN27]

I agree, my last facility had the restorative aides handle the weights. This seemed to work out just fine. Nurse manager and dietary did the evaluation on any weight changes, and I noticed that the manager was the one who handled any notes that had to be written. Not completely sure if they held any meetings in regards to this. I know unit manager handled the notes because her handwriting is all over the weight book LOL

[AngelRN27]

OP-- if you have to write people up, then so be it. Sometimes people need a kick in the *** in order to realize that things need to be done. I can understand why a nurse might put this off as an "unimportant task" but what must be done must be done.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

You should be going after the aides, they're the ones getting the weights and they're grown adults capable for being responsible for their own work.

I'm going through this with my unit manager and wheelchair washing. I write the chairs to be washed on their assingment sheets and verbally remind them. What else can I do? Get them in a headlock and physicaly force them to do it? I'm not allowed to write them up, because we're in the same union.

These things are "aide problems" not "nurse problems".

I get the concept of charge nurses. But if we can't hold these CNAs accountable for even the simplest of tasks, what's the point of them even being there?

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Because, Brandon, WE have licenses-they don't. If we didn't have them, we'd be doing meds, treatments, assessments,incident reports, calling the MD, dealing with families AND toileting, bathing, repositioning, feeding......

I'd love to assign it to the restorative aides, but I only have 2 for a 152 bed building.

[litbitblack, ASN, RN]

I have excellent aids and they know the routine. Have never had a problem. THe wts are scheduled on a certain day of the week per hall to be completed right after breakfast and the sheet with all the weights is given to the charge nurse. A copy is placed in the wt book and the other in the don box who logged them before we went electronic. Now that we are electronic the charge nurse inputs them. Its the charge nurses responsibility to make sure care is completed the same as making sure the residents are toileted, showered and turned. If after the charge nurse has addressed it and it has not improved then it goes up the chain. Thats my two cents anyway.

[DalekRN]

If they aren't doing it, maybe it's because they ars just not able to squeeze one more task into their day? I was an RN in ltc-sar and meds/wound care and charting were literally all I could do in a shift with 15-20 residents. I would delegate it to whomever is bathing the patient, makes sense to do it then with the shower and don't add a task to the nurses who should be focusing on med safety.