When Should Residents Be Weighed?

According to Tag F325 of CMS’s State Operations Manual, long-term care facilities must ensure that residents maintain “acceptable parameters of nutritional status, such as body weight and protein levels, unless the resident’s clinical condition demonstrates that this is not possible.”¹ Is your facility following the recommended weight monitoring guidelines?

According to CMS, nursing home residents should be weighed on admission (or readmission) to establish a baseline weight, weekly for the first four weeks after admission and then at least monthly after that to identify and document any trends, such as insidious weight loss. Weighing is also recommended if the resident has a significant change in condition, if their food intake has declined for more than a week or if there is other evidence of a change in nutritional status. Weight monitoring is not necessary for terminally ill individuals receiving only comfort care.¹

In order to obtain the most accurate readings, CMS recommends that staff use a consistent approach to weighing residents. This includes¹:

• Using an appropriately calibrated and functioning scale (such as a wheelchair scale or bed scale)
• Consistently weighing a resident at the same time since weight can fluctuate throughout the day
• Ensuring residents are wearing the same type/weight of clothing for each weigh-in
• Using the same scale for each weigh-in
• Making sure that residents are consistently either wearing or not wearing orthotics or prostheses when weighed

When weighing residents, keep in mind that fluctuations can be caused by factors such as current medical conditions, recent changes in dietary intake and edema.¹

ProMed offers a complete line of scales, including wheelchair scales, chair scales, bariatric scales and physician’s beam scales. Your ProMed territory manager is ready to help you find the scales that best fit your facility’s needs. To connect with us, give us a call at 800.648.5190 or visit us online at promedsupply.com

Reference

1 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. State Operations Manual. Appendix PP – Guidance to Surveyors for Long Term Care Facilities (Rev. 70m 01-07-11). Available at: http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Guidance/Manuals/downloads/som107ap_pp_guidelines_ltcf.pdf. Accessed July 31, 2013.