Why the Patient Transfer Scale is easier than using a bed scale or hoist scale
The innovative Marsden Patient Transfer Scale will change the way hospitals weigh immobile patients.
The weighing of immobile patients is a problem for hospitals.
The primary methods, weighing by hoist and by bed scales, are both time consuming and cumbersome, often meaning that weights are guessed during time critical treatment.
The Patient Transfer Scale is designed to be quicker, easier and more dignified than these options, providing an instant, accurate weight reading so that drug dosages or treatment can be administered with confidence.
The Patient Transfer Scale is the brainchild of Gillian Taylor, a former NHS nurse who was frustrated with how difficult it was to weigh immobile patients, and was determined to find a solution.
Despite NICE guidelines (2006) stating “patients admitted to hospital should have a weight on admission”, reports suggest that as few as 30% of patients are weighed. The main reasons for this are lack of time, and lack of appropriate weighing scales immediately available.
With the Patient Transfer Scale available to buy from next month, we've looked at bed scales and hoist scales, and we've compared them to using the Patient Transfer Scale to weigh immobile patients.
Why choose the PTS over bed or hoist scales?
The PTS saves time
Typically, hoist or bed scales are used to weigh immobile or bed-bound patients - but both can be time consuming to set up. It can take as long as 20 minutes to weigh a patient using a hoist scale, for example.
However, the PTS works as part of existing processes - during lateral transfer of a patient from trolley to bed, or bed to bed.. This saves time during a critical periods of patient admission, when a weight is required for drug administration.
The PTS saves space
The PTS is lightweight and portable and so can be taken toto the patient.
Just like a standard transfer slide (or transfer board, on which the PTS is based), the PTS rests on hooks on the wall of the ward. Out of the way and taking up little space when you don't need it; convenient and accessible when you do.
The PTS saves costs
Freeing up time by not having to weigh a patient separately, the PTS also saves staff time and therefore reduces costs.
Better patient care
Weighing processes are shorter, door to needle time is reduced, and staff can administer treatment on the critical care path. More time results in better care and patient outcomes.
The PTS is easier to use
A better experience for nursing staff and support workers than having to move a patient to a sling or to set up a bed scale. The PTS is simple to use, quick and easy and requires little training as it is used in line with existing manual handling and patient transfer practices. The scale has a clear, easy to use indicator and just an on/off button and Hold function to stabilise the weight on the display.
The PTS is more dignified than weighing by hoist scales
The PTS is part of an existing process, so the patient won’t notice a difference. With hoist scales, on the other hand, the patient is moved into a sling and hoisted for weighing - this is often uncomfortable and distressing.
You can find out more about the Patient Transfer Scale here. For more information on any Marsden Class III Approved medical scale, including the PTS, call 01709 364296.