Results of seca Surveys from 2006 AWHONN and NNNM Meetings
What are the most important factors in safe weighing and measuring for the NICU baby? Medical scale manufacturer seca surveyed nurses at two shows – Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal Nursing (AWHONN) meeting in Baltimore, June 25, 2006 and the National Neonatal Nurses Meeting (NNNM) in Las Vegas, September 7, 2006. The surveys were sponsored by the medical scale manufacturer seca as part of their ongoing outreach to nursing professionals.
The research was intended to find out how scales are used in neonatal settings, to measure brand awareness and to assess attitudes regarding various features of scales in neonatal environments. In addition, the research helped determine whether neonatal units measure in pounds and ounces, grams and kilograms, or both, and whether there is a trend toward metric measurement as well as basic knowledge about scales and measuring.
A total of 304 show attendees filled out the surveys. Not every respondent completed every question on the survey and there was no opportunity to follow up regarding answers to questions that were not completed. In order to speed filling out of the questionnaires, for the most part, the survey questions were closed ended, i.e., respondents were asked to check off answers rather than answering on an unaided basis.
Importance of Scale Attributes and Features
Respondents were asked to indicate how important a series of scale attributes and features are to them, using a four point scale of “Very Important,” “Somewhat Important,” “Not Very Important” or “Not At All Important. Note: Not all respondents answered every question; those omissions are identified as “Did not answer” on the chart.
Accuracy was rated highest, closely followed by durability, safety, ease of use, comfort, ease of cleaning, ease of repair and speed of displaying weight.
| How important are the following scale attributes? | Very Important | Somewhat Important | Combined result | Did not answer |
| Accuracy | 98% | -- | 98% | 2% |
| Durability | 91% | 3% | 94% | 6% |
| Safety | 89% | 4% | 93% | 7% |
| Ease of use | 83% | 10% | 93% | 7% |
| Comfort | 72% | 20% | 92% | 8% |
| Ease of cleaning | 86% | 4% | 90% | 10% |
| Ease of repair | 83% | 6% | 89% | 11% |
| Speed of displaying weight | 71% | 12% | 84% | 16% |
| How important are the following scale features? | Very Important | Somewhat Important | Combined result | Did not answer |
| Weight displayed until control touched again | 83% | 9% | 91% | 9% |
| Damper to compensate for baby movement | 83% | 8% | 90% | 10% |
| Single touch to turn on scale and weigh baby | 73% | 17% | 90% | 10% |
| Measuring rod for height | 48% | 32% | 80% | 20% |
| Metric only reading to reduce errors | 60% | 12% | 72% | 38% |
Charting in Pounds and Ounces vs. Metric Measurement
Nurses indicated that both doctors and patients want weight in pounds and ounces, whereas medicine doses are frequently calculated on weight in grams, so having the capability to record weight in grams to avoid medication dosing mistakes is important.
| Do you chart in pounds and ounces, metric or both? | Pounds/ounces | Metric | Both | Did not answer |
| 23% | 19% | 41% | 17% |
Knowledge of Scales and Weight
Surprisingly, respondents more or less equally divided when responding to the following questions:
| Question | Yes | No |
| Do you know that many hospitals and clinics are using metric measurements only, for patient safety reasons? | 50% | 40% |
| Were you aware that a scale needs to be calibrated taking into account its geographical location? | 54% | 40% |
| Do you know that the accuracy of a scale is not determined by the graduations it displays? | 43% | 47% |
| Do you know that the smallest amount NICU scales usually measure is 5 grams? | 36% | 53% |
Other conclusions of the surveys were:
- Nurses would prefer scales to be light and easy to move, by both home care nurses and nurses in hospital settings
- The need for a larger capacity scale for weighing mothers and babies
- A large enough battery capacity to permit the scales to work even after being unplugged for a length of time
Overall, nurses rate the quality of scales highly yet they are not aware of the criteria to determine quality, so an education outreach for nurses would be beneficial.
