Any note: how it gets read

Stated weight or measured weight: chart which one you have

The weight field keeps the number and forgets where it came from. How to chart the source so nobody doses off a guess.

6 min read built on 0 cases updated 2026-11-01

Written by a med-surg RN, ten years, day shift. Why there is no name on it · How this guide is made

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The patient on the stretcher says about 180, I think. The daughter says she's lost a lot, maybe 150. Triage won't close until there's a number in the weight field. Whatever you type there can turn into the number pharmacy uses for the heparin bolus, the contrast dose and the enoxaparin. That happens unless the chart says where the number came from.

Key points

  • Weigh the patient on a scale if you can, and record it in kilograms. That fixes most of the problem.
  • Can't weigh them yet? Enter the number with its source: patient-stated, family-stated, visual estimate, or historical from a past visit. If your EHR has a weight-type field, use it. If it doesn't, put a note right next to the number.
  • Write down who gave you the number, what unit they used, and why you didn't weigh.
  • At handoff, say stated, not measured out loud. If someone orders a weight-based high-alert drug off that number, tell the pharmacist or prescriber.
  • Once you have a real weight, chart it as measured, with date, time and scale type. If it's far from the earlier number, tell the prescriber and pharmacy.

What to write

Here are some example chart entries and handoff wording.

How it often gets charted How it should be charted
Wt: 80 kgWt: 80 kg STATED by patient (reported as 176 lb). Not measured: pt unable to stand, bed scale unavailable. Will weigh on bed scale on arrival to unit.
Wt 68 kg per familyWt 68 kg, FAMILY-STATED (daughter, reported 150 lb, unsure of recent weight loss). Not measured. Pharmacy and Dr. [NAME] informed weight is unverified prior to heparin bolus.
Ht 5'6"Ht 167.6 cm, PATIENT-STATED (5 ft 6 in). Not measured: pt on spinal precautions.
Wt 95 kg (copied forward from last admission)Wt 95 kg HISTORICAL, from 03/2026 clinic visit. Current weight not obtained. Pt reports recent weight loss.
Wt approx 100kgWt 100 kg VISUAL ESTIMATE by RN. Pt nonverbal, no family present, unable to weigh in trauma bay. Flagged for measured weight before further weight-based dosing.
Pt weighed on floor, 71.4 kg (flowsheet only, dosing weight unchanged)Measured wt 71.4 kg, bed scale, zeroed, linens accounted for, 11/01/2026 0615. Prior documented wt 82 kg was patient-stated. Dr. [NAME] and pharmacist [NAME] notified of 10.6 kg difference at 0630, heparin infusion currently running.

At handoff, out loud:

  • Before: Heparin's at 18 units per kilo per hour, next PTT at 1400.
  • After: Heparin's at 18 units per kilo per hour, next PTT at 1400. Dosing weight is her stated weight from triage. She hasn't been on a scale yet, so please weigh her on the bed scale when she gets up there.

Template

Chart note: weight not measured at entry

[DATE] [TIME]
Weight entered: [X] kg. Source: [PATIENT-STATED / FAMILY-STATED ([NAME, RELATIONSHIP]) / RN VISUAL ESTIMATE / HISTORICAL from [DATE, SOURCE]].
Originally reported as [X] [lb/kg]; converted to [X] kg.
Height entered: [X] cm. Source: [PATIENT-STATED / FAMILY-STATED / MEASURED].
Weight NOT measured because: [REASON, e.g., pt unable to stand, no bed scale available in room, spinal precautions, active resuscitation].
Weight-based medications ordered at this time: [DRUG(S) or NONE].
[Dr./NP/PA] [NAME] and pharmacist [NAME] informed at [TIME] that dosing weight is unverified.
Plan: obtain measured weight on [SCALE TYPE] at [EXPECTED TIME/LOCATION].
[YOUR NAME, CREDENTIALS]

Chart note: measured weight obtained, differs from what was charted

[DATE] [TIME]
Measured weight: [X] kg on [standing / bed / chair] scale. Scale zeroed before weighing. [Linens/devices accounted for: DESCRIBE].
Measured height: [X] cm [or: height remains patient-stated, not measured].
Previously documented weight: [X] kg, source [STATED / ESTIMATED / HISTORICAL], entered [DATE TIME].
Difference: [X] kg.
Weight-based medications currently active: [DRUG, DOSE, RATE].
[Dr./NP/PA] [NAME] notified at [TIME]. Pharmacist [NAME] notified at [TIME].
Response/orders received: [WHAT WAS ORDERED, or "no change ordered"].
Dosing weight field updated to measured weight at [TIME] [or: dosing weight not changed per [NAME]].
[YOUR NAME, CREDENTIALS]

Handoff line (SBAR, for verbal report or the handoff tool)

Weight: [X] kg is [PATIENT-STATED / FAMILY-STATED / ESTIMATED / HISTORICAL], NOT measured.
Reason not weighed: [REASON].
Weight-based drugs running off this number: [DRUG, DOSE/RATE].
Pharmacy aware: [YES, [NAME] at [TIME] / NO].
Needs: measured weight on [SCALE TYPE] when [CONDITION, e.g., on arrival to unit, once able to stand].

Words to avoid

Word or habit Why it causes trouble Use instead
a bare number (80 kg)Everyone downstream reads it as measured80 kg STATED / MEASURED / ESTIMATED / HISTORICAL
approx, ~, aboutDoesn't say who estimated, or howVISUAL ESTIMATE by RN or PATIENT-STATED
per ptEasy to miss, and gives no unitPATIENT-STATED, reported as [X] lb
a number with no unitPounds and kilograms get mixed upAlways kg, and note the original unit if it was given in lb
copying the last admission's weight with no labelIt may be months oldHISTORICAL, from [DATE/SOURCE]
wt obtainedObtained could mean askedweighed on [standing/bed/chair] scale
dry weight used looselyIt means something specific in dialysis and HFOnly use it if the nephrology or HF team gave that number

Charting a stated weight so it looks measured

In most EHRs the weight field holds one number and nothing else. Once a number is in there, every order set, dose calculator and pump library that pulls weight pulls that number. None of them know it was a guess. The next nurse sees 82 kg in the banner and takes it as fact, because nothing on the screen says otherwise.

It usually goes like this:

  1. ED triage. The patient can't stand, the bed scale isn't working, or the room is packed. The nurse types in the stated weight to get past the hard stop.
  2. Someone orders a heparin protocol or a contrast study. The order set fills in the weight automatically.
  3. The patient goes up to the floor or ICU. Report covers the drip rate. Nobody mentions that the weight was never checked.
  4. The floor team titrates off that same number for days. If someone does weigh the patient, the new weight goes into flowsheets and the dosing weight stays where it was.

There are two traps here. The first is the number. Stated and estimated weights are often wrong, sometimes badly. The second is the unit. A patient who says two-twenty means pounds, and if 220 lands in a kilogram field the dose more than doubles. A family member converting in their head can miss in the other direction.

A stated weight on its own is fine. Sometimes it's the only number you've got. The mistake is charting it so it looks measured.

Bottom line

Never chart a weight without its source: stated, estimated, historical or measured. And always in kilograms.

Official guidance

What this rests on

No published decision turned up for this question. We looked, and the searches are in the record. So this article stands on published guidance and on how the question is asked on the floor, not on a court opinion. That is a weaker footing than the rest of the guide, and you should know it before you rely on it. The decisions behind the other articles are all in one place.

From nurses online

Quoted as written. Opinion, not a source.

Other guides

Advice, not law.