Barriers to Weighing Patients in UK Intensive Care Units—A Survey of Nurses, Pharmacists and Allied Healthcare Professionals

ABSTRACT

Accurate body weight (BW) measurement in the intensive care unit (ICU) is essential for safe weight‐based care, including medication dosing, fluid‐status monitoring and nutritional assessment, yet clinical practice often relies on inaccurate estimates. This national cross‐sectional survey aimed to describe current weighing practices, identify perceived barriers to obtaining measured BW and characterise safety concerns among ICU healthcare professionals. The survey was disseminated electronically through national and regional professional networks. A total of 530 responses were analysed. Although 70.8% of respondents reported weighing all patients, only 42.6% worked in units with formal weighing protocols. Equipment availability and patient acuity were rated as the most important barriers. These findings demonstrate substantial variation in UK ICU weighing practice and identify equipment, protocol and workflow limitations as priorities for interventions intended to improve the reliability of patient‐weight data and associated clinical care.