How to Convert lbs to kg (Nursing)

00:01 All right, let's move forward, how to convert pounds (lb) to kilograms (kg).

00:07 Now remember, there are 2.2 pounds in 1 kilogram.

00:13 So, we've got the blue box for 2.2 and the reddish box for 1 kilogram.

00:18 When you're converting kilograms to pounds, the numbers of pounds will be higher.

00:24 So, if you're someone who's used to weighing yourself in kilograms and you see what that number is in pounds, you're going to be shocked, right, because it's going to be higher.

00:34 But if we're converting pounds to kilograms, the number of kilograms will be smaller than pounds because there are more pounds in one kilogram.

00:46 Okay. So, let's do some practice. Enough talk.

00:48 Let's start getting into a practice question.

00:50 Mr. Burton weighs 198 pounds.

00:54 How many kilograms does Mr. Burton weigh? Okay. So, when you're converting pounds to kilogram, remember, the number of kilograms will be smaller than the number of pounds.

01:05 Why? Because there's 2.2 pounds in every kilogram.

01:09 So, we've got that there.

01:11 We know that he weighs 198 pounds.

01:14 We're going to divide 198 by 2.2 to find the correct number of kilograms.

01:20 So 198 divided by 2.2 equals (ding) a perfect 90 kilograms.

01:28 See. Thank You Mr. Burton for having such a perfectly appropriate kilogram weight.

01:33 So 198 pounds divided by 2.2, equals 90 kilograms.

01:38 If we're going to do a weight-based medication for Mr. Burton in kilograms, we've now converted his weight from pounds to kilograms.

01:46 Ms. Leighton’s weight is recorded as 75.3 kilograms.

01:52 Her healthcare provider, that's what HCP stands for, her healthcare provider ordered a medication dosage that requires pounds.

02:00 So what is Ms. Leighton’s weight in pounds? Okay, so we're going to take her from 75.3 kilograms and convert it to pounds.

02:08 Right now before we do that, is that number going to be higher or lower? So, when we go from kilograms to pounds, that number is going to be higher.

02:19 You multiply 75.3 kilograms by 2.2 to find the correct number of pounds.

02:26 Remember, we expect that number to be bigger.

02:28 So 75.3 kilograms times 2.2 equals 165.66 pounds.

02:38 All right, so see how we did that.

02:39 We went from 75.3 kilograms.

02:42 So, we multiply 75.3 times 2.2 to get Ms. Leighton’s weight in pounds.

02:48 Now, why do we do that? Because we had an order that requires us to know the weight of the patient in pounds.

02:56 Okay, now let's talk just really briefly about fractions.

02:59 Sometimes these tweak people out.

03:01 Sometimes it's no problem for you.

03:02 But we're going to go over it anyway.

03:04 So, if you're already comfortable with this, just celebrate that this isn't hard for you.

03:09 But if a patient's weight is listed as a fraction, we want you to use these decimals.

03:14 So if you see 1/4, that's 0.25. 1/2 is 0.50 and 3/4 is 0.75.

03:25 So, if you weigh one and a quarter pounds, it would be 1.25.

03:30 That's probably very familiar to you.

03:32 If it's not, you've got it right here as a reference.

03:36 Okay, now it's your turn to practice.

03:39 We want you to practice converting pounds to kilograms and kilograms to pounds.

03:44 So, complete the ten practice problems in your downloadable material and then check your answers.