monitering pt on Magnesium sulfate

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I need some help. I just graduated nursing school and am hoping to specialize in OB, during nursing school i remember caring for a pt on mag. sulf., I remember having to monitor this pt. for either ketones in the urine or glucose in the urine, but I cannot remember if it was because she was a diabetic or if it had something to do with the mag sulf. admin. Please help. Do we routinely check ketones (or glucose) in the urine of a pt on magnesium, if so why.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Hi there and welcome to the forum! Congratulations on graduating nursing school and welcome to OB.

It's likely this person was also a diabetic, if you were checking for ketones or sugar spilling in urine. We are not looking for these things usually, simply because a patient is on magnesium therapy. It's not uncommon for PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension) to co-exist with diabetes, especially type 2 or gestational types. Racial groups at most risk are African-American and Native American for these problems, but it's rising in other populations as well, with older women giving birth and increasing obesity rates in the Western world.

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Is it possible you were checking for protein in the urine, since she was probably on Mag for PIH? Mag sulfate does help prevent eclamptic seizures but it doesn't necessarily control the spread of the disease. Women can go quickly from PIH to preeclampsia, even on Mag. Proteinuria is a symptom.

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