Pedialyte Order needed??

Nurses Medications

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Hi there, I'm a new BScN grad and do homecare in Canada. I have been asked by a parent to run Pedialyte through a G-tube feed overnight for a vomiting child. Do I need an order to do this? I know Pedialyte is Over the Counter but am unsure if it classifies as a medication... thanks!

Specializes in MICU.

1) Only Advanced practitioners can give otc and some prescriptive meds without doctors order.

2) All medications have side effect and some are contraindicated and can be brutal for the patient

3) If you give med without doctor's order and something happens , you could be sued for taking actions against your scope of practice(that aint nice)

Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

Unless you have a prn for that, I would call the provider. And because the parents are concerned re: the vomiting, I think it would be appropriate to call, even if it is after hours.

If you can't call the MD/APRN for whatever reason, I'd tell the parents to get it going, and I would be comfortable with monitoring and turning it off when it was done, with the appropriate documentation. Assuming, of course, that you judge the intervention to be safe and appropriate. Even though it is essentially kiddy gatorade, if this kid has a renal/heme issue that predisposes him/her to lyte imbalances, or is prone to hyper/hypo glycemia, or is on fluid restrictions, etc etc. . . .

These are the annoyances of home care nursing- you really do need an order for things like this. You can give your own kid whatever OTCs you want, but when you are functioning under your RN license, it is safest for your patient (and your license) to stay safely within your scope.

eta- pedialyte can be classified as a "medical food." As an RN you shouldn't even give it PO without an order.

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