vleavitt

Too much water will give you water intoxication and hyponatremia. Is water a medication? Steam is water in gas form - does that make it a medication? Volley back to you.

So using that logic salt water gargle is a drug as it used for a relief of a symptom. It is a substance and it relieves a symptom.

Many substabnces and treatments are involved in the care of the patient and many are clearly pharmaceuticals - one end of the spectrum. At the other end of the spectrum we have itmes, substances, treatments that are clearly do not fall into this category - water, positioning, the air that we breathe (21% oxygen). So the question remains - where does oxygen fall? Divers and other used compressed gases - they do not require a prescription. Nurses - way back, were not "allowed" to take blood pressures, call blood blood when they saw it (it was to be called a red substance coming from the patient's body as we were not "capable of know it is blood"). So at what point do we say - not a drug that always need guidance? Let the debate range on.

Franciscan Health System (SJMC Tacoma; St. Clare, Lakewood; St Francis, Federal Way; St. Elizabeth, Enumclaw; St. Anthony Gig Harbor) does nire new grads and has rsidencies in Med/Surg, ED, Critical Care, L and D, Nursery, Perianesthesia, and Periop. You may not get your first choice, though. Hospitals in both Pierce and King Counties. VL

Interestingly my colleagues and I were discussing just this issue today. JC does not consider oxygen a drug and neither does our state (Washington). We are now questioning this and plan to bring it to our nurse practice council. The Director of Pharmacy is also questoning this. I am reading a lot of circular definitions on this site, "If I have to have an order it must be a drug." reasoning that does not hold up to scrutiny. I am not, by any means saying that oxygen should be used willy nilly - but neither should positioning which can affect the patient's condition - but that does not require an order. Interesting dialogue.