Ordering practices for mineral meds in CPOE

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Tue, 03/27/2018 - 19:06
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Fuwang Xu
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Joined: 02/07/2017 - 19:54
Ordering practices for mineral meds in CPOE

Hello everyone, I am seeking your advice for proper ordering practices for mineral meds in CPOE.

Calcium Acetate (PhosLo)
Calcium CARBonate
Calcium Citrate
Calcium Glubionate
Ferrous Gluconate
Ferrous Sulfate
Ferrous Sulfate Elixir 220 mg/5 mL
Polysaccharide Iron Complex
Potassium Phosphate/Sodium Phosphate
Zinc Sulfate

The drugs listed above make a reference to elemental content and there has been confusion on the nursing side as to what to administer vs. what is labeled on the medication.

For example let’s look at calcium carbonate. Prescriber orders 1250 mg. The elemental calcium content is 500 mg per tablet. Nurse may advertently administer 2.5 tablets to get to 1250 mg, when the intended dose is only 1 tablet.

In your institution, are those minerals ordered as "number of tablet/capsule", or "MG of Elemental content", or "MG of Elemental Content+Salt"?

Any insight you can provide would be helpful.

Thank you very much!

Fuwang

Fuwang Xu, PharmD
Medication-Use Safety Pharmacy Resident
Department of Pharmacy
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

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