Planning the Nursing Care
The goals of nursing care are:
- Identify the causative factor of megaloblastic anaemia.
- Administer appropriate vitamins depending on the cause.
Implementation of Nursing Care
Identifying the cause of anaemia is an important activity. You as a nurse need to know wheather the cause is due to deficiency of folic andor vitamin B1, otherwise this may lead to mismanagement of the case. Once the cause is identified, its recurrence needs to be avoided, drugs responsible for producing this anaemia should be stopped. Child with folic acid deficiency is given iron in the dose of 5 mg per day orally or parenterally together with 200 mg per day of oral ascorbic acid and is continued for two to three weeks.
In case of vitamin B12 deficiency it is given 15 to 30 meg in young children and 100 mcg in older children in the form of cyanocoblamine hydroxycobalamine, intrarnusculary thrice a week until hemoglobin is normal. This is followed by 100 mcg intramuscularly once a month.
During drug therapy child should be monitored for any neurological symptoms and tremors as patients of B,, deficiency if treated initially with folic acid may present with these symptoms.