An evaluation of Dehydration Assessment and Zinc Administration in Children with Acute Diarrhea in Hospitals Septi Wardani 1 , Sri Hananto Ponco Nugroho 2 , Setiyo Budi Santoso 3 {septiwardani@ummgl.ac.id 1 } Department of Nursing, Universitas Muhammadiyah Magelang, Magelang, Indonesia 1,2 Department of Pharmacist, Universitas Muhammadiyah Magelang, Magelang, Indonesia 3 Abstract. Improper management of diarrhea, either at home or in hospital, is one of the main causes of death in children with diarrhea. The problems that arise in the management of diarrhea in children in the hospital are the unclear classification of degrees of dehydration, parents do not know the administration of zinc tablets and the unclear discharge planning. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the assessment of dehydration and zinc administration in children with acute diarrhea in hospital in Magelang, Indonesia. The method used is a case study. Subjects in this study were nurses who managed acute diarrhea. Data collection was carried out by means of observation, documentation and interviews. The results showed that the assessment of dehydration was not specific, the duration and dose of zinc had been given correctly but education on zik administration had not been carried out properly. In conclusion, we found several strengths and weaknesses in the assessment of dehydration and zinc administration in acute diarrhea children in hospital. Keywords: Children, acute diarrhea, management, dehydration assessment, zink administrtation 1 Introduction Diarrhea is still a major problem of child illness and death. To overcome this problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a framework for child health services in hospitals, one of which is the management of diarrhea for children, namely with five steps to complete diarrhea, which includes: (1). Giving orlait, (2). Giving zinc, (3). Selective antibiotics and antidiarrheals are not given, (4). Feeding and continuing with breastfeeding, (5). Providing advice to parents about when to bring their child back to the hospital [1]-[4]. The main cause of death among children under five in Indonesia is diarrhea, which is 16.7%. This happens because the knowledge of health workers about the management of diarrhea is still low, as evidenced by the knowledge of officers about the history of diarrhea sufferers correctly by 43.7%, knowing the determination of dehydration by 29.9%, knowing the management of diarrhea without dehydration as much as 33.3%, knowing the management of moderate or mild dehydrated diarrhea by 12.6% and knowing the management of severe dehydrated diarrhea by 14.9% [5],[6]. Assessment of the level of dehydration in children with diarrhea is very important because it is the basis for further management. Zinc is important because it can replace the natural zinc BIS-HSS 2020, November 18, Indonesia Copyright © 2021 EAI DOI 10.4108/eai.18-11-2020.2311762