Final answer:
Legally, if a nurse administers an injection to a pediatric patient without the guardian's consent, they have committed assault or battery. Parental or guardian consent is mandatory for medical procedures on minors, barring emergency life-saving situations where consent cannot be obtained.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a health-care provider administers an injection to a pediatric client without the consent of the client's legal guardian, legally, the nurse has committed assault or battery, depending on the jurisdiction.
Consent is a crucial aspect of medical treatment, and parents or legal guardians have the right to provide or refuse consent on behalf of their children. Without this consent, administering an injection is a violation of the patient's rights and is an actionable offense.
Health-care providers must respect the decisions made by the legal guardians, unless there are exceptional circumstances that override this need for consent, such as emergencies where treatment is necessary to save the child's life and consent cannot be obtained.