A 12-year-old girl who has not yet reached menarche comes to the pediatrician’s office for her annual well-child check. As the nurse is weighing and measuring her, the child says emphatically that she does not want to get her period. Which response would be most appropriate for the nurse to make to this child?

Choice A reason: Discussing care options involves clinical judgment, which is the nurse’s responsibility, not delegable to family. Providing comfort tasks like swabs or pads is appropriate, making this incorrect, as it involves professional decision-making unsuitable for family delegation in the adolescent’s care.

Choice B reason: Keeping medical equipment like a blood pressure cuff involves monitoring, a nursing task, not delegable to family. Comfort tasks like providing swabs or pillows are suitable, making this incorrect, as it requires clinical skills beyond family’s role in the terminally ill adolescent’s care.

Choice C reason: Supplying mouth swabs for lip moistening is a simple comfort task family can perform, promoting involvement and patient comfort. This aligns with pediatric palliative care delegation, making it a correct intervention to delegate to family for the terminally ill adolescent’s care.

Choice D reason: Providing disposable pads for hygiene is a non-clinical task family can manage, supporting dignity and comfort. This aligns with family involvement in palliative care, making it a correct intervention to delegate for the terminally ill adolescent’s care in the hospital setting.

Choice E reason: Supplying pillows for repositioning is a comfort-focused task family can handle, enhancing the adolescent’s well-being. This aligns with pediatric palliative care principles, making it a correct intervention to delegate to family members for the terminally ill adolescent’s hospital care.

Choice A reason: Normal heart rate and respirations indicate reduced physiological stress from pain, supporting effective medication in a terminally ill child. This aligns with pediatric pain assessment criteria, making it a correct assessment to document as evidence of successful pain relief post-medication administration.

Choice B reason: Withdrawing from the environment suggests ongoing distress or pain, not relief. Normal vitals and low pain scores indicate effectiveness, making this incorrect, as it reflects a negative outcome rather than supporting successful pain management in the terminally ill child’s evaluation.

Choice C reason: A flexed position may indicate persistent pain or discomfort, not relief. Sleeping or low pain scores better demonstrate effectiveness, making this incorrect, as it does not support the medication’s success in alleviating pain in the terminally ill client during the assessment.

Choice D reason: Verbalizing a 1 on the pain scale directly indicates minimal pain, confirming the medication’s effectiveness in a terminally ill child. This aligns with pediatric pain management standards, making it a correct assessment to document as evidence of successful pain relief post-administration.

Choice E reason: Quietly sleeping on the parent’s lap suggests comfort and pain relief, a positive sign in a terminally ill child. This aligns with behavioral pain assessment in pediatrics, making it a correct observation to document as evidence of effective medication for pain management.