A client has a hemovac tube in place after a surgical repair of a hip fracture. The client asks the nurse the purpose of the drain. What is the nurse's best response?

A. Use clearly marked sharps disposal containers: Properly labeled sharps containers ensure that needles and other sharps are safely disposed of, reducing the risk of accidental injury to the nurse and others. These containers are puncture-resistant, easily accessible, and prevent unsafe handling or environmental contamination, forming a critical component of standard safety protocols.

B. Never force needles into the sharps disposal: Forcing needles into a sharps container can cause the needle to bend, break, or rebound, increasing the risk of needlestick injury. Safe disposal requires gently placing the needle into the container to prevent accidental punctures or exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

C. Inspect needle before giving injection: Checking the needle for defects such as bends, burrs, or contamination prior to use prevents injury during administration and ensures patient safety. It also allows the nurse to identify any compromised equipment before exposure to potentially infectious materials.

D. Remove needle and dispose in sharps box: After an injection, needles must be immediately removed from syringes (if appropriate) and disposed of directly into a sharps container without delay. This reduces the risk of accidental needlesticks, cross-contamination, and occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

E. Recap the needle after giving an injection: This is the most common cause of needlestick injuries. Once a needle has been used on a patient, it must never be recapped. Instead, the safety shield (safety-lock) should be activated immediately using a one-handed technique or a hard surface.

A. Altered Impulse translation: Impulse translation refers to the processing and interpretation of sensory input by the brain. While cataracts affect vision, the primary problem is not with brain interpretation but with how light reaches the retina, making this option less directly related to the patient’s behavior.

B. Altered nerve impulse conduction: Nerve impulse conduction involves the transmission of signals along nerves. In cataracts, the optic nerve and neural pathways are typically intact; the issue lies in light obstruction from the lens opacity rather than impaired conduction of impulses.

C. Altered stimulation: Altered stimulation would suggest that the environment is insufficiently stimulating the senses. However, the patient’s behavior, sitting close to the television, indicates a compensatory response to difficulty seeing, not a lack of environmental stimulation.

D. Altered sensory reception: Cataracts cause clouding of the lens, reducing the eye’s ability to receive and focus light properly, which directly affects visual sensory reception. Sitting close to the television is a compensatory behavior to improve visual input, reflecting the impact of altered sensory reception on functional activity.