A nurse is administering an enteric-coated medication to an adult client who has right-sided weakness and is having difficulty swallowing tablet. Which of the following actions should the nurse take?

A. Pain relieved by the prone position: Pain from acute pancreatitis is typically not relieved by lying prone. Clients often find some relief by sitting up, leaning forward, or assuming a fetal position, as these positions reduce pressure on the inflamed pancreas.

B. Decreased WBC count: Acute pancreatitis usually triggers an inflammatory response, leading to an elevated white blood cell (WBC) count, not a decreased one. Leukocytosis is a common laboratory finding associated with the body's reaction to inflammation and possible infection.

C. Hyperactive bowel sounds: In acute pancreatitis, bowel sounds are often decreased or absent due to paralytic ileus. Hyperactive bowel sounds would be more suggestive of other gastrointestinal disturbances such as diarrhea or early intestinal obstruction.

D. Epigastric pain: Severe, persistent epigastric pain that may radiate to the back is the hallmark symptom of acute pancreatitis. This pain is typically sudden in onset and worsens after eating or drinking, especially fatty foods.

A. Inability to read: Difficulty reading is not a hallmark symptom of delirium. It may be associated with visual impairment, literacy issues, or chronic cognitive decline such as dementia, but delirium is primarily characterized by acute mental status changes, not isolated reading difficulties.

B. Echopraxia: Echopraxia, the involuntary imitation of another person’s movements, is typically associated with schizophrenia or other severe psychiatric disorders. It is not a defining feature of delirium, which primarily affects attention, awareness, and cognition rather than imitation behaviors.

C. Acute onset of confusion: Delirium is distinguished by a sudden, acute onset of confusion and fluctuating levels of consciousness. Clients may exhibit disorganized thinking, poor attention, and impaired awareness, which are hallmark features that help differentiate delirium from chronic conditions like dementia.

D. Aphasia: Aphasia, or loss of the ability to understand or express speech, is more commonly related to neurological injuries such as stroke. While speech may be disorganized during delirium, the specific loss of language function like aphasia is not a primary or expected feature of this acute condition.