A nurse is caring a client who is unconscious and whose partner is their health care surrogate. The partner wishes to discontinue the client’s feeding tube, but another family member tells the nurse that they want the client to continue receiving treatment. Which of the following responses should the nurse make?

a. Administer a sedative to the client:

Administering a sedative may temporarily calm the client, but it should not be the first-line intervention, especially without a physician's order. Sedatives carry risks and should only be used when other interventions have been considered and deemed ineffective or when the client's behavior poses an immediate danger to themselves or others.

b. Contact a family member to come and sit with the client: could indeed be a valid first step. If a family member is available and able to assist, they could potentially calm the client without the need for isolation and reducing disruptive behavior.However, if this is not feasible, then ensuring the client’s safety through temporary isolation with frequent checks might be necessary.

c. Place the client in a wheelchair with a lap tray:

Placing the client in a wheelchair with a lap tray may restrict their movement and potentially exacerbate agitation or aggression. It does not address the underlying reasons for the behavior and may not be an appropriate intervention for managing wandering behavior.

d. Keep the client in her room with the door closed:

Isolating a client in their room could be considered a form of restraint or isolation and should be used with caution.This should be used only after other less restrictive measures have been tried and deemed ineffective.

a. Close the documentation program on the computer:

This action is appropriate as it immediately stops unauthorized access to the client's medical information and prevents further viewing of protected health information (PHI).

b. Find out which staff member left the documentation program on the screen:

While it's important to identify any staff member who may have left the documentation program open, addressing this issue should not be the first priority. The immediate concern is stopping the unauthorized access to the client's information and ensuring that the visitor is aware of the confidentiality breach.

c. Tell the charge nurse that the visitor viewed a client’s protected health information:

Notifying the charge nurse about the incident is important, but it should not be the first action taken. The priority is to address the immediate breach of confidentiality and prevent further unauthorized access to the client's information.

d. Inform the visitor that client records are confidential:

This action may be appropriate after addressing the immediate breach of confidentiality. However, it should not be the first action taken as it does not immediately stop the unauthorized access to the client's information.