A nurse is caring for a client who has a sodium level of 120 mEq/L. Which solution should the nurse prepare to infuse for this client?

Choice A reason: Attending to personal hygiene improves comfort and prevents infection but is not the highest priority. Safety, including preventing falls or medication errors, prevents immediate harm, as hygiene issues pose less urgent risks, making this a secondary intervention compared to ensuring client safety.

Choice B reason: Ensuring client safety is the priority, preventing immediate harm like falls, medication errors, or equipment-related injuries. Safety is foundational, as unsafe conditions can lead to life-threatening complications, making this the most critical intervention to prioritize in any clinical setting for client well-being.

Choice C reason: Meeting psychosocial needs supports emotional well-being but is secondary to safety. Unaddressed safety risks, like falls, pose immediate physical harm, whereas psychosocial issues have longer-term impacts, making safety the priority over emotional or social support in clinical care.

Choice D reason: Providing patient-focused care ensures individualized treatment but is less urgent than safety. Safety prevents immediate harm, like falls or errors, while patient-focused care enhances outcomes over time, making it a secondary priority compared to ensuring the client’s physical safety.

Choice A reason: Eating breakfast before surgery indicates a need for further teaching, as fasting (nothing by mouth) after midnight prevents aspiration during anesthesia. Food intake increases gastric contents, risking pulmonary complications, making this a critical misunderstanding requiring correction to ensure safe surgical preparation.

Choice B reason: Receiving an antibiotic preoperatively is standard to prevent surgical site infections, especially in high-risk procedures. This statement reflects correct understanding, as prophylactic antibiotics reduce bacterial load, minimizing postoperative infection risk, indicating no need for further teaching on this point.

Choice C reason: Refraining from smoking 8 hours before surgery is appropriate, as smoking increases airway reactivity and secretions, risking respiratory complications. This shows understanding, though longer cessation is ideal, making further teaching unnecessary for this specific preoperative instruction.

Choice D reason: Showering with Hibiclens (chlorhexidine) the morning of surgery is correct, as it reduces skin bacterial load, lowering infection risk. This statement reflects proper understanding of preoperative skin preparation, indicating no need for further teaching on this aspect of surgical preparation.