A nurse is formulating a teaching plan about herpes zoster for a group of older adults at a community center. The nurse should include which of the following information in the plan?

A. Swabbing the wound bed is necessary to obtain the culture specimen, but it must not be done until after the wound and surrounding area have been cleansed. Swabbing an uncleaned wound will collect superficial skin flora and debris rather than the true pathogens causing the infection.

B. According to evidence-based practice and nursing guidelines for wound care, the nurse must first cleanse the wound and surrounding area with sterile saline (or an approved non-antiseptic cleanser) to remove exudate, topical medications, and normal skin flora. This ensures that the culture specimen reflects the actual microorganisms responsible for the internal wound infection, making it the highest priority first step.

C. Donning sterile gloves is an appropriate action to maintain surgical asepsis during a sterile dressing change or wound culture procedure, but it is not the first action. The nurse typically wears clean gloves to remove the old dressing and cleanse the wound before transitioning to sterile gloves, or performs hand hygiene before preparing the sterile culture kit.

D. Placing the collection tube into a biohazard specimen bag is a necessary final step performed after the specimen has been successfully collected, labeled, and sealed to ensure safe transport to the laboratory, so it cannot be the first action taken.

Choice A rationale: the epidermis becomes thinner and more fragile with age hence making the skin of elderly individuals more prone to injury, bruising, and infections.
Choice B rationale: this is incorrect because the skin in old age loses its elasticity and becomes more wrinkled due to the loss of collagen and elastin fibers responsible for maintaining the elasticity of the skin.
Choice C rationale: subcutaneous tissue comprising mainly of fat and connective tissue increases with age especially in regions such as the abdomen.
Choice D rationale: blood vessels within the skin become narrower and less efficient with increasing age thus resulting in decreased blood flow and oxygen delivery to the skin.
Choice E rationale: sebum production which is responsible for skin lubrication increases with age thus making this statement incorrect.