An older adult female client is hospitalized with a fractured femur. During a routine nursing assessment, she repeatedly asks the nurse to “speak up” so that she can hear the questions. Which action is best for the nurse to take?

Choice A reason: Explaining the five positions for postural drainage is correct, as COPD clients benefit from varied postures to drain mucus from different lung segments. Positioning enhances gravity-assisted clearance, improving airway patency and gas exchange, ensuring the client understands the procedure for effective participation.

Choice B reason: Performing drainage after meals is incorrect, as it risks aspiration and discomfort due to gastric pressure in COPD clients with hyperinflated lungs. Timing drainage between meals ensures safety and efficacy, making this approach inappropriate for mucus clearance.

Choice C reason: Obtaining an ABG before drainage is unnecessary unless respiratory distress is evident. Postural drainage is routine in COPD to clear mucus, and ABGs monitor acid-base status, not procedure efficacy, making this choice irrelevant for standard drainage preparation.

Choice D reason: Instructing shallow, fast breathing is incorrect, as it reduces tidal volume, worsening mucus clearance in COPD. Deep, slow breathing enhances drainage by mobilizing secretions, making this approach counterproductive to the goal of improving airway clearance during the procedure.

Choice A reason: Culture and sensitivity identify the causative organism and antibiotic susceptibility of purulent drainage, indicating a wound infection. This guides targeted antimicrobial therapy, as postoperative infections may involve resistant bacteria like MRSA, ensuring effective treatment and preventing complications like sepsis or delayed healing.

Choice B reason: C-reactive protein indicates systemic inflammation but is non-specific for wound infections. Purulent drainage requires pathogen identification via culture to guide therapy. While elevated CRP may support infection suspicion, it does not direct antibiotic choice, making it less critical than culture results.

Choice C reason: Serum blood glucose is relevant for wound healing, as hyperglycemia impairs immune response, but it does not identify the infection’s cause. Purulent drainage requires microbiological data from culture to select antibiotics, making glucose levels secondary for immediate infection management.

Choice D reason: Blood pH level assesses acid-base balance, irrelevant to localized wound infection. Purulent drainage indicates bacterial infection, requiring culture to identify pathogens. pH may be altered in systemic sepsis, but culture is the priority for guiding therapy in postoperative wound infections.