In caring for a client who requires seizure precautions, the practical nurse (PN) should ensure the ready availability of equipment to perform which procedure?

The correct answer is Choice D.

Choice A rationale: Enrolling the UAP in a hospital education class on conducting safe client care is not an immediate response and does not address the current situation. It may be a longer-term solution for ongoing education.

Choice B rationale: Praising the UAP for performing oral hygiene and encouraging family participation does not address the immediate safety concern of the procedure being performed correctly.

Choice C rationale: Telling the UAP to continue because the unconscious client is positioned safely is incorrect. The client should not be in a flat side-lying position as it increases the risk of aspiration during oral hygiene.

Choice D rationale: Stopping the procedure and telling the UAP to place the client in a Fowler's position is correct. The Fowler's position helps maintain an open airway and reduces the risk of aspiration during oral hygiene in an unconscious client.

The correct answer is choiceB. Verify completion of all new prescriptions. This task is crucial to ensure patient safety and proper medication administration.

Choice A rationale:

Clean up and organize the nurses’ workstation: While maintaining an organized workstation is important for efficiency and reducing stress, it is not the highest priority task. Patient safety and care tasks take precedence over organizational tasks.

Choice B rationale:

Verify completion of all new prescriptions: This is the highest priority because verifying new prescriptions ensures that patients receive the correct medications as prescribed by their healthcare providers.This step is critical to prevent medication errors, which can have serious or even fatal consequences. Ensuring the accuracy of medication orders directly impacts patient safety and care quality.

Choice C rationale:

Calculate and record intake and output totals: Monitoring and recording intake and output is important for assessing a patient’s fluid balance and overall health status. However, this task can be delegated to another team member and does not take precedence over verifying medication orders, which is more time-sensitive and directly related to patient safety.

Choice D rationale:

Write a narrative shift summary for each client: Documenting a shift summary is essential for continuity of care and communication between healthcare providers. However, this task can be completed after ensuring that all critical patient care tasks, such as verifying new prescriptions, are addressed first.