The nurse is admitting a 10-year-old for surgery. What action should the nurse prioritize when caring for this child?

Choice A reason: Determining the chief complaint identifies the primary reason for the visit, guiding the assessment and care plan for the child. This aligns with pediatric nursing triage principles, making it the prioritized step to ensure focused, efficient care during the first visit to the clinic.

Choice B reason: Interviewing the caregiver provides context but follows identifying the chief complaint, which directs the conversation. The complaint sets the visit’s focus, making this secondary and incorrect compared to prioritizing the reason for the child’s visit in the initial pediatric clinic appointment.

Choice C reason: Obtaining biographical data is administrative and less urgent than addressing the child’s health concern. The chief complaint drives the clinical encounter, making this less critical and incorrect compared to prioritizing the identification of the primary issue in the first clinic visit.

Choice D reason: Recording the health history is important but comes after understanding the chief complaint, which shapes the history-taking. Identifying the complaint ensures relevance, making this subsequent and incorrect compared to the prioritized step of determining the reason for the child’s visit.

Choice A reason: Consents for surgery involve legal and procedural details, typically handled by providers, not nurses. Educating on growth and development is within nursing scope, making this incorrect, as it exceeds the nurse’s role in instructing families of a child with a chronic illness.

Choice B reason: Instructing on growth and development changes helps parents understand their child’s progress despite chronic illness, within the nurse’s educational role. This aligns with pediatric nursing practice, making it the correct situation for the nurse to provide instruction in the pediatrician’s office.

Choice C reason: Explaining diagnostic tests and lab work is typically the provider’s responsibility, as it involves medical interpretation. Growth and development education is nurse-appropriate, making this incorrect, as it falls outside the nurse’s primary instructional role for the chronically ill child’s family.

Choice D reason: Diagnosing secondary problems is a medical responsibility, not within nursing scope for instruction. Growth and development guidance is nurse-led, making this incorrect, as it involves diagnostic communication beyond the nurse’s role in educating the family of the chronically ill child.