The nurse is assessing an older adult’s orientation. Which question is most appropriate?

Choice A reason: Drainage, odor, appearance, and size provide incomplete wound documentation, missing critical details like location and depth. Comprehensive wound assessment requires precise measurements and site identification to track healing, guide treatment, and prevent complications like infection, making this choice insufficient for clinical standards.

Choice B reason: Size, odor, location, and depth omit key descriptors like appearance and drainage, which indicate infection or healing status. Wound documentation must include all measurable aspects to ensure accurate monitoring and treatment planning, rendering this choice inadequate for thorough medical records.

Choice C reason: Location, length, width, depth, appearance, and drainage form a complete wound description, capturing site, dimensions, tissue characteristics, and exudate. This comprehensive approach supports accurate tracking of healing, infection risk, and treatment efficacy, aligning with clinical guidelines for wound care documentation and management.

Choice D reason: Color, location, appearance, and drainage lack measurements like length, width, and depth, essential for monitoring wound progression. Omitting these quantifiable metrics hinders accurate assessment of healing or deterioration, making this choice incomplete for standardized wound documentation in clinical practice.

Choice A reason: Abdominal distention is an unexpected finding, potentially indicating serious issues like bowel obstruction, ascites, or organ enlargement, requiring urgent reporting. Unlike normal findings like symmetry, distention demands investigation. Prompt documentation ensures timely diagnosis and intervention, critical for preventing complications in patients with abdominal abnormalities.

Choice B reason: Silver striae are expected from skin stretching (e.g., pregnancy or weight gain), not typically concerning unless new or severe. Distention is more urgent. Assuming striae require reporting risks diverting focus from serious findings, potentially delaying evaluation of critical abdominal conditions needing immediate medical attention.

Choice C reason: Borborygmus (bowel sounds) is a normal finding, indicating active digestion, unless absent or hyperactive. Distention is abnormal and urgent. Assuming borborygmus requires reporting risks misprioritizing normal findings, neglecting serious issues like distention, critical for timely diagnosis and management of abdominal pathology.

Choice D reason: Abdominal symmetry is expected in healthy assessments, unlike distention, which signals pathology. Assuming symmetry is unexpected risks overlooking abnormal findings, diverting focus from urgent issues like obstruction or ascites. Reporting distention ensures prompt evaluation, critical for addressing underlying causes and preventing complications in patients.