While assisting with a lumbar puncture procedure on an infant or small child, the nurse should do which of the following actions?

Choice A rationale

Initiating breastfeeding is an important intervention for nutritional support and promoting maternal-infant bonding, as well as stimulating uterine contraction and involution, but it is not the absolute highest priority immediately after birth. Establishing and maintaining a clear airway and stable thermoregulation takes precedence over feeding to prevent complications such as respiratory distress and cold stress.

Choice B rationale

Performing the initial bath can wait until the newborn's temperature is stabilized, usually several hours after birth, to prevent cold stress, which is a significant risk for the newly delivered infant. Thermoregulation is a high priority, and delaying the bath helps maintain the core body temperature and reduces oxygen consumption and glucose use.

Choice C rationale

Administering the vitamin K injection is important to prevent hemorrhagic disease of the newborn due to transient prothrombin deficiency, as newborn gut flora is not yet established, but it is not a life-saving, immediate priority over essential physiological stabilization. This intervention can be safely delayed until after the newborn is stabilized and has been assessed.

Choice D rationale

Initiating skin-to-skin contact with the mother immediately after birth is the highest priority intervention because it effectively helps stabilize the newborn's heart rate, respiratory rate, and most critically, regulates the body temperature through maternal heat transfer, which prevents life-threatening cold stress and promotes cardiopulmonary adaptation.

Choice A rationale

Astigmatism is an irregular curvature of the cornea or lens, which causes light rays to focus unevenly on the retina, resulting in distorted or blurred vision at any distance. The primary treatment for astigmatism is the use of corrective lenses, such as eyeglasses or contact lenses, not therapeutic eye patching.

Choice B rationale

Hyperopia, or farsightedness, occurs when the light focuses behind the retina because the eyeball is too short or the cornea is too flat, causing difficulty seeing objects up close. This condition is primarily managed by prescribing convex corrective lenses to help shift the focal point onto the retina.

Choice C rationale

Myopia, or nearsightedness, occurs when the light focuses in front of the retina because the eyeball is too long or the cornea is too steep, causing blurry distance vision. The standard treatment involves concave corrective lenses to diverge light rays and properly position the focal point on the retina.

Choice D rationale

Amblyopia, commonly called "lazy eye," is a reduction in visual acuity in one eye that results from the eye and brain not working well together, often caused by untreated strabismus or refractive errors. Patching the strong eye forces the brain to use the weaker, amblyopic eye, stimulating the development of the neural pathways necessary for clear vision.