Nursing Prioritization Delegation Assignment Q 80
The charge nurse from the unit receives a call from the pediatrician wanting to admit an 8-year-old child with rubeola (measles). Which of the following is of most concern in deciding whether to admit the child to the unit?
A. The unit is not staffed with the usual number of RNs.
B. There are several children receiving chemotherapy on the unit.
C. No negative-airflow rooms are available on the unit.
D. The infection control nurse liaison is not on the unit today.
Correct Answer: C. No negative-airflow rooms are available on the unit.
The child cannot be admitted to the pediatric unit without the implementation of airborne precautions which is required for clients with rubeola. One of the components of airborne infection isolation (AII) is respiratory protection for health-care workers and visitors when entering AII rooms. Recommendations of the type of respiratory protection are dependent on the patient’s airborne infection (indicating the need for AII) and the risk of infection to persons entering the AII room.
Option A: Staff reassignment can be done but this would not prevent the client’s admission. Nursing is a critical factor in determining the quality of care in hospitals and the nature of patient outcomes. Twenty-four hour nursing care is one of the distinctive hallmarks of inpatient care in hospitals.
Option B: Children undergoing cancer treatment are particularly vulnerable to illnesses such as measles, as chemotherapy greatly reduces their immunity and can make their previous vaccinations ineffective. However, the client with rubeola can be placed in an isolation room distant from the clients undergoing chemotherapy.
Option D: The absence of the infection control nurse liaison would not prevent the admission of a client with rubeola. The infection control liaison nurse (ICLN) is a nurse in the ward, appointed to participate in education for infection control, and to liaise between the ward and the infection control nurse (ICN).