Nursing Prioritization Delegation Assignment Q 60
A 90-year-old client is confined to the unit for two weeks. He has been receiving antibiotics for more than a week and tells that he is having frequent watery stools. Which action will you take first?
A. Place the client on contact precautions
B. Educate the client about correct hand washing
C. Notify the physician about the loose stools
D. Get stool specimens for culture
Correct Answer: A. Place the client on contact precautions
The client may have Clostridium difficile infection based on his age, history of antibiotic therapy, and watery stools. The initial action should be to place him on contact precautions to prevent the spread of C. difficile to other clients.
Option B: General strategies such as early detection of the disease, placing the patient under isolation with a dedicated toilet and contact precautions, promoting hygiene measures such as improved hand hygiene, and environmental cleaning are effective measures in preventing infections from C. difficile infections.
Option C: Watery diarrhea with mucus or occult blood, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, low-grade fever, and lower abdominal pain are the symptoms commonly associated with diarrhea and colitis caused by C. difficile.
Option D: Patients with new-onset 3 or more loose or unformed stools in 24 hours with no obvious other etiology should be checked for testing for C. difficile infection. Stool examination for C. difficile toxins or toxigenic C. difficile bacillus is the commonly used diagnostic test used to diagnose C. difficile infection.