NCLEX: A 79-year-old client on a medical-surgical unit is being evaluated for nursing care related to renal and cardiac…

Nutrition Basic Care and Comfort

Case Study

A 79-year-old client on a medical-surgical unit is being evaluated for nursing care related to renal and cardiac diet patterns. Assessment data include the client coughs when drinking thin liquids and has wet vocal quality after swallowing. Which infection-prevention action is essential?

Question

A. Wear gloves only and skip hand hygiene when leaving the room.
B. Use sterile technique for all routine hygiene regardless of diagnosis.
C. Skip precautions if the client has no fever.
D. Perform hand hygiene and apply the transmission-based precautions indicated by the client's diagnosis.

Rationale

Correct answer: D. Perform hand hygiene and apply the transmission-based precautions indicated by the client's diagnosis.

Rationale: Infection control matches the pathogen route: hand hygiene plus appropriate precautions for contact, droplet, or airborne transmission.

Hint: Apply ABCs, client stability, and NCSBN clinical judgment steps before choosing an intervention.

Level: Advanced

Difficulty: Hard

Subtopic: Renal and cardiac diet patterns