A teenage girl sees the school nurse to ask about a vaginal discharge that she has had for a month. The nurse suspects a sexually transmitted disease. What is the nurse's next step?
1. Notify the girl's parents.
2. Determine the girl's sexual partners.
3. Encourage the girl to go to the free clinic or her private health care provider for an examination and possible treatment.
4. Notify the health department of the sexually transmitted disease.
3
Rationale 1: If the nurse notifies the parents without the girls' permission, the nurse will lose the confidence of the girl and her friends. The nurse will encourage the girl to inform her parents.
Rationale 2: The nurse does not need to determine who the sexual partner(s) might be. The nurse will encourage the girl to inform her partner(s).
Rationale 3: This is an appropriate intervention for a school nurse.
Rationale 4: The nurse has not diagnosed a sexually transmitted disease and is not the person that reports the disease to the health department.
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A nurse is working in a health department when a patient arrives who has been traveling to South America and has been diagnosed with malaria. The nurse knows:
a. The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report should be consulted to investigate the rate of malaria in the United States. b. This is a disease that must be reported to the state health department. c. The nurse should take precautions to wear a mask and gown to avoid exposure. d. The patient is very ill and should be sent to the hospital immediately.
Boundary violations do not represent a serious problem or violation of the rules.
Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)
What should the nurse teach about the relationship between consumption of alcohol and immediate risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD)?
a. Alcohol increases risk for liver disease. b. Alcohol may reduce inhibitions. c. Alcohol lowers the body's resistance to infection. d. Alcohol impairs the integrity of the mucous membranes, providing a portal of entry for infection.
The nursing student observes a staff nurse changing her behavior around a client. Signs that might be observed as professional boundary violations include: Standard Text: Select all that apply
1. The nurse calls the client by his or her first name 2. The nurse shares personal information with the client 3. The nurse touches the client without a therapeutic purpose 4. The nurse spends the same amount of time with this client as with other clients 5. The nurse reports receiving gifts from this client