A client who is obese reports severe pain and inability to bear weight in the right knee after making dietary changes 3 weeks ago for weight loss. The client's medical history includes hypertension, gouty arthritis, and cholecystitis. Which instruction should the nurse include in the discharge teaching?

A. Encourage the wife to voice her feelings about having a husband with Parkinson's disease: While it is important to provide emotional support and encourage expression of feelings, this does not address her specific question about alternative or complementary cures.

B. Tell the wife that her husband's neurologist would know more about alternative treatments to cure Parkinsonism: Referring to the neurologist may seem appropriate, but it avoids answering the wife’s concern directly.

C. Explain that there are no known conventional, alternative, or complimentary therapies that cure Parkinson's disease: Parkinson’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, and while medications and some therapies can manage symptoms, no cure currently exists. This response provides clear, evidence-based information and directly answers the wife’s question.

D. Compile a list of alternative medications that are effective in curing Parkinson's disease: No alternative or complementary medications have been proven to cure Parkinson’s disease. Providing such a list would give false hope and misinformation.

Rationale for correct choices:

• Cellulitis: The client presents with redness, warmth, swelling, and pain in the left lower leg, along with a small preceding cut. These findings are characteristic of cellulitis, a bacterial infection of the dermis and subcutaneous tissue, often following a breach in the skin barrier.

• Break in skin: The small cut noted above the lateral ankle provides an entry point for bacteria, explaining the localized infection. A break in skin is a common precursor to cellulitis, particularly in clients with diabetes or vascular compromise.

• Left lower leg erythema: Erythema indicates inflammation and infection, which are hallmark signs of cellulitis. The presence of erythema, along with swelling and warmth, supports the clinical diagnosis of a bacterial skin infection.

Rationale for incorrect choices:

• Left lower leg erythema (as a diagnosis option): Erythema alone describes a symptom rather than a medical diagnosis. While present, it does not capture the underlying bacterial infection requiring treatment.

• Break in skin (as a diagnosis option): A break in the skin is a risk factor or contributing event, not a formal diagnosis. It explains how infection occurred but does not replace the clinical diagnosis of cellulitis.

• Cool, pale left leg: This finding is more indicative of arterial insufficiency or ischemia rather than infection. The client’s affected leg is warm and erythematous, which contrasts with cool, pale tissue.

• Intact skin: Intact skin would not allow bacterial entry and does not explain the localized infection. The client has a visible small cut that preceded the erythema.

• Dry scaly skin: While common in peripheral vascular disease or chronic dermatologic conditions, dry scaly skin does not explain the acute signs of infection seen in this client.