A health promotion teaching is focusing on hygiene and the prevention of illness. When instructing clients on how to clean their ears, what action should the nurse recommend?

Choice A reason: Morphine treats severe pain but isn’t first-line for headaches worsened by coughing, which may signal increased intracranial pressure. Without neurological assessment, this risks masking symptoms of serious conditions like brain tumors, delaying critical diagnosis and intervention.

Choice B reason: Palpating occipital lymph nodes checks for infection or inflammation, but headaches worsened by coughing or sneezing suggest intracranial issues, not lymphatic ones. This action misses the priority of assessing brain function tied to the client’s specific symptom pattern.

Choice C reason: Neurological assessment, like checking reflexes or pupil response, is vital for morning headaches worsening with coughing, hinting at possible intracranial pressure from masses or bleeds. It’s the most direct step to rule out life-threatening causes promptly.

Choice D reason: Explaining migraines assumes a diagnosis without evidence. Morning headaches improving later, worsened by strain, don’t align with typical migraine patterns, risking misdiagnosis of serious conditions like sinus thrombosis, necessitating neurological evaluation over premature reassurance.

Choice A reason: Syphilitic chancre is a painless ulcer, not itchy with white discharge. This STD lacks the erythematous, swollen, thick discharge presentation, excluding it from matching the client’s vaginal symptoms entirely and accurately in this case here.
Choice B reason: Trichomoniasis causes frothy, yellow-green discharge with itching, not thick white. This parasitic infection’s discharge differs from the observed curd-like consistency, making it less likely than candidiasis for this clinical picture fully here.
Choice C reason: Bacterial vaginosis produces thin, gray discharge with fishy odor, not thick white or intense itching. This bacterial imbalance contrasts with the erythematous, swollen findings, ruling it out as the suspected condition comprehensively here.
Choice D reason: Candidal vaginitis, from yeast, causes thick, white, curd-like discharge, itching, and erythema. This matches the client’s swollen labia and mucosal redness, making it the most likely diagnosis for these vaginal symptoms accurately here fully.