A nurse is caring for a client who is postoperative and develops respiratory depression after receiving morphine for pain control. Which of the following medications should the nurse expect the provider to prescribe?

The client is at highest risk for wound infection as evidenced by the blood glucose level

Rationale

Type 2 diabetes mellitus: The client has poorly controlled diabetes with a preoperative Hemoglobin A1C of 9.5% and elevated glucose levels (280 mg/dL currently). Elevated blood glucose levels impair immune function and increase the risk of surgical site infections, including wound infections.

Postoperative state: After total knee arthroplasty, surgical wounds are vulnerable to infection. Hyperglycemia (high blood glucose levels) further increases susceptibility to infections due to impaired wound healing and compromised immune response.

Evidence: The client's current blood glucose level of 280 mg/dL (normal range 74 to 106 mg/dL) indicates poor glycemic control, which is a significant risk factor for developing wound infections postoperatively.

A To obtain reliable results, it is generally recommended to collect samples from different areas of the stool across multiple bowel movements rather than from a single sample.

detecting occult blood if it is present in the stool but not evenly distributed throughout. It also helps to reduce the chance of obtaining a false negative result.

C. Urine can interfere with the accuracy of fecal occult blood testing, leading to false positive results. Therefore, any sample that contains visible urine should be discarded to prevent inaccurate test results.

B. While gloves should be worn to maintain standard precautions and prevent direct contact with feces, sterile gloves are not required for this procedure. Standard medical examination gloves are sufficient to ensure hygiene and prevent contamination during sample collection.

D. The guaiac smear should be performed on a small portion of stool obtained from different areas within the bowel movement, not specifically from the outer edge of formed stool. The goal is to sample from different parts to increase the likelihood of detecting any occult blood present.