Editing Fundamentals of Nursing – LPN Practice Questions (section)

==Question 1==
The licensed practical nurse is giving a bed bath to an older adult. Which action is correct?
# Wash the entire body with the same section of the washcloth to save time.
# Wash each eye from the outer canthus toward the inner canthus.
# Wash from the cleanest areas to the most soiled areas, leaving the perineum for last.
# Leave the patient fully uncovered to make the bath faster.

'''Answer:''' 3. Wash from the cleanest areas to the most soiled areas, leaving the perineum for last.

''Rationale:'' Bathing proceeds from clean to dirty and from head to toe so that organisms are not carried from soiled areas to clean ones, and the perineum is washed last. Option 1 spreads organisms across body regions. Option 2 reverses the correct direction; the eye is washed from the inner canthus to the outer canthus, using a different portion of the cloth for each eye. Option 4 violates the patient's dignity and privacy and promotes chilling, especially in older adults who lose heat quickly.