Question

A nurse is admitting an adolescent who has rubella. Which of the following actions should the nurse take? A. Isolate the client from staff who are pregnant. B. Administer aspirin to the client. C. Initiate airborne precautions. D. Monitor for the development of Koplik spots.

Answer 1

A. Isolate the client from staff who are pregnant.

Rubella (also known as German measles) is highly contagious, especially to pregnant women, as it can cause serious complications in the developing fetus. Isolating the client from staff who are pregnant helps prevent the spread of the virus to vulnerable individuals. The other options are not appropriate actions for managing a rubella case.

Answer 2

The nurse should isolate the adolescent with rubella from staff who are pregnant to prevent the spread of the congenital infection. Koplik spots are not associated with rubella and aspirin is not the recommended treatment for its mild fever.

Step-by-step explanation:

A nurse admitting an adolescent who has rubella should take several precautions to prevent the spread of the infection. Among the options provided, the correct action for the nurse to take would be to isolate the client from staff who are pregnant. The rubella virus is teratogenic and can cause severe congenital defects if a woman is infected during pregnancy, especially before the 11th week. Therefore, it's crucial to protect pregnant staff members from exposure. Rubella is also an airborne disease, which would normally warrant airborne precautions; however, since this is not one of the answer options and given the specific threat to pregnant women, isolation from pregnant staff is particularly emphasized.

Administering aspirin is not recommended, especially since the disease typically results in a mild fever that can be managed with other fever reducers that do not carry the same risk for complications as aspirin does. Monitoring for the development of Koplik spots would not be relevant in this case because Koplik spots are associated with measles, not rubella. Additionally, rubella is generally a self-limiting disease with symptoms such as a facial rash that spreads to the extremities and disappears after 2-3 days, typically accompanied by a low-grade fever.