Final answer:
The nurse's first action when a provider has ordered a wound culture for a non-healing wound is to collect the wound specimen for analysis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The nurse's first action when a provider has ordered a wound culture for a client with a non-healing wound would be to collect the wound specimen. The wound specimen is needed for laboratory analysis to identify and determine the presence of any bacteria or infection. Once the specimen is collected, it can be sent to a medical lab for further testing and analysis.
In the given scenario, the camp nurse swabs the wound to collect a sample from the infection site after observing a large amount of pus oozing from the surface. This specimen is then sent to the closest medical lab for analysis under a microscope.