Question

A client arrives at the emergency department after being bitten by a dog. The bite involved tearing of skin and deep soft tissue injury. Which action would the nurse take first?

1 Inform the owner of the dog about the client's injury.
2 Assess the client's injury, vital signs, and past history.
3 Obtain a prescription for human rabies immune globulin.
4 Notify the appropriate community agency to capture the dog.

Answer 1

The first action a nurse should take when a client comes to the emergency department after a dog bite is to assess the injury, vital signs, and past history. This is crucial for informing further care, including rabies prophylaxis and wound management. The Correct Answer is Option. 2.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a client arrives at the emergency department after a dog bite with tearing of skin and deep soft tissue injury, the first action a nurse should take is to assess the client's injury, vital signs, and past history. This assessment will inform the subsequent steps in care, including the need for rabies prophylaxis, wound management, and possible notification of community agencies.

A dog bite can transmit rabies if the dog is infected. The goal of wildlife vaccination programs for rabies is to prevent the disease in animals and thereby reduce the risk to humans. In humans, rabies is treated with wound cleaning, administration of rabies immunoglobulin, and a series of vaccinations to prevent the virus from traveling to the central nervous system, where it can cause fatal encephalitis.