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 nurse's first action should be to assess the client's injury, vital signs, and past history. Immediate assessment guides further treatment, including the need for rabies immunoglobulin if rabies is suspected.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a client arrives at the emergency department after being bitten by a dog that involves 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 (Option 2). This assessment is crucial to determine the severity of the injury and to plan for immediate and appropriate interventions, including checking for signs of infection or other complications such as rabies.

If rabies is suspected, prompt administration of rabies immunoglobulin near the site of the bite is recommended. This helps neutralize the virus present in the tissue. Following the immunoglobulin administration, the patient would typically receive a series of rabies vaccinations over the next 14 days to prevent the development of an active infection.

Notifying the dog's owner or community agencies are subsequent actions but are not immediate medical priorities. Ensuring the patient's health and mitigating the risk of rabies or other infections take precedence.