The triage nurse in the emergency department assesses four clients. Which client would be the most appropriate to assign to the LPN/LVN?

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Multiple Choice

The triage nurse in the emergency department assesses four clients. Which client would be the most appropriate to assign to the LPN/LVN?

In triage and ED care, the LPN/LVN handles routine, stable nursing tasks under supervision—things like ongoing vitals, routine pain management, basic wound care, and medication administration already prescribed. They don’t perform initial, comprehensive assessments or manage unstable or high-risk conditions; those duties stay with the RN or the physician. Among the scenarios, the client who is 24 hours after an appendectomy fits best. This patient is stable, recovering from surgery, and would typically need routine postoperative monitoring, wound assessment, and scheduled pain medication delivery—care that aligns with what an LPN/LVN can safely provide with orders and supervision. The other options involve more complex or unstable situations: a patient with Bucks traction requires careful traction management and neurovascular checks that are higher risk; a preoperative patient awaiting surgery often needs more thorough preop assessment and teaching usually led by an RN; and a patient admitted with adrenal insufficiency is acutely unstable and needs close monitoring and rapid interventions that exceed the LPN/LVN scope.

In triage and ED care, the LPN/LVN handles routine, stable nursing tasks under supervision—things like ongoing vitals, routine pain management, basic wound care, and medication administration already prescribed. They don’t perform initial, comprehensive assessments or manage unstable or high-risk conditions; those duties stay with the RN or the physician.

Among the scenarios, the client who is 24 hours after an appendectomy fits best. This patient is stable, recovering from surgery, and would typically need routine postoperative monitoring, wound assessment, and scheduled pain medication delivery—care that aligns with what an LPN/LVN can safely provide with orders and supervision.

The other options involve more complex or unstable situations: a patient with Bucks traction requires careful traction management and neurovascular checks that are higher risk; a preoperative patient awaiting surgery often needs more thorough preop assessment and teaching usually led by an RN; and a patient admitted with adrenal insufficiency is acutely unstable and needs close monitoring and rapid interventions that exceed the LPN/LVN scope.

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