Steps 4 and 5: generate solutions, take action
Seven candidate interventions fanning out from one origin, sorted indicated, contraindicated and unnecessary, then narrowing through a prioritize divider into a numbered stack of three.
Generate wide
Solution generation asks three questions of every candidate intervention: is it indicated, is it contraindicated, or is it merely unnecessary. Three buckets, not two. An intervention that is safe but pointless is wrong in a different way from one that is contraindicated, and select-all-that-apply items are built on precisely that distinction.
Act narrow
Taking action asks for one thing first. When the stem says "first," the answer is almost never the option that requires leaving the client, calling someone, or waiting for a result. Independent nursing actions that protect airway, breathing, or perfusion outrank dependent ones every time, because you can perform them now.
The ordering rules
- Assess before you intervene, unless the client is unstable. Then act.
- Do before you delegate.
- Treat the client before you treat the equipment.
- Document last.
Margin notefirst means first, not most important.
Watch outChoosing to notify the provider before performing an available independent action is the classic lost point in this section. The provider does not need to be called before you reposition an airway.
TakeawayGenerate broadly across indicated, contraindicated and unnecessary, then act narrowly on the one independent action that protects the client now. → BOOK 02 · P7 · → BOOK 03 · P4 · → BOOK 15 · P3