When cleaning a wound, the nurse should: 1. Wash over the wound twice

When cleaning a wound, the nurse should:

1. Wash over the wound twice and discard that swab
2. Move from the outer region of the wound toward the center
3. Start at the drainage site and move outward with circular motions
4. Use an antiseptic solution followed by a normal saline rinse

ANSWER

ANS: 3
To cleanse the area of an isolated drain site, the nurse cleans around the drain, moving in circular rotations outward from a point closest to the drain. The nurse never uses the same piece of gauze or swab to cleanse across an incision or wound twice. The wound should be cleansed in a direc-tion from the least contaminated area, such as from the wound to the surrounding skin. The wound is cleaned from the center region to the outer region. An antiseptic solution is not used to clean a wound, as it may be cytotoxic.