A 16-year-old sexually active female has a positive rapid plasma reagin (RPR) result. The nurse practitioner should:

Rationale: A. Penicillin G benzathine is the treatment for confirmed syphilis, but treatment should not be initiated solely on a reactive RPR without confirmation. B. Discussing safe sexual practices is important but does not confirm or treat the infection. C. Vaginal culture is not used to diagnose syphilis. D. A fluorescent Treponema pallidum antibody-absorption (FTA-ABS) test is used to confirm a positive RPR. The RPR is a non-treponemal screening test that can yield false positives, so confirmation with a treponemal-specific test like FTA-ABS is required before initiating treatment.