The nurse is assessing a client who has a history of kidney stones and returns to the clinic with flank pain. Which intervention should the nurse implement first?

A. While it’s important to assess whether the client has already taken pain medication, this should not be the first intervention. The priority is to assess the client's current status and gather information to guide the next steps in care. B. Observing nonverbal signs of pain can be helpful, but the first priority is to assess the cause of the pain and collect pertinent data to determine if it’s related to kidney stones or another condition. Nonverbal signs are secondary to clinical assessment. C. Using a pain scale would be appropriate after performing an initial assessment to determine the cause of the pain. While this helps gauge pain intensity, it is not the most urgent action in the case of suspected kidney stones. D. The first priority in a client with flank pain and a history of kidney stones is to collect a urine sample and strain it for calculi.