The practical nurse (PN) is planning evening shift rounds for a group of postoperative clients who all had surgery earlier that day. Which client should the PN check first?

A. A preschooler who had an emergency appendectomy should be checked first. Children are at higher risk for complications due to their size and the stress of emergency surgery, so close monitoring is essential. B. An adult with osteomyelitis post-surgery is important to monitor but is generally at lower immediate risk compared to a young child following emergency surgery. C. A post-menopausal client with breast cancer who had a lumpectomy is also a priority, but the immediate postoperative period for a child in emergency surgery takes precedence. D. An adolescent with type 1 diabetes who had cholecystectomy requires careful monitoring, but the child’s higher risk in the immediate postoperative phase makes them the priority.