Care Manager Certification Practice Exam

When obtaining a wound-drainage specimen for culture, it is essential to cleanse the wound with a sterile solution, such as 0.9% sodium chloride saline, to remove any contaminants or debris that could interfere with the culture results. This action helps ensure that the specimen collected is an accurate representation of the wound drainage, rather than being influenced by microorganisms that may reside on the skin's surface or in the surrounding areas.

Cleansing the wound before obtaining the specimen minimizes the risk of false-positive results, which can occur if the culture picks up bacteria from intact skin rather than from the actual wound. This is critical for ensuring that the right treatment is initiated based on the specific pathogens that are present in the wound itself.

Irrigating the wound with an antiseptic would not be appropriate, as antiseptics can kill bacteria and potentially alter the culture results. Including intact skin at the wound edges in the culture is also not advisable, as this can introduce external flora that do not reflect the true wound environment. Furthermore, swabbing an area of skin away from the wound does not provide useful information related to the wound, as it focuses on the skin flora rather than the potential pathogens present in the wound drainage. Thus, cleansing with sterile saline