Which intervention should the nurse implement first when five students present with severe abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea?

• A. Notify the public health department of the situation.
• B. Administer an antiemetic medication to the students.
• C. Determine if the students ate the same food in the cafeteria.
• D. Contact the parents or legal guardians of the students.

Answer: (C)

When several students develop similar GI symptoms, the first step is to identify a common exposure that could explain the cluster. Asking whether they ate the same food in the cafeteria quickly tests for a shared source. If a common meal is implicated, you can initiate targeted control measures to prevent more exposures and alert public health for a formal investigation. This approach addresses the likely cause and containment first, while symptom relief (such as antiemetics) and communication with families or reporting to authorities come after establishing a common source.