Which action corresponds to the second step in the dressing removal process?

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Addressing pain before performing a potentially painful procedure helps the patient tolerate the process and allows for a safer, more accurate assessment. The step that fits best as the second action is to determine if the patient needs pain medication. By checking analgesia needs first, you reduce distress, minimize abrupt movements, and improve cooperation for the dressing removal and subsequent wound evaluation. After pain management has been considered, you would position the patient to access the dressing, then remove it and place the dressing in a plastic bag, and finally measure the wound and assess its condition. If you think about why the other actions aren’t the next step, they are important but occur after establishing comfort: positioning is preparatory and often done before removal, removing and bagging the dressing happens next, and measuring the wound is part of the post-removal assessment.