In crisis intervention for a client following a traumatic event, what is the nurse's priority action?

The priority action in crisis intervention following a traumatic event is to assess the client for any suicidal behaviors. This assessment is crucial because after experiencing trauma, clients may be at increased risk for suicidal thoughts or actions due to heightened emotional distress, feelings of hopelessness, or a sense of being overwhelmed. Identifying suicidal ideation or behavior allows the nurse to implement safety measures and interventions that can protect the client’s life.

While assisting the client to verbalize feelings of grief and assigning them to a grief counseling group are valuable therapeutic actions, they are secondary to ensuring the client's immediate safety. Admitting the client to a general mental health unit may be an appropriate action for some individuals, but it presupposes a level of risk that needs to be assessed first. Thus, the priority should always be to stabilize the immediate risks to the client’s wellbeing, which begins with evaluating for potential suicidal behaviors.