An LPN in a skilled nursing facility is reinforcing an established testicular self-examination teaching plan for a 34-year-old man with a T10 spinal cord injury. During the agreed examination, the LPN notes a new, firm, nontender, pea-sized nodule near the posterior right testicle. The teaching guide describes the testicle as smooth and oval and distinguishes the normal epididymis along its back. The LPN cannot determine whether this discrete finding is normal anatomy. The client has not noticed it before. What should the LPN do?
- Document the finding and defer reporting until the next scheduled visit because it is painless.
- Reassure the client that its posterior location establishes that it is the normal epididymis.
- Explain that the new nodule establishes a cancer diagnosis and begin cancer-specific teaching.
- Describe and document the finding and promptly report it to the RN for assessment and provider follow-up.