The nurse is performing hand hygiene before assisting a health care provider with insertion of a chest tube. While washing hands, the nurse touches the sink. Which action will the nurse take $\mathbf{next}$ ?

A) Inform the health care provider and recruit another nurse to assist.
B) Rinse and dry hands, and begin assisting the health care provider.
C) Extend the handwashing procedure to 5 minutes.
D) Repeat handwashing using antiseptic soap.

The inside of the sink and the edges of the sink, faucet, and handles are considered contaminated areas. If the hands touch any of these areas during handwashing, repeat the handwashing procedure utilizing antiseptic soap. There is no need to inform the health care provider or be relieved of this assignment. If the hands are contaminated when touching the sink, drying hands and proceeding with the procedure could possibly contaminate and contribute to increased microbial counts during the procedure, resulting in infection for the patient. Extending the time for washing the hands (although this is what will happen when the procedure is repeated) is not the focus. The focus is to repeat the whole hand hygiene procedure utilizing antiseptic soap.