The student nurse is assigned to a patient through the entire perioperative period and identifies the time when the preoperative phase ends and the intraoperative phase begins as when the patient:

A) Receives the preoperative medication
B) Is taken to the holding area
C) Leaves the holding area
D) Enters the operating room

The classification changes from preoperative to intraoperative when the patient enters the operating room.The patient remains a preoperative patient after receiving the preoperative medication until he enters the operating room.The patient remains a preoperative patient while in the holding area and is still considered preoperative when leaving the holding area-until entering the operating room.