While a patient is receiving hygiene care,her chest tube becomes disconnected from the water-seal chest drainage unit (CDU) .Which action should the nurse take immediately?

A) Clamp the chest tube close to the insertion site.
B) Set up a new drainage system, and connect it to the chest tube.
C) Have the patient take and then hold a deep breath while the nurse reconnects the tube to the CDU.
D) Place the disconnected end nearest the patient into a bottle of sterile water.

Recollapse of the lung can occur because of loss of negative pressure within the system.This is commonly caused by air leaks,disconnections,or cracks in the bottles or chambers.If any of these occur,the nurse should immediately place the disconnected end nearest the patient into a bottle of sterile water or saline to a depth of 2 cm to serve as an emergency water seal until a new system can be connected.Do not clamp the chest tube because this can rapidly lead to a tension pneumothorax.A new drainage system should be set up to decrease the risk of infection,but the immediate action is to place the disconnected end into a bottle of sterile water.