Which item is listed as the second step in preparing a patient for surgery?

• A. Prep
• B. Catheter
• C. Draping
• D. Sterilization

Answer: (A)

The second step is skin prep, which means cleansing the surgical area with an antiseptic solution to lower the risk of infection. After the area and environment are set up to be sterile, preparing the skin directly targets resident microbes at the incision site so the field stays clean as you move toward draping. This cleansing is done in a systematic way and allowed to dry, creating a better surface for the sterile drapes to form a truly sterile field. Other actions like catheter placement are not universal steps in the basic sequence and draping should follow skin prep to keep the area sterile.