Your patient with chronic renal failure reports pruritus. Which instruction should you include in this patient’s teaching plan?: (A) Rub the skin vigorously with a towel, (B) Take frequent baths, (C) Apply alcohol-based emollients to the skin, (D) Keep fingernails short and clean
Answer is D. Calcium-phosphate deposits in the skin may cause pruritus. 
Scratching leads to excoriation and breaks in the skin that increase the patient’s risk of infection.
Keeping fingernails short and clean helps reduce the risk of infection.