A 68-year-old client with COPD is being discharged and requires home oxygen. The nurse case manager is coordinating with respiratory therapy and a home health nurse. What priority action should the nurse case manager take next?

For a client with COPD being discharged with home oxygen, the priority action for the case manager is to ensure the home oxygen equipment is delivered and set up before the client leaves the hospital. This is a safety-first principle: without functioning oxygen in the home, the client faces an immediate physiological risk of hypoxemia. The other actions are important but are secondary to securing the equipment. Teaching the client to clean oxygen tubing is valuable education but cannot occur safely if the equipment is not yet present in the home. Scheduling a follow-up appointment one week after discharge is appropriate care coordination, yet it does not address the immediate discharge safety need. Verifying medication adherence understanding is also a meaningful intervention, but medication adherence does not pose the same immediate physical danger as a client with COPD arriving home without supplemental oxygen. Case management prioritization follows the same ABC (airway, breathing, circulation) framework used in direct clinical care — breathing support for a COPD patient is the most urgent concern. Confirming equipment delivery before discharge prevents a potentially life-threatening gap in oxygen therapy and is therefore the highest priority action the nurse case manager should take.