A community health nurse is caring for a 20-year-old college student who has a new diagnosis of herpes. The client reports having unprotected sex with multiple individuals. Which of the following actions should the nurse take?

When a client is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection such as herpes simplex virus (HSV) and reports having unprotected sex with multiple partners, the priority nursing action is partner notification, which begins by asking the client for contact information of recent sexual partners. This practice, known as contact tracing or partner services, is a core public health intervention aimed at identifying, notifying, and treating exposed individuals who may be unaware of their risk. Herpes is caused by a virus, not a bacterium, so reinforcing antibiotic therapy compliance is factually incorrect — antivirals such as acyclovir are used, not antibiotics. Contacting the client's parents violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the client's right to confidentiality; at 20 years of age, this individual is a legal adult and parental notification is not appropriate without the client's consent. Notifying the campus health department of the specific client's herpes diagnosis would also breach confidentiality; herpes simplex virus is not a nationally notifiable condition that mandates reporting by name. The nurse's role is to counsel the client, facilitate voluntary partner notification, and educate the client about transmission prevention, antiviral therapy, and the importance of disclosure to future partners. Obtaining partner contact information is the first step in this process.