The nurse is caring for a client in labor who is HIV positive. Which nursing care should be included?

When caring for an HIV-positive client in labor, standard precautions require that all healthcare workers handle the newborn with gloves until after the first bath, because the infant is covered in maternal blood and bodily fluids that may contain the virus. This is a straightforward application of contact precautions specific to HIV transmission risk at birth, and it protects both the nursing staff and reduces exposure. Assigning the client to a private room is not required by standard precautions for HIV; HIV is not transmitted by casual airborne contact, so isolation in a private room solely to prevent transmission is not evidence-based policy. Encouraging breastfeeding is actually contraindicated in HIV-positive mothers in the United States because breast milk can transmit the virus to the newborn, and safe formula alternatives are available. Using a labor ball to assist with natural fetal descent is a comfort measure unrelated to infection control and does not address the specific precautions needed for an HIV-positive client. Therefore, the single most appropriate nursing intervention listed is handling the newborn with gloves until the first bath is completed, which directly reduces the risk of viral transmission from maternal fluids coating the infant at delivery.