Which client can safely be cohort with a patient diagnosed with hepatitis B?

Cohorting patients, or placing them in the same room, is a practice intended to minimize the risk of transmission of infections. For a patient diagnosed with hepatitis B, the key consideration is how the infection is transmitted. Hepatitis B is primarily spread through blood and certain body fluids, making it essential to select a cohort patient whose condition does not present similar transmission risks.

The client with heart failure who is receiving diuretics is not a carrier of hepatitis B and does not put the hepatitis B patient at increased risk of transmission since heart failure is not an infectious condition and does not involve blood-borne pathogens. This makes them a safe option for cohorting with the hepatitis B patient.

In contrast, the other choices present different risks. A client with bacterial meningitis may be harboring contagious pathogens that could be transmitted via respiratory droplets. A client receiving brachytherapy may have other complications or requirements that do not align with those of a hepatitis B patient. Finally, a client with varicella (chickenpox) poses a significant risk since this is a highly contagious viral infection, which could easily spread to the hepatitis B patient, especially if they are immunocompromised.

Thus, placing the heart failure client together with the hepatitis B