What nursing action is crucial for a client reporting decreased fetal movement?

Initiating fetal monitoring is the appropriate nursing action when a client reports decreased fetal movement. This is crucial because decreased fetal movement can be an indicator of fetal distress or other complications such as hypoxia, and it is important to assess the fetal well-being promptly. Fetal monitoring allows healthcare providers to track the heart rate and rhythm of the fetus, providing essential information about the fetus's condition.

While monitoring blood pressure can be important in assessing maternal health, it does not directly address the concern of decreased fetal movement. Increasing client hydration can be beneficial for maternal hydration and may improve fetal well-being, but it is not a definitive action to assess fetal status. Educating about normal fetal movement patterns is also valuable; however, this action does not provide immediate information about the current state of the fetus if there is already a concern. Therefore, the priority is to initiate fetal monitoring to gather essential data regarding fetal health in response to the reported decrease in movement.