Which of the following actions should a medical assistant take when a needlestick exposure has occurred?

While it is important to maintain professionalism and communicate with the patient, apologizing and restarting the procedure without addressing the needlestick exposure is inappropriate. The priority must be to ensure the safety of the medical assistant and the patient by properly handling the exposure incident first.

Changing gloves may be a necessary action during various medical procedures, but it does not address the immediate risk posed by the needlestick injury. Simply changing gloves after a needlestick does not mitigate the exposure that has already occurred, making it an ineffective response to the situation.

While informing the patient of their immunization status may be relevant later in the process, it does not constitute an immediate action to take following a needlestick injury. The first step should focus on personal safety and decontamination rather than patient information at this stage.