What tort involves intentional touching without the client's consent?

The correct answer is battery, which is defined as the intentional and harmful or offensive touching of another person without their consent. In the context of healthcare or nursing practice, battery can occur if a healthcare provider performs a procedure on a patient without obtaining proper consent. This highlights the importance of respecting a client's autonomy and ensuring that they are fully informed before consenting to any treatment.

Assault, while closely related, refers to the act of making another person fear that they will be subjected to harmful or offensive contact, but it does not require actual physical contact. Negligence involves a failure to provide the standard of care that a reasonably prudent healthcare professional would provide under similar circumstances, which is not linked to intentional actions. Fraud relates to deceitful practices intended to secure unfair or unlawful gain, which also does not pertain to the issue of consent in physical contact. Thus, battery specifically pertains to the act of touching a person without consent, making it the appropriate answer.