You can get the value of a current node using in-built function "position()".
Check position of the current node
<xsl:value-of select=”position()” />
<xsl:value-of select=”root/item[position()]” /> <!--and u can use-->
Check the first node:
<xsl:for-each select="root/items">
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="position()='1'"> <!-- check the first node-->
<xsl:value-of select="'this is the first node'" />
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
<xsl:value-of select="'this is not the first node'" />
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>
</xsl:for-each>
