Assessment of Red Blood Cell and Coagulation Laboratory Data

Abstract

Critically ill patients present with a myriad of hematologic problems of various etiologies. The astute advanced practice nurse carefully reviews laboratory data incorporating principles of diagnostic reasoning and critical thinking while developing the plan of care. An in-depth understanding of hematology including red blood cells, red blood cell indices, and coagulation laboratory data is essential in the quest to understand the patient's pathophysiology. With every decade, nurses and physicians learn more about diseases that have plagued mankind for centuries--learning in greater detail about the deleterious effects and subsequent outcomes that often begin as subtle changes in traditional laboratory data. Greater focus on interpreting hematologic data and seeking support for diagnoses in clinical correlates will serve nurses well. This article intends to move advanced practice nurses beyond their current understanding of hematologic values--enabling them to understand that how and why we measure is as important as what we measure. No longer is it enough to simply measure physiologic data to develop a care plan driven by the patient's diagnoses. The contemporary nurse understands the importance of assigning meaning to data. Meaningful data are manageable data.

Correlates of anaemia in pregnant urban South Indian women: a possible role of dietary intake of nutrients that inhibit iron absorption

“…Anaemia was defined as Hb < 11·0 g/dl and severe anaemia as Hb < 7·0 g/dl ( 1 ) . Microcytosis was defined as mean corpuscular volume (MCV) < 80 fl ( 17 ) , while microcytic anaemia was defined as anaemia with MCV < 80 fl. Haematocrit was considered to be low in pregnancy at values <33 % ( 18 ) while the reference range for red-cell distribution width was considered to be 11·5 % to 14·5 % ( 17 ) .…”

Substantive Areas of Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice

“…[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62] As expert direct care providers, CNSs provide an indepth specialized assessment; this includes gathering information from a variety of sources, interpreting results from laboratory and diagnostic testing, and examining the multiplicity of patterns that evolve from the interplay of an array of biopsychosocial factors. 20,45,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74] Creation of novel assessment tools and implementation of these in clinical settings have also been described. [75][76][77][78][79][80] Medication monitoring and prescribing emerge in the literature as components of expert direct care and are used by CNSs in disease and symptom management, [81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89] although most literature has been directed toward the prescribing practices of psychiatric mental health CNSs.…”

How useful are complete blood count and reticulocyte reports to clinicians in Addis Ababa hospitals, Ethiopia?

“…This implies that emphasis should be given in the reporting systems during medical training thus clinicians are well acquainted with the use of the international standard (SI) measurement units [15,16]. …”