Lab Values: 63 Must Know Labs for Nurses (Nursing Clinical Essentials)

I've been a nurse for years and this book is a great refresher and tool to look up labs that you might not always use everyday, but are common labs used in the medical field. It's written and laid out so you can find the lab you need. I learn much better when I have a book/material in my hands instead of reading it on a computer and/or having to research it online. A coworker of mine recommended this to me and after looking at her copy, decided to buy a copy for myself.

This book delivers exactly what I wanted: a clear FAST resource for clinical use that you can use to quickly find accurate information about normal lab values, function, and why those would increase or decrease. I don't want colors, goofy pictures, or lengthy info.It's not the best size for fitting in a pocket, even though as you can see by the pictures that it isn't a big book, but right now I carry it easily in my clipboard. I'd like a pocket-size.So, in the beginning of the book you have a few pages with info about blood collection - I haven't read it except for the order of draws. Then there's a lab chart with all the values. Last the bulk of the book is the list of common labs in alphabetical order with a brief description but just long enough for what you need to know and can access fast.

This book was probably my most helpful tool during clinicals. Before I had lab values memorized it made a good quick reference. It also explains why a lab value might be high or low. I always had this book with me. Even though I've graduated from nursing school, I keep this book around because it really is a great reference for the labs you don't use as often.

This is a very handy book for summing up all of the basic labs you'll encounter. There are explanations of what would make the result increase or decrease and a description of what the lab value means. It is listed in alphabetical order so you can quickly find what you're looking for. My only negative is that the print is really small and in the front of the book it has a chart with order of blood draw and which color tube to use but it is in black and white, not color. You can't tell which color tube is needed for select blood draws:( overall, I still highly recommend it. Jon Haws CCRN is the author and he certainly knows his stuff and is a great teacher. Check out all of his memes and tutorials at nursing.com. Happy reading!

I am a nursing student and this is a concise and easy to use guide for explaining abnormal lab values. I use it for all my care plans and it is extremely helpful in connecting lab values to pathophysiology. In future editions, please add pages for the various WBCs, neutrophils, esinophils and so on. Would also love to see commonly used drugs that can cause a change listed under each lab... for example Lasix can cause low Na, K, and calcium. Overall I love it and it's an excellent value for $10. Must-have for RN students.

Great to h and on hand for clinicals.

This e-book is great for review of lab values learned in nursing school. In the beginning of the book, the lab values are listed by category: CBC, Coagulation, ABG, etc. and after they are listed in alphabetical order with an brief explanation of each of the lab values.Pros:• Brief explanation includes normal levels, indications, description, and reason for increased and decreased levels.• Has all lab values needed for NCLEXCons:• I have no cons for this bookFinal say:This book provides a brief yet detailed summary of lab values that you may come across on the NCLEX or during nursing practice. If I ever see a lab that I am not familiar with, I will definitely look here to learn more about it.

Most of the values in this kindle book where in the ballpark range with other sources online. But there were mistakes in some of the lab values and units. There is also a free PDF handout that comes with the book which nicely summarizes the values. However, several of these values do not match up with the kindle book. This leaves the student wondering which values are correct (book or handout). Some examples of the mistakes:Normal range for ferritin stated in the kindle book was 20-300 mg/mL. The units should be ng/mL (not mg/mL).Myoglobin in the kindle book shows a normal range of 5-70 µg/mL. But it should be 5-70 µg/L or 5-70 ng/mL. The PDF handout has it correct.Osmolality (serum) in the kindle book shows 250 - 900 mOsm/kg. Shouldn't it be 250 - 290 mOsm/kg? Again the PDF handout shows the correct values.The explanations for all 63 lab values are very good and succinct. And I appreciate the info on what causes an increase or decrease of a particular lab value. But the normal ranges and associated units, which are the most important details to learn, for the most part are ok with a few mistakes. Because of these mistakes and mismatched info with the PDF handout, I am concerned that the other info (explanations) may be incorrect too. The author did email me back to say he made the corrections so this is good news.This kindle book is ok as a study reference for lab values. But it has the potential to be much better with future corrections.