5 Responding to Critical Laboratory Findings Free Online FlashCards

What determines how a critical laboratory value is handled?

Follow the facility’s critical-value policy; thresholds and reporting timelines can vary by laboratory, patient population, and care setting.

What should be verified when a critical result is received?

Confirm the patient’s identity, test, result, units, and any laboratory comment. Use read-back for a verbal result according to policy.

What should an immediate assessment of a patient with a critical result include?

Assess airway, breathing, circulation, vital signs, mental status, symptoms, and relevant focused findings. Assess the patient, not only the number.

What should you do if a patient with a critical result is deteriorating?

If the patient is unstable or deteriorating, activate the rapid-response or emergency system rather than waiting for a callback.

What makes an interim safety measure appropriate?

Use monitoring and precautions appropriate to the finding. Follow standing protocols or orders within your role; do not independently start treatment outside policy or scope.

What does closing the loop on a critical result mean?

The result must be received and acknowledged by the right clinician, and a plan must be made. Sending a message alone does not complete escalation.

What should be documented after responding to a critical result?

Document the result, notification and read-back, assessment, actions, patient response, and follow-up plan.

A confused NPO patient with glucose of 42 mg/dL cannot swallow safely. What should be avoided?

Do not give food, drink, or oral glucose if swallowing is unsafe. Assess responsiveness and airway, summon help as needed, and follow the approved nonoral hypoglycemia protocol.

After protocol-approved treatment for severe hypoglycemia, what follow-up is needed?

Recheck glucose at the interval specified by the protocol and continue monitoring for recurrence.

A patient with sodium of 118 mEq/L develops confusion and a seizure. What takes priority?

Activate the emergency response, protect the patient from injury, and support airway and breathing. Notify the clinician immediately; do not attempt to correct sodium independently.

Does one hemoglobin cutoff determine every transfusion decision?

Assess symptoms and clinical context, and escalate promptly. A transfusion decision does not follow one universal hemoglobin cutoff.

A positive blood culture accompanies fever, hypotension, tachycardia, and new confusion. What is the priority?

Treat the situation as a possible sepsis emergency: assess immediately, alert the responsible clinician, and activate the facility’s sepsis or rapid-response pathway as indicated.