A cute way to remember some lab values.

Nursing Students General Students

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K+ 3.5 â€" 5

Ca+ 4.5.- 5

Mg 1.5-2.5

Phos 1.8-2.6

Na+ 135-145

Cl 95-105

Crt .5-1.2

BUN 10-20

PTT 60-70 or 1 ½ times higher if on Heparin

PT 11.0 - 12.5 or 2.o -3.5 times higher if on coumadin

INR 2.0-3.5 for coumadin

WBC 5-10

RBC 5

HCT 40

Hgb 15

pH 7.35-7.45 (40)

co2 35-35

On vacation I -

Ate 4 bananas with 5 glasses of milk, read 2 magazines about 2 fossils.

Spent $140 on Napkins and a $100 on Clear heals.

Did 15 BUN exercises and drank 1 Creatine shake .

Met, 3 Idiots , 11 Pets and 65 Hunks.

Ate 4 bananas (K+ found in bananas) with 5 glasses of milk (ca+ found in milk), read 2 magazines (magnesium) about 2 fossils (phosphorus).

Spent $140 on Napkins (Na+)and a $100 on Clear heals. (Cl)

Did 15 BUN exercises and drank 1 Creatine shake (Creatinine) .

Met, 3 Idiots (I for INR),

11 Pets ( P is for PT) and 65 Hunks. (H is for heparin's PTT

:rotfl: By the time I memorize the words I could memorize the lab values!

The lab values are on all lab sheet reports; the KEY is knowing WHY the lab values are up or down.

You won't have lab sheet reports on NCLEX. This popped up when I googled lab values, hopefully this can help me on my NCLEX thats coming up REALLY soon. I know most from nursing school, but the pressure of the tests can make me have a blank and freak out, so this is a good thing if I get stuck.

What concerns me about this post is that the calcium levels are not correct.

Normal values range from 8.5 to 10.2 mg/dL. Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories but not so much that a 5 on calcium would be acceptable. Please let me know if I connected the wrong data to the wrong electrolyte :)

I looked it up... my Kaplan NCLEX book says...

Ionized serum Calcium 4.5-5.1

Total serum Calcium 8.5-10.5

looks like everyone is "right"... now which one do I memorize for the NCLEX? I guess just know both.

I totally get it!!!!!

Great job!!

very helpful, I couldn't, for the life of me, get a couple memorized and this did it for me!!!!

I totally get it too...and I think it's cute. I think its rude how alot of people put her down for it...we all learn differently. I also am surprised at how many people didn't get it...I wonder how these people do with critical thinking.

Specializes in LTC.
Yes, here's a couple for the cranial nerves: "On Old Olympus' Towering Top A Finn And a German Viewed Some Hops"

and then the one our prof learned in med school (now you may think it's awful but you remember it! LOL :-) "Oh, Oh, Oh, To Touch And Feel A Girl's lady parts, AHhhhhh.....

The way to remember which cranial nerves are sensory, motor or mixed:

Some Say Marilyn Monroe But My Brother Says Bridget Bardot Mmm, Mmm!

thank u so much...this helped me alot!

Specializes in ICU.

One we were taught in A&P for cranial nerves was:

Oh Once One Takes The Anatomy Final Very Good Vacations Are Heavenly.

Specializes in NeuroICU/SICU/MICU.

My favorite cranial nerve mnemonic is this one:

OLd OPie OCcasionally TRies TRIGonometry And Feels VEry GLOomy, VAGUe, And HYPOactive

They're in order from I to XII, and most have more than the first letter of the name to help jog your memory a little better :up:

I love this! Thanks so much - I will think of you when I am taking my NCLEX!! :lol2:

On Ocassion Our Trusty Truck Acts Funny - Very Good Vehicle Any How.

Mnemonic for Cranial Nerves

Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

Thanks for this! I'm taking nclex in Feb and can't memorize lab values to save my life. This though I can do! I went through nursing school with my instructors comment of "Lab values differ from place to place. They are always listed along with the results." ringing in my ears. Now that comment won't help me a bit when I sit for boards! Thanks again:yeah:

The number for each item is the approximate median of each range for the lab values for those who didn't understand. For example, K+ is 3.5-5 so there are 4 bananas. It's just a memory aid to help you remember the ranges of each lab value.

I wrote my own story to remember more labs

But , later when I was still a young Bicarb, between the ages of 22-29, I met Ammonia. Ammonia was between 35-65. We loved to go out for a Billirubin sandwich. They were cheap at 1.5 and good too. To add 6-8 proteins we added 10 Lipase and a little Albumin (only 3.4-5). Then we would go to the Amusement park and ride the Amylase 25-150 times. This made my glucose go way over 110 and my chloesterol had to be over 200 with all that food!! We walked so much that my feet hurt. I thought I had gout. Im sure my uric acid was over 8!!! After we dated, we married. We bought a house in Platlett. The houses in Platlett start at 150,000 and go to 400,000. We added extras to our smaller house like white benches (WBC) that were 4500-11,000 and iron fencing that was 50-175 each. We had a son, TSH 2-5 years later. He loved basketball and his game Hgb was 12-16.5!! When he really excelled his Hct was 35-52% He played so well tha the made the pros. He now has a house out in RBC between 4-6 million!!!. He met myoglobin at "over 90" and they have two sons. Troponin that is 1.5 and Troponin T that is between .1-.2

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