How do you remember the normal lab values

truern · May 3, 2004

flash cards and lots and lots of memorization :idea:

Catma63 · May 3, 2004

Like you, I have a hard time remembering all of the lab values but, By heavens, I'm getting it!

I've started just writing them down, or typing them! Doing so repetitively is helping me recall!

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · May 3, 2004

Honestly, after i remembered them for a test, they slipped away lol. Probably info overload.

But what i did was typed up all of the normal lab values, shrank the font to the tiniest font possible that i could still read and made credit card-sized reference cards. They fit in my namebadge holder, so they're always right there when i need them. This is helping me get the value back in my brain.

studentnurse74, LPN, LVN · May 3, 2004

I never understood why you had to memorize those. Anyone know? Don't you just carry reference cards or have them on your clipboard when you're working, anyhow?

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · May 3, 2004

They're handy to have in emergency situations when a stat lab result is back.

RedSox33RN · May 3, 2004

I just got a drug guide that has all the normal lab values in it. How soon do you need them? Should I start making flash cards this summer in anticipation of needing them for my first Med/Surg rotation this fall? It may give me something to do between my kids' baseball games this summer, and on the long car trips TO the baseball games!

Altra, BSN, RN · May 3, 2004

I just got a drug guide that has all the normal lab values in it. How soon do you need them? Should I start making flash cards this summer in anticipation of needing them for my first Med/Surg rotation this fall? It may give me something to do between my kids' baseball games this summer, and on the long car trips TO the baseball games!

There's really no trick to this other than memorization - after you've looked at them 100 times, they start to stick. The flash cards or some other cheat sheet is an excellent idea. I spend my daughter's softball games doing 3 things at once - studying whatever papers or notecards I've stuffed into my purse on the way out the door, watching her game, and chatting w/other parents. :chuckle

Just a note ... one of the 2 hospitals where I've had clinicals so far prints the normal values/ranges on every lab report - you know instantly whether or not something is abnormal.

Tony35NYC · May 3, 2004

The normal ranges are usually on the lab report itself or in your drug guide, but neither of those will help you during exam time. The way I taught myself to remember them is to write the name of each one on the face of an index card, and the normal range as well as hyper and hypo information on the reverse side of the card. I would cycle through the cards repeatedly, reading the information out loud to myself. I would then shuffle the cards to mix up the sequence, and then I would test my memory of what's on the flip side of each card that I pull out of the pack. After doing this for a while it all began to stick.