A cute way to remember some lab values.

JBGC4 · Jul 11, 2010

How cute! Although the values aren't exact, they give you a baseline to go off of. Every facility is different than its neighbor facility by a 10th or so. I think this lays out a great baseline for test taking purposes. Good job!

healthstar, BSN, RN · Jul 11, 2010

I don't get it? Is it just me?

I actually find it harder to remember the "cute way to remember those values" than remembering just the values.

scaredstudent56 · Aug 9, 2010

Thank You So much! I love this!

adoherty2 · Jan 1, 2011

If you understand the abbreviations for the lab values - you will likely understand the saying. Ie. K+ is Potassium, and banana's are a known source for Potassium, so by me learning this saying, it triggers what lab value I'm talking about. In this instance, by saying I ate 5 bananas, I remember that 4 is within range for Potassium.

I hope I explained this alright. If you can put this all together and understand it, it's a great resource for learning :) Thanks to who posted this.

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 Â½ 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

cmarie37206 · Aug 30, 2011

blood chemistries

sodium (na): 135-145 meq/l

potassium (k): 3.5-5.0 meq/l

calcium (ca+): 8.5-10.5 mg/dl

magnesium (mg+): 1.5-2.5 meq/l

phosphorus (p): 2.5-4.5 mg/dl

chloride (cl): 96-108meq/l

blood urea nitrogen (bun): 10-20 mg/dl

creatnine: 0.7-1.4 mg/dl

sodium (na): 135-145 meq/l

barbara entered china buffet weighing 135 lbs and left weighing 145 lbs.

potassium (k): 3.5-5.0 meq/l

king monkey face sold 3 1/2 bananas for $5 on the black banana market.

calcium (ca+): 8-10 mg/dl

the organic milk i bought lasted from august to october.

magnesium (mg+): 1.5-2.5 meq/l

1 1/2 cups of milk of magnesia will keep you on the toilet for 2 1/2 hours.

phosphorus (p): 2.5-4.5 mg/dl

the recovered fossil weighed 2.5 tons and sold for $4.5 million at auction

chloride (cl): 96-108meq/l

it takes 96-108 days for the chlorine to clean the pool

blood urea nitrogen (bun): 10-20 mg/dl

fast food restaurants switch from biscuits to buns at 10:20 in the morning.

creatnine: 0.7-1.4 mg/dl

0.7 creates 1.4 when put together twice.

superman07 · Aug 30, 2011

Thank you! This is awesome. Any more?

cmarie37206 · Aug 30, 2011

thanks, i'm getting tested on this stuff tomorrow so i'm just brainstorming stupid sentences to make me remember. these are the most recent from the past 30 minutes.

partial thromboplastin time (ptt)- 60-70 sec

activated partial thromboplastin time (aptt): 20-39 sec

patty taylor tinkerton baked 60 cupcakes in 70 minutes. afterwards, patty taylor tinkerton ate 20 cupcakes in 39 seconds.

prothrombin time (pt): 10-13 sec

pete townshend grew 10 inches when he turned 13.

international normalized ratio (inr): 1.0

irene norah ryan is known best for her 1 role as granny in beverly hillbillies.

acmsn1012 · May 30, 2012

This makes no sense.

SonOfStBenedict · May 30, 2012

For K we just say "3.5 to 5 keeps the heart alive"... Sometimes it's harder to remember long sayings when you actually get down to test time, I've found the shorter/less complex is better for memory, just a thought hope it helps