Now THAT'S a lab result

Momma1RN, MSN, RN, APRN · Apr 28, 2016

BNP >40,000. Happens often in the ED.

K of 7. Patient had just set up her first appointment with a nephrologist but didn't have an appointment for a month. She came in for dizziness and had a heart rate of 35 in a junctional brady rhythm. Fixed her with some sodium bicarb, calcium gluconate, D50 and insulin.

Christy1019, ASN, RN · Apr 29, 2016

BNP >40,000. Happens often in the ED.
K of 7. Patient had just set up her first appointment with a nephrologist but didn't have an appointment for a month. She came in for dizziness and had a heart rate of 35 in a junctional brady rhythm. Fixed her with some sodium bicarb, calcium gluconate, D50 and insulin.

Holy cow! Do you have a salt lick in the lobby? Lol, I have worked in the ER for 8yrs and have never seen a BNP that high!

Lev, MSN, RN, NP · May 1, 2016

I had a patient with of bnp of over 100,000. I forget the exact number but I posted it on this thread earlier.

pfongk · May 1, 2016

INR of 17. Onery old man in his late 90s. He lived for at least the time he was in the LCF I worked at for. I'm assuming he's dead though as he left there 11 years ago.

B/P of 60/40. Unable to stand and the ER was a funny grey colour. I don't know what it was when I fainted in the shower, only that my then 3 yr old jumped out screaming for dadda. I was wanting to go home when I was 80/50 as I was feeling fine and showing the DR that I was fine by doing star jumps.

mandy13086 · May 2, 2016

Platelet of 1. Came in for something completely unrelated, UTI I believe..had some antibiotics & Sq heparin for prophylaxis, had normal Platelet count. 2 or 3 days later, Platelet count of 3, infused 6 units of platelets, rechecked the next day, Platelet of 1..poor thing, ecchymosis all over. Started on IVIG. Wasn't his nurse after that, but considering physical therapy was given the ok to work with him and walk thru the halls, I'm sure it went back up.

ArtClassRN, ADN, RN · May 2, 2016

WBC>400,000. Walked in from clinic.

Bumex, DNP, NP · Jul 5, 2016

Magnesium

Pamiesue22 · Jul 7, 2016

Troponin 346 .... thought for sure it was lab error, but her trend made sense. Alive. No CAD per cath. Cause of elevated troponin -- supposedly Renal

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jul 7, 2016

Not a number, but a call from a frantic lab person :"You sent us the waste instead of the sample, because the H&H is undetectable"

No, that was the sample after this untreated leukemia patient got 6 liters of fluid resuscitation at an outside hospital.

After 6 units of PRBC, 20+ of platelets and a metric butt ton of plasma, her H&H was something like 3.5 and 12.

Was alive, isn't now.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Jul 7, 2016

WBC>400,000. Walked in from clinic.

CML or CLL? We discharged a patient with CLL with his WBC >500k to start therapy as an outpatient.

tcvnurse, BSN, RN · Jul 11, 2016

My daughter's HbA1C was 14+ at diagnosis when she was 10 years old. (This is how we found out, incidentally) The handheld POC meter didn't go higher than 14.

AutumnApple · Jul 12, 2016

Scene: I'm preceptor for a new grad who had come to our unit. This was her second job, she left a LTC place after two months but, apparently did it right cause she got hired with us. We're completing her three days of night shift (every new nurse had to do them, even if you weren't hired for the shift) orientation.

It was a fun, easy night. I told her I'd do AM meds and suggested she prepare for hand off report. I gave a 'nudge and wink' to pay special attention to labs. Basically, someone had an abnormal that needed mentioned in report.

It was a high iron. :nailbiting: lol

I come out of a patient room after giving the AM Protonix or whatever and I hear her on the phone. "Can you put me through to Dr. (HeWhoShallGoUnamed).

Yeah, she proceeded to call one of the grumpiest, nurse hating docs in the hospital.

I calmly walked over and said "Oh, let me have the phone, I have some things to tell him" and asked her to finish AM meds.

Luckily he hadn't picked up. Then he did. I had zero time to think of something to say, so I told the iron level. He proceeded to order three night shift stool blood stool tests (yeah, totally a revenge move) and hung up on me.

That was light compared to his usual.