what are some reasons for a low rbc and high mch count?

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i'm in level 1 and i had a patient who had a L4-L5 laminectomy. i'm doing a care plan on her regarding physical immobility because she's unstable on feet without a walker and she has a hard time getting in and out of bed due to her weight and surgery. i saw her lab values and everything is normal except her rbc and mch values. her rbc level is 4.15 which is not too off from the normal value. her mch value is 33. what are some reasons for these levels?

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Specializes in CVICU.

I'm currently in nursing school. We were required to buy a book (Mosbys) with all the lab values and it listed all the various reasons for numbers being abnormal.

When I didn't have my book, a simple google search brought up all kinds of reputable sites with reasons for abnormal values. between both resources, I could ususally critically think my way to the answer

Using your resources for something as simple as lab values will help you in the rest of your schooling. I tend to only ask questions on the forum that can't be found in a textbook, or after I have used a textbook and am STILL confused. :D

Good Luck!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

This is your 2nd question regarding your careplan for school. Truly, you will be doing yourself a disservice if you don't learn how to dig into research and work out your careplans for yourself. Not that careplans are all that utilized in real life, but critical thinking skills, research and detailed evaluation all must be learned before you graduate. It cannot be handed to you by others or else you risk not being able to function in the real world.

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I agree with roser13. One of the reasons for doing care plans is to learn about disease and the healing process. You won't learn anything if you're given the answers. Read your textbook.

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I can give you a little hint, " where are the RBC made?" the surgery explains why the RBC is down. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) is a calculation of the average amount of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin inside a red blood cell. so if RBC is down, then MCH will be off too. hope this helps!

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pernicious anemia; write your own care plan.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, Education.
I'm currently in nursing school. We were required to buy a book (Mosbys) with all the lab values and it listed all the various reasons for numbers being abnormal.

When I didn't have my book, a simple google search brought up all kinds of reputable sites with reasons for abnormal values. between both resources, I could ususally critically think my way to the answer

Using your resources for something as simple as lab values will help you in the rest of your schooling. I tend to only ask questions on the forum that can't be found in a textbook, or after I have used a textbook and am STILL confused. :D

Good Luck!

Thank you, thank you, thank you...for your courteous yet assertive respsonse!

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Specializes in CVICU.
Thank you, thank you, thank you...for your courteous yet assertive response!

Being a witch (with a 'b' :p) is unnecessary and is contributes to the whole lateral violence issue in nursing. I am all about building up and helping people help themselves. I graduate in a few weeks and I hope I can bring that attitude to the unit I work on. I am hoping to eventually go into education as well. And Thank YOU! :heartbeat

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