where should i rely on the lab values?

Don't stress too much on the lab values.. Just choose one material, i used the lab values of Saunders.. The lab values on the NCLEX were really either too high or too low.. hope that helps

I watched a Kaplan video on test-taking strategies that covered this very dilemma. They stated that the NCLEX people are very aware of different lab values being stated as normal values from different sources. Therefore, when it comes to a question regarding lab values, if they want them to be abnormal they will be either very high or very low. They won't be so close to the normal value that you aren't sure if it's supposed to be within range or not. If that is the case, (close to what you think is normal) then most likely they are implying it is within normal range. You need to know the general range but don't stress over the difference of 1/tenths or 1/hundreds of a value. The exception to this would be drug therapeutic and toxicity levels. For like digoxin and lithium.