The thingamajig

[epiphany]

Hi all:

Doctor's chart their H&H and lab values with a little diagramatic table, that allows them to look at a glance at lab values. There's one for H&H and another for electrolytes. They look like tic-tac-toe.

Can anyone please tell me what it's called, or where I can find one? I need it to help me remember my labs, because I'm visual learner. I went to bookstores, internet, but they are very elusive.

Thank you. (pre-nclex frenzy)

[PennyLane, RN]

One is for the Chem-7. It looks like a tic-tac-toe board with an extra

Na | Cl | BUN

K |Co2 | Creat and glucose is on the right.

Another is for CBC. It looks like a line with a > on the left and a Hgb

Then there are two others: Ca, Mg, and Phos looks like a big E and Pt, Ptt, and INR looks like peace sign.

I really don't know what the diagrams are called, sorry.

[epiphany]

Thank you, Penny Lane. That's perfect.

I am curious - as a nurse, do you ever use this system, or look at the MD's notes, or do you have your own system of reading the labs?

[PennyLane, RN]

Actually I don't use them at all! But as a student I was curious as to what they were.

Usually when I look at labs I just think of what they represent. Also the hospital has its own set of normals, so if something's out of whack it's very obvious.

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

Thank you, Penny Lane. That's perfect.

I am curious - as a nurse, do you ever use this system, or look at the MD's notes, or do you have your own system of reading the labs?

We use this system when writing labs down on our flowsheet, but this is the only place I have worked where normal staff nurses use it.