Acute Care Lab Values Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by cdw

Upward Trend: acutely ill, fever, and fatigue.
Downward Trend: high chance of infection, fatigue, and oncologic emergency if neutro­penic and fevered.

Upward Trend: headache, dizziness, tingling in hands and feet, and screen for VTE.
Downward Trend: high chance of bleeding, easily bruising, and especially mind fall risk.

Generally for all 3:
- Upward Trend: fatigue, headaches, weakness, dizziness, and VTE monitor.
- Downward Trend: also known as anemia, OH, dizziness, headaches, pallor, dyspnea, keep in mind CVA, cardiac, or renal conditions and signs for poor perfusion (disco­lor­ation, peripheral pulses, decreased temp, and angina).

These are your very high bleed risks and potent­ially sponta­neuous bleed risks. Very high caution for falling and even things like BP cuffs can bruise these patients.

Upward Trend: confused, thirsty, tachyc­ardic, hypote­nsive, seizure risk, and cardiac rhythm monito­ring.
Downward Trend: OH, edema, confused, weakness, lethargic, seizure, and coma.

Upward Trend: weakness, ventri­cular dysthymia, nausea, lethargy, and patients undergoing oncology treatment are at risk for hyperc­alcemia (alert team for oncologic emerge­ncy).
Downward Trend: confusion, cramping, seizure precau­tion, dysrth­ymia, fatigue, parest­hesia, and your chronic patients can present with osteopenia or osteop­orosis.

Upward Trend: muscle weakne­ss/­par­alysis, parest­hesia, dysrhy­thmia, bradyc­ardia, > 5 is an increased risk of dysrhy­thmia, and assess for ascending muscle decline that could become paralysis.
Downward Trend: extremity weakness, parest­hesia, dysrhy­thmia, hypote­nsion, < 2.5 is an increased risk of dysrhy­thmia, and assess for ascending muscle decline that could become paralysis.

For Both:
- Upward Trend: edema, fatigue, confusion (SC), hypert­ension (BUN), confusion, polydipsia (BUN), nausea (BUN), abdominal or back pain (SC), and dyspnea (SC).
- Downward Trend (mainly BUN): fatigue, nausea, headache, and confusion.

Serum Albumin & Prealb­umin:
- Upward Trend: fatigue, dizziness, and OH.
- Downward Trend: hypote­nsion and peripheral edema.
Serum Bilirubin
- Upward Trend: will produce yellow tint to body tissues, abdominal pain and bloating, and associated with neurol­ogical manife­sta­tions such as confusion, hyperr­efl­exia, and muscle tremors.

Trending Upward: polyuria and dipsia, blurred vision, fatigu­e/w­eak­ness, and dizziness.
Trending Downward: pale, weakness, tachyc­ardia, LoC, seizure, and lethargy. 15-30g of fast acting carbs recomm­ended if blood glucose is < 100.