One for the Win Column

​"The lab called with a critical value on the woman in bed 12. Her hemoglobin is 4.8," the nurse said.That didn't make any sense. The patient didn't look anemic or pale. She didn't seem to have symptomatic anemia. Maybe she had heavy periods."Do you want a type and cross?" the nurse asked."No, I can't believe that is right. Can you draw a new CBC? I'm going back to see her again," I replied.Thirty minutes later, the EMR showed the labs were back. There was no exclamation mark indicating something was amiss, and here's what I saw when I clicked the box. "The hemoglobin's normal—13.1," I called to the nurse."I know what happened," she said sheepishly. "The IV wouldn't give blood, so I stuck her in the anticub for the labs. It was above the IV. I hadn't thought of that.""Yep," I said, thinking to myself, always recheck labs that don't make sense. That is a rule that has kept me from doing the wrong thing for the patient and making unnecessary work for the staff. The patient wasn't transfused. She didn't go through undue worry. She wasn't needlessly admitted. We didn't waste precious blood for someone who didn't need it.Instead of being frustrated and talking about an increased length of stay, I put this one in the win column. We need to take the wins when we get them, especially when we do the best for our patients. I'll take that every time.Tip to Remember: Recheck unexpected lab results that don...
Source: Lions and Tigers and Bears - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs