Nursing Laboratory & Diagnostic Tests Demystified, Second Edition

Book Preface

“We need to take a sample of your blood.” These words can make a patient cringe grabbing their arms in a subtle attempt to product against the prodding, poking and eventually the pinch that precedes the outpouring of blood—not a pleasant experience for some. And then what follows can be traumatic….” put pressure on the gauge until it stops bleeding.” Somehow the band aide that eventually covers the site isn’t as soothing as it was when you were a child.

And then anxiety sets in waiting for the dreaded test results. Friends and family members are kind enough to share advice that they found online, in a magazine, and from television—and from those television commercials too. Test results are know immediately on TV medical shows or at least after the next commercial. In real life it can take days or weeks of anticipation and worry.

Not knowing makes medical tests scary. It starts with the patient telling the practitioner about aches, pains, and annoying discomforts. This is followed by a series of seemingly unrelated questions from the practitioner as the practitioner pieces together pieces of the puzzle in her mind. And then just when the patient expects a prescription for medication to make it all better, the practitioner says. “I’d like to run a few tests.” “My God, I have cancer.” The thought of the worse runs through her mind.

Like a deer in headlights she freezes giving the practitioner a miscue. Silence implies that she has no future questions and the practitioner moves on to the next patient. This is also the cue for the nurse to step in to help put the patient at ease by anticipating the questions that the patient probably wants answered.

In this book you will learn about common medical tests. You will learn
•What they are
•Why they are ordered
•How they are performed
•How the patient should prepare for those tests
•How long it takes to receive test results
•How to understand those test results
Consider this book as a book of answers to questions that patients want answered even though they might not be able to ask those questions at the moment.