← Chapter 10
Medical-Surgical Nursing · Chapter 10

The Anemia Workup

Anemia is a finding, never a diagnosis. Move the sliders to build a complete blood count, then read back what the numbers actually mean: MCV gives you cell size, the reticulocyte count tells you whether the marrow is trying, and together they sort every anemia into loss, destruction or failed production. The panel on the right also gives you the transfusion threshold and the first nursing action.
Load a patient
Patient
Normal hemoglobin 14–18 g/dL in men, 12–16 g/dL in women. Hematocrit runs roughly three times the hemoglobin.
The complete blood count
Normal 80–100 fL
Normal 0.5–2 percent
Follow-up studies
Below 30 ng/mL is diagnostic of iron deficiency
Normal 200–900 pg/mL
Clinical context