An enhanced understanding of this laboratory test is essential to providing quality care.Ĭopyright 2003 by American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. Nurses in the perianesthesia arena are frequently challenged to obtain and evaluate all or parts of the CBC as a part of the patient's preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative assessments.
These tests are helpful in diagnosing anemia, certain cancers, infection, acute hemorrhagic states, allergies, and immunodeficiencies as well as monitoring for side effects of certain drugs that cause blood dyscrasias. It also provides information about the immune system through the evaluation of the white blood cell (WBC) count with differential. Hematocrit - 40.7-50.3 percent for men, 36.1-44.3 percent for women. It gives information about the production of all blood cells and identifies the patient's oxygen-carrying capacity through the evaluation of red blood cell (RBC) indices, hemoglobin, and hematocrit. RBC count - 4.7-6.1 million cells/mcL for men, 4.2-5.4 million cells /mcL for women.
The complete blood count (CBC) with differential is one of the most common laboratory tests performed today.
