Although clinical assessment is the mainstay of the critical care nurse's detective work in determining what is going on with the critically ill patient, batteries of laboratory tests are run on these patients daily and hold a wealth of complementary information.  In addition to guiding clinical assessment focus and frequency, diagnostic tests can help determine what other conditions may be present that are not revealed on clinical assessment. Join us as we cover common blood tests ordered in critically ill patients, what they test for and their implications to nursing care and assessment using an interactive case study approach.

Click on the video below to view an archived version of the webinar, presented Dec. 14, 2011.


About the presenter: Henry "Hank" Geiter Jr, has been a nurse since 1991, practicing in the med/surg, perioperative, emergency, critical care and neuro ICU settings. He currently works as a critical care transport nurse in Clearwater, FL, and has a company, http://www.nurse411.com/, dedicated to providing nurses and other healthcare professionals resources to help them truly understand complex concepts from pulmonary artery catheters to transvenous pacemakers.

Geiter has been a speaker at the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses' National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition for the past 6 years, and also has presented at regional AACN conferences. His varied career path has afforded Geiter a unique perspective and a broad knowledge base. He has been a champion of taking complex information and concepts, digesting them, and delivering them to his fellow healthcare practitioners in a light-hearted and simplied, but not simplistic, way.

Moderator: Barbara Mercer, managing editor, ADVANCE

*The audio portion of the webinar is available through your computer's speakers or a phone line. A phone number and passcode will be provided at the beginning of the webinar.