LAB TESTS – The ABC’s of RBCs, WBC’s, SPEPs, hsCRPs, ApoB, MCV, Hb, RETIC count, AST’s, ALTs, and ALPs

March 6, 2026
LAB TESTS – The ABC’s of RBCs, WBC’s, SPEPs, hsCRPs, ApoB, MCV, Hb, RETIC count, AST’s, ALTs, and ALPs
Barb Bancroft, MSN, RN, PNP
A Live Virtual Event   8:50 AM– 1:45 PM (Central Time Zone)
Recordings available for 60 days post event for CE

Whaaaat? Join us for a day of education and entertainment. You find out the answers to some fun case studies: A young man urinated on his former girlfriend’s pregnancy test and was positive for a pregnancy!! What body part should be examed in that young man? Why? What enzyme found on the “blue dress” worn by Monica Lewinsky implicated Bill Clinton? What husband of Elizabeth Taylor had hemophilia? Yep! Barb will take the mystery out of interpreting the meaning of lab tests in numerous clinical conditions encountered in the primary care setting, the ER, and Med-Surg patient, and the ICU patient. What is the clinical significance of the WBC and differential? Is it a bacterial infection? Viral infection? Parasitic infection? Acute inflammation? Chronic inflammation? What is the clinical significance of “life-threatening” neutropenia? What is the absolute neutrophil count? What is the clinical significance of the serum protein electrophoresis? Why is the ApoB test more important than the other cholesterol tests? Albumin is the major serum protein—what are the causes and consequences of clinical hypoalbuminemia? Why are there so many alphas, betas, and gammas in medicine? What are the alpha globulins, beta globulins, and gamma globulins? How many types of hemoglobin are there and do you need to learn them all? Easy answer? NO. But you will learn about the hemoglobin electrophoresis and common hemoglobinopathies. Why is the hemoglobin A1C important in diabetes and pre-diabetes? What does it take to make happy, healthy RBCs? Genes, Iron, B12, folic acid, healthy kidneys, a functioning thyroid would be a good start! What are the most common anemias and how can we use lab tests to determine the type? Iron deficiency anemia, the anemia of chronic kidney disease, B12 deficiency and megaloblastic anemia, hemolytic anemia, and the list goes on and on. Speaking of chronic kidney disease, what is the eGFR? BUN and serum creatinine? Moving on to understanding serum enzymes for the diagnosis of tissue injury—the AST/ALT ratio for liver disease, ALP (alkaline phosphatase) for bone and biliary disease, creatine kinase (CK) for skeletal muscle damage (rhabdomyolysis), and LDH for any tissue damage and as a prognostic indicator in certain cancers.