Laboratory Screening and Diagnostic Evaluation - by Kelly Small Casler & Kate Gawlik (Paperback)

About the Book

"I (Kelly) have been "tossing around" the premise of this book for almost my entire NP career. I remember being a brand-new clinician and looking for a laboratory reference book to help me in clinical practice. While I found several good options, none quite gave me answers to all my questions or completely fit my needs. Fast forward to the start of my faculty career a decade ago, and I found that many of my students had similar desires for a laboratory reference book. At that time, I started collating tips and pearls in files that I provided as part of my teaching, but I never had as much time as I wanted to really "dive" into the literature. I wanted to see just how much of our laboratory ordering/interpreting practices were due to "tradition" rather than evidence. And then, I completed my Doctor of Nursing Practice and began teaching for The Ohio State University College of Nursing; both of which helped me learn how to be more efficient in evidence review. Moving from Missouri to Ohio also gave me new opportunities for partnerships and collaborations and I realized it might be time to turn my collection of notes into something more. Kate and I began to talk about my idea and she recognized the need for a book of this nature and brought fresh new ideas and perspectives from her experiences in her clinical and faculty practice. And the rest, as they say, is history"--

Book Synopsis

"[the authors] did a masterful job of creating and editing this gold standard book that should be used by all clinicians and incorporated into all nursing and health sciences curriculums."

-Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN

Vice President for Health Promotion

University Chief Wellness Officer

Dean and Helene Fuld Health Trust Professor of Evidence-Based Practice, College of Nursing

Professor of Pediatrics & Psychiatry, College of Medicine

Executive Director, the Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for EBP

The Ohio State University

This is the only book to explicitly guide clinicians through an evidence-based approach to ordering and interpreting laboratory tests. With over 160 commonly ordered tests, this book is designed to foster more accurate clinical decision-making to attain the highest level of patient care. This book summarizes more than 3000 pieces of evidence and incorporates clinical expertise and decision-making on the ordering and interpretation of tests. To promote ease of use, a convenient table maps labs and their corresponding chapter numbers to the relevant body system to promote ease of use.

Each laboratory test is presented in a consistent format with information on physiology, indications (screening, diagnosis, and monitoring), algorithms, test interpretation and follow-up testing, patient education, and related diagnoses. Additional valuable features include clinical pearls that highlight common pitfalls and gaps in reasoning, and a cost-benefit analysis. This book also includes CPT and ICD-10 codes, charts and tables for clarification, and references for further study.

Key Features:

• Delivers a strong, evidence-based approach to ordering and interpreting over 160 laboratory tests
• Promotes accurate clinical decision-making toward achieving the Triple Aim
• Includes abundant clinical pearls highlighting common pitfalls and gaps in reasoning
• Provides cost-benefit analysis and discussion of laboratory testing within a high-value healthcare culture
• Includes 175 supplemental case examples and 200 self-assessment questions to facilitate instruction and learning
• Includes more than 3000 pieces of evidence from interprofessional resources