Sickle cell anemia causes red blood cells to sickle and break down rapidly, which raises bilirubin levels. The speaker walks through why you monitor hematocrit, hemoglobin, RBC count, and bilirubin to track disease severity and guide treatment decisions.
Here is a key critical thinking point for sickle cell anemia. So what's happening here with sickle cell anemia is that the hemoglobin part of the red blood cell is misshapen. It's sickled, so it kind of looks like a crescent shape. And this causes red blood cells to clump together more. And this can reduce blood flow to the tissues and reduce oxygen to the tissues. And so when these sickled red blood cells are destroyed, they're destroyed much faster than healthy red blood cells. Now. Now, here's the key point that you've got to know for the nclex is that since there are so many of these sickled red blood cells that are being destroyed, bilirubin may increase. So we want to watch these lab values. Hematocrit, hemoglobin, red blood cells and bilirubin. You can find all these med surg flashcards inside the nursing SOS shop.
