Question

The nurse is caring for an older adult client who has a hemoglobin of 9.6 g/dl and a hematocrit of 34%. to determine where the blood loss is coming from, what intervention can the nurse provide?

Answer 1

Normal hemoglobin levels:
   Older men: 12.4 to 14.9 gm/dL
   Older women:11.7 to 13.8 gm/dL

Possible causes for anemia is blood loss from an injury/surgery, not enough production of red blood cells, or it's happening too much destruction of red blood cells. (Whatever the cause is, the patient is losing blood)

To determine why, the doctor should request a blood test with the following information: Complete blood count (CBC) Iron levels and ferritin levels, Vitamin B12 and folate, Reticulocyte count, Bilirubin and maybe some special blood tests to detect if the cause it's from a immune attack.
It's also possible to need a sample of bone marrow but it's rare.