A patient's mean corpuscular volume (MCV) is low. How would the nurse explain this finding to the patient?
1. "Your red blood cells do not have enough hemoglobin.".
2. "Your red blood cells are not consistent in size.".
3. "Your hematocrit is low.".
4. "Your red blood cells are small.".
4
Rationale 1: Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) are tests for the amount of hemoglobin in a red blood cell.
Rationale 2: The red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a direct measure of the consistency of red blood cell size.
Rationale 3: MCV is not a measure of hematocrit. Hematocrit changes with hydration status, so it is not possible to correlate hematocrit level and MCV.
Rationale 4: MCV is a measure of the size of red blood cells.
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