A 59 year-old female is being evaluated for presence of a connective tissue disease. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) result is reported as 26 mm/hour. How would the nurse evaluate this result?
1. The ESR is very low, indicating that the patient has an autoimmune disorder rather than a connective tissue disorder.
2. This is a normal finding, so no connective tissue disease is present.
3. The ESR is high, so inflammatory disease is present.
4. The ESR is normal and other testing is indicated.
4
Rationale 1: The ESR is normal for a patient of this age and gender.
Rationale 2: The ESR is normal, but connective tissue disease could still be present.
Rationale 3: The ESR is normal for a woman this age.
Rationale 4: As the ESR is normal, other testing may be done to determine the source of the patient's discomfort.
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