Which laboratory value alerts the nurse to the possibility that the client is chronically losing small amounts of blood?
A. Reticulocyte count of 7%
B. Bleeding time of 3 minutes
C. Hemoglobin level of 14.0 g/dL
D. Negative indirect Coombs' test
A
The reticulocyte count, representing immature red blood cells, should be less than 2% of the total circulating number of red blood cells. An increase indicates that the client has a chronic loss of blood that exceeds the bone marrow's capacity to synthesize and release mature red blood cells.
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