Healthcare Laboratory Values Foundations™

What you will learn

This program has four parts. By the end of each part, you should be able to:

Part 1: Introduction to Laboratory Testing, Specimen Collection & Normal Reference Ranges

• Explain the purpose of laboratory testing and its role in diagnosis, monitoring, treatment evaluation, and patient safety.
• Identify the major laboratory departments and distinguish the types of tests and specimens commonly handled in each area.
• Describe correct specimen collection, labeling, transport, storage, and chain-of-custody practices.
• Recognize common pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical factors that can cause inaccurate laboratory results.
• Interpret normal reference ranges, critical values, and result trends while accounting for common patient-specific influences.
• Communicate abnormal and critical laboratory findings clearly using appropriate documentation and SBAR principles.

Part 2: Complete Blood Count (CBC), Chemistry Panels & Essential Laboratory Values

• Interpret common CBC and chemistry laboratory values using normal reference ranges, trends, and clinical context.
• Recognize critical laboratory values and identify when findings require urgent communication or intervention.
• Differentiate common causes of high and low results for major hematology and chemistry tests.
• Relate abnormal laboratory patterns to dehydration, infection, kidney disease, diabetes, electrolyte imbalance, blood loss, and chronic illness.
• Apply laboratory results to patient assessment, documentation, SBAR communication, and clinical decision-making.
• Identify how different healthcare professionals use laboratory values in everyday practice.

Part 3: Advanced Laboratory Values, Diagnostic Testing & Clinical Interpretation

• Interpret advanced laboratory values using normal ranges, critical values, and clinical context.
• Differentiate common causes of abnormal results across liver, cardiac, coagulation, endocrine, pancreatic, inflammatory, respiratory, urinary, and lipid testing.
• Recognize early signs of life-threatening conditions using laboratory trends, symptoms, and diagnostic clues.
• Relate medications, disease processes, and patient assessment findings to laboratory interpretation and monitoring.
• Communicate urgent and significant laboratory findings using accurate healthcare terminology and SBAR format.
• Apply advanced laboratory results to safe beginner-level clinical reasoning in acute and chronic care scenarios.

Part 4: Integrating Laboratory Values into Patient Assessment, Clinical Decision-Making & Healthcare Practice

• Integrate laboratory values with patient history, vital signs, physical assessment findings, medications, and diagnostic data to form a complete clinical picture.
• Distinguish meaningful laboratory trends from isolated results and identify findings that require urgent escalation.
• Prioritize patient care decisions using laboratory data alongside symptoms, safety risks, and likely clinical deterioration.
• Explain how laboratory testing supports medication management, treatment monitoring, and chronic disease care.
• Communicate laboratory concerns clearly using documentation, SBAR, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Educate patients about laboratory testing, results, privacy, and safe follow-up in everyday healthcare practice.

Program details

• Self-paced online program for healthcare professionals
• Program length: 10 hours, in four parts
• Includes graded assessments you must pass to complete the program
• Earn a downloadable Certificate of Completion upon successful program completion—ideal for documenting professional development and submitting to your employer for potential reimbursement
• Each certificate has a verification ID that employers can check at nahcp.com/verify

Program length describes the length of the program, not a number of continuing-education credits. Check with your employer or licensing board before submitting a program for credit or reimbursement.