Patient was educated on how vitamin K affects Coumadin levels as follows: Vitamin K and Coumadin act against one another and the amount of vitamin K in your diet can influence the net effects of Coumadin. For example, if the vitamin K intake is less, the action of Coumadin is unhindered and so, even though the patient takes regular recommended dose of Coumadin, this dose could be high for the patient, because the vitamin K [...]
Patient was instructed on precautions to be exercised regarding the vitamin K while taking Coumadin as follows: Coumadin is an anticoagulant medication. This helps to thin blood and prevent formation of blood clots. Vitamin K in the dietary foods can interfere with the actions of Coumadin and potentiate formation of clots. Patients taking Coumadin should watch carefully the amount of Vitamin K they are consuming in their diet. So, patients taking Coumadin will be instructed [...]
Patient was educated on how to interpret the INR results as follows: This lab is drawn on patient’s taking blood thinners upon doctor’s order. This reading is a measure of time taken for a person’s blood to clot. Normal result for a healthy adult is about 1.0. The target for patients on blood thinners is to manage the number between 2.0 – 3.0. If this number is too close to the normal (1.0), it indicates [...]
Nurse educated the patient and caregiver regarding the INR reading from PT/INR test as follows: Different labs use different PT tests and so, the results vary slightly from one another. Since these results are lacking a standardization, a new ratio was created using the PT result. This ratio is called INR (International Normalized Ratio), which allows a comparison between different lab results for PT with more accuracy. This reading is a measure of time taken [...]
Patient was educated on PT reading from the PT/INR test as follows: PT stands for prothrombin time. It is the time taken for a person’s blood to clot. This reading is measured in seconds. Normal result for a healthy adult is 11 – 14 seconds. Based on various factors, a person’s blood could be thin (difficult to clot) or thick (risk for an easy clot) and can result in altered readings from the usual normal. [...]