Aplastic anemia

Etiology / Pathophysiology

• Bone marrow failure can be idiopathic, immune-mediated, drug/toxin-related, viral, or inherited.
• Low production of RBCs, WBCs, and platelets causes anemia, infection risk, and bleeding risk.

Medications

No specific medication class was seeded for this card.

Nursing actions

• Assess fatigue, pallor, dyspnea, bleeding, bruising, fever, and infection signs.
• Use bleeding and infection precautions based on counts.
• Monitor CBC trends and transfusion or transplant pathway orders.

Complications

• Severe infection
• Hemorrhage
• Heart strain from anemia
• Death

NCLEX cues

• Pancytopenia: low RBCs, WBCs, and platelets.
• Fever or bleeding is priority.

Memory hooks

• Aplastic marrow is empty production.

Labs / Diagnostics

• CBC with differential
• Reticulocyte count
• Bone marrow biopsy
• Type and screen when transfusion possible

Review notes

• Supplemental wife-requested study card. Use for NCLEX review only and verify against school materials, ATI/NCLEX review sources, current orders, and facility policy.