Leukemia
Structured condition card with NCLEX priority cues and nursing action focus.
Leukemia
Also testable as: ALL, AML, CLL, CML
Etiology / Pathophysiology
- Malignant white blood cell production in bone marrow.
- Abnormal cells crowd marrow, causing anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, organ infiltration, and infection/bleeding risk.
Medications
No specific medication class was seeded for this card.
Signs / symptoms
- Fatigue, bruising, recurrent infections, bone pain.
- Fever during chemotherapy is emergency.
- Avoid rectal temps/IM injections when counts are low.
Nursing actions
- Assess fever, infection, bleeding, bruising, fatigue, bone pain, lymph nodes, and treatment side effects.
- Use infection and bleeding precautions based on counts.
- Escalate fever, respiratory symptoms, neurologic changes, or uncontrolled bleeding.
Complications
- Sepsis
- Hemorrhage
- Tumor lysis syndrome
- Anemia
- Relapse
NCLEX cues
- Fatigue, bruising, recurrent infections, bone pain.
- Fever during chemotherapy is emergency.
- Avoid rectal temps/IM injections when counts are low.
Memory hooks
- Leukemia crowds out normal marrow.
Labs / Diagnostics
- CBC with differential
- Peripheral smear
- Bone marrow biopsy
- Coagulation labs
- Uric acid/electrolytes during treatment
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.
Cross references
Related cards are generated from the shared study map, not hand-built per page.
Condition card for Leukemia: recognize the testable cue, prevent the complication, and choose the safest first nursing action.
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Blood count that helps screen infection, inflammation, immune suppression, or blood cancer patterns.