Normal Values and Parameters — Home Health Training

Reference ranges vary between laboratories. Use the range printed on the report you are holding, not this page. This is here so an unfamiliar value means something to you at the bedside.

The notification parameters below are the agency's and override general reference ranges — unless the PCP has set different parameters for a specific patient and that is documented in the chart.

Notify the PCP outside these

	Notify if
Temperature	greater than 100.4 °F or less than 96.4 °F
Pulse	greater than 100 bpm or less than 50 bpm
Respirations	greater than 30/min or less than 12/min
Blood pressure	greater than 160/90 mmHg or less than 90/50 mmHg
Pulse oximetry	less than 90%
Pain	greater than 6/10

Report a value that falls outside these even if it returns to normal before you leave. See Vital Sign Parameters — When to Call.

Vital signs — general adult reference

	Typical adult range
Temperature	97.0–99.0 °F (36.1–37.2 °C)
Pulse	60–100 bpm
Respirations	12–20 /min
Blood pressure	below 120/80 mmHg is normal; 130/80 and above is hypertension
SpO2	95–100% on room air
Pain	0/10

Orthostatic hypotension: a drop of 20 mmHg systolic or 10 mmHg diastolic within three minutes of standing. Take it on anyone reporting dizziness on standing — see Falls and Deconditioning.

A COPD patient may have a baseline SpO2 in the high 80s. Record each patient's own baseline, or nobody covering your caseload can tell whether today's number means anything.

Blood glucose


Fasting	70–99 mg/dL
Two hours after a meal	below 140 mg/dL
Hypoglycemia	below 70 mg/dL — treat
Severe hypoglycemia	below 54 mg/dL
HgbA1c	below 5.7% normal; 5.7–6.4% prediabetes; 6.5% and above diabetes

Individual targets are set by the physician and are often deliberately looser in older adults. Know this patient's target. See Diabetes.

Common labs

Basic metabolic panel

	Typical range
Sodium	135–145 mEq/L
Potassium	3.5–5.0 mEq/L
Chloride	98–107 mEq/L
CO2	23–29 mEq/L
BUN	7–20 mg/dL
Creatinine	0.6–1.2 mg/dL
Glucose	70–99 mg/dL fasting
Calcium	8.5–10.2 mg/dL
Magnesium	1.7–2.2 mg/dL

Potassium is the one to react to fastest — outside 3.0–6.0 mEq/L is a call now, not at the end of the day. Watch it in anyone on a diuretic or an ACE inhibitor.

Complete blood count

	Typical range
WBC	4,500–11,000 /µL
Hemoglobin	13.5–17.5 g/dL (men), 12.0–15.5 g/dL (women)
Hematocrit	41–50% (men), 36–44% (women)
Platelets	150,000–450,000 /µL

Coagulation


INR, not anticoagulated	0.8–1.1
INR, therapeutic on warfarin	usually 2.0–3.0, or 2.5–3.5 for some mechanical valves
PT	11–13.5 seconds
PTT	25–35 seconds

Know the ordered target for your patient — see Anticoagulation and INR Management.

Other

	Typical range
Albumin	3.5–5.0 g/dL
Total protein	6.0–8.3 g/dL
TSH	0.4–4.0 mIU/L
BNP	below 100 pg/mL
Vitamin B12	200–900 pg/mL

Albumin below 3.0 g/dL signals poor nutritional status and predicts poor wound healing — worth noticing on a wound patient.

BNP rises in heart failure; use the trend against this patient's own baseline rather than the absolute number.

Values that mean call now

Report immediately, whatever time it is:

Potassium below 3.0 or above 6.0 mEq/L
Sodium below 125 or above 155 mEq/L
Glucose below 50 or above 400 mg/dL
INR above 5.0, or any bleeding on an anticoagulant
Hemoglobin below 7 g/dL
Platelets below 50,000 /µL
WBC below 2,000 /µL
Creatinine rising sharply from baseline
Any value the laboratory itself flags as critical

If the lab calls you with a critical value: write it down, read it back, and contact the physician immediately. See Labs, Specimens, and Results Follow-Up.

Wound measurement conventions

Not a normal value, but the convention that makes measurements comparable:

Length is measured head to toe, width across it
Tunnelling and undermining by clock position, with the patient's head as 12 o'clock
Depth recorded as 0 with a stated reason where the base cannot be seen

See Wound Etiology and Pressure Injury Staging.