 Welcome to nursing school explained and this video in the care plan help series where I go over liver function tests Now first of all LFTs or liver function tests consist of several different tests They're always going to be separate, but many times they can kind of be grouped into LFTs There are occasional considerations where we have to look at them individually but for the most part since they're all pertaining to the liver our Actions assessments and inventions were probably going to be the same and the liver function tests that we usually look at this ALT, AST, alfalfa and bilirubin more or less It's not really a liver function, but it's kind of a byproduct that has to do with liver function as well So whenever we think about the liver we have to think about jaundice so we want to assess the patient for jaundice skin Or eye changes and then because the liver has so much to do with the oncotic pressure and the plasma proteins We want to assess the patient for edema, ascites as well We want to take a look at their abdomen to see is the liver enlarged is it tender and also check their bowel sounds because if there is Ascites presence, maybe that affects the bowel sounds We also want to assess any history or current Taking of any hepatotoxic drugs because certainly they can affect the patient's liver function And that might be something as simple as Tylenol or acetaminophen keep in mind that acetaminophen is also in many of the Narcotics that we give the patient so for example in Norco might contain also some acetaminophen So make sure that you know the ingredients so that you don't give the patient accidentally too much of the Tylenol and cause them some liver problems Then we want to check any history of liver gallbladder or pancreatic disorders And in this case that's so important because these three organs lie really close to each other And so if one is effective maybe Affected maybe there's an obstruction of some sort and it certainly can cause the backup of the bowel into the liver And then we have the problem that is evident in the liver function We also want to check for any current or present Or past history of hepatitis any kind and then in case the patient is pregnant We want to make sure that we assess them for help syndrome and preeclampsia Now in the example that we've been using here was this 45-year-old female who has had a gallbladder Removal called a cystectomy and her past medical history includes diabetes hyperlipidemia and she's a smoker So in this case We want to certainly assess for all these things because she doesn't really have a disorder like a chronic disorder But she did have a gallbladder removed And so we have to make sure and be aware that there could be something going on with any of these three organs Certainly want to assess her abdomen and her bowels check for any hepatotoxic drugs maybe also Any kind of insulin coverage that she's on or anything else that pertains there and then any Past history of hepatitis and if she were pregnant Which she may or might may not know then we'd have to look into that as well in terms of interventions We don't really have a whole lot of interventions to do here because we're mostly assessing the patient and certainly if we have any of these Findings that are concerning we would not notify the provider so that they then can intervene and give us orders on how to address the patient's elevated liver function tests Thanks so much for watching this video in the care plan help series also check out all the other videos about the different lab results and make Sure that you apply the findings and the assessments that we discussed here to your Particular patient in clinical so that you can show off all that knowledge your clinical instructor on your own care plan Thanks for watching. See you soon