< Back

ABG Analysis

Premium feature
Viewing Study Tools Requires a Membership

55% of NURSING.com users are visual learners, and 35% stop using their textbooks altogether.

Start Free Trial
I love ABGs!   To me, there is nothing more enjoyable than looking at an ABG and contemplating over what changes we can make to improve the patient's condition. 
  • Should we increase the vent rate?
  • Should we give some bicarb?
  • Up the pressure support?
  • Run a lactic acid?
  All that might seem overwhelming at first but once you understand that the numbers align with actual data the patient is giving us . . . it almost becomes a mystery you are trying to solve.   With ABGs you are really trying to analyze and fix one of three things . . . Hydrogen, CO2, or Bicarb.   To help you with analyzing ABGs, we have created a cheatsheet that outlines:
  • What lab values you will see with a given ABG finding.
  • What assessment findings you will see.
  • Causes for the abnormality.
  • Possible solutions.
Download Cheatsheet

ABG Analysis Is Used In These Lessons

ABGs Nursing Normal Lab Values

10.01 Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) Interpretation

01.01 ABG (Arterial Blood Gas) Normal Lab Value Levels