The urine specimen collection: obtaining a routine specimen

Description of the clinical situation:

You are a post nurse in a ward of an inpatient health care organization. A patient is scheduled for a urine collection for a urine sample. Prepare the patient and collect urine for a urinalysis 

Indications: general clinical examination of urine includes determination of physical properties of urine (color, transparency, reaction, specific gravity), chemical properties of urine (glucose, protein, ketone bodies, bilirubin and microscopic examination of sediment (erythrocytes, leukocytes, cylinders, epithelium, bacteria, salts) in order to examine the patient.

Equipment:

•  a clean, dry 250 ml container with a lid for urine collection
•  research referral

The order in which the practical skill is performed:

Preparatory phase:

• say hello to the patient, introduce yourself.
• check the patient's surname, first name and patronymic, check against the appointment sheet
• The night before (evening), inform the patient about the upcoming urine collection for a general urinalysis, obtain verbal consent for the collection
• fill in the blank :  indicate patient's surname, first name, patronymic, year of birth, sex, department, ward number, date of urine collection
• teach the technique of collecting urine for testing

Main Stage:

• give the completed form and urine collection container to the patient
• explain to the patient the rules for collecting urine for a urinalysis
• Do not eat foods that may change the color of the urine (beets and others) on the eve of the test
• collect the first morning urine
• Before collecting urine in the morning, toilet the external genitalia.
• When urinating, first release a small amount of urine into the toilet bowl (to prevent discharge from the genital tract).
• collect the rest of the urine (at least 100 ml) in a urine collection container prepared in advance and cover with a lid.
• leave in the sanitary room in a special box for storing urine samples (in outpatient settings, take the urine to the laboratory)

 Final Step:

• the ward nurse ensures delivery of the material for examination to the laboratory of the health care organization before 8 a.m. in a container for transportation of biological material samples, enclosing the referral form for examination in a separate bag.
• the ward nurse glues the results of the tests received from the laboratory into the medical record.

Note:

• If the patient is in a serious condition on bed rest, the ward nurse will wash the patient and collect the urine for the examination
• If the patient is menstruating on the day of the examination, cover the entrance to the vagina with a tampon when urinating.  In emergency cases, urine is collected by catheter
• It is allowed to store urine in the refrigerator at +4°C for no more than a day, if it is impossible to transport it to the laboratory within the first two hours after collection