Answer to Question #190576 in Microbiology for alisa

Question

What are some nursing interventions and instructions that should be given to the patient after urine collection?

Answer 1

Male patients

Instruct them to clean the tip of his penis with soap and water, then with disposable wipes or with cotton balls soaked in povidone-iodine solution or Chloroprep. Tell him to start the urine stream and, without stopping, begin the specimen collection by moving the container into the urine stream. For an uncircumcized male, remind him to retract the foreskin to clean the urinary meatus more effectively and to keep it retracted during voiding.

Female patients

Instruct them to clean her genital area with soap and water and then to sit far back on the toilet or to sit backward on the toilet. It may be easier for her to strip from the waist down in order to spread her legs far enough apart. With disposable wipes or cotton balls soaked in povidone-iodine solution or Chloroprep, instruct her to wipe first down one side, then down the other side, and finally down the middle of the labial folds, vulva, and urinary meatus. Stress the importance of wiping from front to back to avoid fecal contamination. Instruct the patient to begin voiding into the toilet and to keep the labial folds separated during the specimen collection. Tell her to start the stream and, without stopping, begin collecting the specimen in the middle of the stream by moving the specimen container into the stream.