Published
As someone who uses an indwelling urethral catheter for bladder management, I'm exceedingly frustrated by how few nurses (and doctors who are not urologists, for that matter) know the proper procedure for collecting a urine specimen from someone with an indwelling catheter.
I've had five orders for a UA written during recent visits to the ED and an admission for abdominal surgery. Not one of the four nurses or the ED doctor who came to collect the specimen knew the correct procedure, and only one (a marvelous RN) listened to me when I explained why the way she planned to take the sample would not yield accurate results and what needed to be done to collect a valid specimen.
So I'm curious. As a nurse, were you ever specifically taught how to collect a urine sample from patients who rely on indwelling catheters? If so, what were you taught? Did this teaching occur as this part of your nursing school curriculum or did you learn on the job from another nurse, doctor, or (gasp!) a patient?