Question

A female patient's most recent urinalysis results are suggestive of bacteriuria. When assessing this patient, the nurse's data analysis should be informed by what principle?

A) Most UTIs in female patients are caused by viruses and do not cause obvious symptoms.
B) A diagnosis of bacteriuria requires three consecutive positive results.
C) Urine contains varying levels of healthy bacterial flora.
D) Urine samples are frequently contaminated by bacteria normally present in the urethral area.

Answer 1

Urinalysis suggesting bacteriuria requires careful consideration of potential contamination, necessitating a clean catch and urine culture to confirm infection and guide antibiotic treatment.

Step-by-step explanation:

When assessing a female patient whose urinalysis results suggest bacteriuria, it is crucial to consider that urine samples can often be contaminated by bacteria that are normally present in the urethral area. For a diagnosis of a urinary tract infection (UTI), a positive result from rapid screening tests such as leukocyte esterase (LE) or nitrite presence on a urine dipstick should prompt further investigation with a urine culture. This additional step is necessary due to the low specificity and sensitivity of the screening tests.

A clean catch urine sample helps minimize contamination from the body's normal microbiota. It is done by washing the genital area and collecting the urine midstream. Identifying the bacteria that grow from the culture is essential for selecting the most effective class of antibiotics to treat the infection, as indicated in the given case where ciprofloxacin was prescribed before culture results were available.