Practice Question
A nurse is obtaining a urine specimen for culture and sensitivity via a straight catheterization. Which of the following actions should the nurse take?
Answer Choices:
Correct Answer:
Use a sterile specimen container.
Rationale:
💎 For a culture and sensitivity (C&S), it is essential to collect urine in a sterile specimen container to avoid introducing contaminating microorganisms from the environment.
💎 Using a non-sterile container can cause bacterial growth from external sources, leading to false-positive results and inappropriate antibiotic therapy.
💎 Straight catheterization is itself a sterile procedure, so the collection method must maintain sterility from catheter to container.
💎 A sterile container ensures that any organisms grown in culture accurately reflect the client’s urinary tract flora and not outside contaminants.
💎 This practice directly supports accurate diagnosis and effective treatment, making it the correct action for C&S collection.
“Use sterile water to inflate the balloon.”
💎 Straight catheterization does not involve a balloon, because the catheter is inserted only temporarily to obtain urine and then removed.
💎 Balloon inflation is a feature of an indwelling (Foley) catheter, which stays in place in the bladder for continuous drainage.
💎 Using sterile water for balloon inflation would only apply if a Foley catheter with a retention balloon were used, which is not the case here.
💎 Choosing this action shows confusion between straight and indwelling catheter types and their purposes.
💎 Therefore, this option is not appropriate for a straight catheter C&S specimen.
“Instruct the client to clean from front to back with an antiseptic solution.”
💎 Teaching the client to clean front to back is important for perineal hygiene and for clean-catch midstream urine specimens.
💎 However, in straight catheterization, the nurse is responsible for performing sterile cleansing of the meatus using sterile antiseptic swabs, not client self-cleaning.
💎 The procedure relies on strict aseptic technique maintained by the nurse to prevent introducing bacteria into the urinary tract.
💎 Asking the client to clean themselves may be insufficiently sterile for an invasive catheterization procedure.
💎 Thus, while front-to-back cleaning is good general practice, it is not the key action specific to obtaining a straight cath C&S specimen.
“Collect urine from the catheter's port.”
💎 Collecting urine from a catheter sampling port is the correct technique for an indwelling catheter, not for a straight catheter.
💎 A straight catheter drains directly into a collection container and does not usually have a sampling port.
💎 Using this method in a straight cath scenario reflects misunderstanding of catheter types and sampling methods.
💎 This could delay proper collection or lead to improper handling of the specimen.
💎 Therefore, this option is incorrect for a urine specimen via straight catheterization.
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This question is from Custom Fundamentals Exam 4 Fall 2025 which contains 24 questions.
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Question Details
- Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
- Subcategory: ATI Exam(s)
- Domain: RN ATI Fundamentals of Nursing
- Answer Choices: 4